I bought Paralives on launch day, so I can write my impressions after these first few days of playing. Let's start by saying that it's been years since I've played this much. I love The Sims; nothing will ever replace it in my heart. It's been with me for 26 years; it's a part of my life; I grew up with it. I was a 13-year-old girl when I first played The Sims. Now I'm 39 and I'm still faithful to my virtual world, but lately I've grown bored with it. Paralives was the breath of fresh air I needed, and I can't say it will replace The Sims, but maybe it will push me to play both games. For now, though, I'm fully dedicating myself to exploring this new title.
I've been following the development of Paralives since its first image, 2018 I think, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The thought that only a few people are behind a game like this is even more fascinating. The graphics are relaxing; the character textures take a bit of getting used to at first, but over time you realize how they blend perfectly with the environment. The city of Melino is a vibrant city; you never find completely deserted places. You can easily explore it on foot or via bus stops (don't worry, there are no long, exhausting loading screens. It takes just a second to appear at your chosen destination). Each lot can be visited without a loading screen, just a few seconds for the items to load.
The customization of the Paras is interesting and intuitive. Having different heights is already a plus. You can choose whether to wear the earrings on the right, left, or both, so you have complete freedom. Makeup overlays, multiple accessory choices, shirts and jackets that can be combined, a color wheel, tattoo placement, body hair, medical devices… And it's only in early access!
On a negative note (not everything can be perfect): I don't like how they've designed the social interaction between the Paras. There's no interaction menu. You only have the TALK option and then you have to wait for the bar to fill to choose the next dialogue. I hope they give you more freedom of choice in the future.
Build Mode MY BIG LOVE. I could spend days building houses in Paralives. Every object is customizable, not just the color, but also the size, height, and even the width. It's like having Blender always integrated into the game.
What do I especially love? The ability to increase the thickness of walls (a feature I only discovered yesterday).
Laying the foundation, however, is another story. I hope they implement the specific tool in the future. Maybe I just need to get used to it more over time.
There are still several bugs, it's true, but let's remember that it's still in early access and will remain so for at least another two years. Making comparisons with The Sims seems impossible and rather pointless to me. The Sims has been on the market for 26 years, with dozens of DLCs, mods, and other features. Paralives is still a bud waiting to blossom, yet it already has features that I've always wanted to see in The Sims for 26 years (yes, heights and preteens are among them).
I'm spending hours playing Paralives without getting bored. Will I continue playing The Sims? Sure, maybe not now. I'll leave it on standby until I feel the urge to open it again. The same goes for InZoi, which is on standby awaiting updates (and remember, it's still in early access, too).
That said, this page was created for The Sims, and has evolved by uploading InZoi content. Now you'll see Paralives for a while.
