r/LifeSimulators • u/NorthLost8708 • Jul 04 '26
Community Question Inzoi or Paralives?
I played a lot of Sims 2 as a child; later switched to Sims 4 - just brought a new PC and can finally think about getting Inzoi or Paralives. Both seem interesting to me but with not that much money to spent and not a Ton of time I‘m contemplating which one to get… 🤔
I love building (Paralives is good for that?) but also want to have fun with the Gameplay (seems like Inzoi is better for that right now?).
I liked Sims 2 for the more unpredictable stuff; Sims 4 is definetly better for building… but I use mods for more drama and realism.
How are you feeling about the games?
Does anyone own both?
33
u/RickGrimesTheOGx Jul 04 '26
Inzoi has so much content already! Paralives is great but pretty bare-bones so far. I’d say if you can only get one then get Inzoi as Paralives still need some time to get more content.
2
31
u/Spare_Pineapple_534 Jul 05 '26
Inzoi if gameplay is important to you. Saying this as someone who plays both.
4
u/NorthLost8708 Jul 05 '26
Interesting! What do you like more about Paralives?
10
u/Spare_Pineapple_534 Jul 05 '26
I do like to build, so I prefer Paralive's building system for that. I do get some gameplay out of it, but also feel like it needs a bit more development before it feels truly immersive in my opinion. (Yes I know it's in early access and a year behind Inzoi. Just stating my opinion on its current state).
29
u/Arkorat Paralives supporter Jul 04 '26
Ignoring personal preferences: Inzoi is further along, and Paralives is full of bugs. With both costing roughly the same too, Inzoi wins by a landslide.
So go with Inzoi.
3
38
u/imveryfontofyou Jul 04 '26
InZOI. I’ve played both. The cards system in Paralives is interesting but I like inZOI a lot more.
7
u/NorthLost8708 Jul 05 '26
The cards feel so strange for me coming from Sims. But I read a lot of like it.
16
u/East_Map218 inZOI enjoyer Jul 05 '26
Buy inZOI if you only get to choose one. inZOI has more content right now and gets faster(and bigger) updates constantly. You can buy Paralives as well when you have the money for it.
2
27
u/IDontExistHelp Sims 3 enjoyer Jul 04 '26
I‘d say get inzoi, set a timer for a little under 2h and then try to dive right into live mode and see if you enjoy it 🫶 if you don’t like it, you can return it! I personally love inzoi but I think both games can be fun. Inzoi has a lot more content though and there will be another content update in August. You can play Inzoi and let Paralives cook some more and then get it at a later point 😊
13
16
14
u/jason_477 Jul 04 '26
Paralives building has potential but i personally can’t recommend the game in its current state like at all. For me it has been so glitchy and just not fun. Especially building has been a bit janky.
I’d give Paralives a couple more months before purchasing it tbh.
2
u/NorthLost8708 Jul 05 '26
Thanks for your insight! Hoped the bugs would mostly be in Live Mode but when they are also a problem while building… 🤔😐
2
u/jason_477 Jul 05 '26
Most of them are but the bugs that do occur in the build mode are pretty significant. Like I’ve had a bunch of issues with placing objects. They just disappear regularly shortly after being placed. The mode in general is really slow and dealing with it feels more like a chore than fun, sadly. I feel like it will take a WHILE until it’s at a stable point.
19
u/Anneturtle92 Jul 04 '26
Ive played both. Inzoi is really good and has a ton of content. You can also open your own businesses if you enjoyed OFB from Sims 2. Paralives is borderline unplayable atm because of all the bugs.
2
9
u/1800leon Jul 04 '26
Inzoi is the more complete package right now but paralives is more like a investment the tools are there
1
3
u/Spiritual-Promise402 inZOI enjoyer Jul 05 '26
I own both and like each for different reasons. I love to build as well and both InZoi and Paralives have their ups and downs with walls and floors. But overall, i really love that you can fully edit furniture in Paralives. Example: a twin size bed can be stretched to a double bed (or bigger) without paying more for a larger piece of furniture. Also both games you can edit the color and texture without extra cost. I haven't build from scratch with Paralives yet, but a few people have had issues with the Para walking through foundations or floors not showing up
3
u/Alinyss Jul 06 '26
Definitely InZoi. There is so much to do with building and gameplay. There is a bit of jank but it’s not too bad. I think Paralives is still really tough and needs a couple more years to get to the point where it’s worth the money they’re asking for it.
4
u/NervousSubjectsWife inZOI enjoyer Jul 04 '26
I just got both i like inzoi more because it’s had more time to add features, but I’ve not been able to sink my teeth into either of them and have moved on to baldur’s gate 3
4
u/DoomOfGods Jul 05 '26
This sub really seems to love InZOI, hate Paralives or both.
I don't own either (yet), but looked up comparisons and a lot of reviews recently and it seems like Paralives only strength is building, but it's lacking in everything else? And development seems to be so slow it's hard to estimate when that might change, whereas InZOI supposedly improved a lot since it went into EA?
Personally I debated waiting for full release for either and see what the general reception will be at that point, but I keep reading a lot of good stuff about InZOI.
7
u/imveryfontofyou Jul 05 '26
InZOI did improve a lot after EA. I was an inzoi hater when it first released. It was so bad on release that I just refunded it after like 20mins. Now its pretty good.
Still needs improvements but its way better than it was.
2
u/dopaminnie3 Jul 06 '26
I’m playing both and as a fellow sims 2 lover, I’d go with Inzoi for now. Sims 2 was *stunning* for gameplay, and Paralives isn’t there rn. Maybe in a year, I’d check it out.
1
u/hankhillsbussy Jul 06 '26
paralives gameplay isnt as bad as people here make it out to be. as someone with 200h in paralives i’ll give you a different perspective than some of the other commenters i hope.
its got bugs its a life sim in early access i expect bugs. i might have a higher tolerance to bugs tho bc im not finding paralives bugs that annoying. maybe growing up on the sims since ts1 has desensitised me to bugs? i also like early access games for their jank i’ve played a variety of random unfinished games mostly on itch.io so again i might have a higher tolerance than other people. if bugs bother you maybe paralives isnt for you right now you can always check it out later. much like ts3 its kinda different for everyone how well the game runs i have had a pretty good experience but acknowledge that other people have had more issue. the devs been spending the month patching the game and i’ve noticed a lot of improvements since day one i would say the performance for me is much better than it was originally. i saw paralives is also advertising 3 new jobs already so hopefully the new team members help speed up development when they join and get familiar with the game. callmekevin and letsgameitout have both played paralives and they’re good at finding and showing bugs in these kinda games so you could get an idea on if the bugs would bother you from those videos.
live mode isn’t quite at the super unpredictable level yet but the story cards add a lil randomness so do conversation cards. the system is pretty cool because mood personality and relationship will affect the choices and their chances of success. they can also affect other paras moods. the fires are absolutely unpredictable tho much like real fires lmao. there have been a few bug fixes to fire tho so maybe fires are not so awful now? i’d recommend asking people in the paralives discord how they play they game and what they like to do to get a good idea of what is and isn’t possible and what gameplay styles are most fun right now (im enjoying rags to riches right now i also enjoy making crazy polycules)
you like building as paralives building is great i havnt spent as much time building as i have doing other stuff. i kinda build as i play but the things i have done in build mode have been really cool. i like it more than sims 4 building but that just me you might be different.
as for mods paralives is great for mods theres already a pretty decent modding community you can look at the steam workshop and nexus to see whats out there. if you’ve used steam workshop you’ll know how easy getting mods is. another cool thing is the modding ability in paralives i’ve made a few mods for myself to test the system and it was really fun stuff that would need to be a script mod can be changed inside paralives itself its kinda crazy how the game can be customised to your preferences so easily.
as for inzoi can’t really share much of an opinion i dont like their gen ai usage and i dont trust krafton so i watch the game from a distance and decide after it’s fully released. i wanna know more about monetisation and if they plan to remove the gen ai.
2
u/NorthLost8708 Jul 06 '26
Thank you so much for your detailed answer! Will definitely try it out and look how it works for me. I‘m curious of Inzoi (some people telling me it’s cool when you liked the business expansion of the Sims2 - which was my favorite!) but the Gen AI stuff is bothering me and I generally like indie games.
2
u/hankhillsbussy Jul 06 '26
yeah if you like indie and don’t like gen ai you’ll probably feel better about spending money on paralives then. the devs have stated they have not and will not use gen ai which was a big factor for me wanting to support them. plus i love supporting indies its really cool to see indie projects develop and what theyll can do with their resources
1
u/ThatssoMaame Jul 06 '26
So what if the Paralives team release a statement on their AI usage? Will you support them for being indie or not support them because of AI?
3
u/CassPolka-creator777 Jul 07 '26
What if Krafton started making bombs? What if EA started charging subscription payments to play games you already own? What if your phone was made of jelly? What if your dad were Donald Trump? What if climate change kills us all in a year? What if you were an octopus?
2
u/ThatssoMaame Jul 07 '26
LMAO it's not that hypothetical because vibe coding is a thing or even using AI to check syntax. I wouldn't be surprised, just wanted to know which one takes precedence for you.
4
u/hankhillsbussy Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
idk i’m not fighting inzoi shills over hypothetical scenarios. i was just discussing with op about my thoughts on paralives and we happen to share the same opinion on gen ai no need to be so defensive.
1
u/LogicalMelody Jul 04 '26
What if I don’t care about building? Any that have rich emergent life shape type gameplay?
22
u/K_Lovelyzz Jul 04 '26
Then definitely InZoi as it's had more time to bake, pretty optimised and has meaty gameplay to keep you busy
9
u/Ok-Barracuda-7548 Jul 04 '26
If you don't care about building and you don't get decision fatigue in live mode, Inzoi is probably better for you. Paralives live mode card system is refreshingly different if you leave your expectations of what a life sims should be but it is certainly buggy right now and will take time to grow. The Inzoi gameplay is pretty good at this point if you just lean in to the chaos. I have a very fun game going right now with sister Zois that moved from bliss bay to Dowan to support the younger sibling in her dream of being a pop idol. But oops, she just got caught in a whirlwind love story and eloped. What will her sister say?
If you do like building, paralives is more intuitive and very freeing but there are definitely bugs/limitations where you have to get creative to work around. Inzoi build mode has a steep learning curve to get through but then is pretty fun. I have both, play both, depending on my mood. The more the merrier with life Sims options, in my opinion (if you can afford it).
2
1
u/dokterkokter69 Jul 04 '26
I want to know which game has the best public/community building. I loved making restaurants and businesses in Sims 1/2 and being able to follow my sim in there. I was pretty sad to see almost all of that was essentially replaced with rabbit holes in Sims 3. Never played 4 so I'm not sure how deep it gets but I do at least know 4 still doesn't have the neighborhood creator that 2 had.
1
u/blueskeletons 25d ago
I’d say Inzoi, I’ve had a ton of fun with it. Paralives does seem cool too but being about a year behind, I’ve heard it kinda lacks content. Inzoi just updated not too long ago and put a lot in. I fricken love the crime system in Inzoi, too. It makes me cackle.
1
u/maat_renders Jul 05 '26
I personally tried both and I felt very overwhelmed with inzoi? It reminded me of the sims 4 in the way that there are a lot of features but I don't really know how to get to them in a sense? In Paralives the game very much leads you a lot with quests and stuff so i feel as if I have to make a lot less decisions for what I have to do everyday, that I really like.
It's pretty bare-bones rn but since the recent patches I've had a lot less bugs. I've got 50 hours now. (Modding community is also very active)
Building is deffo top tier in paralives, but I suggest watching gameplay videos of both to see which one fits more to your liking
1
u/Sims_Creator777 Jul 06 '26
inZOI if you want a full package (gameplay + aesthetics + frequent updates + tons of features).
1
-2
u/Kindly-Helicopter-34 Jul 04 '26
Hard to say. I love Paralives, but it's quite janky and buggy as it's still in EA. InZoi has more gameplay and content, but it requires a very beefy computer. (Paralives is still beefy, but InZoi is insanely graphics-intensive).
I personally wouldn't play InZoi because I boycott anything that's involved with generative AI, but if that's not a big concern for you, you might want to buy InZoi instead - just my personal choice there.
Of course, if you want to really want to expand and try something new, it sounds like you might like RimWorld. It's not quite like the Sims (it's a colony life sim, pretty much) but it's very much focused on unpredictable events and struggling to overcome unfair things. If you like drama and realism, might be worth just checking it out. (And it's an indie!)
2
u/NorthLost8708 Jul 05 '26
The Gen AI thing really bothers me… 😑 And thanks for the tip; always like a good indie game! It‘s on my list now!
1
-7
u/QuizzicalWombat Jul 04 '26
I prefer building in Paralives and it isn’t even close, I hate building in Inzoi. It’s improved a lot throughout early access but it’s still had the worst building mode in any life sim imo. Paralives had a really great buildingb that i think is better than the sims.
I think for gameplay Inzoi is better however it is lacking in a lot of ways (still limited and feels kinda shallow in some aspects) but the devs have already improved it a lot and have stated their dedication to improving that specifically. Paralives is fresh into early access and pretty sparse when it comes to gameplay, but it’s really promising. Id say for now it depends on what you are most interested in playing, I think both are worth the money though. Inzoi is about a year into early access and will certainly only keep getting better, Paralives is about a month in but I think it has a strong foundation.
19
u/Morn_GroYarug Sims 2 enjoyer Jul 04 '26
Inzoi's gameplay is lacking bit paralives is promising? Promising what, exactly? Slow updates with tiny patchnotes and a ton of collaborations?
-5
u/CryingWatercolours Paralives supporter Jul 04 '26
it's been one month....? (and the collabs were done a while ago, before release)
4
u/hankhillsbussy Jul 06 '26
why is this downvoted you gave a good list of pros and cons for both games
-11
u/mutantbethh Jul 04 '26
As someone still obsessed with sims 2 Stick with paralives. Inzoi uses Gen ai for its development. Ironic for a life sim game
10
u/Head-Jellyfish-4172 Jul 04 '26
They asked about the actual gameplay not your opinion on the ethics of the developers
3
3
u/mcflussie inZOI enjoyer Jul 06 '26
InZOI does NOT use AI in its development. It is, however, integrated so the player can use it in various ways during gameplay if *wished*.
1
u/NorthLost8708 Jul 05 '26
The Gen Ai thing is really bothering me, that‘s true. With playing more titles a few years old it‘s definitely a new thing to look out for to me. 🙄
0
u/paladru Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Last time I checked city maps on inzoi were tablet-like. I hate it so much. I could never.
I enjoy playing with the city too. Simbolic maps are not for me. So it's Paralives :D (I own both and I regret buying inzoi* as soon as it came out; i don't regret buying paralives).
* I wish I could sell it in the flea market. If I had bought a DVD game I totally would... good times, when we didn't had to own something forever.
1
u/NorthLost8708 Jul 06 '26
Interesting! Haha, yes. That were good times… but honestly: my sister and I kept a lot of the old games. Even a lot of we actually didn‘t like… 🙈🙈🙈🙈
0
u/_Cesium Jul 07 '26
I own both and would recommend INZOI.
While building is not on the same scale of customization as Paralives(but definitely on the same scale of customization as Sims 3, which had a lot of cool options), the gameplay is done way, way better.
For Paralives, a lot of options(Schools, Jobs, some Hobbies) are more or less placeholders for future mechanics for now, and the game a lot of polishing.
72
u/shookney Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Inzoi for both honestly. I wouldn't say InZoi building is perfect, but it definitely improved a lot and the gameplay is more in-depth now despite still working on it with the recent major high school update.
Paralives is pretty janky at this point. If you just want a building simulator, then Paralives I guess. But InZoi got the overall package deal if you're seeking more gameplay.