The iconic Sims franchise has been alive and going forward since launching in 2000 as a somewhat open-world, life simulation game. It’s a single-player game where you can create your own storylines and builds. There is a creative aspect that has been a big part of my life since I was younger, watching my sister play and downloading crazy mods that made the game enjoyable. That was the problem, though, and still is to this day. The Sims franchise has slowly been declining and worsening through the years, even while the fanbase has been complaining. There is a giant tower of problems with the gameplay and plenty of other aspects that no longer make the game enjoyable to play, yet there is no change. 

On the other hand, a small development team, founded by Alex Massé, created Paralives. Even though it is still in early access and a lot more work should be done, Paralives succeeds the competition in the life simulation genre. 

Good and not so good stuff

The best improvement seen from when Paralives was first announced in June of 2019 was the character creator, build mode, and the town environment. The layout of the UI in paramaker makes creating Paras (which are the characters you can control) very quick, intuitive, and the specific settings give you a lot of freedom. The Sims games before Sims 4 have this, as well. You can effortlessly put in a lot of detail into your characters if you so choose. 

Build mode is beautiful in both games. However, in the Sims, it is better with mods and cheats. In Paralives, this is easily the best part of the game because of the amount of freedom you have when building. You can resize, reshape, and customize things so freely because of the insane amount of possibilities you can achieve in build mode. There are many more features included in the Paralives build mode that the Sims franchise has never had before, which gives amazing new ideas to the players. The catalog is still a bit limited when it comes to the interior design and decoration, but hopefully, they can continue expanding this mode since most things are definitely unfinished. 

Environmental design and landscaping are often forgetful parts of game design, but they could really make or break the entirety of the game. In this case, the town that the game is set in is very charming and cozy. The atmosphere is perfect for a life-simulation game, while it is still very cozy and calm, there are a variety of locations you can explore. Some are pre-built, but that is not really an issue since you can change them however you want. What differs in the Sims is that there are a lot of areas you can choose from, but most of them are unlockable through DLCs. That is, in my opinion, the biggest issue I have with The Sims 4. To enjoy the game is to spend hundreds of dollars on extra packs. 

The future of a life simulation game

Hopefully, Paralives succeeds after this phase of significant bugs, emptiness, and instability, because I think competition is needed in the life simulation genre. There are very obvious glimpses of a game that could become a really great game sometime in the future. The Sims franchise has been a huge part of my life since childhood, but there are many serious problems that the company has yet try to fix. Paralives is a great game and has plenty of potential to defend this Paralives vs Sims 4 topic. 

What are your thoughts on Paralives vs Sims 4? Let us know in the comments!