Paralives, an upcoming life simulation game, is about to challenge The Sims franchise with a fresh look at the established genre. The game is still in development for PC and Mac without a specific release date, but there’re already reasons to be excited about it.
The coolest concept behind Paralives is that the game is highly customizable in almost every aspect, right down to resizing and shaping any furniture pieces a player might have to be used for extremely precise interior design. Players can take advantage of surprisingly simple yet functional tools to give their living areas unique looks. That being said, the creative process and production are being entirely funded by community pledges, which means the developers behind the project have to meet their fans’ expectations - and be pretty clear about where the game is heading. Judging by the community response to continuous development updates, the team is succeeding at that, and it's also given consumers their best look at the Paramaker system yet.
The most recent Paralives development update touches upon the complex character creation system called Paramaker, which is robust enough to challenge The Sims franchise. There’s a new dedicated video highlighting the depth of the editor and the many features it has to offer. While there are several layers of tuning physical appearance and body type in a character, Paramaker is simple and intuitive to use. One of the most exciting features for all The Sims fans on the fence about Paralives should be the mechanics of height adjustment, which is something EA’s franchise has yet to adopt.
Paralives might be a breath of fresh air for genre enthusiasts as The Sims 4 just recently unveiled a somewhat disappointing new expansion, Eco Lifestyle. Fans have accused developers of reusing an insultingly high amount of previously featured scenes and animations, which is something to be concerned about since the upcoming expansion is a fully-priced one. Paralives might greatly benefit from that controversy and attract new fans with its transparent approach and development.
While Paralives does look promising as a passion project, it is still worth noting that its budget is nowhere near the huge financial juggernaut that is the Sims franchise. There are eye-catching features and ambitious concepts in this enticing indie project, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the game will end up ultimately better than the The Sims, considering the modest funding. It is still a great thing that a new player is about to emerge in the Sims-dominated market, however, which could potentially force EA to introduce new ideas to its fairly repetitive series.
Source: Paralives/Steam, Paralives/YouTube