After a bit of a delay, Paralives has finally been released into Early Access. Described as a game created by and for fans of life sims, it feels familiar from the beginning if you’ve played any game in the genre before. It’s playable so far, but you need to know going into the game that it’s still in very early access, so you’re basically guaranteed to encounter bugs and glitches.
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Despite its early version and the expected issues that you might encounter, Paralives is already enjoyable to play. It addresses several features that other life sims have, and it gives you the chance to choose how difficult you want your game to be— an option that can be adjusted at any time— so that you don’t fall into the boredom that can come from life sims where it feels like you’re just watching your characters and nothing happens. Paralives lets you make an impact on the lives of your Paras in ways that affect their relationships and futures.
Paralives Goes Back to the Roots of Life Sims
When I started playing Paralives, it felt like playing The Sims 2 for the first time again. The Sims 2 is my favorite entry in the franchise, so this was a pleasant surprise from Paralives, and it essentially means that the game isn’t afraid of being weird. It also gives you the chance to make your experience more difficult, which I appreciate, since it’s started to feel like too many life sims are unnecessarily easy. You can spend hours playing them without it feeling like anything significant is happening, which is a primary complaint I’ve had about The Sims 4.
When I started playing Paralives, it felt like playing The Sims 2 for the first time again.
The design of Paralives is reminiscent of older life sims, which makes it nostalgic for players like me who got to play those games as they were released and have fond memories from those times. It also makes itself accessible for newcomers or simply casual enjoyers, as you can make the game easier without giving up your ability to influence your Paras’ lives in meaningful ways.
As far as the premise goes, Paralives keeps it simple. Your Paras have needs and wants. Managing their needs keeps them in a good mood, which means that they’re more likely to earn an upgrade at their job or in school. Fulfilling wants gives you the chance to level up their personalities, which is a feature that states it’s still in-progress on the menu, but it’s interesting so far as it lets you continue to shape your Paras beyond the character creation screen with a depth that you don’t often see in this genre.
The Visuals and Sounds of Paralives Are Perfectly Cozy
The style used for the graphics of Paralives doesn’t feel overly cartoony nor exactly realistic. I find the design to be cozy. I don’t want my life sim to be too realistic, but I don’t want it to feel silly either because of it being too unrealistic. So far, Paralives is at a good spot in the middle of those options.
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The graphics aren’t smooth right now. You’ll encounter a lot of stuttering and visual glitches. I had a moment when one of the walls of my Paras’ house was turning white repeatedly, as if it couldn’t decide if it wanted to exist in the world or not. However, if you look at the posts from the devs on Steam, they acknowledge that there are a number of graphical issues they’re aware of, and they say that they’re working on fixing those issues in the next patch.
As for the sounds, they’re quite fun. The build and buy modes have songs that are more soothing rather than aggressively upbeat. I enjoy the sound effect of selling items in particular. Unlike the graphics, I haven’t encountered any glitches with sounds so far, which is great since audio glitches can be much more annoying, especially if a sound gets stuck in an unending loop.
Paralives Has a Good Start, But It’s Far From Finished
After the cancellation of Life by You, it’s great to see that Paralives made it to Early Access even with a delay. The foundation is there for Paralives, but you can tell that the game is far from finished, which can be frustrating if you encounter glitches and other issues. I’ve had to use the “Unstuck” option from the menu multiple times because my Paras end up trapped in walls somehow. At the same time, it’s funny to see some of these glitches appear, especially since I’m used to life sims being somewhat janky from the early days of the genre.
The build and buy modes have songs that are more soothing rather than aggressively upbeat.
The devs have been posting updates on Steam regularly, which is comforting because you know that they’re receiving feedback and taking it into consideration rather than ignoring it. Additionally, the roadmap for Paralives and the devs’ claim that DLC will be free are both promising signs for the game’s future, and I hope that the base game receives the bulk of attention and updates right now and that DLC is a distant idea.
It’s a bare-bones game right now. You can still get hours of fun from it, but you can also end up restarting the game due to problems like stuttering and graphical glitches. Despite its current state, I’d still recommend the game to anybody who wants a game that’s similar to The Sims, but with a slower pace and a far cheaper option. I generally enjoy Early Access games even through the issues they often have. You have the chance to provide feedback and see the game change with each update, which gives you the feeling that you’ve helped shape what it becomes in the end.
If you’re uncertain about buying a game that’s this new and has a long path of development still ahead of it, that’s understandable even with the love that it’s been receiving, including from me. There are a lot of features that I’d want included in the game before picking it up if I wasn’t previewing its current state, such as seasons and pets, but both of those are in the current roadmap. While I might not get as many hours in-game as I have with The Sims just yet, I can see a future where a version of Paralives that’s out of Early Access absorbs countless hours of my life.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
