10 Paralives Features That Completely Change What Players Expect From Life

Life sims have had a moment of rejuvenation thanks to the release of InZoi, then Paralives. Two new major competitors in the life sim genre is something that has never happened before, and came just as The Sims 4 began a decline thanks to the Saudi Arabia buyout and the decision to end expansion packs.

Paralives in particular has changed the space in fundamental ways because it's developed by an indie studio, doesn't use generative AI, and brings back a lot of the feelings of the old Sims games while still creating its own identity. It includes features and mechanics that modernize the genre and has set some positive precedents for any future life sims, and I'm very happy to see them. Here are some of my favorites that I hope will appear in future life sims.

10 Customizable Mechanics

Storytelling Customization Works

Setting the difficulty of a game is par the course for most games, but several genres are notably excluded from this, including Soulslikes and cozy games and life sims. The Sims 4 has some gameplay mechanics you can adjust, such as the length of life stages, but Paralives really came in clutch with its customization options.

Paralives lets you customize mechanics through its Storyteller mechanic. You can choose from three presets, but you can also go ahead and customize each mechanic individually. These are detailed down to the chances of having twins or triplets, the chances of being fired, and how long each day lasts. These are all important for life sims, and being able to adjust them is a game-changer.

9 Height Slider

More Options is Always Better

Being able to change your characters' heights in a video game is something very new, and for good reason. It's very difficult for game developers to animate characters of different heights, especially if the player is the one deciding the height and the characters need to interact with each other.

And so, Paralives' inclusion of a height slider is an important advancement in video game development, and it doesn't do it by half measures, with big differences between the two ends of the slider. Characters of dramatically different heights are able to interact with each other using animations that appear completely natural. Now that Paralives has broken that barrier, it will become an expected inclusion for life sims going forward.

8 Representation

Show the Real World

This may seem like an odd one to include, but representation is important, and it's especially glaring when it isn't there. The Sims 4 had this problem, especially concerning hair textures and skin tones, but it's far from the only offender. Other life sims almost always have limited options for Black characters, if they have them at all, and disability representation is still rare to see.

Paralives included these options right from its launch in Early Access, and this is a standard that needs to be met by future life sims. The world is diverse, and the very definition of a life sim is to hold up a mirror to the real world. Cutting out vast chunks of the population does not work anymore, and we love to see this change.

7 Weather

No More Paywalls for a Basic Feature

The Sims set a precedent in introducing ambient weather in The Sims 2: Seasons, and it completely transformed the experience. Weather makes games so much more immersive, a factor that's essential for life sims. Unfortunately, it kept being locked behind a paywall, first with The Sims 3, then The Sims 4. While this is understandable for older games, by the time The Sims 4 was released, including ambient weather was the default for all games.

Rather than taking a feature and making you pay extra for it, Paralives will include ambient weather in a future free update. Weather hasn't been included yet, but is a part of the development roadmap. Including it as a part of the base game sets the expectation for any future life sim to do the same.

6 An Open World

No More Loading Screens

An open world has become the norm for modern video games, but this hasn't been the case for life sims. Some life sims still include loading screens and rabbit holes, but Paralives has included an open world. It's not the first to do so, as InZoi also includes one, but it's continuing a trend in a significant way.

Loading into my Para's household and being able to explore the entirety of Melino with my Para was honestly an experience I never thought I'd have again. It does so much for immersion and storytelling to just be able to walk up to any NPC and strike up a conversation with them, or to visit a restaurant just because my Para happened to be in the area and her hunger need was low.

5 Lore and Characters

Give a Reason to Stay

Implementing lore isn't a necessity for life sims, even if they include named NPCs. The Sims 4 includes lore for NPCs, but it doesn't go further than biographies in the main world menu. Implementing lore through gameplay is essential for it to feel meaningful, and Paralives does just that.

Paralives includes characters, lore, and visual clues around the world that hint at an ongoing storyline and events that may be implemented in future updates, but what is there is already plenty for players to investigate or simply make the world and its characters more interesting. It encourages you to explore each household and interact with the characters and lore, rather than staying in a bubble with your household.

4 Gridless Decorating

More Build Options

This is an underrated feature that does so much for builds of any kind. Grids are useful for building to avoid clipping and pathing issues for characters, but there's a limit to what you can do on one. Placing objects on a grid will inevitably look too awkward, rather than the organic placement that happens in real life.

Other life sims let you work around the grid with cheats and alt-placement, but it's an inelegant solution that varies in effectiveness. Paralives gives you the option of using the grid, but all its item placement is off-grid. Items can be placed on each other, particularly clutter, which does wonders for making a build look real.

3 No Microtransactions

Pay Once and That's It

Life sims tend to come with a lot of add-ons, and these sometimes get advertised in-game in the form of a marketplace. Rather than being convenient ways to buy more content, microtransactions are invasive and increasingly predatory as they include just a few low-quality and pixelated items.

Paralives won't have any paid expansions or DLC, and have promised that all its additional content will be available to everyone with free updates, meaning the only purchase needed is the original purchase of the game. Not having flashing buttons and ads thrown at you is a bonus for immersion and also not constantly feeling like the target of a scam while playing a game you've already paid for.

2 Different Use for Needs

Personality Has an Impact

Needs have always been a core part of life sims, and reflect real human needs. Much of the gameplay loop in life sims involves finding ways to solve those needs, working around them to get tasks done, and working against them to achieve goals.

Paralives has taken this gameplay loop a step further by having needs adapt to your Para's personality, which is influenced by the following categories in the Paramaker:

• Stats: determines abilities such as charisma and creativity. that determine basic abilities
• Vibe: this is the general impression a Para makes on others.
• Talent: the skill area that the Para excels in.
• Social perk: determines what social situations a Para prefers.
• Lifestyles: includes vegetarianism and sleeping habits.

These influence how your Paras needs work, including freezing them, having unique needs appear, or having them just be ignored no matter how dire they get. This is a level of gameplay that other life sims haven't approached, and future ones could consider as it adds so much more to gameplay.

1 Nuanced Personalities

Vegetarianism is No Longer a Personality Trait

You get to pick traits to determine a part of your Para's personality. In The Sims 4, traits like Vegetarianism included in the total count, which becomes a pain as being a vegetarian is not a personality trait, and it takes up a vital slot that could be used for an actual personality trait.

Paralives fixes this by adding a Lifestyle section that's separate from the traits. The Lifestyle section currently only has a toggle for vegetarian, sleep habits such as Night Owl and Early Bird, and your Para's cleaning habits. What's exciting about this is that more can be added to this section, and has a meaningful impact on gameplay, giving your Paras more personality and making them feel more like individuals.