The highly anticipated life simulator inZOI has just been released in Early Access, and despite its limitations, it has already garnered “Very Positive” reviews on Steam, with over 10,211 reviews. This level of success raises an important question: Can inZOI truly compete with The Sims franchise?
As a dedicated fan of life simulation games, I was eager to explore inZOI. However, my initial excitement quickly turned into disappointment due to a lack of content, slow gameplay mechanics, and an overly simplified relationship system. Here’s my honest review of inZOI and why I think it still has a long way to go.
Lack of Content
As someone who has spent countless hours designing homes and creating characters in The Sims, I expected inZOI to offer a similar level of depth. Unfortunately, the game falls short in several key areas:
- Limited character customization: The variety of facial features, hairstyles, and clothing options is minimal.
- Barebones home design: If you were hoping for an extensive home-building experience like in The Sims 4, prepare for disappointment. The furniture selection is scarce, and different styles are almost nonexistent.
- Shallow career system: While inZOI allows players to choose a career, the experience is far from engaging. There are no skill requirements, no goals, and minimal feedback on career progression.
Without a solid foundation in these core areas, inZOI struggles to provide an immersive life simulation experience.
I can personally accept a lack of content in character customization or home design, but a lack of career options… I can’t immerse myself in a life simulator with such a low variety of career options. On top of that, the career path I chose had no goals or skills you needed to perform in order to get promoted. You just have to be there. There are different activities you can choose to do while at work, but there is no information on what they change, how they affect your work or status.
Major Problem with Tempo
Another major flaw in inZOI is its frustratingly slow pacing. While time management is a crucial element in life simulators, inZOI makes it feel tedious rather than engaging.
- Work system: When your ZOI (in-game character) goes to work, they enter a taxi that doesn’t even drive away. Players are then forced to wait eight in-game hours with no meaningful activities to engage in.
- Limited fast-forwarding options: Unlike The Sims, where you can speed up time significantly, inZOI restricts fast-forwarding to x8 speed for work and x30 for sleeping, making long waiting periods a common occurrence.
- Unnecessary downtime: The game often leaves players with nothing to do but wait, which significantly reduces engagement.
A mod to override the current fast-forwarding limits would greatly improve the game’s pacing and overall enjoyment.
Everything is so Easy to Achieve
A key aspect of any life simulator is building relationships, whether romantic or platonic. Unfortunately, inZOI oversimplifies this process to the point of making it uninteresting.
- Every interaction progresses too quickly—within five minutes, most ZOIs will fall in love, want to be best friends, or become colleagues.
- By day 2, my ZOI had four True Loves, two BFFs, and two Colleagues.
- I managed to get married by day 3, and I’m confident it could have happened even sooner.
This lack of challenge and depth in social interactions makes relationships feel artificial, reducing the long-term appeal of the game.
Final Thoughts
After just three hours of gameplay, I struggled to find a reason to continue playing inZOI. While the game has potential, it currently feels like The Sims 2 running on Unreal Engine but with fewer features.
That said, Early Access games thrive on feedback and updates. I genuinely hope that inZOI evolves with future DLCs, expansions, and gameplay improvements to become a true contender in the life simulation genre. Until then, I can’t recommend it as a solid alternative to The Sims.
