I’m from the same generation — my first Sims game was The Sims 1, though my gamer path started even earlier with the Sega MD. Throughout my school and uni years, I was an active moderator on Sims forums, converting objects and building worlds in both Sims 2 and 3.
That was an era. The franchise was taking off, and people who weren’t gamers, or came from other genres, were playing it. I was constantly installing it for them. And even back then, players preferred complex, structured gameplay. Sims 2 stood out for its depth of personality and interactions, while Sims 3 scaled things up (Rod Humble often showcased early Trait prototypes — 2D demos testing interactions between personality archetypes, like “Who’s the witch?” and so on). I remember recognizing my friends through their ideal Sims playthroughs — honest, no cheats, no tweaks. Every expansion pack was a new set of tools for playing a clean, personal run.
And since I haven’t changed my standards, I’m simply asking inZOI for depth of personality. Until that’s there, I won’t play at all. Even if it’s just 3 systems out of 20 originally planned — drop the rest, but make those few candy-like, juicy, catchy, just take my money.
Right now, the core simulation elements in InZOI — Wishes and Emotions — feel outdated, stale, and unoriginal to me, and I’m not even sure if the Enneagram/MBTI/BigFive works.
You see, a hollow personality is a red flag for me in any game labeled “Life Simulator.” Without that, they’re making a strategy sandbox — not a simulation game. Because by definition, a simulator must represent complex systems that model real human being.
It’s like calling a game a driving simulator, but giving it arcade-style driving for the steering wheel (technically, you have a detailed car, a track, and so on, but no, it’s arcade racing, not driving sim). Or simplifying all the levers in Flight Simulator and saying, “Well, you’re in a plane, and we gave you the whole world.” (it’s open-world action, not flying sim).