There are many great details that will not only make the life simulator fun, but also reflect the real world. You need to balance customizability with creative freedom. They feel rules enough to make your choices come true, and weave those decisions invisibly in a satisfying way. (Reproducing life turned out to be difficult – sorry to all Flak, Dr. Frankenstein.) But despite it being difficult, it has suffered quite a bit of stab wounds on Inzoi based on what I’ve played about the launch version of early access so far. Its beautiful, realistic aesthetic makes an impressive first impression, and the ambitious simulator system beneath it brings some impressive harmony first. But as I continue to spend more time in this simulation, Inzoi’s universe seams are beginning to appear, emptying the world more than I expected.
If you first talk to the elephant in the room, it is impossible not to compare the inzoi immediately. Simsthe series is very clear to try and compete with inspiration. You play as an omnipotent figure who can create and control small citizens when they live their best or worse. You can build a house from scratch, manipulate the characteristics of each person (called ZOI) and involve them in all the local dramas you can find. They can work, go to school, explore local areas as long as you allow or without free will. However, these surface-level similarities quickly fade as soon as you begin digging into Krafton’s unique take on this genre.
When starting a new game with Inzoi, you must first build your household using the detailed character creator studio. In addition to choosing name, gender and age, you can also select features that define the personality of your avatar. From authoritarians to individualists, there are 18 options to choose from. Each option provides a handy characteristic sidebar that explains how this selection affects its behavior in the game. As a hardworking freelancer, I value professional activities and have a loving twist and hold on to the tension longer than other Zois. Pushing in the decline and flow of virtual life, your Zoi will develop their ego even further when they encounter likes and dislikes such as fast food and fitness that interfere with their mood. Inzoi neatly envelops the character archetype in simple grab-and-go options.
If appearance is relevant, you can take a finer tooth comb approach by picking from a considerable list of presets or pulling specific anchor points across Zoi’s body and face. Alongside the granular color picker for many options, there is a preset color choice, allowing more nuance to your choice. Courtesy of Inzoi’s realistic visual style, my Zoi quickly resembles a real person and enjoyed the process of adjusting my makeup and hair.
The system that adjusts facial features is a completely engrossed time sink, but what really stands out is Inzoi’s fashion sensibility. During the creation process, you will need to curate nine different outfits, including formal wear, sleepwear, and outfits suitable for summer and winter weather. There are decent mixes of modern trends like cargo style parachute pants, and tailored classics such as military and leather jackets. Basics like T-shirts come in multiple lengths, and can be mixed into the content of your mind to match and layer. Needless to say, I spent even longer here, curating Y2K-inspired outfits with leg warmers, Doc Marten Dupes and an adorable, oversized baseball jersey. It’s not a completely perfect system. Buggy silhouette clothing options are cut out against Zoa in a strange way. Still, this felt like one of the more refined aspects of Inzoy and I totally enjoyed playing dress-ups with my work.
Once your family is organized, the next step is to find a home for them. Currently, Inzoy has two locations: the Korean-style city of Dawon and Bliss Bay in California. You can build your own home or move it into a pre-designed lot. Each township has public lots such as shops, cafes, and open spaces such as parks and shrines. Unfortunately, here I first noticed that the seams of Clafton’s ambitious project were beginning to show. The illuminated neon signs cover the streets of Dowon with a dreamy, multi-colored glow, but in Briss Bay, it absorbs the sun-soaked coastal atmosphere. However, if it’s too long, everything starts to become a little hollow. Those neon signs sit on an empty building, with gentle sunlight reflecting a static bit of set dressing. It is clear that a lot of attention is being paid to give impression In the busy environment, I admired those details, especially the fake MacDonald’s who won a laugh from me, but I couldn’t feel that much of the world is almost on facades.
That persistent feeling continued into my everyday life at Zoi. There, we managed our needs such as hunger and hygiene, but we haven’t really made it to how we fit into digital culture. Despite choosing Go-Getter traits, I was not under the impression that it was making too specific differences in my daily activities, especially when my other Zoi were acting in essentially the same way, despite the fact that they gave them the opposite personality style. When I started my family in another household, I came across the same lockdown. No matter who was in control, many conversations were repeated in loops. Topics such as cryptocurrency and the power of humility continued to appear in my dialogue tree. The first few were obviously interesting, but gradually the repetitive relationships became a bit monotonous.
It’s fun to see something like your Zoi’s treadmill display appear functional, or the details of their food are so compelling that my stomach is often rough and matched with my avatar when hiding for lunch. However, these pockets of well-designed actions can feel colder in comparison to simplified or repetitive alternatives. Over time it was as if my Zoi was a more controllable drone, not personal, and was performing tasks without rhymes or reason. Perhaps the options will diversify as they fill in their likes and dislikes and make more friends, but I’m sure I haven’t noticed any differences in the roughly 15 hours I’ve played so far.
Thankfully, the salvation to this strangeness is Inzoi’s Karma system, which punishes or rewards citizens based on their actions. When interacting with other Zoi or objects, you sometimes present a choice with Yin and Yang symbols, informing you that performing that action will affect their calmascore. Stealing coins from a parking meter is considered bad, but giving instructions to random people is considered good. I was skeptical at first, but soon I started to feel the system’s rage. I sent Zoi in an unfair Tirad, covering it in a local park, kicking a vending machine, and trying to win a stuffed turkey toy with a claw plate. After a shocking number of attempts, the toys remained trapped in the Plexiglass prison. From here, I instructed Zoi to become a model citizen, praised strangers and gave some sociable jokes before returning to the same machine. Don’t you believe it, they won the award for their first attempt this time. Karma is a simple concept that actually works well and provides comfortable, invisible boundaries.
There’s still a lot to do and see before you reach the final verdict, including diving into the heart of your career, car, and build mode. Inzoi is an early access game and at this point it certainly feels like one thing. The scattering of realistic visuals and highly detailed interactions opposed to its rough, less immersive edges, which sometimes gives the world a strange and sterile atmosphere. Still, these blind spots have an incredible amount of depth hidden in them, and we want to see if Inzoy can deliver that monumental promise in the long run, while working towards a final review of what is happening at the start of the coming weeks.
