For decades, EA's The Sims has held its place as the best-selling life simulation game in the industry in the tightest of grips. With no other strong competitors to challenge its monopoly, The Sims took over and quickly established itself as the only option when it came to more complex, extensive life sims.
Enter Paralives, a relatively small, Patreon-funded indie game that has been keeping Simmers on the edge of their seats with its stunning visuals and mechanics. While the game has a long way to go before players can try it for themselves, the Paralives team has already shown some of the most promising features that will easily win Simmers over.
10 Horses. Enough Said.
Who would've thought that horses would become such a requested feature from Simmers? Certainly not EA, who, despite the onslaught of petitions, refuses to bring them to The Sims 4. The fact that they haven't included horses in the upcoming Cottage Living expansion pack is a missed opportunity like many others that have come before.
Fortunately, Paralives is here to save the day. Characters in the game (aptly named Parafolk) will be able to own horses, cats, and dogs without the need for any extra DLC. This is a huge departure from The Sims' usual Pets expansion pack, which was rebranded into Cats & Dogs for The Sims 4 and created some controversy with its lack of variety.
9 Varied Seasons & Weather In Base Game
Historically, detailed seasons and varying weather have always been added to Sims games via paid DLCs, particularly the popular Seasons expansion packs that exist in all but the first game. Apart from the aesthetic changes to the game, the pack also incorporates seasonal activities like playing with snow in the Winter and raking leaves in the Fall.
Paralives, however, promises to bring all the magic of the changing seasons to every player for free. Not only will this feature be in the base game, but it will also be available upon launch, immediately putting Paralives miles ahead of The Sims and its expensive add-ons.
8 Parafolk With Unique Personalities & Advanced AI
One of the biggest complaints from Sims 4 players is the lack of varied personalities in the game. With every other DLC, players get a new trait that is meant to make Sims more unique, but it ends up acting as a tutorial on how to play through the newest pack. Simmers have also commented on how these traits don't seem to impact gameplay, leaving them with dull, uninteresting Sims.
So far, Paralives has introduced its first two Parafolk named Maggie and Sebastian via Youtube, and while there's still much to be revealed, there are a few details about them that definitely stand out. The game has a built-in height slider, a body hair feature, and Parafolk can even sit on counters! It doesn't seem like much, but considering The Sims has neither of these three features, Paralives seems like a leap in the right direction.
7 Parafolk Will Be Able To Live In Boathouses
Houseboats have only ever appeared in The Sims 3 expansion pack Island Paradise and the franchise's mobile game The Sims Freeplay. Unlike normal home lots, houseboats were built on docks and could move on water like any other boat, making them one of the most unique places for a Sim to live.
While not much information about them has been shared yet, the Paralives team has confirmed via their FAQ page that the game will have its own version called Boathouses. Hopefully, it'll surpass the expectations set by The Sims 3!
6 Resizable Lots That Are Much Easier To Manage
As demonstrated by the Paralives team in their Youtube channel, the game will allow players to manipulate house lots to their heart's content. These lots can have various custom shapes, can be easily resized if needed, and can even be curved!
In comparison, The Sims games are known for their lot templates, with a set ratio that cannot be changed. In The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, lots could be placed anywhere on the map as long as they followed the invisible grid, but this was later changed in the subsequent Sims 4 for pre-made lot spaces that can be neither altered nor removed.
5 Parafolk Can Own Cars, Bikes & Boats From The Start
The Sims 4 introduced boats and bikes through the Island Living and Discover University expansion packs, respectively, but has yet to incorporate usable cars. As time goes by, and The Sims 4's lifespan gets shorter, it seems that players will more than likely never get the functional cars they've been campaigning for since the game's release.
Luckily for them, Paralives is offering all three means of transportation in the base game, which will surely save players all the extra money they would pay for any Sims DLC.
4 Building With Curved Walls & Split Levels
Builders have long since taken to The Sims series as their best option to make their creations come alive. Build mode is arguably what has improved the most over the years, with The Sims 4 having the best user-friendly interface out of the entire franchise.
While it wasn't perfect when the game first debuted, several patches have improved Build mode significantly and added features like being able to create pools and have split levels, though the latter can be quite tricky to use for regular players. However, there are a few features that the game is still missing, like the ability to build curved walls, a tool that Paralives will include from release.
3 Customizing Furniture With A Quick Drag
Decorating and tinkering with furniture has never been as easy as it will be in Paralives. In the various promotional videos for the game, the team has demonstrated that turning a bed from a single into a double is as easy as dragging the side and making it wider. This mechanic also works for picture frames, windows, and even doors.
Objects in Paralives are easily stackable, flippable, and resizable, unlike the grid-based formula The Sims has always followed. And while the later Sims games have included a gridless option, this feature can be glitchy at best and disastrous at worst.
2 There's A Color Wheel For Everything
Amongst all games in the franchise, The Sims 3 is by far the best when it comes to color and pattern variety. It employed a Color Wheel feature in both Create-A-Sim and Build and Buy modes so Simmers could choose the exact color they wanted for their creations. Unfortunately, this feature didn't make it into The Sims 4.
Paralives is bringing players the ultimate customization tool, with a detailed Color Wheel for hair, skin, eyes, and clothes for its character creation interface, Paramaker, and a slew of pre-made and customizable patterns for Build mode. This will certainly help Parafolk stand out and be more distinct from others in the town.
1 Open World & Create-A-World Will Give Players The Ultimate Freedom
The Open World experience was a short-lived one for Simmers. The feature was introduced in the fan-favorite Sims 3 and didn't make a return in The Sims 4. Since then, many have expressed their disappointment with the dull and static maps in the game, with some experienced Simmers dedicating their time to creating intricate Open World mods.
This doesn't seem to be an issue with Paralives, since the team behind the game has already confirmed that it'll have a small Open World town upon launch. Further along the line, the game will also have more worlds to explore and the coveted World Creation tool that will allow players to create their own neighborhoods from scratch.
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