Summary
Those looking forward toThe Sims 5might want to keep an eye onLife By You, an upcoming life-sim game that draws clear inspiration from EA’s best-selling franchise.Life By Youoffers a more mature, detailed, and contemporary take on the framework laid out byThe Sims, thus presenting new opportunities for life-sim fans and genre newcomers alike.
Life By Youwill be published by Paradox Interactive, a company whose portfolio includes cult-classic games likeCities: Skylinesand theEuropa Universalisfranchise. The pedigree of Paradox Interactive, coupled with the impressive and charming gameplay on display through the game’s trailers and showcases, have contributed to a growing sense of anticipation forLife By You. While there was once a time when it would have seemed unfathomable for a game to challengeThe Simsas the leader of the life-sim genre, thelong wait forThe Sims 5, coupled with the explosion in the life-simulation genre with games likeStardew Valley, have opened the door for a more directThe Simscompetitor. It looks likeLife By Youcould be just that.
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Why Life By You Could Challenge The Sims 5
The Sims 4released back in 2014, and while it has received a number of worthwhile expansions, the core game has remained mostly unchanged. Many fans of the series are still satisfied with the open-ended, creative-focused gameplay, but others may be looking for something new. For players interested in a fresh take on the life-sim genre but aren’t interested in more out-there titles likeAnimal Crossing,Life By Youcould be a promising alternative toThe Sims 5.
While players won’t truly know aboutLife By You’s quality until its early accessperiod begins next year, what has been shown so far seems promising. Straight away, its parallels withThe Simsare evident, as players control a number of different characters, some custom and some pre-determined, ushering them through tasks that can be either mundane or life-altering. Even several elements of the presentation and UI are unmistakablySims-inspired. However,Life By Youdeviates from theSimsformula in other ways.
The most significant point of difference forLife By Youis its scale and attention to detail. Rather than just controlling a select few characters,Life By Youplayers will have agency over every single NPC in the game. With no loading screens,Life By Youwill simulate every secondof each character’s life - a process that can take well over seventy in-game years. This massive scope is incredibly ambitious from a technical perspective, but it also poses a lot of potential for the player, as they can orchestrate, observe, and affect a theoretically infinite amount of possibilities for their custom characters and NPCs. OtherLife By Youfeatures, like full-fledged dialog rather than approximated conversations, also serve to bolster this sense of immersion and verisimilitude.
It’s also worth noting that Rod Humble, the man in charge ofThe Sims 2andThe Sims 3, is heading up the development ofLife By You. It’s probable that Humble will aim to improve upon what he perceived as shortcomings or missed opportunities during his time overseeing the development ofThe Sims. This could helpLife By Youimprove uponthe formula ofThe Sims, as the game will have the benefit of insight from a high-levelThe Simsdeveloper. This insight could combine with the ambition of the developers and the hardware innovations of the past nine years to birth a game that has a chance of threateningThe Sims 5as the leader of the life-sim genre, although only time will tell just how muchLife By Youcan improve upon its predecessor.
The Sims 5is in development.
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