It was her wedding day. It was put together rather haphazardly and the proposal happened only two hours ago, sure, but it was still her wedding day. It was going to be special.
The woman walks in with her beautiful dress and high heels and spots her groom-to-be, Hankyeol, and she greets her guests and thanks them all for coming. Everything’s going well. Everyone looks good, they’re mingling, the officiator’s ready. And then out of the corner of her eye, she spots Evan. The woman’s eyes scan the rest of the area and there’s Min-cheol. All of a sudden, her dreams of happily marrying Hankyeol and starting a family evaporate. She walks right over to Evan, tests a pickup line on him, and then kisses him in front of Hankyeol and her wedding guests. Evan rejects her advances at first and expresses his anger at her, but he ultimately gives in.
After that, she goes to Min-cheol and tells him she’s always been in love with him. Min-cheol is delighted, and the two engage in a passionate kiss. The woman is over the moon. Then, she turns around and walks down the aisle with Hankyeol and they exchange rings.
The wedding isn’t over yet, though; there’s still plenty of dancing and mingling to be done. But by this point, the woman is hungry. She realizes she hasn’t eaten since lunch and it’s nearly 6. She panics a little. Whatever is she going to do without food in her belly? For some reason, there’s absolutely no food at her wedding and the venue kitchen is just for show. Still in her high heels, she walks out of the venue and leaves Hankyeol and her guests behind. She takes the subway back to her apartment and eats a box of takeout noodles for dinner to end the night.
inZOI is a new life simulation game from Krafton and inZOI Studio. It garnered quite a bit of attention when it was first announced, and early playtest versions of the game indicated that it had the potential to really rival EA’s The Sims in the life simulation genre.
Well, as you can probably gather from my little anecdote, inZOI still has a long road ahead of it before it can truly topple the genre king, but there’s definitely something to watch out for here.
If you’ve been following the game’s development at all, I’m sure you’ve already caught glimpses of its robust character creator. If not, well, it’s pretty insane. At first glance, inZOI‘s character creator looks as though it’s just trying to cater to Korean (and Asian, in general) sensibilities and our idea of what makes a person beautiful, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Detailed Editing function allowed me to truly create the Zoi of my dreams. I’m not typically one to spend hours and hours in character creation, but you could absolutely do that here if you’re trying to create a Zoi that looks exactly like you.
After that, it’s time to choose a city you want to live in. At the time of writing, the early access build only features Dowon and Bliss Bay. The former is a South Korean neighborhood and metropolis, while the latter is clearly inspired by the beach city of Los Angeles. I created characters for both and found myself more entranced by Dowon, possibly because South Korea is a country that’s not really been explored in this genre.
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This is where inZOI starts to really show its chops as an immersive life sim. While you’ll likely spend most of your time in your house, you can also control your Zoi directly and just walk around in the open world as you please. As you’re out on the streets, you can speak to any other Zoi you come across, and also enter most buildings to check out what’s on offer. In a typical day, I’d spend my mornings doing chores, then head out for some karaoke in the afternoon, followed by a meal and a little excursion at a fancy art gallery.
If you apply for a job, you’ll get to control your Zoi at work as well. This is going to sound terribly mundane and boring, but working a 9 to 5 job might be my favorite thing to do in inZOI. Just showing up to work is good enough to get you paid, but if you’re angling for a promotion, you’ll need to complete the optional tasks that pop up during your work hours. I got to watch my Zoi sit at a computer for hours researching trends, before directing her to the conference table to lead a team meeting. In between those tasks, I could also have my Zoi grab a bite from the staff kitchen, mingle with her colleagues, and gossip about our boss.
Every Zoi you interact with comes with a little relationship log that shows you how things have progressed so far. You can build platonic, business, and romantic relationships with every Zoi, but it’s not always just a matter of spamming conversation options with them to get closer. Zois all have different Traits after all, and if their values don’t align with yours, then it’s only natural that your own Zoi will feel less inclined to spend time with them.
inZOI shines when it showers you with little flourishes. The game’s relationship log lets you know when a Zoi responds favorably to a warm greeting (some Zois really hate warmth, apparently), and small dialogue boxes pop up every now and then when you’re talking to them. I’ve started to see some repeated dialogue lines over 20 hours of play, but even these small details help to make the Zois feel more distinct and unique.
Overall, it’s clear that inZOI is very much a labor of love and a tribute to The Sims and the life sim games that came before it. It captures the essence of the life sim genre and understands what makes it so special. It’s all about finding beauty in the mundane. While I do wish the Zoi interactions were a bit more dynamic, and that Hankyeol would show some semblance of jealousy at my Zoi making out with other men at our own damn wedding, it’s hard to ignore the potential that’s on display here.
inZOI still has a long way to go, but I’ll be here every step of the journey.
inZOI is set to release on March 28, 2025.
Published: Mar 21, 2025 12:00 AM UTC