[Early Access] inZOI – Visually Impressive but Needs More Depth and Polish

If you enjoy independent indie game coverage, consider supporting Indie-Games.eu on Patreon. It helps keep the site independent.

• DEVELOPER: inZOI Studio
• PUBLISHER: KRAFTON, Inc.
• PLATFORMS: PC
• GENRE: Life Sim
• RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2025
• STARTING PRICE: 39.99€
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

inZOI enters the life simulation genre with big ambitions, aiming to challenge The Sims, which has dominated the genre for decades. The game combines photorealistic visuals, extensive customization options, and a fresh approach to sandbox living. At first glance, it looks fantastic — you can create detailed characters and build freely in an open world. However, in its current Early Access state, the game feels rather empty. While it shows enormous potential, it needs more engaging content to keep players invested for longer.

Tools That Redefine Creativity

Gameplay revolves around creating and managing Zois, customizable characters who live, work, and socialize in one of two starting cities: Dowon (inspired by Seoul) and Bliss Bay (inspired by the laid-back Californian coast). The game begins in the Create-a-Zoi studio, where you shape your avatar’s appearance and personality by choosing from 18 traits, such as adventurous or individualist.

Afterward, you place them in a home, either a pre-built one or your own creation, and manage eight life needs: hunger, hygiene, toilet, fun, social, energy, sleep, and recognition. From there, the gameplay follows the classic life-sim formula: find a job, build relationships, pursue hobbies, and manage daily life while customizing the world around you.

Even before you start playing, inZOI impresses with its incredibly detailed character editor. Personally, I’m not a big fan of spending hours perfecting every facial feature or outfit combination. But what sets this system apart is the ability to share creations with others. From clothing and accessories to fully designed Zois and lots, there’s a wealth of options to experiment with. The tools are not only deep but also intuitive, making it easy to explore and bring your ideas to life.

The Build Mode is equally powerful. You can construct walls, roofs, and furniture, then precisely adjust colors, materials, and even 3D print real objects, like plush toys, using photo uploads. The City Edit Mode allows you to completely reshape cities by changing billboards or adjusting safety levels to influence crime rates or even the health of Zois. It’s a true sandbox paradise, featuring tools that surpass the base version of The Sims 4 in both scope and detail.

Slow, but a Solidly Crafted Life Simulation

Jobs in the game range from passive (office worker) to active (firefighter, fast-food employee), with active roles offering tasks such as putting out fires or preparing burgers, while passive ones play out automatically off-screen, leaving you to wait or fast-forward time (which works but feels sluggish). Unlike The Sims, where a day can end in minutes, inZOI moves at a much slower pace. A single in-game day lasts about 96 minutes at normal speed, though there’s an option to adjust time. It’s a true real-time simulation, where two in-game days can take hours to complete.

The biggest issue with the game is its slowness, which affects all other systems. Skills develop too quickly, and social interactions lack depth, you can marry a character within two hours or instantly become best friends. This lack of realism reduces engagement, even though dialogue options are quite varied, divided into romantic, friendly, and professional categories. However, relationships always start at a neutral level — even married Zois begin as strangers, meaning you have to “grind” relationships without any real emotional payoff.

Worse yet, most interactions feel identical. The Sims has its flaws too, but the repetition in inZOI makes connecting with other characters difficult, everything quickly becomes monotonous. Still, the developers have promised major updates. If the upcoming messaging system is implemented well, it could greatly enhance social interactions and breathe life into these otherwise empty relationships.

The open world also leaves mixed impressions. You can drive vehicles or control your Zoi directly using WASD while exploring the beautifully designed streets, parks, and stores. However, many objects are inaccessible, and NPCs, despite the “Smart Zoi” AI system, often ignore interactions when they’re busy, creating a world that looks lively but feels detached. Despite these shortcomings, the game world looks stunning. The attention to detail is remarkable, adding a strong sense of authenticity. Streets are always populated with Zois, traffic flows naturally, and every element comes together into a visually spectacular experience.

Very Demanding Game for Your PC

The karma system introduces an interesting dynamic: positive actions (like helping others) increase happiness, while negative behavior (such as insulting people) carries consequences. However, without dynamic events or deeper NPC interactions, the gameplay quickly becomes repetitive. After about 30 hours of play, the cycle of building, working, and socializing loses its charm because there’s no deeper purpose to sustain long-term interest.

The game looks stunning, thanks to Unreal Engine 5. The Zois appear highly realistic, with glossy skin and detailed hair, but they resemble perfect K-pop idols more than everyday people. Weather effects such as rain and snow add atmosphere and make the world feel more believable, yet they don’t significantly affect gameplay. Your character can catch a cold or get sick, but that system isn’t as detailed as I had hoped.

While the game performs well on high-end PCs with GPUs like the RTX 3080, it’s too demanding for average systems. It’s also filled with bugs, most are annoying but not game-breaking. For example, food sometimes doesn’t get eaten immediately after being prepared or disappears when left on the counter. Zois also tend to get stuck in random places, like on treadmills. These are just a few of the many issues I noticed during several hours of testing.

The “Smart Zoi” AI system, designed to simulate NPC thoughts and autonomy, shows potential but remains experimental. Currently, NPCs are too rigid to create organic stories — they often behave illogically, stubbornly following their schedules even when starving. Despite this, the game offers a solid sandbox experience with plenty of ideas that could one day evolve into a truly great life simulation.

Very Ambitious Project

Ultimately, the gameplay feels rather shallow; jobs lack variety, and the social systems feel robotic. While the world is visually stunning, it remains an empty shell. Still, it’s far more impressive than The Sims 4 was at launch and marks a clear step forward compared to EA’s approach of flooding players with hundreds of overpriced and disappointing DLCs. inZOI shows tremendous potential, and I’m genuinely excited to see how it evolves.

However, it’s important to remember that this is a Krafton game. Even in Early Access, the developers have already announced upcoming DLCs, a worrying sign, given that the base game still feels unfinished. Also, as repetition is the mother of learning, it bears repeating: this is a VERY slow game, painfully slow, in fact. Even at 8x speed, everything drags on. While some have dubbed it a “Sims killer,” the reality is more modest: a promising challenger still searching for its identity. For fans of deep customization and patient Early Access enthusiasts, this is a great €40 sandbox full of potential. But if you’re looking for a deep life simulation or unpredictable chaos, temper your expectations — it’s not there yet.

A copy of the game was purchased for review purposes