inZOI: A Life Sim Run By Kitties

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.


Mario obviously being a big fan of Shakespeare in
predicating his life on the bards perspective

Yesterday I mused about the absurdity of the internet making a big deal out of nothing, which was in and of itself, me operating under the absurdity on the internet making a big deal about nothing, by absurdly making a big deal out of the nothingness on the internet. So it goes, as Vonnegut would posit, and perhaps just the natural way of how this silly farce of a series of tubes often plays itself. In any case, the Nintendo Direct Sakurai tweeted about came and went, and certainly no Smash related news sprang from the event, though there is another Nintendo Direct coming up on April 2nd that is solely Switch 2 related, so Sakurai may yet have a hand in a grand reveal of some sort on the horizon, though I remain dubious it is of the Smash persuasion. In other non-Nintendo related news, a new life-sim game called inZOI is launching on Steam Early Access as we speak (article going up late 3/27), so barring any unforseen technological snafu’s, many should be enjoying their new slice of life simulator in full splendorous glory for the better part of tonight.


Expecting a lot of cat girls to be popping up…

Being in Early Access, the game will be weathering a storm in terms of a playtesting phase of sorts, and continuing to iron our a lot of bugs, glitches, and performance issues players will no doubtedly discover upon their early interactions with the game, but this is to be expected. The title will cost as much as a Sims expansion (reminder that the two only share genre DNA and are not in fact related) at $39.99, but any updates and content drops will belong to the players for good, even when the game moves out of Early Access. I think one of the things that struck me about inZOI upon reading about the title (from multiple huge outlets, mind you), is the palpable excitement for the title from the gaming industry at large. I’ve gone on recently about how gamers are a bit more multi-dimensional than they’re given credit for, with my musings on how many players are both interested in the quiet calmness of an Animal Crossing outing after pray and spraying down hordes of demons in Doom, and I think many’s collective giddiness about inZoi helps to hit that point home in how excited they are to play it.


…and recreate Billie Eilish in the hyper realistic character
creator, which is apparently a thing a lot of people like to do

Not only did the title become the most wishlisted title on Steam, but massive outlets have been serious about covering the experience, with PC Gamer even giving it a dedicated cover story for the May issue. I’m hoping to get my hands on inZoi to give it a test run if possible, as one of the big features of the game involves a more seamless open world approach to the sim experience, with three huge maps for you to choose from where a much larger collection of “Zois” will interact in more organic ways than the smaller bubbles Sims players have been accustomed to. Mix that in with what sounds like a super in-depth character and a focus on more AI fueled activities for the Zois themselves, and it sounds like there will be a lot to explore from the get go when inZOI launches.


Including cats! Who are the ones running the show
in-game. Be sure to pay tribute to your new cat overlords
with lots of snacks and scritches

Good thing inZoi is giving us a shot at creating a meow interesting every day in simulated format, because the real one we are all suffering right now just ain’t scratching that itch. Hope to be able to bring back some updates for you in the near future…maybe after a nice catnap or two.

~Pashford