LIFE BY YOU is missing ONE MAJOR THING

The official announcement event of Life by You by Paradox took place.
We got a new trailer, and a lot of footage showing the gameplay, all the new features, and tools, but there is one big thing missing in the game and I have to talk about it.
Life by You is an upcoming open-world life simulator game coming to Early Access on September 12, 2023.
As the developer describes: "Life by You allows players to design and live out the lives of the humans that they create in an open game world where everything is customizable. Players create their households, build their homes and tell life’s many stories. With real language conversation and the ability to switch from third-person to direct control gameplay, players will connect with their humans on an emotional level. A wide variety of Creator Tools and Editors will allow players to tweak every aspect of their experience, giving them the ability to live life to the fullest - or break the rules, as they see fit." 🟪 MY WEBSITE: www.simmattically.com

[@SimMattically]

I just want to clarify that when I talk about art style, it's not about choosing between realistic or cartoonish graphics. Art style is also about the execution of the chosen style. When I say I don't like the style of the graphics in Life by You, I'm not saying I wish they were cartoony instead of realistic. I just wish the execution of realistic was better!

[@SpicyxBabe]

They said that they already improving lots of the graphics. So don’t be worried everything will look better and smoother.

[@angelacooper8973]

I have to respectfully disagree. I love the realistic style as all my sims are Alpha CC. I only had Maxis match cause at one point I was playing laptop mode. But once I switched whoo ha it was like a kid in a candy store. Rambling over I just plain disagree with you.

[@jojosworld1396]

Why am I just now seeing this......

[@PerionStones]

On the Paradox Career page they're apparently looking to hire a 3D Tech Artist, so hopefully that'll help to improve the graphics for the characters and artstyle because I definitely agree that it needs work

[@SimMattically]

I'm excited to see how this game improve because it would be a waste to let it fall short because of its looks.

[@MzShaybutta]

The art style and aesthetics is something I'm so happy about in Life by you. I HATE the aesthetics in Sims 4, hence why I only have 12 hours of gameplay since it launched. I'm a Sims 3 player still. That's why our portion of the community-base is sooo excited, we like customization and pushing the boundaries on the game, we like the uncanny valley aesthetics hence why our mods are more geared towards realism. Rod Humble was a big part in evolving with that community-base so he KNOWS what the players of FULL Life Simulations want. They do need to update the graphics and DEFINITELY the animations involving the humans. They were stiff and had no personality. That I agree with, they need a full overhaul because they will be the focus, but the lighting, ambient occlusion is spot on. I for one like textures and realism.

[@leahwarburton]

There's still time before the final release of the game, so I'm sure there will be a bit of refinement along the way. But, personally, I actually like the art direction they've chosen. The town, and houses - from what I could see - look very pretty. The characters need more refinement, but we're still six months from the pre-release, and who knows how long from the full release of the final game. A lot of time for tweaking and refinement. I think it's going to look really good when it's fully completed.💖👍🏻

[@rainieowo]

For some reason, it felt like I was also playing GTA V with LBY with the graphics they have. Though same vibes but the art needs a little improvement in LBY but I honestly prefer gameplay than aesthetics lol

[@clumzy7777]

I think LBY is realistic looking because the whole game is center around the realism. They call the characters "Humans". I think they want this game to be a real world not just a game. ❤️

[@leahwarburton]

Exactly. I like it. And it is different from The Sims, and Paralives. Sometimes a little more realism is good. And, personally, I think it's really pretty.👍🏻

[@lanifreyabaird5984]

I love itttt

[@thebluehoodie2013]

I actually like the art style, its very alpha realistic. It just needs some touch ups here and there. You have the Sims 4 or Paralives if your looking for more of that cartoony look. I don't think there's a right or wrong. At the end of the day, the gameplay is more important than the aesthetic. I have the Sims 4 but I hardly play it because there is no dynamic gameplay, even if the aesthetics are 'better'. At least you don't have to splurge out on multiple packs, to do a quarter of what the Life By You base game offers - This is a win for me!

[@Theescapist_87]

Yeah I don't think they are aiming for the cartoony look. Life By You seems to be aiming for a more mature audience who want deeper gameplay and not a dollhouse. The artstyle is more realistic and although it needs some polishing, I kinda like it. I just hope they make some more idles for the characters in the coming months.

[@aquagamer1212]

If you would have said TS5 you would have made sense but why are you comparing it to ts4? The next game is what it’s competition is; not the current one. Most people are not gonna jump ship from ts4 to LBY; especially the younger players.

[@MzShaybutta]

@@aquagamer1212 That's true. But the younger players really don't have the finances to invest in DLC etc, and more than likely they don't have the computers to run a game like this, which is a win for serious gamers. The Sims franchise didn't take the game to the next level because they wanted a game people could play on lower end systems and watered down to meet the T rating system. Plus I guarantee modders and people who preferred Sims 3 are jumping ship as soon as the finished product launches.

[@jacjac009]

I completely agree. Gameplay over everything

[@Fiasco3]

There's this wrong belief that most people are after that cartoony look. With better graphic-engines and tech. out there having more realistic graphics isn't really a problem and is desirable. They just do the cartoony stuff so that people with older/toaster computers and mobiles can play that's it.

[@MJ-98]

With Cities Skylines, I really don't care about the art direction. It looks like a city and I'm really not focused on it; the gameplay distracts me too much (which is a good thing). The Life by You art style (world wise) reminds me of the sims 3, which I also didn't really like but if the gameplay is deep enough, I imagine I won't be too torn up about it. I do hope the graphics of the humans specifically get better though because those are...yeesh. As for the music: maybe I'm in the minority here but I don't much care about the music for the sims 4. I play the game on mute 90% of the time. I just sort of need a pleasant ambience (think elevator music) and I'm set.

[@Ikwigsjoyful]

I agree about Sims 4 music - I mute the game most of the time. 😅

[@Theescapist_87]

I agree that I hate Sims 4 music. I also play on mute too, haha. Especially when I'm building.

[@fransmith3255]

I honestly play most games on mute after a time. I like the music to start with, but the same music on repeat, no matter how good, is gonna drive me nuts. I like variety. There are only a very small handful of games that I don't mute (out of the 4 here, the Paralives music seems the most long term listenable to me), so although I'm very much into music (which is actually WHY I mute), in a game I tend to turn it off anyway after a short period of time and play my own music.

[@warzshadow9701]

I love their art style. It doesn't look kid like. More grown-up. Also the graphics are good. They look like people. I'm tired of game creators dumbing down a game for low end computers.

[@leahwarburton]

I actually like the art style too. Just because it's not to someone's personal taste, doesn't necessarily make it bad. And I'm sure there will be more refinement before the final release. But I actually like the art direction they've gone in.👍🏻

[@DoinItforNewCommTech]

Exactly! It looks more adult than Paralives. That's its "missing" art style. It's realistic. That's an art style, it doesn't lack it just because it's not cartoony.

[@Haka166]

I definitely love that the graphics have a more realistic and grown-up style and I also really dislike setting the bar lower for low end computers, but in my opinion the quality of what we see in this trailer is unfortunately really, really poor and I also agree with that it looks very soulless.

[@Ebonie1977]

I like it and it will be polished up more if people don’t care for it that’s why they will have other options

[@h.a.6060]

They need to make the humans look prettier. I like how the world and the objects look.

[@fransmith3255]

I agree. It's the facial expressions that are most important - they need to match the dialogue in some way, even if it's printed dialogue.

[@henrymelo]

I agree about the art direction. The music to me is okay tho, it's very reminiscent of the sims 3 music.

[@webdznr1]

I heard somewhere that it might be intentional to not have an art style as then all the modding creations would better fit into it. I agree though it's missing "charm" which comes from art style. Hopefully they will at least fix all the animations that feel off and fix the human's form (agree with other poster who said the body proportions seem off). They remind me of years ago when I stepped into Second LIfe briefly and was appalled at the look of everything. I never went back. I completely get what you are saying. I have pre-ordered and hopefully when they see how massively popular this game will be they will do whatever they can to fix it.

[@chonkikage]

I would like to see a more distinct art style from them but I don't mind how it looks either, especially knowing there will be so much modding capability that we can likely make it look the way we want individually.

[@westanimesims]

I had to agree the aesthetic is a little rough for Life by You, and the animation is quite stiff to me too. However I think with some polishing is going to be good or the gameplay is good enough to ignore the art style.

[@itscyberqueen13]

"I love good gameplay, but the art direction is what I think gives a game the soul it needs." 🤔 Have you seen The Sims 4. It's the most beautiful game and it's SOULLESS AND BORING with NO DEPTH. After playing The Sims 4 for 9+ years, I will take a game that is well developed with depth and tools for infinite gameplay possibilities over "art direction." 😀 In addition: I have mods to make my sims look better than what comes with the game. This game will be no different. I need the foundation and core systems to be better than what EA sells. I have learned that, "She pretty, but empty," is not the way I want to go with a game ever again. Thank you Sims 4 for teaching me this. 😭 EDIT: The world looks great! The characters could use some help though. But this is early footage.

[@rb5078]

Personally, I couldn't care less about the art style and I automatically mute all music in any game so that's not an issue for me either. But if it were important to me the music is fine. I just mute the music because I'd rather listen to a podcast while playing a game.

[@Ikwigsjoyful]

Hmmm, you sound like me when Sims 4 came out - the art style was an immediate turn off for me, so I really hoped that the gameplay would make up for it. Sadly it hasn't, and while I do play Sims 4 every once in awhile (like I did a couple days recently to try out the new infant update), mostly I'm playing Sims 3 for my life sim fix, since it's gameplay is much better, it has an open world, and, quite honestly, I like its art style better. If Sims 4 had been an improvement on Sims 3 for gameplay, I still would have enjoyed playing it in spite of the art style, and that's what I'm hoping for with Life by You. I find it's art style an improvement on Sims 4's extreme cartoon kiddy style, but it's still not pretty in the way I would like; however, if the gameplay is good, the art style won't matter that much to me as far as my enjoyment goes. I actually liked the music in the trailer - it had the kind of excitement good movie trailer music has. But of course, this is my personal opinion. 😁

[@liwi]

Paralives art style looks a lot better, but I'm excited because this game is ACTUALLY COMING OUT. Not just being talked about or given updates every now and again, it's ACTUALLY ON ITS WAY. That alone makes me not really care about what the game looks like. I've heard talk of Paralives for how many years now? And still no set release date. I'm sure modders will come in and make everything look pretty eventually.

[@Te3time]

Exactly this is LbYs biggest advantage if it's actually gonna be playable this year that's gonna be huge since both paralives and Sims 5 are still years away so it only needs to compete with Sims 4

[@Kkffoo]

I agree that the look isn't that wonderful, in fact if this didn't have a credible studio behind it this might cause me to ignore it. However, I think the sims genre is large enough to accomodate a range of games with different priorities. I am currently playing sims 1 because looks are definitely not everything! Will the game be fun to play, this is the big question for me, otherwise why bother. I certainly don't want another sims 4.

[@pwcorgi2000]

AMEN! There's more to it than just art style. I'm not too pleased with the "paper doll" look of Paralives either, but if gameplay/feature is really good, the art style is on the backburner.

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

As they say: Beggars can't be choosers And we are lacking

[@onidaaitsubasa4177]

Actually with the right shader it can give it a very artistic look, or they might put in a variety of shaders so players can choose a certain look.

[@mandyknight1410]

While it is right that the graphics and the UI (the art style--the menus, buttons, overlays) are separate, the graphics certainly isn't "easier" to fix. In fact, balancing the graphics with performance is going to be a real big challenge. Whereas the UI, if they're interested in fixing it, it will be very doable. I will say there is an art style: there was probably a very short document on fonts and colors and the different developers working on different things kept a "default" programmer style. I like it, it reminds me of what I would do :P

[@Barzarel]

Would have loved if they did artstyle like House flipper 2 has for their gameplay trailer, it feels realistic looking but still has some stylized feel to it.

[@Haka166]

You mention their gameplay trailer. But in that I myself find the graphics already a bit too cartoony. If House Flipper 2 end/or Life by You could look as House Flipper 2 in its CINEMATIC trailer, though.. that would make me incredibly happy!! That, in my opinion, the perfect mix between having realism and still having an specific art design with soul. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2LHdIKodrV_n7s

[@Haka166]

Or the graphics AlterLife shows in their trailer, they look awesome too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYbKaGppbcuBebM

[@envy2069]

They said they were gonna change the look of them! These graphics are moreso a placeholder until full release

[@maurilio123fra]

I think that life by you is not only wanting the sims cummunity but second life too, the world of life by you is very life by you for me, but the characters seem half-baked, and as they stated their gonna get better visuals i'm okay with now looking bad, the sims 4 beta was also trash in visuals and get better with just feel changes. And their graphic engine is there, the hair is a lot better that we see in any the sims game, the face of the character are good just need a more texturization, but the body... some characters look ok, but others the head is too big, and also the animations have to get better.

[@Ikwigsjoyful]

The stiffness of the animations was the part that bothered me the most, but I think that can improve.

[@fransmith3255]

@@Ikwigsjoyful It's the lack of facial expression for me. It looks creepy, but there again, I find realistic always just that little bit creepy. I don't prefer cartoony per se, but I just don't think realistic (in terms of human beings) isn't quite realistic enough yet technology-wise not to be a little creepy. If the gameplay is there, I'll overlook it. But the facial expressions will be a little more difficult to overlook if they look bland while they're saying something nasty, or reacting to something nasty.

[@Ikwigsjoyful]

@@fransmith3255 Well, facial expressions can improve too, although I wouldn't want the over-the-top expressions of Sims 4. But I agree that the facial expressions at the moment were a little lacking.

[@fransmith3255]

@@Ikwigsjoyful No I certainly don't want over-the-top ridiculousness of The Sims 4. I loved The Sims 2 because it was quirky, but The Sims 4 is just over-the-top without the quirkiness, obviously made by people who didn't understand the humour of the previous games. Paralives are really doing some wonderful facial expressions and body expressions and movements. I prefer them - they're realistic facial and body expressions that look very natural. But Life-by-you have no facial expressions, and that's party why it looks so creepy. It looks a little like wax dolls in a horror story. I'll still buy it for the depth of gameplay (and overlook the graphics if I have to) because gameplay is king, but it needs facial expressions most of all, and body expressions, too. They need to totally rework that.

[@galaxi407]

The game won't look the same by the time it's fully released. They're asking for opinions of gamers to improve the game. At least they are willing to listen.

[@Person-O_o]

they seem to be putting emphasis on modding so im hoping we get to make our own stylized changes to the look of the yous and other things.

[@KozyKubGam3r]

Life by you is meant for players to create your own art style. They are still in dev and will be def polishing up in time. I think it has way more pros rather than cons. As a creator there’s no copyright strikes for one that’s huge because creators don’t have to worry about being penalized for being creative. I also love the fact that they went in a differently direction than the Sims. The Sims was great in its time but I’m not keen on the direction it’s going now. I love that this game is putting the creation back in the players hands. I get that for people that might not want to do much in making their own art style and would rather plug n play sorta speak, it may seem pretty daunting. But I think in time they’ll take this in account more with better versions of pre set humans. I have to say I do wish they had a language like the paras though. So far it’s just going to be sfx.

[@b3etcbooksbindersbeliefs533]

I always played the Sims on mute. Never cared about the sound. The graphics are second to game play. Art style is lost on me. But I see the differences you point out. I understand why it is important for those to feel immersed in a life sim. I intend to play paralives to be supportive of an indie creator and life by you for the expansive creator centered features. Basically it looks like I can make a game unique to my own style.

[@JayTohab]

I keep saying this, but for me it comes down to the lighting. I can forgive a lot when it comes to how a game looks, but if the lighting looks wrong (especially when it's too bright in the wrong areas), the whole thing collapses imo.

[@jojosworld1396]

I think Paradox is creating a life simulation game for simmers who don't like or play The Sims 4. Everyone doesn't like the cartoon graphics and just because a game has a realistic style doesn't mean ugliness is guaranteed. It has to be done the right way. I don't want another Sims 4 because that will not appeal to me. I don't want to dislike yet another Sims game just because some people want it to be cartoonish and the company listens to those people. I personally think EA has listened to all the wrong people which is why The Sims 4 is what it is. I'm kind of tired of The Sims being dumbed down just because some people don't like certain things when there are people who do like those things. This could be like The Sims 3, but enhanced and modernized. I like what I see so far. There is already Sims 4 and Paralives if you want a cartoon look. People who like a realistic touch have little options.

[@MagnusItland]

Try "no other options". For about a decade now, Sims 4 has been the only life simulator game available for modern machines. (Sims 3 was struggling even before the last expansion came out.) You can get Sims 3 to run on modern machines if you know how (and I play it on another monitor right now) but generally, we HAVE NO IDEA whether people play Sims 4 because they like this or that aspect of it, or simply because EA has an ironclad monopoly.

[@tashanicole1448]

Im really excited that LBY will allow us to make content in game I think that will help a lot with style but also not have to go download custom content and have 5 million extra files for the more realistic look

[@kiaradavis5852]

All of the companies should merge together and make one solid game which I know would never happen because they are competitors however one of the companies could buy the others tho 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@b3etcbooksbindersbeliefs533]

With the creative features in mind I assume you can add your own style.

[@NotYukiii]

I think people are misunderstanding what he’s saying with the arts style. Life by You is a life-simulation game that aims to compete with The Sims 4, a popular and successful game in the same genre. However, Life by You fails to appeal to the fans of The Sims 4 because of its artstyle, which is realistic but poorly executed. The Sims 4 has a stylized and cartoony artstyle that is polished and fluid. The characters have expressive faces and animations, the environments are colorful and detailed, and the overall aesthetic is consistent and charming. The Sims 4 also offers a lot of customization options for the players to make the sims look extremely different from one another, you can get very creative with how your sims look. Life by You, on the other hand, has a realistic artstyle that is unpolished and lifeless. The characters have bland faces and animations, the environments are dull and generic, and the overall aesthetic is inconsistent and boring. Life by You also lacks that diversity with the characters that you get in sims, I feel like all the characters look the same and have weird looking and robotic character models with no collarbones for whatever reason lol. There is nothing wrong with having a realistic artstyle for a life-simulation game, as long as it is done well. For example, games like Hitman and GTA 5 have realistic artstyles that are polished and fluid. The characters have realistic faces and animations, the environments are immersive and dynamic, and the overall aesthetic is impressive and captivating. These games just flow together and are consistently fluid. However, if a realistic artstyle is done poorly, it can make the game look worse than it actually is. For example, games like Thief Simulator and Skyrim have realistic artstyles that are unpolished and lifeless. The characters have low-quality faces and animations, the environments are bland and static, and the overall aesthetic is outdated and dull. These games also suffer from technical issues and bugs that affect their gameplay quality and immersion. Therefore, Life by You should either improve its realistic artstyle to make it more polished and fluid, or change its artstyle to make it more stylized and cartoony. Either way, it should try to appeal to what made the fans of The Sims 4 love that game in the first place: a polished and fluid artstyle that creates a fun and engaging life-simulation experience.

[@james64468]

I can overlook the artwork. I'm willing to give it a chance. I do hope they step it up when more money comes in. I'm concerned about gameplay. I'm concerned that our mac friends won't be able to play this game. I didn't find any specs for Macs.

[@pwcorgi2000]

Or they could buy a pc/laptop as well. My pc is 10 years outdated, so I'm going to have to build a new pc soon.

[@SharkYNate]

Remember, it won't even release for early access for some 5 months, and after that it is stated on their FAQ it will be in early access for about 12 months depending on various factors. So they basically have 17+ months to polish the game. That's ALOT.

[@Withfhrn]

Life by you’s art style looks fine to me. There is sims 4 which is pretty set dressing and definitely soulless when it comes to interacting with the world. I’d rather have a game similar to sims 1-3 as long as gameplay is good. With music paralives is best. This is my opinion and I’m not hating on you. I enjoyed the video. I love that we as a community can get together and give our opinions in a constructive way. :)

[@BrieChennel]

I agree completely. The game lacks art direction and a unique art style. I think people misunderstood that it’s okay for the game to have realistic graphics but the quality of the graphics is very low. If you put this game next to Cyberpunk 2077, you’ll see the jarring difference. Also, the UI looks extremely outdated. It needs an overhaul.

[@jasmineh8807]

I like the art style. I prefer more of this style over sims 4 and paralives style. But I also know my laptop and pc couldn't handle any of them with high settings. So on my end they all look really bad as I try to play my games.

[@mpkio]

Fair to be honest on your opinion, but I will choose gameplay over how a game looks any day, IMO. The Sims 4 has art style but no gameplay, which is why I personally get bored with it quickly.

[@DoinItforNewCommTech]

Here's the problem, as I see it: Paralives has a gorgeous art style, but that's all it has. It has no gameplay, and every Build Mode feature they've introduced has been poached by Maxis--either for The Sims 4 (the L-shaped stair manipulation for an early example), or for Project Rene (literally everything else). It has no identity. Rene/Sims 5 looks to be another soulless closed world always-online cash grab, but in terms of Build Mode, it's a lateral move from Paralives. If you're a builder, there's no reason to choose one over the other. Paralives has an appealing art direction, but it's as deep as a puddle, and offers no real advantage over Sims 5. It's got no upper hand, nothing to set it apart except that it looks hand-drawn. Life By You on the other hand, has all the missing features that Sims 4 lacked--and it's been marketing itself as having features that no other life sim on the market has either. If you want depth (which many Simmers do), it's going to be a more appealing sell. But as for its art direction? It has one. It's gone for realism. That's an art style. By definition. Would you say that The Sims 3 had no art direction? This is such a silly complaint. It's not *stylized*, like Paralives or Sims 4 are, but that doesn't mean it lacks a *style*. It's just not cartoony. That's it.

[@mikeycjdean707]

I am hoping the art style will improve. It's early so there's hope for improvement. I wonder what the digital people will be called though? Lifers?

[@MJ-98]

I think they're just called humans.

[@fransmith3255]

Rod Humble called them "agents".

[@dragonagedreams6251]

The Sims 4 just have a good look after modding and shaders. If we compare the first release, it was also pretty rough, but the cartoonish features mislead the eyes. So much that if you take The Sims 3 characters and compare, Life by You still better looking. I believe what is charming about The Sims franchise is the cartoonish vibe, however The Sims 4 could barely be called a life simulator. Paralifes has the most cute art style, in my opinion, so I’m also hopeful for its release. Life by You is delivering a lot for a game base. We need to give them some love, since none The Sims base game was visually striking and gameplay perfection.

[@giotio1237]

I like this art style more than sims 3 and 4, hope that the game will have more great things to add

[@b3etcbooksbindersbeliefs533]

Listening to the sound tracks again, the first three are mellow, lby is energizing as of looking forward to adventure. Paralives makes me want to relax in a rural setting. S4 make me thing shopping mall elevator project Rene sounds movie theatre

[@angelacooper8973]

Style I can careless about, music meh. I care about playing. I want to play. I am a goddess not a builder. I’m hear to rek havoc. If I want a pretty game I’d play Sims 4 which I’m at my wits end with Sims 4. It’s pretty but it has so many bugs. I’m confident in Life by You that I’ll upgrade my CPU if I don’t have even the minimum of specs. It has everything we Simmers have been dreaming of.

[@wano_ZA]

The Sims has the best music ahhh❤❤❤❤

[@leakingminds]

There is laundry machine in base game! Who cares about art style?

[@lukasmax6984]

I disagree 100%. I find Life By You artstyle far better than any of the other similar games. It's pleasant on the eyes, not intrusive and immediately comfortable. I still am as disgusted by The Sims 4 artstyle as I was at it's release. I disagree with Paralives art as well. It has it's thing but it's weird and takes time to understand and get used to. Life By You, however has an artstyle that doesn't require getting used to. You see it for 2 seconds and you know what to expect. That's a good thing. It only needs to improve facial details of the characters.

[@reeceyb505]

I hate the art too, bad bloom, distance blur, shadows in some situations look bad/too dark, art style as you said is souless and dull they should just hire alpha CC makers to design stuff. Some stuff looks too small or are the people just too big? The scaling of stuff seem to be off for some stuff. Odd choice to have separate thirst and hunger yet not separate bladder and bowels needs, feels inconsistent. Anyway really hope they fix all these issues, and really wish they could've had the sims like dialogue/interactions menu with branching options but EA patented it which is another issue, how will any of these life sims games compete with EA due to this patent? All the other life sims that I know of either avoid showing any dialogue/interaction system or copied EA's which they legally can't use, or it's simplistic like Stardew Valley, Fallout or Skyrim's dialogue system.

[@martynap4262]

And I thought this one major thing is baby or kids, or teens, or seniors. Hope they will be in game because for now we saw only adults.

[@Drstrange3000]

I had the same exact consensus as you when I watched the trailer. The gameplay aspect seemed very exciting, but the art direction had a bland, soulless vibe to it like it was made up by premade assets. Also, this doesn't look like it will run on most PCs without a dedicated GPU and looks like it will be unoptimized. I hope I'm wrong. The saving grace is the open modding and having the possibility of selecting what art style you want. Animations would have to be increased though. They look a bit rough...

[@NoName-ym5zj]

YEEEEEES. ART DIRECTION. THANK YOU. You are correct on every point, great video.

[@veronicatash777]

I am thinking the complete opposite of you. I want realistic looking characters, not the cartoonish styles of Sims and Paralives. The cartoonish quality detracts from the game and yells that it is for kids, not adults. Paradox's games have all been more adult themed and at least bring a PG13 character to the games. Play Crusader Kings and you can torture kids or kidnap someone in a war and force them to become a concubine - in the vanilla game. Once they've improved the graphics it will be the game for adults and hopefully Paralives is able to boot off EA and become the game for kids. My concerns are more about the numbers of outfits and ability to uniquely design characters. CK3 gives a lot more options for customizing their characters than exists in this early development build, but the fact that Paradox makes both suggests that this will change by September 12.

[@judialbert1349]

I'm not as concerned about the art style - as long as the picture is clear and not fuzzy or grainy (graphics). I'm more concerned with the gameplay aspects. It's true it looks like things were taken out of a magazine ad and placed in the game, but I'm okay with that. It just might take a little getting used to.

[@p.bckman2997]

I very much agree with you. I hope they find a way to find a way to ad some personality to the game.

[@MagnusItland]

I already prefer this look over the Sims games, and I love the tune they used in the trailer. Unfortunately I think that was chosen just for the trailer and may not tell anything about the music in the game. The Sims 4 has hauntingly beautiful music, and I am mentally prepared that this will be a step down in Life by You. But the music in the trailer was just my style. This game seems to be made squarely for people like me, but I realize that most simmers are probably not like me.

[@Anon29547]

I’m ok with the art direction, I actually like the more realistic looking characters and world. I find the sims 4+ is starting to move into more cartoonish childlike graphics to me. I was fine with the sims 3 art style and it’s definetly outdated, but I care most about gameplay.

[@bunnyva1490]

It looks like an asset flip game but if the gameplay is good I’ll play it im sure modders with change the assets and such to be prettier like they do with the sims. I mean you can make the sims 2 look gorgeous now with cc

[@cissi168]

I was sure the thing its missing was going to be kids

[@LWolf94]

Thank you for pointing it out! Finally someone who sees it too! The game looks like it was built using Unity store assets which simply don't look appealing.

[@carriekube7357]

I understand what you mean. I hope the game will have a personality like The Sims.

[@TiffanyEdmonds1867]

I actually find it difficult to pick out the details, never mind reading the text. I have low vision, so video games are tricky.

[@kevinw374]

There's been a lot of video games. That feel like paint by numbers over the years. And without needed artist and story tellers. Sure, they exist. But, are quickly forgotten. I think, Life by You wants to be dependent on it's player community. For it's art and story style. And as someone, who's played RPG Maker. This is game development, not gameplay. The artist is limited by what's already in the game.

[@second_second_]

You mean the facial expression and animation?

[@m.r.2851]

I 1000% agree with you here, the artistic direction is lacking in so many ways compared to nowadays AAA games standards. Even if the gameplay was objectively better than The Sims franchise, the visuals and sounds are too important for me to not care, it would just take me off from the experience. I felt the same way comparing Simcity 2013 and Cities Skylines. They need to step up their game on the artistic side, literally!

[@chatroom101]

It does look a little much like 'Second Life'

[@PSPbrtag]

I agree. Life by You looks a lot like a generic The Sims and it seems to me that what they're going for is totally replicating the success that Cities: Skylines had. Cities: Skylines has good systems, but absolutely no charisma compared to Sim City and it had the luck of Sim City 2013 flopping hard and leaving city builder fans in the dry for more than a decade before it showed up, . Even if The Sims 4 is not as much of a success as the previous games it's nowhere the same situation as we had with city builders before Cities: Skylines. The one thing that Cities: Skylines has going for it that made the game thrive until now is the possibility to completely revamp the game through mods and Life By You seems to be going for the same degree of customization. My theory is that because Life By You is not aiming to dethrone The Sims in what The Sims does best then its success in the long term will be more dependant on whether EA Games drops the ball or not on The Sims 5. If The Sims 5 ends up being the game that fans want then I don't think Life By You will steal too many fans from The Sims. I belive that ultimately Life By You will have some degree of success and have a solid base of fans because of its modding and customization even if it's not that good of a game, but I think it's wishfull thinking to believe it's going to be the next big thing as The Sims is used to be for every new installment.

[@emmettbrown6418]

When sims 4 came out, all the sims had this absurd huge grin like EA just sold you a game for $70 that paused and did the swirly plumbob of wait every time you stepped off your home lot. I didn't like the art style there either.

[@Destroyer4700]

Honestly when I watched the trailer. I thought the "humans" behaved similar to the characters in Mass effect Andromeda on launch. Stiff and uncanny looking. But that's a problem with facial or body animations which can be fixed. I'm also going to guess that the music in the trailer is specific to the trailer and while I like the music in Sims 4. I actually turn off the build mode music because it gets annoying. But who cares about all of that. With how insanely moddable the game is going to be. I'm looking forward to what modders come up with. The dialogue creation suggests that you might be able to create a "Visual Novel" like experience through the game.

[@LIBSIMS]

I agree! They look like they have no personality or soul. They kind of give me GTA npc vibes. I love everything, but the design

[@NastiaKossiak]

The SOUNDTRACKS! Oh god. The whole footage pierced my ears; it was over the top "joyful" without any charm. I really hope they have talented people with nice music taste for the rest of the soundtracks. If not please hire me lol

[@rixypixie7219]

I dislike the realism too and think the game already looks visually outdated. But I also know I'm not the target audience: Life by You screams Sims 3 and will definitely draw in fans of that game. It's a good move from Paradox to not try to compete with the Sims 4 cartoony art style or Paralives' cel shading style. And hopefully with mods, we get more options to customize the style of the game or at least the sims/characters. To me they look like a botched IG filter rn.

[@SimMattically]

I don't dislike the realism. I dislike the execution of realism in this game. I think the game can look realistic AND have its own character and good appeal. 😅

[@Icyangel10]

I was kind of excited by some of the things mentioned about this game from another channel but now that you mention it I do agree that it needs some work It looks a little too realistic for me, nothing wrong with that & it's nice it's just a little too much but then again I'm usually messing with more cartoony/anime stuff so I might just be an idiot

[@JubulusPrime]

My main problem with the graphics has to be the hair though, That's some B&S nomad looking hair lol But my main problem in general is that it says it is open-world not open-zone so there could be tons of lag and some wacky stuff going on, Maybe I just have a prejudice against Open-world games because loads of Open-world games are filled with empty-space, things not loading in bad graphics and useless stuff but we do have exeptions like Breath Of The Wild so maybe open-world will actually be good here (Although Breath of the wild had a very simple yet enjoyable style so it does seem like Botw is able to avoid the issues that come with open world more easily then this)

[@NawiTheCore]

2:40 I guess they thought that graphics ultimately don't matter that much. Cities Skylines is a great game, but it looks kinda bad and it has the most generic art style imaginable. In fact, this game reminds of Cities Skylines in that sense. I find the art style boring and generic, but I think the gameplay will make up for it. Hopefully this is just the beginning of this series and the game does really well and gets a higher budget for its sequel, like Cities Skylines 2 which appears to have a more distinctive art style.

[@forestgames03]

I think it'll wnd up being a pretty good game, but the art style is the only reason I will not even download it, let alone play it. I'm glad it appeals to some, but to me it definitely does not

[@marie-jeannekirby8764]

One view and already all this comments! Of course the music and the graphics are more familiar to you in Sims or Paralives because you saw and listen to it time and time again! Wait to see the evolution of the game and after you can give your critics.

[@ChrisDragon531]

I'm also not a fan of the art direction, I wasn't really a fan of the Sims 3 because of that as well. Although Life by You's gameplay is fantastic, I don't know. In my opinion, I prefer a more Cartoony art Style, that's just me though.

[@mrm7058]

Well, Sims 4 is cartoony, Paralives even more so. IMHO for that reason it is good that Life by you doesn't go in the same direction.

[@Ikwigsjoyful]

@@mrm7058 I would say Sims 4 is cartoon, while Paralives is more graphic novel. Sims 4 looks very Disney/Pixar to me, while the Paralives graphics have more of a hand-drawn, adult feel. But I don't mind having another option that's going more realistic, especially one that seems to be built for customization - I just hope that they can get the animations looking less stiff.

[@goldsaiyan8701]

i disagree i like the art style of the game it looks better then sims 4 and it's open world like sims 3

[@NeoDarkling]

I'm also not loving the current look of the game but as I played Sims 2, Sims 3 and Sims 4 heavily modded and blinged out with CC, I'm not too worried. I can't stand the Sims 4 art style or gameplay so I'm past ready-ready for this game to come out. 😁

[@bawilove3422]

Yeah you said what I was thinking. The art and the animation is not it.

[@LilMoonieDragon]

I agree, the graphics are a huge turn off for me. I prefer the look of TS4 / Paralives. Even though the gameplay of LBY looks very interesting and I appreciate all the creative freedom that the game offers, I can’t get past the graphic style. If its going to be depending so heavily on modders to control the aesthetic of the game then it’ll at least be interesting to see what the community comes up with. Also, the incredible freedom to create a unique gameplay experience seems like it could potentially be offset by its learning curve. I’m skeptical but will keep an eye out.

[@Haka166]

The graphics are a turn off for me too, but the style of TS4 and Paralives just as much. I am all for realism, just not in this form.

[@karinasnooodles_]

Umm didn't know you had youtube

[@Agustin9191]

I agree with you: this game looks sad and soulless, and it is like those weird games with predefined assets. Even The Sims 3, which is an old game, is 100% better than this. And The Sims 4 is just magical-the music, the art. I really enjoy playing it after a hard day of work-building beautiful houses, schools, restaurants, etc., and of course playing with my sims. I also dislike Cities Skylines; for me, it is a city painter. SimCity was so beautiful; it had character. Anyway, I hope a lot of Sims haters go to play this game, and finally there will be peace.

[@pixiestyx]

100% agree

[@mimosansgaming8754]

Man, I love your voice!

[@SimMattically]

Ohh, this made me overly emotional as I struggle with recording voiceovers for my videos in English 🥹 thank you! ❤️

[@mimosansgaming8754]

@@SimMattically Yes! You shouldn't worry at all. It's super pleasing to listen to you

[@werewolfgirl1995]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesnt like the art style. It just seems lacking in a unique art style and personality, especially compared to the Sims. Its so generic looking, I thought the same thing about Second Life. The gameplay looks great technical wise but the avatars just look so souless

[@marcin8769]

You've lost me on the comparison between SimCity 2013 and Cities: Skylines. Cities Skylines are far more superior and the fact that people play this game to this date and SimCity is dead says it all... 😅

[@axelTvchannel]

That's what I said ! It feels soulless

[@ghostcontrollingameatsuit5119]

That was my only problem with it

[@aguadyne]

I agree, it doesn't look appealing at all to me. Sure you can mod the game, but in this case, for me, I'd have to change everything about the game in order to make it look nice to me. With the Sims, I just need some clothing cc and maybe a skin overlay, but this game is just ugly at its core. It looks like Second Life or IMVU to me. Very lifeless.

[@74niknik]

Couldnt agree more

[@ReginaTrans_]

i dont need to drive around and have a huge open world and select all the neighbors if it takes so much system requirements and my sims are robotic.......

[@ReginaTrans_]

it has amazing graphics and features but the people look UGLY, robotic, the sims are more lively

[@JubulusPrime]

It'd be cool add the option of politics to the game, Like sure it is uncomfortable so you should be able to toggle it off (It should be off by default) but it is a huge part of the human experience since a lot of people's existance is seen as political and a lot of relationships depend on your politics and other people's politics (Some people talk about politics more then others and some people completely avoid it but for some people like lgbt people or non-white people it is absalutely unavoidable irl because some-one, some law, some company or some country will always force them into politics) of course the slurs should be censored but it would add more immersion if you are not in the game for wish-fullfillment although it is extremely extreme to have this but a game that does not pretend we live in a utopia where systematic racism and all that exist Politics are a huge part of people, You might wanna date someone but it turns out they support facists, it happens, Many personality types like the "Murica, Eagles, Guns Hell-yeah" "All hail Jeebus" people can not exist without politics, A huge part of some relationships is also HIGHLY disagreeing with someone's beliefs but having to work with them for a common goal or just because you have the same job or are in the same class . . . Although if I think about it, It's a horrible idea, They are bound to step on someone's toes and they can't respectfull represent everyones politics without making everyone angry, from a "How well would this sell?" Pov its something only an absalute dummy would do, It is hard to represent everyones politics even if no one would get mad about it because there are so many diffrent ideas and I can see reasons why both oppressed and non-oppressed people will be uncomfortable with this even if I personally am able to go through discomfort for more immersion and depth to NPCs

[@Anon1370]

it is a ugly game but i think it will still satisfy many peoples wants in a sim game the bar is set low cause of sims 4. lol

[@harmelody242]

I agree with you the game looks bad. And I don't like the "early access" 😂 why can't games just be released when they are finished? It sounds like this game is relying on the modding communities to come in and fix it all.