I really wish people would stop with AI hate. So many people on steam were bitching about this, how unethical AI is and not only telling others to not buy the game, but insulting anyone who defended Krafton. My problem is that people see “AI” and shut down. Even when told that Krafton made this AI themselves using assets they either owned or were copyright-free that is run locally on your machine, people continued complaining. This was announced when the demo was out.
Also I am tired of right wingers on steam. This doesn’t relate to your comment but the second common complaint I saw a lot on the forums besides AI was that the game is “woke” and thus bad for having a non binary option. The game is bugged with not allowing homosexual relationships, this made the right wingers happy because they hate the “globohomo agenda.” I am tired of their shit. Your Zoi can be hetero, homo, or bi. Your Zoi also picks body types. Checkboxes are not oppressive, fucking assholes.
I bought Sims 4 on release and regretted it. It released without pools, without toddlers, babies were just objects like back in Sims 1, no genealogy system, no basements, no wants/fears (introduced in Sims 2), and obviously no cool stuff (supernatural Sims, university, ambitions careers, nightlight, pets, horses, seasons/weather, celebrities, etc.). No Create A Style from Sims 3, no truly open neighborhoods like Sims 3, just a bare bones downgraded POS. The games aren’t enjoyable IMO without all the EP content anyway. EA/Maxis will never get a penny from me again. I bought Sims 2 base and pirated the dlc, pirated Sims 3 and its dlc, and then bought Sims 4 base but only really played many years later with pirated dlc. Edit: forgot to add I played nearly all Sims content on console as well, I was a major Sims fan.
Inzoi is something I have been waiting for and don’t mind buying depending on price, the graphics are closer to what I usually mod my Sims to look like since I never liked the cartoon look.
I’ve played so many it is hard to have a favorite. I like when different games try to incorporate romance, but I still prefer visual novels. I have played so many where you are a guy romancing women (these usually are bad quality and an excuse to see sex, I am fine with sex but at least emphasize the romance) but have been getting into otome games where you are a woman romancing guys. There are still bad tropes in some of these games, like noncon (I only do consensual). There are also queer games like Dream Daddy I enjoyed.
For non-VN I would say I liked Bioware’s games, Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon games, Story of Seasons games, Rune Factory games, Persona games, Divinity Original Sin 2, Baldurs Gate 3 (haven’t beaten yet, seems promising), Cyberpunk 2077 (Judy), Life is Strange, and Obsidian/Bethesda (sorta).
I thought google messages does have end to end encryption? It’s the one thing I am jealous about so I stick with Molly, SimpleX, etc. instead and avoid SMS as much as possible.
I heard they use Nvidia ACE tech so their SmartZoi system works on a select few cards at the moment, all Nvidia. The devs plan to support AMD and such in the future. You can find info about it on reddit or their discord, sadly no lemmy communities yet.