If I were to create game similar to Lifeplay, I'd for sure narrow my scope/attention down to creating a small city or town. I always found the broadness of Lifeplay to be meaningless since everything is practically the same (The people, the environment, the buildings).
While I know handcrafted worlds may be time-consuming to make- They'd be a hell of a lot better than these surreal landscapes of unidentifiable cubes trying to mimic buildings.
I'd also try and create a UI that doesn't break the moment you interact with it, have more toggleable options like a "needs" mechanic that gives food an actual point, create better animations, and improve conversations with NPC's so they all don't feel like.. Well NPC's. (Seriously they're like the textbook example of uncanny sometimes in their movements and facial expressions.)