There is a lot to do in Infinity Nikki – a lot that it could actually typically be overwhelming. It’s not lengthy after you be taught to run and soar that you simply’re launched to a number of in-game currencies, numerous menus, and an abundance of shade. Then, there are the outfits: a whole bunch of lovely clothes items, equipment, and make-up choices throughout its lovely fantasy world. Numerous that’s inherent to the Nikki video games, a dress-up gacha sequence that was beforehand mobile-only. It has the saccharine visuals, outfits starting from the fundamental to the fantastical, and the trademark positivity combined with occasional melancholy in its story. However, Infinity Nikki not solely makes the soar to PC and consoles (alongside cellular), it does so whereas additionally transitioning from the static dress-up menus of its predecessors to a powerful open world packed to the brim with diversified places to discover, numerous gadgets to gather, and charming characters to befriend. It’s uncommon to see a sequence make such an enormous leap, however Infinity Nikki has in some way accomplished so with grace, touchdown firmly on two ft clad in a pair of glowing heels.
Going again to 2012, Nikki video games have at all times been about constructing out a wardrobe and dressing up the pink-haired (by default) Nikki in any approach you select. Previous entries would have you ever transfer from chapter to chapter, compete in styling contests, and collect garments and equipment – however that was accomplished largely by navigating 2D menus, not operating round a 3D map. She’s at all times accompanied by her greatest buddy and touring companion, a brash speaking cat named Momo, and there’s some dense high-fantasy lore that typically introduces surprisingly excessive stakes for a recreation about cute garments. That’s a quaint system designed to counteract actuality by counting on hyper-girly aesthetics and the straightforward pleasure of placing on an incredible outfit and admiring it within the mirror, and whereas Infinity Nikki shares the identical ethos, it expands it right into a sandbox world that feels as huge and full as journey video games like Genshin Impact or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Miraland, the fantasy world the place a lot of the Nikki sequence takes place, is lush and colourful. Every ingredient is designed to be as twee as doable. Flowers glow and NPCs greet you with enthusiasm. It rains, however it by no means will get gloomy. Even the enemies are designed to be unassuming, with essentially the most threatening I’ve encountered in my 20+ hours being an enormous strolling boulder. You do not even “struggle” these enemies; as an alternative you non-violently “purify” them with a ball of vitality. Nikki herself goes about her enterprise primarily unthreatened – she will be able to get broken, however she’ll at all times get up secure and sound on the nearest fast-travel level if she runs out of well being, and regenerates it rapidly when out of fight. (I needed to check this, as a result of I by no means truly died.) If I did not know higher, I’d assume each character subsists on a eating regimen of frosting-coated ice cream cake lined in sprinkles. That’s how sugary the world feels — although there are additionally little bits of damage sneaking into its corners, like within the Queen’s Palace firstly or the story about conflict and refugees that’s expertly peppered in.
Infinity Nikki’s extremely diversified however normally bubbly type is most obvious in its clothes. Nikki really seems to be beautiful on a regular basis, and developer Infold Games has put immense element into each outfit. In close-ups, you’ll be able to virtually see every sew and rhinestone, and when she runs or hops, the best way her garments sway seems to be identical to actual cloth. Once I unlocked the ethereal Crystal Poems outfit, which is on the market by means of gacha pulls and makes Nikki appear like a winter princess, I nearly by no means took it off. Even much less premium outfits just like the maid-inspired Gentle Meowmur or means outfit Whispering Bubbles add aptitude to Nikki’s motion. Sometimes it is value floating down from a excessive platform simply to observe the gown move within the air.
It was a secure guess that any Nikki recreation would attempt to make its outfits shine, however Infinity Nikki places that very same high quality of cuteness all over the place else, too. For instance, Miraland’s varied fauna are fluffy, spherical, and typically given absurd names. There are the requirements right here, like common horses, however then one breed of canine seems to be like a pomeranian and is formally known as a Floof. An unlockable means outfit permits you to gently groom these critters to gather their fluff and feathers for crafting — Nikki is not out to pores and skin or pluck a creature on this world. Each animal will get a brief wash and their very own distinctive, aggressively cute animation whenever you do; Floofs roll over for tummy rubs, whereas bunnies allow you to clear their lengthy ears and ft. I will not lie, there have been many squeals coming from my workplace as I performed.
Whether this tone works for you or not will change into obvious as quickly as you boot up Infinity Nikki for the primary time. As it compiles shaders on the primary menu (which it annoyingly needed to do every time I opened the PC launcher), your eyes shall be bombarded by what appears like each shade on the seen spectrum throughout a montage of moments you may ultimately encounter, and that is all earlier than your ears decide up the flamboyantly perky unique theme music by artist Jessie J. It’s positively so much, however it’s all in becoming service of a recreation which you could put within the dictionary alongside the phrase “pleasant.”
Thankfully, the Nikki video games have by no means been one-note on this entrance. Infinity Nikki’s theme music feels like a typical anime opening out of Sailor Moon or Super Mario Odyssey’s “Jump Up, Super Star,” however it’s counterbalanced by music that adjustments as you journey all through the world. The primary rating options poppy piano, however shifting to the fishing space of the primary city brings out a folksy guitar. The story is equally far and wide, and one second can have the at all times optimistic and soft-spoken Nikki utilizing her outfits and styling prowess to assist folks with issues like taking an image of a flower, and the following she’s dressing up like a police officer to interrogate a suspect in an unlimited conspiracy involving false needs placing folks into comas for some nefarious function.
This emotional whiplash between gentle and darkish is not something new for the Nikki sequence, however it works significantly nicely in Infinity Nikki as a result of it helped make me care a few fantasy story with a tough-to-follow mythos, magic primarily based on wishing, and loads of correct nouns like Miracle Outfit, Heart of Purity, and Esseling to maintain observe of. It’s additionally nice for amusing; I’m unsure why a city is asking a younger, pink-haired lady they only met to interrogate a prisoner, however it’s simply absurd sufficient to maintain me entertained.
The solely distraction from this setup are the bugs I bumped into forward of launch. Audio cuts out over time or doesn’t are available in any respect, and there have been just a few areas the place I by chance fell by means of the ground and needed to relaunch from the desktop. An replace that rolled out through the overview interval even broke stylist contests so they’d trigger a crash as an alternative of activating, hindering my progress after a sure level. With a recreation of this measurement, there are sure to be points, however the necessary half is that not one of the ones I noticed took away from my general enjoyment – your targets are so open ended and there is a lot right here that I at all times had greater than sufficient to fortunately preserve me busy even when I wasn’t capable of proceed the primary story.
Explore to Find the Horses
Infinity Nikki sucks you in with a world simply packed with issues to try this reveal themselves masterfully over dozens and dozens of hours. You begin off in some ruins outdoors the city of Florawish, the place you may rapidly wander by means of fields amassing gadgets for crafting earlier than strolling round the primary sq. and chatting with varied characters. Soon, you may find out about Whimstars, particular gadgets scattered world wide that will let you work your approach by means of Nikki’s talent tree. Some are merely in hard-to-reach locations and require you to do some platforming, however others shall be disguised as animals it is advisable efficiently groom, blocked by enemies you should purify, or locked behind varied easy however typically time-consuming puzzles it’s important to resolve. And that is not even going into amassing the primary foreign money, known as Blings, purifying Dews of Inspiration which you could flip in for particular outfits, or simply… exploring for the sake of it.
Infinity Nikki is at its greatest — except for its trend, after all — in the way it lures you from the overwhelmed path. As I’m driving my bike (sure, there may be additionally biking!) across the map, I’ve to cease each 5 seconds to take a look at one thing within the distance. I’ve gotten misplaced purifying monsters, petting horses, exploring caves, or simply discovering out if that conspicuously massive leaf is definitely a trampoline and, if that’s the case, what I’ll discover once I soar on it. This could appear like different open-world fantasy video games, however little touches just like the satisfyingly floaty double soar or objects like bouncy nets allow you to discover in a barely totally different approach.
You may spend hours operating across the beginning space of Florawish or the fields and caves proper outdoors it, however venturing elsewhere is at all times value it. For instance, I initially thought that the one canines on this land have been Floofs, however heading to the rival city of Stoneville launched me to Bowlers, that are big off-brand Saint Bernards. You’ll additionally discover totally different enemies that’ll reward new crafting provides, new bugs like Witzles (which you’ll be able to solely discover in ruins and breakable crates) to catch, and, in case you’re , new lore. There’s even a train-based mission that you’re going to solely discover a lot in a while, and it’s one of many notable moments the place Infinity Nikki efficiently switches up the tone from upbeat to spooky.
You may skip all this in-depth exploration, too (not that you need to). Following simply the primary quests as they arrive in means you will not unlock issues just like the bicycle or discover sure crafting gadgets for a very long time since they’re tied to sure places, however as a result of Infinity Nikki is so unfastened with when it is advisable full targets, you possibly can make these discoveries out of order or everytime you need. In truth, you possibly can theoretically journey straight to the realm in your map the place you’ll be able to hire a motorbike, which helps you to get to new cities extra simply, earlier than you get the hunt telling you to take action. There are not any deadlines and nothing like the extent gating of an RPG open world, so that you’re really free to do no matter you need.
You’ll even get the enjoyment of exploration by means of Infinity Nikki’s menus. Yes, actually. The tutorials lead you thru the fundamentals, corresponding to utilizing your useful pill known as a Pear-Pal (get it?), however you may uncover much more over time by clicking across the menus after finishing a job. That’s how I noticed you’ll be able to improve Momo’s digicam by capturing photographs of particular places to refill a photograph e book. The picture mode is initially primary, however unlocking expertise in certainly one of three timber within the digicam menu offers it new options like filters and poses that make it extra enjoyable to experiment with. I used to be most likely a dozen hours into my playthrough earlier than I discovered that (you get that pro-tip without spending a dime!) and realizing one thing like this may be irritating because it feels such as you’ve unknowingly missed out on potential boosts or rewards, however because you’re by no means pressured to do something particular, that feeling goes away rapidly. And, to its credit score, this gradual rollout of options retains Infinity Nikki contemporary over an extended time frame.
A Mobile Game Through and Through
Despite being on each consoles and PC, Infinity Nikki continues to be a free-to-play cellular recreation at coronary heart. And like lots of its ilk, it has a number of totally different currencies to spend throughout many various menus — a lot in order that it may be exhausting to maintain observe of what you want for one thing after which the place to show it in when you get it. I typically needed to randomly click on by means of a number of menus earlier than I discovered the one I used to be truly in search of, and I’m positive that is not an unusual expertise.
Buried inside them are much more issues to do, the place you’ll be able to receive much more currencies by handing over quests or finishing duties. Unless you learn their taste textual content and directions intently, you may not even know what these targets entail – you simply know that doing one thing will reward you with expertise, Diamonds, assets, or possibly a wholly new foreign money you’ve got by no means encountered earlier than. All the menus are both in your Pear-Pal or on the UI on the prime of the display, and a pink dot will notify you when there is a reward to assert, so fortunately you do not truly have to understand how something works immediately to make ahead progress.
For instance, there are weekly duties you’ll be able to fulfill to get expertise in Mira’s Journey, which is only a fancy title for Infinity Nikki’s battle cross. As in different free-to-play video games, there are two ranges to it: a free one which’ll web you some rewards, and a premium one which’ll reward you much more, together with particular outfits and premium foreign money. The Mira’s Journey obtainable through the overview interval was known as Distant Anthem, and it did not function so much on the premium observe to tempt me to purchase it past a brand new cloak for Momo at stage 30 and one other when finishing it absolutely.
Rather confusingly, your Mira’s Journey ranges are not the identical as your Mira Level. Free-to-play cellular video games are at all times inundating you with issues like this, every with their very own distinctive targets and rewards, as a result of it retains you clicking round even when there’s nothing to do. It additionally ensures you are at all times incomes one thing by enjoying, even when it is only a couple bits of foreign money or, within the case of Infinity Nikki, primary crafting provides. For instance, there are Daily Wishes, the place finishing 5 out of six targets will web you some goodies, however you may fill them out simply sufficient simply by enjoying like regular. It takes no effort in your half, and you continue to get a deal with – and Infinity Nikki will get just a few extra menu clicks out of you. This isn’t a spotlight of Infinity Nikki, however it’s par for the course on this style.
Speaking of which, in case you thought the menus have been powerful to maintain straight, the numerous currencies are even trickier. Bling is the primary one and may simply be obtained both by choosing up floating, glowing crystals whereas wandering world wide or by finishing quests. Diamonds are a premium foreign money used to buy particular outfits or unlock Resonite Crystals, that are then used for the gacha that will get you different cosmetics. Spend a Shard and you’ll pull from a pool of clothes and accessories to hopefully receive the person items that make up 4 extremely fantastical five-star outfits. Pulling three-star duplicates grants you 10 Tranquility Drops, which… fairly frankly, took me far an excessive amount of menu digging to even discover out they have been utilized in a “Pity” system to not punish you as a lot for duplicate pulls. Finally, Stellarite is bought with real-world cash and can be utilized to purchase Diamonds and different unique outfits.
There is perhaps too many currencies, however it’s all in service of Infinity Nikki’s endgame: amassing as many outfits as doable, whether or not it is with actual cash or not. That means it is time to discuss in regards to the dreaded M-word: microtransactions. After a decade of perfecting the cellular Nikki gacha programs, Infold did not need to innovate a lot to implement the identical factor right here. Infinity Nikki’s microtransaction technique merely takes benefit of your FOMO (concern of lacking out): You can craft and decide up loads of beautiful, intricate outfits with out ever spending a dime, however the coolest outfits will at all times both value cash or be within the gacha pool. Spending real-world cash can even enable you to refill your wardrobe sooner – positive, you’ll be able to full a steampunk lolita outfit by handing over Dews of Inspiration, however that is time consuming. Why not simply dump Diamonds into Resonite, or buy the outfit of your goals outright? At the time of this writing, the costliest outfit prices 2,980 Stellarite, which is barely lower than $50. Things can rapidly get uncontrolled in your pockets in case you do not “price range correctly,” because the Infinity Nikki retailer reminds you on the prime of the menu.
Importantly, not one of the outfits you’ll be able to win from a pack or nab with a fortunate pull are required if you wish to transfer ahead within the story or exploration of Infinity Nikki. Getting a elaborate outfit would possibly make it simpler to win stylist encounters, which ask you to earn essentially the most factors you’ll be able to by assembly particular prompts with the garments you put on, however these are fairly simple to succeed at with out them in my expertise. In Love Nikki and Shining Nikki, buying extra elaborate clothes choices or equipment may enable you to towards different gamers in PvP styling competitions, however there isn’t any multiplayer right here past leaving little pictures impressions for different gamers to seek out and a buddy system (though Infold may at all times add extra down the road). It’s all for you, which makes resisting the temptation to spend somewhat simpler.
So, as in any respectable free-to-play recreation, spending actual cash will not be one thing you have to do in Infinity Nikki, which ought to allay any worries about unfairness. However, a few of these outfits do nonetheless value a number of real-world money in case you resolve to pay up, which may begin to really feel exploitative both approach. It’s additionally powerful to say how obnoxious these programs shall be in follow, because the overview copy got here with an unrealistically great amount of each Diamonds and Bling in order that we may check out the whole lot Infinity Nikki needed to provide, however that additionally makes it trickier to say how this economic system will fare over time. Free-to-play video games typically make it simple to realize premium foreign money at first after which sluggish it down as you get additional in, and that was at all times the case within the different Nikki video games. But even in case you don’t spend a dime, it’s simple to have at the very least just a few dozen hours of wonderful exploration and journey without spending a dime in Infinity Nikki earlier than you’ll even begin to take into account strolling away.
