Available on: PC, PlayStation 5, mobile
Played on: PlayStation 5
The leap from mobile gaming series to console isn’t uncommon, but Infinity Nikki’s tremendous leap into a fully open world adventure is impressive. Aside from gorgeous graphics that rival the best open world adventures, Infinity Nikki represents a fascinating evolution of the live service, gacha gaming experience. And she looks darn good doing it!
Read on for our review of Infinity Nikki!
La Femme Nikki
Infinity Nikki is the fifth game in the dress-up mobile game series that stars the titular heroine. The stand-alone adventure brings Nikki and her feline companion Momo into the fantasy world of Miraland.
I wasn’t expecting much of a story with my dress-up adventure, but I was surprised to find a serious tale of war, refugees, and religion, juxtaposed with lovely music, cute characters, and goofy melodrama (shout-out to the villainous stylish faction, the Ebony Scissors!).
The world of Miraland is well-designed, building off the best open world games. Lots of height elevation, hidden nooks and caves, and always something on the horizon to explore.
At launch the world is relatively small compared to its clear inspiration, Genshin Impact. But like Genshin, we expect entirely new regions added over the months and years to come, as well as future chapters that expand the story.
Like The Legend of Zelda’s heart pieces, the world is sprinkled with Whimstars. Whimstars unlock new outfits, abilities, and enhancements. Collecting a Whimstar could be as simple as finding it (with Momo’s helpful viewfinder), or as challenging as completing a mini-game, solving a puzzle (hello Zelda shrines!), or defeating enemies.
Combat in Infinity Nikki is laughably simple, with a single auto-targeting ranged attack that blasts cute sock puppet-like creatures with energy. It’s almost an afterthought, and often interrupts the otherwise cozy exploration and fun platforming. It’s the one aspect that feels like a step backward compared to other open-world RPGs.
Thankfully everything else is a lot of fun: exploring the world, playing various platforming mini-games, hunting for collectibles, taking pictures of certain areas, and unlocking all the pretty, pretty dresses.
Dress to Impress
While most gacha games tantalize players with new characters and weapons, Infinity Nikki is all about the outfits. Dresses, bracelets, hair styles, shoes — every piece of clothing can be found in treasure chests, rewarded from quests, unlocked from the Heart of Infinity progression, and randomly drawn from the gacha banners.
| Monetization: Infinity Nikki is free-to-play, and monetized through the gacha banners and a premium battle pass. Players can progress on the free tier of the battle pass, and earn pulls on the limited and standard banners through regular play. Certain rare outfits are only found in the gacha banners, but aren’t required to play or beat the story. |
Clothing serves multiple purposes. First, they look great. Who doesn’t like customizing their avatar? The outfits and accessories are truly stunning, interesting, and varied, from jeans and a t-shirt to full-length ballgowns, and players can mix and match to their heart’s content.
Many outfits also serve important gameplay functions. Some grant abilities, such as animal-grooming, bug-catching, and fishing, while others help Nikki traverse the open world, such as the all-important gliding dresses. The outfit-wheel interface makes it easy to swap to the right outfit for different tasks, and it’s a fun excuse to see multiple outfits while playing.
Finally, each article of clothing, hairy style, and accessory has ratings in multiple categories to help Nikki win Styling Challenges. The better the outfit and more applicable the traits, the better the score, earning the best rewards.
Infinity Nikki is one of the more forgiving and free-to-play-friendly gacha games. Players can unlock and use all ability outfits through regular play, leaving only the fanciest and rarest cosmetic dresses behind the randomness of the gacha banners. Players earn Diamonds through completing tasks and finding treasures, which can be used to pull on the banners without spending any real money.
The Rating
Infinity Nikki’s more serious story earned a T rating from the ESRB, with Blood and Violence. It’s actually disappointing; while I appreciate good story-telling, the dialogue is often ham-fisted and awkward (though fully voiced). The mini-games and gameplay are otherwise very kid-friendly.
The Takeaway
Weak combat and darker tone aside, I’ve been blown away by Infinity Nikki. Newcomers to the gacha genre may be overwhelmed by the amount of progression and menus, but Nikki eases you in with each new mini-game and outfit ability. The open world is a sheer delight to explore, the outfits are fun and rewarding, and it’s easy to play without spending a dime.
Infinity Nikki brilliantly combines some of the best parts of Genshin Impact, Animal Crossing, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild into a must-play (or at least must-try!) ongoing adventure.
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