Infinity Nikki Review
Release Date: December 5th, 2024
Developer: Infold Games
Platforms: Android, iOS, PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5
Price: FREE
Tons of great games come out every year, some surprisingly out of the blue, while others are expected, but you never know which of those games will transcend from being great to absolutely exceptional and magical to the point where it's all you think about day in and day out. Infinity Nikki is surprising in many ways because it's not only an out-of-the-blue surprise, but checks off all the boxes for being an unforgettable experience that feels like all of your troubles have gone away. It's a game that does what all media aims to do - transport the player, viewer, reader, or listener to a whole new world bereft of the stresses of the real world - and it's a fantastic look into what a big budget cozy title has always been able to be, while also becoming a bit of a dream come true for myself in particular as it incorporates some of the best aspects of some of my favorite games all into one extremely friendly, accessible, respectful, and beautifully wholesome world where style and expression equate to happiness and freedom.
Styling games are nothing new and - with the mobile game boom generating billions year after year for nearly two decades now - they've been fairly prominent in the mobile space. Though it may seem new to a lot of us, the Nikki brand has actually been around since 2012, where it began as a strictly dress-up game before getting more sophisticated and elaborate with each subsequent release. Infinity Nikki marks the fifth major installment for the IP, and is obviously its biggest and most ambitious yet. The styling and thousands (not a hyperbole) of items and accoutrements that have dawned the games and now Infinity Nikki make way for a plethora of possibilities in how to style Nikki on her adventures, but it's not all about just looking good and unique as these outfits also play an important part in abilities that take place in and around Miraland, the large world in which Nikki will travel and explore to find what's known as Miracle Outfits that act as protectors of the land, bringing balance in a lot of ways that help stabilize events such as corrupted monsters, objects, and more that may impede on the safety and day-to-day lives of people.
Infinity Nikki resembles an amalgam of quite a few things such as Blue Reflection, Sailor Moon, the Atelier series, and, believe it or not, Super Mario Odyssey. This blend of these four fantastic franchises (with inspiration from more) creates such a wonderful concoction of peace, solitude, and joy while spending myriad hours throughout Infinity Nikki. As a quick disclaimer regarding the depth of those hours spent, as it's a large free-to-play title slated for December 5th, members of the press were given access to it just five days before this review goes live, but rest assured that the way Infinity Nikki engrosses you makes it so I do believe that all the currently existing and soon-to-be-published reviews still hold merit, as Infinity Nikki was all I was doing throughout my hours awake during those days, spending 40-50+ hours in such a short amount of time which is almost unheard of in the current state of my life. What begins as a short but quick introduction of Nikki's mechanics as a legendary stylist with powerful abilities before being stripped away as Nikki is teleported in traditional Isekai fashion, quickly evolves into a serene landscape of exploration and wonder. From the colorful vistas to the upbeat attitude of the townspeople, to the plethora of rewards lurking in every corner that are all immensely satisfying to uncover and acquire, it all is surprisingly reminiscent of the magic I felt when playing Super Mario Odyssey and, to an extension, Breath of the Wild when they first came out -- large heaps of land that can be traversed at your leisure and rarely being obstructed by leveling caps or story restrictions, leaving it all to feel organic, yet still cohesive enough that even without a map (though there is one) you'd still be able to tell where you are and where to go because of its ineffable design.
Though the world you'll find yourself brings a sense of magic only rivaled by Disney, it's not the end-all be-all for Infinity Nikki. There's still a compelling story here that continuously grows and deepens, and this includes the gameplay itself that grows alongside that as new abilities are unlocked, quests are given, items are attained, and connections are made. Shortly after you arrive to Miraland, Nikki will eventually gather what is known as a Pear-Pal from the Stylist's Guild. This will be your one-stop-shop for everything regarding Infinity Nikki, and it'll help you be on your way when needing guidance or having anything answered in terms of resources, outfits, quests, connections with others (real and in-game), and so much more. Resources especially are scattered all throughout Miraland, and there are tons of unique types that will be needed for a variety of reasons. These also will be attained as you play through, but some will require the use of special abilities in order to attain them. One of the cutest ones, for starters, is the animal grooming ability, in which you'll walk up to cats, dogs, farm animals, and more all waiting for that special scratch. Not all animals can simply be approached however, as some will be more on the fence and require some stealth to get up to and interact with, but every single one will provide Nikki with some sort of fur or item that can be recycled into other items.
It's been said quite a few times now, but it's worth mentioning once more that Infinity Nikki is a breathtakingly beautiful game. It helps to have an incredible art direction, which it does, but leveraging the power of Unreal Engine 5 truly brings a polish to Infinity Nikki that brings it to luxury status. During my playthrough on PC - of which the game will also release for consoles and mobile on PS5, iOS, and Android - it was, for the most part, incredibly well optimized at max settings, which also included Ray Tracing features in tow. Though admittedly the Ray Tracing capabilities here didn't seem anywhere near as extravagant as it is sometimes implemented in other games, the lighting and shading by itself with or without Ray Tracing is still strong enough to hold its own, really giving depth to every object on screen. One thing worth mentioning, however, is that the game does not play very nice wit VRR enabled if you're doing this through your system hardware or external monitor. It suffers from heavy brightness flickering that is borderline horrendous and can sometimes make the game unplayable due to the epileptic nature of it, but turning this off immediately brings Infinity Nikki back to normal, stabilizing its image at the cost of a few frames. I'm hoping in a later update this can be addressed and added natively, as the game itself only allows for 30/45/60fps modes.
Miraland is so alive and vibrant I frequently find myself "taking it all in" as I find a nice area to look out into (and maybe snap a few photos), and it amazes me just how interesting and inviting it all is. The dev team here really paid attention to every aspect of Miraland to ensure that not a single square space was wasted. Because the visuals are so striking, you'll likely find yourself doing an excessive amount of photo taking. This is beneficial in multiple ways, just like everything else, because not only are you taking photos of memorable moments, but the game itself also rewards you for shooting certain areas, unlocking more lore and features down the line (similarly to Breath of the Wild's location scouting for its various stories). These rewards include, but aren't limited to, upgrade parts for your camera, and this will unlock various poses, filters, hue, and lighting techniques that help make your photos in Miraland much more detailed and professional looking. The photo mode itself is elaborate enough that excellent photos can be taken, so I'm grateful that they're not doing the bare minimum (like Final Fantasy to name one), but it's also no Spider-Man, Control, or Hellblade.
From the big band jazz in the title screen which immediately brings waves of endorphins rushing through your body to the tear jerking somber tunes in the various sub menus in-game, the music composed for the world of Miraland is just as exuberant. Every turn to every page in a menu or a path, an ecosystem or a building, it all matches wonderfully and has its own unique sound that never once feels like a forgettable backdrop. Every note that lingers and echoes is one that makes the player float alongside Nikki as she glides and hovers, and it's so complementary to the experience that I can't even imagine Infinity Nikki without it. This is also another area that I feel could potentially be inspired by the likes of Mario Odyssey (and Mario in general), where the music is such an integral part of the experience that it is synonymous in quality with its name. Infinity Nikki touches on every aspect of emotion and does so with such finesse, every composition feels meticulously tailor made not just for the moment, but for the soul.
Now let's get into the elephant in the room for any free-to-play game. It has to make money somehow, right? The obvious method here was always going to be selling outfits, but it's how those outfits are sold that concerns me. Some games do a tremendous job at providing content to their players with respect in a way that incentivizes repeat purchases and a "yeah, why not?" mentality. Fortnite, to me, is one of the best examples of this and likely a huge proponent as to why it has been, and likely always will be, successful. In addition to having skins of all shapes and sizes for a reasonable amount of V-Bucks, Fortnite provides ample opportunities to acquire skins, gliders, emotes, and whatever else completely for free with or without a battle pass. They may not be as extravagant as some of the paid ones, but they're plenty to be happy with for those that are more frugal. On the flip side, there are games like The First Descendant who want nothing to do with you unless you're opening up your wallet. One thing that's certain that I've found annoyingly common in most games, however, is that Battle Passes feel the need to work against you rather than with you. Rather than have a natural progression of the pass by simply playing, some like to require absurd goals for a measly amount of points that won't even get anywhere near an additional level needed for one reward, and when these passes can sometimes exceed 100+ levels, they feel like scams. "Pay us to access locked content that will likely still be locked as you have a week to complete it. No you may not have a life. No you may not go to work. No you can't go to the bathroom. Sit there and sweat."
Infinity Nikki, in addition to shop items that can be acquired through real and in-game currencies, bundles, and more, also does have a battle pass. For whatever reason, it's still labeled as a battle pass rather than a seasonal pass, which I found a bit humorous as there's rarely any battling going on here, and there certainly aren't any guns to be found. This battle pass wasn't made available to members of the press, and the shop was largely off limits, only showing a select few things that would have been made available if it was live, but with no indication of what they would cost or how effective the premium currencies converted from a real US Dollar would be in the shop. As a follow-up, press accounts were also given virtually unlimited currencies, so we could keep pulling for days and days using its gacha system. This made acquiring almost every outfit a breeze, but it was also nice to see how duplicates would function and the potential pull rate of some of the rarer items. Infinity Nikki, thankfully, seems to be pretty balanced across the board, and as our press accounts were limited use and we'll need to use our own once the full game releases to the public, it made me feel good about my chances at getting the things I want without worrying too much about Nikki being less of a stylist and more of a gold digger.
The exchange rates are as follows:
[COST] | [BASE] | [BONUS]
$0.99 | 60 | —
$4.99 | 300 | 35
$14.99 | 980 | 120
$29.99 | 1980 | 300
$49.99 | 3280 | 660
$99.99 | 6480 | 1800
Battle Passes will come in two tiers:
$9.99: Includes crafting materials, Diamonds, and other rewards.
$14.99: The above, including Stellarite, avatar frames, stamina, and additional rewards.
Weekly and Monthly Cards provide daily rewards for 7 or 30 days:
Weekly Card: $0.99, with 60 Stellarites and daily stamina rewards for 7 days.
Monthly Card: $4.99, with 300 Stellarites and daily Diamond rewards for 30 days.
Infinity Nikki is a treasure trove of joy that not enough good things could be said about. One important factor as well is that while on the surface it may seem like it's a game aimed at certain demographics and interests, I can promise you from the deepest parts of my soul—a soul that is laced with horror, mystery, and dark storytelling genres—that Infinity Nikki is for anyone and everyone that simply wants to get away. For me, it's become the ultimate form of entertainment. It's become the manifestation of ideas that I've had where I think about different directions the Atelier series could go into, one that could spinoff into a more relaxed version of itself free from dungeons, or if Blue Reflection was more confident in itself and all it aimed to do.
There's a deep-rooted interest that I don't think enough people talk about (likely because of the "emasculating" nature of it) of how the magical girl genre has thrived for so long. Cardcaptor Sakura, Madoka Magica, Sailor Moon, Little Witch Academia, and Kill La Kill, to name the obvious ones, and the explosive popularity of light novels that make the bestsellers lists week-in and week-out over the last few years prove that it's a genre that connects to people all over the world. For me growing up, Sailor Moon was always the show I had to make it home in time after school for because I loved that sense of adventure. The transformation from an everyday student to an evil-facing warrior in awesome outfits was always exciting to me, which was also a big reason why I had such an affinity for Power Rangers and Gundam, and continue to find such thrilling and incredible experiences in manga like Wild Strawberry and Nue's Exorcist. It's the literal transformative experience that gives such power and excitement in a character, story, and world, and it doesn’t just have to be through a drastic change in appearances or weapons, as a change of clothes can be equally as telling such as in Infinity Nikki.
The only—and I mean only—reason why Infinity Nikki isn't "perfect" is because due to the live-service and always-online nature of the game, it immediately brings with it an expiration date - even if that date is well over a decade from now. Until an offline mode is eventually added, it's a sad fact that such great work from such a talented group of people will eventually begin decomposing starting on December 5th, leaving its future uncertain, as bright as it may be. As a free-to-play title, it will ultimately be up to the players that give Nikki her longevity, serving as skin care until one-by-one numbers drop and she's left decrepit and unwanted, leading into an inevitable shutdown.
PROS:
A stunning world with equally jaw-dropping outfits to help Nikki look stylish at any given moment and ready for any situation.
Every single aspect of Infinity Nikki is rewarding, and it's just a non-stop flow of dopamine.
Its music is so complementary to the experience that it lingers in the mind even after hours.
CONS:
As is the case with any live-service title, without an offline mode, it leaves Infinity Nikki's future uncertain, and it's such a shame as this may be the first (or one of the first) live-service titles that deserves to live on forever.
Optimization with more technical enhancements - like VRR and Ray Tracing - would be appreciated.
A gigantic and sincere thank you to Infold Games for providing us a copy of Infinity Nikki for the purposes of this review!
All photos provided in this review are that of the reviewer’s using Infinity Nikki’s in-game photo mode