As someone who has never played a game from the Nikki series but knew a lot about it from other people talking about the mobile games, I was truly shocked playing the Closed Beta of Infinity Nikki. My time with the game was short, but I can’t wait for more. If you’re someone who loves to customize your character, unlock new outfits, and get to play dress-up, this is the perfect game for that. Typically, I avoid the gacha game experience, and it took me a while to realize that Infinity Nikki was a gacha game until it was mentioned in a tutorial. Compared to other gacha games, the micro-transaction part of the game didn’t feel like it was forced on you or like you were being influenced into purchasing something.
Instead, it simply felt like an accessory to the game, where you could form your own decisions about whether you used the system or not. However, stepping into the world of Infinity Nikki was nothing short of magical. From the high-definition graphics to the sparkle effects on the clothing, I was enamored immediately.
As a kid growing up with browser games, I spent a lot of time playing dress-up games online, including StarDoll. Growing up, I continued to love games where I could dress characters up and customize them, which is why I have such an intense love of The Sims, even today. Getting to step into a world full of magic, glitz and glamor felt like a dream come true, and every second I played of Infinity Nikki was an absolute delight.
The fashion wasn’t the only thing that blew me away. The Unreal Engine 5-powered graphics and location designs were absolutely stunning, and I ended up with quite a few screenshots just to create some backgrounds for my laptop. The lighting was perfect, and it was very realistic and magical to look at. In certain locations, it reminded me of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but with more realistic animations and stylistic choices.
Going into it, I had no idea what to expect. I knew it was an open-world game, but that was as far as my knowledge went. What I wasn’t expecting was to have to complete puzzles, take part in delicate platforming, and fight enemies. The enemies in the game reminded me a lot of the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts, giving me a little shot of nostalgia when I’d have to interact with them. Although it wasn’t much of a combat sequence, as you just had to fire a purification orb at them, they would disappear.
I liked that Nikki’s dress would change depending on what abilities she had to use. For example, if she had to jump and float, her dress would change into a gorgeous blue dress full of shimmer as she floated on bubbles to get to her location. It reminded me a lot of typical girly toys you’d get as a kid, like the Barbie dolls that would change color when submerged in water.
The first city you stumble upon is beautiful and teeming with life, with plenty of different characters to talk to, mini-games to complete, and side-quests to embark on. One of the mini-games I enjoyed was having to steer a paper crane away from trees and stones to be able to complete it. It wasn’t difficult by any means, but it had a lovely, unique animation style.
My only gripe came when entering the Stylist’s Guild. For some reason, you go from being able to pan your camera around as much as you want to a locked camera. Maybe it was a bug or just my game having issues, but it made navigating the area really difficult. I found myself running into walls time and time again to try and figure out how to leave the building.
Overall, my experience with Infinity Nikki was a great one. I loved figuring out how to platform and parkour my way to getting items, finding secret chests with new clothing, and discovering secrets around every corner. I truly cannot wait for this game to be fully released, and I just know it will be a huge time-sink for me. The game doesn’t have a release date yet, but it should be available soon on PC (via Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, iOS, and Android.
