I found the Nikki games in the traditional manner: a wise, dear friend recapped the mechanics and buckwild lore. (Grace, I am SO sorry I had to keep a lid on this piece. Please forgive me!) The Nikki series formula is deceptively simple: craft outfits, wear said outfits, and then score said outfits. Story happens in-between. But Infinity Nikki is a seismic shift, reforming the tectonic plates of Nikki’s core around open-world concepts from the past decade.
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Here are Infinity Nikki’s priorities, from the top down:
- What if Link’s Gerudo outfit was the fashion baseline, not the peak?
- Why did Baroque Goth Elsa warp you into an alternate world where fashion showdowns rule the land?
- Why are people falling into sudden comas?
- What if Genshin Impact took a weed gummy and chilled out a little?
As a 33-year-old gay man with a frighteningly robust sense of camp, Infinity Nikki is a low-maintenance treat. I can enjoy the sights, take in the gameplay at a relaxed pace, and mostly ignore the free-to-play scaffolding. But my early press build isn’t what others will experience.
The login I was provided had a healthy amount of in-game money and all paid currency switched off. How will this dynamic change when those missing pieces go online? Only one way to find out.
Party of One
Nikki is a frighteningly composed pink-haired girl who wields the power of Whim. She can craft outfits that imbue special abilities: floating in the air, purifying enemies, even electrical work.
She wanders through Miraland with her best friend, Momo the talking cat. After a brief tutorial sequence, Infinity Nikki deploys the now-iconic Breath of the Wild cliff shot: the jaw-dropping view of the countryside stretched out in front of the camera.
Other characters come and go as the story dictates, but Nikki is mostly free to roam solo. Like any modern open-world game, hoovering up crafting materials and currency is key. Star-shaped Bling can be used to buy things, and almost everything else unlocks and crafts outfits once you have the initial sketch.
Whimstars are the energy that powers Infinity Nikki’s extensive skill tree. There’s not just one way to get a Whimstar. Some hover at the top of high platforms. Others are guarded by enemies, rewards for scavenger hunts, and disguised as wild animals. If one challenge eludes you, try another. Minigames are cheap, autosaves are generous, and there’s rarely a steep penalty for failure.
Other wheels turn around this central spoke, but they mostly avoid the artificial scarcity that plagues free-to-play titles. Daily tasks, optional challenge zones, and yes, gacha pulls are present, but they never felt necessary in my early press build.
Fresh Fits
Infinity Nikki’s incredible outfits are the center of the game. The expansive selection has cheery florals, crisp uniforms, futuristic jumpsuits, and everything in between. You can buy pieces from shops, craft them from what you find in the world, or receive sketches for them by completing quests.
After getting your bearings, you can duel other stylists in fashion showdowns. A theme gets chosen, and you must assemble an outfit that fits that theme. If your score beats a certain threshold, you win the duel and get a new piece of gear for your trouble. If you’re unsure of what to pick, you can use the game’s helpful filtering system, and it’ll surface the relevant tag for each piece.
I constantly morphed Nikki’s style throughout my early playthrough, veering away from soft pastels to the more offbeat looks. All-black steampunk-goth chic? Check. Imposing militaristic coat and breeches? Check. Hypebeast shades and activewear? Check.
Most pieces didn’t come with built in abilities, but who cares when Nikki looks this cool? I cannot wait to see what happens when the wider player base experiments with the full Infinity Nikki closet. I expect impeccable taste and fashion crimes in equal measure. (Yes, that means you, Grace.)
Story Threads
Infinity Nikki’s story takes an immediate wild turn. After making her way to the town of Florawish and registering as a stylist, Nikki discovers that residents are suddenly falling into mysterious comas.
After investigating further, she uncovers a rash of dangerous wish-granting bottles circulating around Miraland. With the help of her new friends, Nikki strengthens her abilities as a stylist to pursue the rumored Miracle Outfits, powerful clothes that grant incredible power.
Infinity Nikki’s extensive character text and excellent voice cast give a bit more heft to the generic but pleasing atmosphere. Although Nikki’s default skin tone is white, you can set it to different shades in wardrobe options. Otherwise, all of the humans I encountered in Florawish were white.
For a game that otherwise feels welcoming, it was a jarring omission. Care was put into making sure masucline and feminine-presenting stylists showed up across town, so why not extend that representation further?
Pesky Bugs, Lofty Promises
Unforunately, the technical aspects of Infinity Nikki weren’t always smooth. The skybox would occasionally flicker at the edges of cutscenes. And opening the quest menu would sometimes glitch the menu text and soft lock the game entirely. Thankfully, Infinity Nikki’s built-in autosave was generous enough that I didn’t lose any progress.
But players with less dedicated time for Infinity Nikki will want to keep an eye out for any oddities. Another tense cutscene was undercut by character models phasing through their chairs as they spoke, standing in a rigid default position. None of these inconsistencies were deal-breakers, but hopefully this isn’t a sign of future launch day woes.
Infinity Nikki’s free-to-play model feels uncertain in this early press build. I didn’t encounter any progress roadblocks during my playthrough. But there’s no way of knowing if my press account resources reflect the average player’s experience. The monetization overview provided with my press key set clear expectations for paid content:
Please note that, without exception, all premium items in Infinity Nikki are purely cosmetic, and that they do not provide gameplay advantage in any capacity.
That initial promise seems significantly more forgiving than Genshin Impact’s approach to character pulls and cosmetics. But just because premium purchases are purely cosmetic doesn’t mean that they can’t feed into dark patterns and FOMO. What I’ve seen doesn’t take an aggressive monetization approach, but my experience doesn’t speak for everyone.
Thoughts So Far: Prepare the Runway for Infinity Nikki
Infinity Nikki’s blend of gentle adventuring, killer outfits, and off-kilter lore is simultaneously not for me and Exactly For Me. It’s a relief to find a free-to-play game that doesn’t constantly objectify its characters, even if it does skew a little too saccharine at times.
But what I am playing is very different from the Infinity Nikki that will launch on December 5th for PC, PlayStation 5, and mobile. It’s not the game that will exist in a few years. Only time will tell if Infinity Nikki will keep its free-to-play promises and player interest in balance. For now, I’m fully on board.
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