Infinity Nikki

Many may be a little surprised to learn that Infinity Nikki is the fifth game in the Nikki series - I certainly was. The first four games came to Android and iOS, as does this new game, but for the first time it's also coming to PC and PlayStation. It is, without a doubt, the most ambitious game in the series.

Infinity Nikki is a free-to-play semi-open-world gatcha feel-good role-playing game, starring the girl Nikki. Before going to her prom, Nikki goes to the attic of her childhood home to find a dress to wear to the prom. Suddenly, she hears a sound from an old wardrobe at the other end of the attic and finds a magical red dress. The dress grabs Nikki and they dance together and by the time the dance is over, Nikki has put on the dress and, in true Narnia style, she has been sucked into the wardrobe and into the magical world of Miraland.

Here, a story of friendship, good and evil, dreams, wishes and, not least, beautiful dresses unfolds. The story is told a bit naively, but not childishly and still with respect for adults. I didn't think this kind of game, which is sprinkled with a thick layer of sugar throughout, would be for me, but Infinity Nikki is surprisingly well-made and is an excellent feel-good and relaxing role-playing game in its own right.

Infinity Nikki is a dress-up game, meaning that the game's dresses and outfits are a central part of the game. Nikki is a so-called "stylist" who has the ability to create "Ability Outfits", which are magical and beautiful dresses with different properties. They might be that they enable her to float over long distances, or to approach shy animals so she can brush them and pet them. There are 30 of these "Ability Outfits" and they all give Nikki access to new areas and new possibilities in the magical game world.

To create these important dresses, you need to collect Whimstars, which are magical stars - yes, there's a lot of magic here. When you unlock the dress or outfit (because it's not just about dresses), you get an "Outfit Sketch" where you can see what resources you need to find and use to finally create the dress or outfit and then use them.

You could say there are two layers of dresses and outfits for Nikki. There are these Ability Outfits that we just talked about, which you can only see on Nikki when she uses them. When she runs around the landscape looking for resources, completing tasks and side quests and participating in various mini-games, she wears the outfits and dresses that you can freely create yourself. These outfits consist of everything from shirts, trousers, long dresses, short dresses, hats, shoes, necklaces, earrings, headbands, bracelets, bracelets, socks, skirts, accessories and much more, so there should be an outfit that you will like and put on Nikki.

So far, so good. From here, things start to get a little more complicated and not quite as adorable as Nikki and her magical world. Firstly, you can feel the roots of the mobile platforms as the game is filled with daily quests, daily unlocks and daily rewards, and lots of connected systems that encourage the player to come back every day.

In addition, the game has no less than 5-7 different currencies (depending on how you count them - but there are a lot), and they all give access to different things in the game store, in the menus and around the game world. These currencies can be exchanged between each other and many of them can also be purchased for real money, ranging in various prices and packages.

There are so many unlock systems, reward systems, urgency systems and currencies that criss-cross to give access to many different things. At first, it's quite confusing and the many deep menus can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, you can't just ignore all these things as they are obviously necessary to unlock important dresses, items and currencies to progress in the game.

It would be unfair to complain about in-game sales and reward systems in a free-to-play game, and that's not what I'm doing. It's more the amount of them. As expected, you're constantly reminded that there's something in the in-game store that you might be able to use and the game keeps tapping you on the shoulder and saying "Hey, check this out! Or... This one!". You can play without spending real money, but then you have to be prepared to embark on a really time-consuming grind and I have a feeling that at some point you'll encounter something akin to a paywall, because it's almost impossible to earn the resources you need to create the exact dress that allows you to progress in the game. But I haven't experienced that yet.

So it's not so much the constant tapping on your shoulder that's a problem, but more the number of connected systems and the number of currencies, which are simply so many and so complex that it can seem like a barrier at first. It's a shame, because behind all these systems lies a really nice and wonderful feel-good game that I personally would have paid for if it had been released as a paid game instead of free-to-play.

Infinity Nikki is a really beautiful game. Miraland is a magical place, with many beautiful areas, villages and open spaces, and the game's many dresses and outfits are really well designed. The many menus are also really beautiful, which is a good thing because you'll spend many hours there. The soundtrack and soundtrack fit perfectly with the feel-good atmosphere and there is not a shadow of anything that could be controversial or offensive in the plot, visuals or soundtrack.

However, there is one last thing that could almost completely ruin the game for me, but might not matter to others. That doesn't change the fact that it's a huge blunder that this particular feature isn't in the game, and I'm talking about the ability to play with inverted y-axis (and/or x-axis for that matter). I always play with an inverted y-axis, but it's not possible here and it can really ruin a lot of the fun for me - luckily Infinity Nikki is not a game that requires quick reactions, but such a feature is obviously a must in games here on the edge of 2025.

Infinity Nikki is easy to recommend and a game you should download and try. It's beautiful, charming, there are plenty of activities and entertainment in the big world and a real feel-good game to enjoy. However, you have to be aware of the sheer amount of systems and currencies that are almost constantly trying to squeeze money out of the player, and fair enough they are there, but there are so many. You just have to be very aware of that.