Infinity Nikki Review

Infinity Nikki is a game I didn’t know I needed, but I’m glad it’s here. The gacha genre, seemingly dominated by MiHoYo heavyweights in the form of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, almost leaves little room for other players to enter the space. In comes Infinity Nikki, infusing a healthy amount of cozy into the gacha genre, creating a refreshing, delightful world full of unique gameplay systems, cute characters, and bursting at the seams with wonder, as long as you can look past many of its cumbersome, sometimes broken menus.

Infinity Nikki, a free to play adventure game, is the fifth entry in the Nikki franchise developed by Infold Games, available on PC, PS5, iOS, and Android. I was unfamiliar with the Nikki franchise before this title, a series that has always had a home on mobile. Nikki’s journey begins as she is getting ready for a ball with her adorable feline companion, Momo. She is whisked away to another dimension full of forgotten ruins with a prisoner trapped inside. To free said prisoner, Nikki must journey to Miraland and retrieve the miracle outfits; no questions are asked from Nikki, and she plunges into this world to start her outfit-collecting adventure. As mentioned before, I am unfamiliar with the franchise, and maybe this is a common occurrence for Nikki, but she asks little to no questions as she’s whisked away, but, like Nikki, once I set foot in Miraland, I am more than happy to go along for the ride in this whimsical world.

The first few moments in Infinity Nikki, it’s very clear that Infold Games have created a charming, beautiful open world full of cute characters, with the cat companion, Momo, being just the appetiser to the game’s many attractions. You take on the role of Nikki as she journeys around Miraland, with her main goal of collecting Miracle outfits. Meeting many people that help guide her journey, activities galore, and an abundance of great locations, such as a well ran by adorable frogs or a dream warehouse filled with giant paper cranes. 

Over the course of her journey, Nikki gains a large amount of abilities that see her doing a variety of things such as platforming, gliding, bug catching, fishing, taking photos, and engaging in combat in a breezy, light-hearted sense. Nikki feels great to control, with the right amount of bounce and not too floaty when jumping around. Nikki can also get around by way of bicycle, gliding, and using the many warp spires around the map as a means of fast travel; navigating around this world never feels bothersome or like busy work and is a delight to explore. Throughout the world of Miraland, you’ll find a lot of stars known as “Whimstars,” each having a corresponding short task. Whether that be a short obstacle course, a visual puzzle, or moving a ball from point A to B, these tasks feel varied, and I felt rewarded for my exploration throughout the many corners of Miraland. On top of Whimstars, there is the main currency in the form of blings and Dews of inspiration that are reserved for more special outfit rewards.

The first few moments in Infinity Nikki, it’s very clear that Infold Games have created a charming, beautiful open world full of cute characters, with the cat companion, Momo, being just the appetiser to the game’s many attractions.

The beauty in Infinity Nikki is that it presents these unique gameplay abilities in the form of outfits, with different dresses providing a selection of abilities that continues to expand over the adventure. These are presented in the form of a skill tree; unlocking the outfit allows for it to be crafted, with potential upgrades to boost abilities and effects. For example, an outfit will grant you the bug-catching ability, opening up a whole new activity with many different bugs to collect. This expands into fishing, then animal grooming, and so on, expanding the many game activities further. If you haven’t noticed already, combat is not the sole focus in Infinity Nikki; the focus is on the combination of many of the world’s intricate and heartwarming activities, with each complementing one another nicely. Combat in some form is present, but it is as lighthearted and simple as one could get. With a purifying outfit granting you a form of magic that can dispatch enemies, these sections are meant to be easy and provide no form of frustration whatsoever. 

Another main point of Infinity Nikki’s gameplay loop is in the form of stylist battles, where you will encounter many fellow stylists that you can take on, showing off your best outfits in a variety of categories from “Sweet” to “Elegant”. These battles are a form of outfit checks (skill checks) to see how your wardrobe has progressed throughout your time in Infinity Nikki. There was a decent amount of these battles sprinkled throughout the game, providing another activity to partake in if I wanted to dive deeper.

Infinity Nikki also has a very detailed compendium that keeps track of your outfits and the many activities in the world along with a stylist rank. The more activities you complete and check off, the more your stylist rank increases. Think of this as your main level within Infinity Nikki. Certain main missions do require a specific stylist rank or a set amount of clothing, but I never had any issues with progression, as I was always trying to see and take in as much as I could throughout this world. However, players that are beelining the main quest may find they will need to take part in Miraland’s other activities in order to progress.

In tandem with games in this style, there are daily activities in the form of wishes that are simple tasks that also help increase your stylist rank. These can be done quickly, are not time-consuming, and are generally done within a standard play session anyway. Outside of the main quests and many outfit-related activities, Infinity Nikki is filled with a number of side quests that range from small errands to solving puzzle-like outfit requests.

Infinity Nikki quite simply offers you a whole feast of activities and exploration outside of the main scenario. You will be introduced to many of these during the main quest, but it is completely up to you if you want to dive deeper into Infinity Nikki’s many offerings. All activities retain a wonderful sense of charm, although some could do with a bit more fleshing out, with some activities feeling like more of an afterthought.

The many characters in Miraland that Nikki meets over the course of her adventure feel meaningful with their own problems and goals. Some with surprisingly deep and real conversations, adding a meaningful feel to this otherwise lighthearted world. There are a number of quirky and unique characters, such as a giant blue (dragon?) creature that provides Nikki with rewards for collecting the aforementioned Dews of inspiration, or floating talking bags (it’s much cuter than it sounds) known as Pieceys, each with their own striking personalities. However, the highlight is Nikki’s companion, Momo, an immediately likeable character that gives off Studio Ghibli vibes. The way Momo rolls around and exclaims his love for BBQ, I couldn’t get enough.

The beauty in Infinity Nikki is that it presents these unique gameplay abilities in the form of outfits, with different dresses providing a selection of abilities that continues to expand over her adventure.

The exposition between Nikki and Momo is cute, not overdone, and like certain game companions over the years that become irritable with frequent remarks, Momo never once utters more than they should in my time in Miraland. Nikki does feel a bit naïve and one-note, and on her own, her personality would become stale rather quickly. Momo adds warmth and creates an endearing relationship between the two. The voice acting from each of Infinity Nikki’s characters is outstanding, elevating the many characters I ran into.

Without a doubt  the visual aesthetic of Infinity Nikki is top tier. This game looks absolutely fantastic. Outfits are detailed and vibrant, the landscapes are varied and have a great color palette. The music throughout Infinity Nikki matches the visual wonder. Musical numbers in areas are out of this world, I was humming along to the intro song after a few logins, the tunes in areas such as the frogs well are bouncy and fun, soaring on a paper crane with a fitting vocal track elevates many of the games beautiful moments. I played on both PlayStation 5 and PC, and the game looks great on both platforms running without a hitch. The PC version did have the edge when it comes to frames, running at a consistent 60fps, For some reason the PS5 is limited to 30fps which is a shame. Infold Games have done a great job with every slick visual detail right down to the menus…oh the menus.

Infinity Nikki has alot of intersecting systems with different abilities, changing costumes to take part in style battles, trying to locate a certain bug for crafting, and the various levelling/upgrade systems. All of this is presented in Infinity Nikki menus in the form of a cutely designed and aptly named “Pear Pal” but let me tell you, there is ALOT of menus. Infinity Nikki does a great job of introducing the games many elements gradually, but there is just far too many menus that could have been streamlined. 

On top of having all these menus, I found navigating them was sometimes a nightmare, I occasionally had to point my joystick in a certain odd direction for the menu to acknowledge my movement, sometimes items would get stuck and I had to fully exit out and re enter to continue. Infinity Nikki’s menus are not only cumbersome, sometimes they flat out just don’t respond, which makes certain tasks like stylist battles, or activities that require frequent menu hopping a drag to get through and make me want to rush through as quickly as possible just to get back to the open world.

Of course, it needs to be mentioned, Infinity Nikki is a gacha game. In combination with the core games many menus, there is also a group of menus related to purchasing certain currencies for outfits. The only thing that can be bought in Infinity Nikki are costumes, Infold has assured that these are all purely cosmetic.  So far throughout my playtime, I only ran into a brief intro to one of the microtransaction menus and even then, I did not stay in for long. I was not blocked off from any activity, area or character, this whole multi menu storefront is only there if you want it. Like me, you can safely choose to ignore it, unless there is a time limited cosmetic outfit you can’t go without.