Infinity Nikki Overview – Dressed for Success?

Infinity Nikki is an odd sport. In a way, it’s precisely what we’d like within the business. There’s a really actual danger, if we focus solely on what sells finest, that the one video games developed will turn out to be carbon copies of one another. As a substitute, Infinity Nikki is an open-world sport with a whole lot of similarities to issues like Breath of the Wild, albeit if sporting the appropriate frilly costume gave Hyperlink the flexibility to drift.

Infinity Nikki begins with Nikki and her finest buddy, a speaking cat named Momo, discovering a goddess who sends them on a journey to the land of Mira. There, they should acquire magical outfits to save lots of the world. Fight is so simple as taking pictures orbs to purify your enemies (or often slamming them from above), so don’t anticipate some large problem.

This isn’t a sport that’s constructed to emphasize you out. If something, it’s a comfy sport. There’s light music, light gameplay, light surroundings, light every little thing. It’s enjoyable, however not the type of factor I can see thrilling many individuals. In reality, it’s a superb antidote to the stress that different video games can convey. For those who’re burned out after a number of unhealthy matches in a web based sport or just need a laid-back journey, this may be simply the factor.

One of many distinctive promoting factors of Infinity Nikki is the dress-up mechanic. All through the sport you’ll obtain quite a lot of totally different outfits, every of which has a selected use. Whereas it’s slightly unusual that Nikki must put on a distinct costume to catch bugs in comparison with grooming animals, it’s an enthralling addition. Crucially, whereas among the extra contextual costumes should be chosen manually, you don’t want to change between outfits to make use of your extra energetic talents.

Fight is an easy affair, however there’s lots to see and do on the earth of Mira. The surroundings is gorgeous, and also you’re ceaselessly rewarded on your efforts. Exploring caverns will grant you new fragrances to reinforce your expertise. You’ll discover glowing pink crystals that result in Breath of the Wild-esque puzzle segments the place yow will discover Whimstars. Extra Whimstars might be present in platforming segments, environmental puzzles, by chasing them down, or by discovering them hidden within the setting. You’ll use these Whimstars to unlock new sketches or improve your outfits, so it’s all the time price on the lookout for them.

Even discovering the supplies you want is comparatively charming in comparison with many video games. You’ll groom animals (all of that are cute), sneak up on bugs, or take a break to go fishing. Sure, it does ultimately get slightly annoying to see the identical twenty-second cutscene as a result of you want to groom a Floof or a Shirtcat (to make use of their precise names), however rattling if it’s not an cute one.

In contrast to many open worlds, monitoring down what you want is comparatively stress-free. You may spotlight the realm the place you’ll discover crafting supplies in your map, and you’ll make the most of your cat companion, Momo, to identify any Whimstars within the setting. Most significantly maybe, it’s a world you need to discover. If, like me, you discover Skyrim overwhelming because of the sheer quantity of issues to do, Infinity Nikki’s open world is way extra relaxed and approachable.

In fact, that is removed from an ideal sport. There have been a number of glitches I skilled throughout my time in Mira, and I often discovered myself needing to reload the sport as a result of the audio reduce out, Nikki refused to leap or push a block, or Momo stored telling me there was a Whimstar close by even throughout reduce scenes.

I performed on the PC with a PS5 controller and switching management schemes simply to save lots of a screenshot might be a chore. Worse, there have been a number of events the place the sport would simply freeze, and since utilizing a controller seemingly disables your mouse, I must go to the duty supervisor simply to shut the sport, one thing I haven’t wanted to do in years.

In fact, glitches are all the time a chance, particularly in a sport that hasn’t even absolutely launched but, but it surely did lead to some moments of frustration. Was this a problem with the controller gameplay? In all probability, however you’d anticipate a sport that has controller help to appreciate you would possibly nonetheless want a mouse.

The gacha system is maybe my greatest criticism. Gacha is already slightly controversial, however on this case it feels nearly prefer it was introduced in for the sake of getting it. You may simply ignore it in case you don’t need to use it, since most (if not all) of the rewards are beauty, however in that case why not merely give individuals the selection to purchase the objects as an alternative of utilizing their cash for an opportunity to win them?

I personally by no means reached some extent the place I felt like I needed to make use of the system, so it does really feel prefer it was introduced in largely as an afterthought. It does have its makes use of with regards to design challenges, the place you’ll make an outfit and compete to have the good/cutest/sexiest (for some purpose) look, however I discovered that I did nicely sufficient within the story-mandated ones with the designs I got here throughout extra organically. It’s straightforward to disregard the system, which raises the query: why trouble together with it in any respect?

General did I like Infinity Nikki? Sure. I can see it being a pleasant distraction from extra traumatic video games, and I’m prepared to confess that I can see myself coming again to it. It’s a pleasant little palate cleanser, if not essentially the type of sport that’s going to draw the intense avid gamers on the market. For those who’re on the lookout for a heavy-duty sport to sink a number of thousand hours into, this isn’t for you. If you wish to merely spend a number of hours exploring an enthralling world with loads of puzzles and platforming, this would possibly simply be your dream.