The long-running Nikki sequence – to not be confused with Stellar Blade dev Shift Up’s saucy cellular shooter NIKKE: Goddess of Victory – has been styling smartphones throughout varied iterations for a number of years. This model, obtainable on console for the primary time and introducing an infinite whimsical open world, is by far essentially the most bold, nonetheless. It’s additionally completely good.
These of you who’ve performed the earlier instalments, like Shining Nikki, will know what to anticipate to an extent. The eponymous heroine is a sharp-tongue stylist with impeccable trend style, and he or she explores the world of Miraland together with her opposite speaking cat Momo. On this explicit entry, the pair get embroiled in a plot involving prophets, want jars, and a man known as Giovanni.
The story, which is paper-thin however brisk and breezy, outdoes Kingdom Hearts for its melodrama and ostentatious outfits. You’ll have already got a great sense, from that sentence alone, whether or not you’ve the abdomen for one thing as flowery as this. Personally, we completely love the unreserved ridiculousness of all of it, however your mileage will definitely range.
Whereas earlier video games have been largely about assembling costumes and successful model battles, there’s much more to this latest model. The so-called model battles do return, and also you’ll be rated throughout quite a lot of classes, from attractive to chill. However the true meat and potatoes of the sport lies with exploration, and it’s completely excellent.
Lifting inspiration liberally from releases like Genshin Affect, you’ll spend lots of your time merely navigating the luxurious Unreal Engine 5 landscapes, utilizing your Skill Outfits – particular clothes augmented with superpowers – to both float to out-of-reach locations or interact with primary actions, like fishing and bug catching.
There’s a pinch of Tremendous Mario Odyssey right here, as you’ll want to make use of sure skills to move particular gameplay gates. Alongside the way in which you’ll be gathering Whimstars, which may then be used to unlock components of an infinite ability tree, furthering your development and unlocking much more abilities and content material. It’s an important loop, and really gathering the collectibles is moreish and addictive.
Moreover, the title is continually inventing new methods to problem you. A number of the Whimstars merely must be reached to be obtained, however others include small gameplay puzzles related, like timed racecourses or fight gauntlets. Lots of the motion is de-emphasised on this recreation, however Nikki can solid magical orbs to assault opponents.
The important thing factor, actually, is that the open world is not only stunning to have a look at – full of flowers, meadows, and idyllic structure – but additionally completely bursting with issues to do. Minigames are in every single place – some easy like the place it is advisable bounce by means of a set variety of rings, whereas others see you herding sheep or dodging obstacles.
With one in every of Breath of the Wild’s designers additionally a part of the event staff, there are small puzzle-like “shrines” you discover across the setting, which take a look at your core aptitude in numerous methods. One might require you to climb a tower whereas avoiding crimson platforms, whereas one other might process you with guiding a ball into a chosen place. None of them final greater than 5 minutes, however really feel enjoyable.
And that’s actually the important thing to Infinity Nikki the place different gachas fail: it by no means lingers, as a substitute selecting to guide you by hand to the subsequent little exercise. The cutscenes, whereas full of correct nouns and different obnoxious lore nonsense, by no means overstay their welcome and make you’re feeling such as you’re ready round for too lengthy. Each jiffy of exploration, you’ll discover one thing new to do.
The map is huge, too, full of a number of completely different biomes at launch – some rural and unpopulated, others full of NPCs and side-quests to finish. As a reside service recreation, we already know the developer will proceed to construct on what’s obtainable right here at launch, with a complete home adorning enlargement presently in improvement and due within the close to future.
And that brings us to an important a part of the expertise actually: the style. Nikki is a stylist on this story, so is all about dressing up and sporting obscenely detailed outfits. That is sort of just like the Gran Turismo of trend video games, with sheer materials and tiny particulars meticulously rendered on the PS5; the presentation is among the many greatest you’ll discover on console.
You’ll unlock tons of garments and customisations by means of pure gameplay, however there’s a gacha system with time-limited outfits you possibly can interact with as effectively. Foreign money is earned by means of gameplay – comparable to finishing quests or fulfilling every day duties – however you may also select to buy it with actual cash in the event you so want.
Maybe the cool factor right here in comparison with different gacha video games is that all the pieces is optionally available: you don’t want the premium cosmetics to finish in-game duties, and it’s purely nearly trying good. Moreover, you’re assured a five-star piece each 20 pulls, so that is fairly pleasant for free-to-play. Sure, constructing a full five-star ensemble will turn out to be extraordinarily expensive, however you possibly can mix-and-match any items you do get with others.
Moreover, an in-game retailer allows you to buy some costumes outright, so that you don’t even want to fret about RNG. And month-to-month login subscriptions and a reasonably simple to finish Battle Move offer you cheaper paid choices if you wish to throw the developer some cash with out promoting your soul to the gacha. Not everybody will really feel comfy with the enterprise mannequin right here, and that’s advantageous, however from what we’ve seen thus far, it appears honest for a title that gives a lot content material without cost.
Our solely actual gripe at this stage is that the sport feels constructed for smartphones earlier than the DualSense. A number of the controller bindings are past difficult, requiring a number of button presses to realize easy duties. There’s already been some enchancment on this space since launch, so we hope it’s one thing the developer goes to proceed to iterate upon shifting forwards.
Conclusion
Infinity Nikki, even on this early part of its lifespan, is completely important – assuming you possibly can abdomen the twee, whimsical tone to all of it. Its cosy vibes will show an acquired style, however its consideration to element and dedication to preserving the participant engaged throughout each minute of exploration is impeccable. Furthermore, its visible presentation is up there alongside one of the best you’ll discover on PS5 – a unprecedented achievement for a free-to-play recreation that additionally miraculously runs on cellular. Some management quandaries and an abundance of correct nouns forestall it from attaining perfection, however these are minor blemishes on an in any other case excellent expertise.