Infinity Nikki: The First Hands-On Preview

Infinity Nikki: The First Hands-On Preview

At last, an open-world game that measures up – literally. On the one hand, Infinity Nikki is the console-ready follow-up to the Miracle Nikki and Shining Nikki series of dress-up games on mobile from Chinese game publisher Infold. On the other, it takes some influence from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, with ex-Nintendo BOTW director Kentaro Tominaga as its executive producer.

And as I discovered from three hours playing a packed new demo on PC, Infinity Nikki blends the best of these two disparate worlds – and tucks a ton of surprises under its sparkly belt.

As she digs through her attic in search of an outfit for the ball, titular heroine Nikki is thrown headlong into adventure when she finds an enchanted red and purple glittering dress in a wardrobe. Dancing with the dress, it suddenly pulls her and her talking cat-like pet/BFF Momo into a fantastical, mysterious realm. There, in the bowels of a crumbling castle, Nikki meets a cursed goddess named Ena the Curator, who grants Nikki with the Heart of Infinity and all its powers, sending her to Miraland and tasking her with reviving all the Miracle Outfits to save the world from evil. It’s like The Wizard of Oz meets Final Fantasy meets Paris Fashion Week, with a healthy sprinkling of Gravity Rush and The Neverending Story for good measure.

Just like in BOTW, Infinity Nikki has an impressive sense of scale and varied locations that encourage exploration. The rolling countryside and mountain backdrop of the opening Memorial Mountains location is Hyrule as interpreted by Studio Ghibli, while the village of Florawish is idyllic and alive, drenched in colourful flowers, and bustling with NPCs who give Nikki interesting lore updates or side missions. The village’s gorgeous European architecture is dotted with collectibles such as Blings (currency) and Whimstars (skill-tree points) that reward curious explorers, and Momo is always on hand to help out – temporarily viewing the world through his eyes allows you to find and track nearby Whimstars. Chests hidden here and there may contain a prize, but they sometimes spit out enemies you must defeat before you can get the loot.

Dungeons offer more advanced platforming action and fantastical boss creatures, while glowing pink cubes open up Zelda-style shrines, with environmental puzzles and other challenges that grant special rewards when beaten.

True to the roots of the series, the fashion theme permeates Infinity Nikki from shoulder to hem. With her long pink twin tails and her cute feminine style, Nikki is fabulously dressed from the off, and players can unlock a huge variety of outfits. A skill tree allows you to spend Whimstars on outfit blueprints, while others can be received from NPCs and side quests, or by winning them from a gacha machine.

Once you have the blueprints for an outfit, you can craft it, so long as you have the corresponding materials.

Some of these outfits give Nikki new abilities, such as a floating jump to cross wide gaps, a glider (similar to Link’s), a long-range attack to “purify” enemies, or an angling suit to go fishing; each of these can be equipped via a selection wheel or by using keyboard shortcuts. Others are purely cosmetic and can be mixed and matched to your heart’s desire. When you equip a dress and use its abilities, Nikki instantly changes outfits, and then changes back when you’re done, so you can spend most of the time in the ensemble of your choice.

The rich graphics show the detail in each item of clothing, right down to the type of material, from delicately patterned translucent silk to chunky wool. Each outfit comes with its own set of animations, too – for example, when Nikki changes into the Floating Outfit, bubbles follow her as she glides gracefully across the screen, adding to the vibe nicely.

Enemies, too, are sometimes made from scraps of spare fabric, while all of the crafting materials Nikki collects are used for making clothes, from plants in the shape of buttons to insects in the shape of socks. One outfit lets Nikki brush and trim animals for their fur, enabling stealth movement so that she can sneak up and catch them unaware; as you trim creatures based on cats, dogs and sheep, they roll around in ecstasy, which is utterly adorable.