I can't wait to come down with whatever fever dream of open world dress-up Infinity Nikki is going to be
I've heard of riding outfits and hunting costumes and other such purpose-specific wardrobes of history. But the Victorians have nothing on Infinity Nikki, the open world dress-up adventure game where you'll unlock a floating outfit, gliding outfit (apparently not the same thing), shrinking outfit, fishing outfits, and more. Nikki showed up at Gamescom Opening Night Live today with a new trailer and also just opened registration for its closed beta.
Infinity Nikki is the fifth game in what was formerly a mobile-only series, now coming to PC (and console), as we found out during Sony's State of Play earlier this summer. Today's new trailer was more abstract than that reveal trailer, basically just a fever dream of cats, chickens, and sheep all singing "Nikki" over and over again as stylist Nikki and her cat companion Momo explore Miraland. Fortunately, Infold Games gave a more comprehensible explanation in text form:
"Sink into an immersive world with boundless opportunities including cozy open-world exploration, fun platforming, puzzle-solving, gorgeous style possibilities, and much more brought to life by former The Legend of Zelda director Kentaro Tominaga," Infold Games says. "Solve intricately designed puzzles and ward against dark energy with Nikki’s adventurous spirit. Commune with playful creatures and create specific outfits to fish in the river, catch bugs in the fields, and travel between lands."
I've always been quite keen on games where I can build and decorate, even without goals (Townscaper, Tiny Glade, etc), but I've never been one for open-ended dress-up, so fashion games have always been outside my sphere. But if you throw in some beautiful open world, a bit of exploration, traversal puzzle solving, I am so very in. Infinity Nikki has my extreme attention.
Now I've not done any deep dives into the lore of the Nikki series but Mollie Taylor did once try to explain Love Nikki to me, which is apparently way darker than I thought this adorable fashion game would be. So I'm quite curious to see if there's a similarly dire story hiding beneath Infinity Nikki's bright surface.
What I hadn't quite clocked from the reveals so far was Nikki's premium currency monetization, though that'll come as less of a surprise to those familiar with the mobile games, I'm sure. You can spot on its official website the pre-registration rewards including multiple currencies that remind me a lot of what I'm now used to seeing in the likes of Genshin Impact and other gacha games. So know that, ahead of time.
Though we've not gotten a release date for Infinity Nikki, it has just opened up registration for its closed beta test (dates to be announced), which will include PC players. You can also find it on the Epic Games Store.