Infinity Nikki: hands-on report

blog.playstation.com:

Infinity Nikki is a beautiful open-world adventure that takes a distinctly different approach to theme and gameplay, focusing less on combat and more on exploration, questing, discovery, and design, all with a smart and stylish female character in the lead role.

Nikki, a young girl with a love of fashion, finds a mysterious dress in the attic. When she puts it on, she and her chubby, chatty cat Momo are whisked away to a strange new world. She meets a being named Ena the Creator, who gives her the Heart of Infinity and entrusts her with finding the Miracle Outfits.

 I recently had an opportunity to go hands-on with the game on PS5, so let’s dive in.

The world of Infinity Nikki is fueled by the power of Whim, the sparks of joy and creativity that exist within us all. The way people here tend to harness their Whim energy is through fashion. Clothing is powerful self-expression, and a stylish outfit even has the power to grant its wearer new abilities. With that kind of energy woven into fabric, it’s no wonder that Stylists–talented clothing makers–are highly respected. And after Nikki gets here, she’s quickly judged to be prime Stylist material and brought into the Stylists Guild of the hamlet of Florawish. 

But things aren’t perfectly peaceful: there’s a strange condition going around that’s making citizens go comatose, alongside a suspicious gang of stylists up to no good. During our time in the beta, we got a chance to meet several characters, good and bad, and play through several events: joining the Stylists Guild, helping out several folks in town, investigating a case of the mysterious illness, fighting against other stylists to make the coolest outfit,  and exploring a frog-filled well to stop a rampaging fish that cut off Florawish’s electric power. 

As a Stylist, Nikki can make clothes that grant her abilities. Early on, she’ll have two outfits–one that lets her float after jumping and another that lets her shoot purifying energy–that she can access by