Infinity Nikki Review

thesixthaxis.com:

Occasionally, you question whether a game is for you. Infinity Nikki, a cosy free-to-play open-world experience about wearing the most beautiful dresses, is on first impressions outside of my realms of expertise. However, whether it’s the stunning visuals, the beautiful and evocative fantasy world, or its joyful sense of fun and playfulness, Infinity Nikki dispenses with your preconceptions in moments.

Yes, Infinity Nikki is a game about dressing up, but it plays a more integral part than you might think. While some are purely visual choices, other dresses provide special abilities, whether helping you to leap further with a double jump, or providing the ability to purify darkness-tainted monsters known as Esselings. Heck, there’s one for grooming animals where you sneak up on them, Assassin’s Creed style, and then lovingly give them a thorough brushing down. You learn everything you need to know about the game in the outrageously cute reactions that each of these animals will respond with, including the sassiest squirrel in the world.

Fundamentally, dresses and their accessories function as your skill tree and you’ll need to craft each element of an outfit to unlock its ability. You do this by collecting the necessary components and acquiring a sketch of said outfit to work from, with each also giving Nikki access to a new look, some of which will automatically appear when performing that action, while others you have to select manually when you’re ready for a spot of animal grooming.

Infinity Nikki immediately beds you into its fantasy world with a hefty dose of storytelling, and your first experience of the game sees you transported from your dusty old attic to the broken and evocative ruins of a long-forgotten realm. Ena the Curator has been imprisoned here for thousands of years, but with Nikki’s arrival, and indeed the arrival of her spectacular dress, fashioned from the Threads of Reunion, she’s set free.

It’s a short-lived escape though, and in her last act she