Infinity Nikki is just a nice open world, dress-up game with some real heart - so what’s the catch?

Okay imagine this. A 26-year-old big, bearded man walks through Gamescom - having drunk three Red Bulls and smoked five cigarettes - and stumbles towards the Infinity Nikki booth. It's this massive, adorable set-up with rows of PCs along cutesy white booths. I hop right in, finding myself in control of a young lady, as well as her smug cat companion sitting in the basket of a rainbow-coloured bicycle. The proceeding hour has me create new dresses to wear, catch bugs, and clean various cats on the street. This might be the most out of place I've ever felt previewing a video game.

And yet, in spite of myself and my pretty firmly established tastes, Infinity Nikki seems to be a real sleeper hit at Gamescom. It's an odd package, a blend of Genshin Impact's open world exploration and Barbie's generation-spanning appeal to kids who like dressing up dolls. You play as a mystical stylist called Nikki, in a world that seems to unashamedly revolve around creating cute outfits.

One of the biggest cards in Nikki's tailor-made sleeves is how it looks. Infinity Nikki is a gorgeous game, with vast open landscapes, rich forests, and glistening water. On a macro scale it's a looker, but what's especially rad is the finer details are lusciously extravagant too. Zooming in on Nikki's various outfits shows the stitching in the fabric, with apparent visual differences between material used. It's nuts.

The whole game seems to revolve around these outfits. There is a main narrative thread present, one in which Nikki ventures out to help folk out with her magical fashion designer powers, but the vast majority of time I spent with the game was dedicated to exploring the world and tracking down crafting materials. There are also stars hidden around the map, behind puzzles or tantalisingly twirling in high-up places, which you must collect to progress in the story.

In my notes, I tried writing 'hey, this is kinda like Super Mario Sunshine', but then I heard the cries of a million angry voices and scribbled that out. All I'll say is the loop of hunting down stars, picking up various junk, and crafting clothing is pleasing even to my jaded heart. Also, Nikki does a little dance and holds the star up to the camera when she grabs one, which counts for a lot in my book.

If there's a weak spot to Infinity Nikki it's gotta be the combat. Nikki can shoot out an energy projectile which seemed to instantly kill most enemies out in the open world, and not in an especially engaging or interesting fashion. I don't believe it's too harsh to state that combat wasn't a high-priority for the team here, and hey, why would it be in a fancy dress-up game? But if you cover the map in cute little monsters you've gotta make fighting them fun. Sadly, it isn't.

You know what is dope? Catching bugs and cleaning cats on the street. These are two of the dedicated 'classes' Nikki has, each coming with its own cute outfit obviously. Be it fishing or electronics repair (you read that right) each role has unique abilities that let you go out and collect various resources. These aren't particularly complex, but Infinity Nikki clearly doesn't want complexity to get in the way of a younger, more casual audience experiencing the joys of wearing cute dresses and electrical engineering.

I mean look, Infinity Nikki is the kinda game where you can take a quick glance at it and know immediately if it's for you. I am obviously not the target audience for Infinity Nikki, even if I did dig the office suit she had. But I can put my own preferences aside and see clear as day that the quality of the game is high and it's made with a lot of passion. I don't think there's another game playable right now that weaves its love for clothing and cuteness so thoroughly throughout the entire game.

The only real question left hanging over the game is how it's monetized. As I was playing Infinity Nikki at Gamescom I was told that all the outfits I had available were either unlockable in-game (through quests, opening chests, etc) or earnable through challenges present in the game. There was no word on microtransactions, even if their presence felt likely. Following the preview I reached out to a PR rep, who stated: "Regarding the game's monetization system, we haven't finalized it yet." They added that more information on it is set to be released with the next closed beta test. Nikki games in the past have all been gacha games - essentially slot machines - so one would expect the same thing here.

How exactly it might work remains a mystery for now, but it's safe to say this could be a dealbreaker for many. One note I'll add is it's clear that Infinity Nikki will appeal to a younger, casual audience. I hope that, if there is an intensive gacha element to the game, it's at least implemented in a fair and player-friendly way, with clarity on the odds and whatnot. This has been done by other games - see HoYoverse's latest releases - but admittedly there's only so much you can do. Gacha is gacha - but one can hope.

I walked away from Infinity Nikki genuinely surprised, and quite impressed. I'll look at it from afar, in my own shabby clothes, and salute it from a distance. But mate, in another life this would absolutely be my jam. If you like a lovely dress-up game that you can sit back and relax with, or have a kid or significant other who'd love that sort of game, it's worth keeping an eye on. A wholesome dress-up game that proves style doesn't always have to come over substance - with some hard work and gacha cash you can have both.