#moblie game

[espio-everyday]

DAY 8

Art of Espio from the defunct mobile game Sega Heros

I know basically nothing about this game but I really like the art style

[phantom-arttt]

Stupid bitch from Swordigo

[cidthesquid]

First Impressions - Infinity Nikki

Today we're looking at this Open-world Fashion/Adventure Game!

Now, I'll be the first to admit, I don't know much about the 'Niki' series. I've played a bit of the mobile dress-up game 'Shining Nikki' A follow up to a different game called 'Love Nikki'? that's a lot of nikki!

Anyway, I did not get very far into the game, I think it was due to how slow it was to get new stuff as a f2p player, but it's been quite a while. And my cheap old tablet no longer runs the game so I can't check. D: I think it was close to the Life Makeover, a game I did really enjoy, but since you play as Nikki, you don't really have much control over how your character looks. So I just remember feeling really limited overall. I'm interested to see how this experience could translate to an open-world game where your outfits have much more utility. I'm also generally indifferent to the idea of open-world games in general, preferring at most a large map, with a bit more structure to give me a bit of a more linear experience, as my brain tend to crave 'new stuff to experience' rather than 'make your own story' But I'm mainly here to just casually explore, not embark on a 100+ hours epic quest, so we'll see if the cute world and elegant outfits are enough to keep me invested. Let's jump in and find out:

(I don't normally do 'first impressions' of games often, so I'll probably jump around a bit with how I present the information, I'm just writing my thoughts as I play, so please excuse the mess! XD) During the short introduction video for this game, Nikki finds a magical dress, that transports her to another world. You don this dress as you start your adventure, and it's really pretty! Very nice and flowy with a vibrate yet slightly dark tone to it!

When doing various actions, Niki will automatically shift to a different outfit, for example gliding, as this watery looking sailor attire, and when casting wind magic, she dawns something more ancient.

Nikki hears a mysterious voice as she wakes up, and decides to follow Along the way, we're then introduced to the 'Esselings':

It looks like these may be the main smaller enemies in this game, and it sounds like, what I thought was the 'wind magic' is actually a 'purification ritual'. I guess that's one way to explain it. We 'purify' a few enemies in the courtyard, and we then enter the tower' the voice was leading us to, and we're presented with.... Something rather unexpected:

There's a pretty dramatic story segment, with a woman stung up by magical chains. As she breaks free, it becomes clear she has some form of a connection esselings, and maybe some other dark forces. She gives us some cryptic lines about herself and the origin of nikki's dress, she blasts away our powers, and mentions if we can collect all the magic outfits we can save the world.

After this we're transported elsewhere and returned to our former outfit. I guess that was mostly a prologue, and now we can start the game proper. One of the first things the game does is give you a backpack and shows you how to equip it:

This is our first introduction to the dressup screen and it's... Pretty spare, two hairstyles, two pairs of shoes, two stocking types, and two head coverings, no outfits makeup or anything yet.

I was not expecting a full wardrobe of options within the first few minutes of the game, but it's a little weird just how similar the only available choices are. Above I showed as different as you can get, and they pretty much look exactly the same if you don't zoom in. No makeup options either, but you can adjust the skin tone, only the three options though, but only these three. (not meant to be a character creator) The next objective is to explore and escape the ruins:

It's a little weird to see how much Nikki relied on those powers, she can't even jump anymore :'( After a bit of exploring, we find out first outfit, the blue floating dress from earlier, it looks like that unlock all the outfit segments as well:

So I guess that explains why the selection was so barren before. By collecting 'Hearts of infinity' we can unlock new 'ability' outfit, In the form of 'sketches' (like floating with the blue outfit) Then you can use various collectable resources to actually 'craft' the various parts. Allowing you to both use the ability in game, and add the outfit parts to your wardrobe for mixing into your own custom outfits.

You can find these materials around the field while exploring, and you can track your progress live, (so you don't forget) I just wish the 'objective finder' [momo's view] option also helped us out by highlighting collectables. (I swear I walked past those flowers 5 or 6 times...) Anyways, after getting the purification outfit and taking out a guard, Nikki is able to enter a tower and inside is a beautiful stain glass window, and a closer inspection reveals a form, the form of...

A gatcha! This is at first look at the gotcha system in this game! And I guess it's part of the story? Anyways it seems kinda familiar to Shining Nikki, and similar games, each roll nets you one item, I just got a common pair of shoes. As we proceeded a bit further and across our first new character:

It sounds like 'stylists' are this world's equivalent to 'adventures'. Dada introduces us to the world a bit, and suggest we visit her guild. As we head out, we're introduced to fast travel beacons that also function as a respawn point. (so I guess you can 'faint' in this game!) When we finally make it to the town there's a fly over shot, and we finally see the title screen. (so NOW we're done with the prologue XD) The town looks pretty incredible:

The building look great on the inside too, as we enter the stylist guild to find Dada thoroughly overworked:

Nikki ask how to unlock more outfits, and Dada suggests checking out the compendium, and vising wishtree square to buy some items. Sure, Lets see what this compendium has to offe....

Wow, that's a pretty intense menu, most the ones in your phone menu are not this dramatic, but it's really nice to see how may animated background there are to spice up various menus. while walking around town, trying to progress the plot, I got a little distracted, picking up a few items on the ground (who knows I may need them later!) I also found this fun little mini-game:

it's very simple, but it ended up playing it a few times till I got to the end, Also to progress the plot, it said I needed to 'wait until morning' And turns out fast forwarding time has a mini-game as well.

(Kinda flappy bird-like) And with time advanced, we're able to advance the main story:

One of the main things you'll be looking for in the open world are 'WhimStars' some are hidden out in the open, other require you to complete a small challenge, and there are wrapped ones too where you must find a picture of a star somewhere nearby, so they do offer some variety in this essential part of progression:

And from what I can tell so far, the gameplay look mostly revolves exploring to find the stars along with the other crafing materials, on your way to/from main story quests, or just when you feel like exploring! And that's all I was really looking for from an open-world game! Something where exploring the world feels like it's activly contributing to the rest of the experince, rather than feeling like blank space to pad out the game. Progressing the plot gives you more sketches, finding stars sallows you to unlokc them, then the matrials you found are used for crafting. It just makes everything feel more rewarding. There are still small side activities you can do, such as mini games, and random events (where you help out towns people), and I've heard there's fishing as well:

Well, I'm sure I've not seen every feature of this game yet, after all I still haven't gotten 'photo mode' yet. It's been a few hours, And I think I at least have enough for a' first impressions' of this game, so here we go!

So what do I think of the game? It's very Cute! Cute world, Cute characters, Cute outfits and Cute Animals! I did not find the story that compelling personally, (but it is voiced!) and I don't find the world something to be something I desperately want to explore. (However it does look very nice!) But at the same time, by sprinkling crafting items everywhere, and the WhimStar collecting, make it feel like it's actually worth taking a few extra steps in any given direction.

I think this game is fairly accessible, so even people who don't play a ton of open world games will still be able to enjoy it, however, I did find it weird that the 'jump assist' just shows an indicator for your characters' trajectory, rather than actually helping players 'make the jumps' I feel like seeing lines showing 'yes you can make that jump' are not as helpful for new players, compared to actually helping them. I also found the tracking quests to be kinda difficult at times, while I could see the details on the left side of the screen, But even some main quests would not be marked on your mini-map or even the full size one.

Maybe the game considered this one kinda obvious, but I forgot where to go and the game dose not offer any hints. (Time to google it I guess!) But, yeah, minor frustrations out of the way, I did really enjoy my time with the game, even more so when I found out you can buy other outfit pieces in stores using in-game currency!

It's possible that this selection will grow stales, and I'll run out the 'free' story progression outfits as well, but I'm enjoying it for now. Hopefully, there will be a steady stream of (free) fun outfit parts that I'll be able to earn in-game to keep me invested. Because I really like this game so far, but at times it can feel like you're actively not 'working towards' new outfits, you're just getting money, and resources 'for later'. (espcially when you're not focusing on the main story) I think having (non-abality) outfit unlocks for finishing a number of side quests or completing a set of challenges would also be fun! But Regardless, it's still a free game, and I'm really enjoying it overall so if it sounds fun o you, give it a shot!

(I just unlocked the camera while writing this end part) If you're intrested in checking out the game, It's avalaible on Mobile, PS5, Epic Game Store, and they have a Direct Download on their website: https://infinitynikki.infoldgames.com/en/home

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thanks for reading! I had a lot of fun making this, so I hope you had fun reading it as well!

As always, comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome! And

And If I describe something 'objectively wrong', or use the wrong terminology, feel free to correct me, I'm always looking to improve! (But If it's feedback on my designs that's more subjective/personal preference, please let me figure it out myself,so I find my own style😄

[jessica199616]

"Don't tell Bun Bun 🐇, theres only photo of him in that camera 📸"

[blacksunlover6]

Happy birthday to the Village Hidden in the Leave’s, Sasuke Uchiha!

Sasuke was born under the Western zodiac sign of Leo. (Posted July 23, 2021)

[nintendo]

Even when she's not hitting the tracks, Daisy takes the opportunity to speed through the markets for a spot of window shopping! The Toads sure have their work cut out for them during this London tour. Be sure to check it out now in Mario Kart Tour through 12/17.

[hermity]

Beautiful bastard

[crazy--slots]

Me, accidentally killing blue in front of brown;

Brown; White killed !!!

Me (White); No no guys!!! It was brown!!! Brown killed blue in front of me and tried to vent!!

Everyone;

THEY ALL BELIEVED ME, EVEN IF I WAS GUILTY AND IM LOSING IT