Infinity Nikki is a free-to-play action adventure game from Infold Games. Although this Chinese developer isn’t exactly a household name worldwide, it has actually been making Nikki games for quite some time. Infinity Nikki is the fifth installment in the overarching Nikki franchise, and it’s the first to be released on modern consoles. Infinity Nikki boasts an open world to explore, and it combines several gameplay mechanics, like puzzle-solving, platforming, and dress-up, to create a wholly unique experience.
One of the biggest gaming success stories of 2024, Infinity Nikki came out at the tail end of last year and was downloaded more than 20 million times across PS5, PC, and mobile devices in just a few days. These days, however, Infinity Nikki’s reception is a lot more mixed. Despite getting off to a relatively strong start, the game is now mired in controversy due to some recent changes made.
Infinity Nikki Adds New Feature on Epic Games Store and Steam
Infinity Nikki adds a new feature, which can currently be accessed by PC gamers playing the title via Steam or the Epic Games Store.
The New 1.5 Update for Infinity Nikki Has Upset Many Fans
The Changes to Infinity Nikki's Pity System Make the Game's Outfits More Pricey
In Infinity Nikki, players have the option to spend in-game currency to receive certain randomly-selected items. To get the rewards they want, though, they will often have to spend tons of money to purchase several pulls. Fortunately, Infinity Nikki also features gacha games' pity system. If a player is unlucky and doesn’t get the item they want even after 'pulling' multiple times, they are guaranteed to get said item on the 20th try.
Infinity Nikki (and most gacha games in general) have something known as banners, which are essentially groups of items that are offered by the developers at a certain event or specific period of time.
Players can dress the protagonist of Infinity Nikki up in several different outfits, many of which are only accessible via the game’s gacha mechanics. Each of these outfits is divided into several pieces, so players need to obtain all of them to be able to wear them. This is where the center of the controversy lies.
Infold Games recently announced, as part of the Infinity Nikki 1.5 update, that all future dresses will be broken up into 11 pieces. Because of this, players will now have to buy a maximum of 220 pulls in order to get a complete dress, which makes the outfits a lot more pricey.
Infold Games' Decision to Retcon Infinity Nikki's Intro Has Led to Fan Backlash
As if that wasn’t problematic enough, Infold Games has also retconned Infinity Nikki’s opening scenes and replaced them with a new “Sea of Stars” level. Many find this new opening to be a massive downgrade over the original, in large part because it relegates the popular quest-exclusive character, Ena, to a minor side role, and completely changes the tone of the game. Some fans consider these sudden story changes to be a sign of poor post-launch planning on the developer’s behalf.
Some Infinity Nikki Fans are Holding a 'Girlcott' Against Infold Games
Many Infinity Nikki players have taken to social media to express their frustrations about the new 1.5 update. Although the developers at Infold Games have issued an apology for the problems with the game, they seem to be censoring fan feedback, much to some people's disappointment. On sites like Discord and Reddit, for instance, the studio has reportedly muted the word 'boycott' from its social media channels. In response to this move, many fans are holding a 'girlcott' against Infinity Nikki and its developers until they make efforts to reverse these controversial decisions.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 84%
- Released
- December 5, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Papergames, Infold Games
- Publisher(s)
- Papergames, Infold Games, Fearless
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Cross Save
- Yes
- Franchise
- Nikki
- PC Release Date
- December 5, 2024
- PS5 Release Date
- December 5, 2024
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Open-World, Dress-Up, RPG
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC, Mobile, Android, iOS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
