It’s not every day a gaming franchise makes the leap from mobile dress-up game to open-world adventure.
Papergames is looking to do just that as the developer recently released an announcement trailer for Infinity Nikki. This upcoming game will also feature Director Kentaro Tominaga, who was a designer on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and directed the expansion pass.
There is no release date for Infinity Nikki, but Papergames has confirmed the game will release on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and mobile devices.
This game follows in the footsteps of its four predecessors — Nikki Up2U, Nikki Up2U2: World Traveler, Miracle Nikki, and Shining Nikki — all of which were mobile dress-up games. Infinity Nikki looks to follow a growing trend among Chinese developers to make the leap from mobile free-to-play games to 3D open world.
Infinity Nikki stays true to its roots as the trailer featured the main character changing outfits instantaneously in the detailed open world. Each outfit carried a correlating power that aided the protagonist in platforming and puzzle-solving throughout the vast world.
Other gameplay elements showcased in the trailer include a fishing mechanic, interacting with animals, and the ability to change size.
The majority of the trailer featured long looks at the open world and how the protagonist will interact with that environment.
This trailer showcased a game that has changed significantly from its predecessors. The series started out as a 2D dress-up game where players scored points based on outfits they crafted centered on a theme.
Shining Nikki took that further as the protagonist Nikki was a 3D model while still utilizing the dress-up mechanic in gameplay.
Infinity Nikki follows in the footsteps of other Chinese developers making similar leaps from free-to-play mobile games to open-world sagas.
Developer MiHoYo created the action game Honkai Impact before releasing the open-world role-playing game Genshin Impact. Tencent also announced an open-world adaptation of its multiplayer online battle arena game Honor of Kings.
I don’t know anything about the Nikki games nor do I think I’m the target audience for that franchise. That said, this trailer has me intrigued.
It reminds me of a gameplay mechanic in Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana where players switch Dana’s form and utilize correlating abilities. It was a lot of fun and if this game is anything like that, then we’re in for a treat.
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Source: Papergames (via Kotaku)
Featured Image: Papergames (via Gamer Braves)