Infinity Nikkidoes not have much of a story. It doesn’t really need one. It’s currently in a beta that will go offline soon, and is using this time as a stress test and opportunity to both advertise the game to the community and gather important feedback. So far, from my own experience playing on mobile and hanging out in the subreddit, it’s going pretty well. You wouldn’t expect a gripping narrative at the pre-early access stage, because you can’t tell a story from beginning to end if you don’t know what the end, or the middle, or even most of the beginning looks like. There’s just one problem - I have no idea if that first sentence is true.
I’ve been playing Infinity Nikki, don’t get me wrong. This is coming from personal experience.. But that time has not been spent playing the story. And it’s not for want of trying. I’ve been doing the Main Quests, because they’re marked exactly as you’d expect them to be, but that’s light on narrative. Again, understandable both for the genre and the time we’re at in the development cycle. I’ve been doing World Quests too, which are marked just as Main Quests are. But Story Quests? No idea.
Infinity Nikki Doesn’t Let You Discover Its World
It takes a little while to unlock these Story Quests, but I had hoped they would add a bit of depth.. I wasn’t expecting something on the level ofBaldur’s Gate 3, but I was thinking they might offer some unique side stories to dig into. To Infinity Nikki’s credit, it’s already a contender for best in show considering its genre. I like me some dress-up games, but they’re typically pretty light on substance.Fashion Dreamer, which took you to a shallow metaverse to become an influencer against a bland backdrop, was especially disappointing in that regard. While the Main Quest stories aren’t gripping so far, they have offered some engaging enough activities andinteresting characters.
Which is part of the reason I wanted to see these Story Quests out. The characters can be cliched, and the dialogue ranges from ‘nothing to write home about’ to ‘oh this is actually quite annoying’, but there is a wholesome atmosphere that makes you willing to forgive these sins. WhenGenshin Impactfirst launched I put in about 50 hours, and Infinity Nikki’s tone and character dynamics essentially mirror that if you took out Paimon.
The problem with these Story Quests is there’s no tracker at all, just an inscrutable description that often offers as much guidance as a blank piece of paper. Usually, I’m all for games that don’t hold your hand with instructions and let you discover things more naturally, but a) this is an overcorrection, b) Infinity Nikki is not suited to this sort of gameplay when it feels more like an open zone platformer, and c) the other quests in the game offer typically precise directions.
Infinity Nikki Will Be Stronger For Its Beta Period
In part, this is what a beta period is about. While there will be certain things fans disagree on, as is the nature of people, and parts of the game that might not land for some but are core to the developers' vision - the cutesy dialogue is unlikely to return as a mature and grimdark script - other elements will change. Nobody seems to like these Story Quests, and that could (and should) prompt a change.
In fact, the only two posts on the subreddit that reference the Story Quests at all are asking for directions on how they work. You’d expect the community to be discussing the narrative asides at length - they basically exist for the more hardcore fans to enjoy. But nobody is even able to find them, so no one can have those opinions that lead to discussions. Hopefully the next time we see Infinity Nikki, I’ll actually be able to play the Story Quests to figure out if they’re worth all this effort. Right now, nothing could be.
