So I was listening to the latest Game Mess Mornings, and there was a lot of talk about F2P games. Path of Exile 2 launching, Fortnite getting a CounterStrike mode, and Marvel Rivals hitting 10 million downloads in 3 days. Yet no mention of Infinity Nikki, which launched a day before Marvel Rivals, and *also* hit 10 million downloads in 3 days.

For those completely unfamiliar with it, it's a story-driven exploration-focused open-world action-adventure game, not unlike many other games you've likely already played. It uses gacha for monetization. It's got combat (though not as much as most games in the genre), quests, BotW-style puzzle shrines, and "dungeons" that take the form of 3D platformer levels.

The overall setting and story isn't too different from what you would get in Hogwarts Legacy, except replace wizards and magic with "fashion wizards" and "fashion magic." There's a focus on collecting outfits, which is also where the gacha system comes in. But even 41 hours in (75% story completion according to the PS5), I haven't found any reason to spend money on it.

I did not expect to like the game as much as I am. I only played Genshin Impact for maybe an hour or two, and I didn't see much reason to continue with so many other anime action RPGs out there. The gacha system also turned me off as I wasn't sure how it was going to be implemented. Like, would my progress eventually be gated unless I drop 100 bucks on it? Who knows.

With Infinity Nikki I was a lot more interested as it did offer a different setting from most other games I play, so I decided to give it a chance. If I eventually have to abandon my playthrough, so be it.

Well, so far this just feels like a premium console game I would've happily spent 60 bucks on. I don't know that they did a good job marketing this to PS5 players, but given the 10 million downloads it's clearly found its audience.

So yeah, I'm loving the game, even if it's terribly optimized for PS5 (bad mobile-first interface, and it runs at 30fps). But if you can get past that, and it looks at all appealing to you, you might wanna give it a shot (it's also available on PC, Android and iOS).

It's fantastic. I downloaded it yesterday being completely unsure if any part of it was my kind of game and it devoured my entire evening.

The PS5 interface does worry me cause it's unwieldy even with only a few outfits to scroll around but it's worth putting up with that.

I've heard a lot of positive things about this game from fans of the series. It sounds like it's legitimately a pretty good game that you can essentially avoid all the monetization on if you just want to see the story. I watched a stream of a bit of the beta a while back and it seemed pretty solid.

I guess it's worth noting that this game is also on PC on the Epic store.

I tried playing this on PC but have been experiencing tons of crashes despite having a solid PC (with 4070). Tried it on my iPhone 13 and it heats up my phone like crazy, has audio crackling, and runs poorly even on lowest settings. I’m really frustrated because it looks so adorable.

I played it last Friday on PS5 and dug it a lot. I thought by the end of two hours I'd have had my fill but found myself itching to play more the next day! I like the lore sprinkled throughout and the dark themes underlying the cute. And the outfits are surprisingly well done.

@ben_h: "I guess it's worth noting that this game is also on PC on the Epic store."

It's also worth noting that it's on PC without any involvement from the Epic store. You can download the game client straight from their website.

@creepingdeath0: Good catch! I never even thought to check that. I just looked on all the major PC software stores and only saw it on Epic.