#so this is still miraland

[stellacaerulea]

Kimi's bloodline finally broke the curse of smol

[neriyon]

Small test run of Infinity Nikki done! Mostly just finished the tutorial (and kicked Momo around), but it so far it seems pretty fun~

Also photo mode is so nice ♥

[ink--theory]

just finished chapter 7 and wow what a doozy @_@

I may need to read up on the lore and story surrounding shining nikki now...

[erytherion]

Why do all the Shining Nikki event plot lines always have to be so tragic?? Do they want my tears this much??

This dress-up game is always so dark LET THEM BE HAPPY SOMETIMES PLEASE!

Every event makes me want to go immediately write fix-it fics so they don’t have to be sad anymore but I also don’t want to undo the development they’ve had so I just sit here like 😭😭😭

[sakurapika]

A (possibly) helpful guide to the Nikki-verse for Infinity Nikki Players

❄️Updated December 28th

Although it’s not at all necessary to know the lore of the previous games (Love Nikki, Shining Nikki), here is some info that you might benefit from if you’re joining the fandom with Infinity Nikki!

❄️General Info:

Love Nikki, Shining Nikki, and Infinity Nikki are all stand-alone games with self-contained stories, but they have some commonalities that I will get into later.

Love Nikki (LN) has a 2D art style, and is where many of us "veteran" players began our journey. Shining Nikki (SN) has both 2D and 3D art. Both of these games are stunning, so check them out!

Before Love Nikki, there were two other dress-up games in this series that did not involve being transported into a magical world. They were called NikkiUp2U (released 2012) and Hello Nikki (released around 2016). These games are more obscure, with the latter currently only being available in China, so not much is known about them to international fans.

The developers of the game are Chinese, so expect to get a lot of goodies around Lunar New Year and other major Chinese holidays!

According to Hello Nikki, our main character is around 19 years old. In Shining Nikki, she talks about how she used to go to college before getting transported to Miraland. Her birthday is December 6, which is why Infinity Nikki came out last week and why we got a free outfit (we’ll get a new one every year!)

Nikki's Chinese name is Nuan Nuan, how cute!

Momo claims he’s not a cat, but a member of the “Momo Clan” (LN). He was a little annoying in Love Nikki, but he’s more endearing in later games.

Nikki and Momo are the only recurring characters in the franchise.

The biggest advice I can give as a veteran is: Don't bother with trying to make a visually cohesive outfit for styling battles unless you have a lot of clothing. We've all tried it. It won't work. For now, just layer on everything that has high stats. You're always free to wear your fashionable outfits during regular gameplay, and "glow up" your favorite clothes when you have enough resources, so that you can make better outfits for later battles.

I've seen a lot of people in other places asking about whether the Nikki games will have more androgynous or masculine clothing, and they probably will! It took a while for these clothes to appear in LN and SN, but there are definitely several options out there, from ouji fashion to streetwear to military-style outfits. Read about the seven nations below to find out more.

A lot of people also seem curious about representation for people of color. Unfortunately, the options can be quite limited, as it took a while for textured hair options to appear for players in Love Nikki, and I'm not quite sure about the situation in Shining Nikki. Different cultures are represented in Miraland (as explained below) but they still have their limitations. With Infinity Nikki being more oriented towards an international fanbase than previous games, though, perhaps the developers will be encouraged to branch out more.

❄️Worldbuilding

The world that Nikki has been transported into is called Miraland.

Miraland is composed of seven nations, each with their own distinct fashion style. That means that if you do not like the style of clothes we’ve been seeing so far in Infinity Nikki, do not worry! They’ll have everything eventually.

For some reason, they changed the names of the countries in Infinity Nikki, and I’m not sure why (I’m going to keep mixing them up…). Below, I’ve listed their LN/SN names first, and their Infinity Nikki names second.

The seven nations are:

🎀Lilith/Ninir/Heartcraft Kingdom: In the older games, it was known mostly for fairytale-inspired clothing and lolita fashion, with the occasional “pastoral” suit. It looks like Heartcraft Kingdom in Infinity Nikki has been leaning more into the pastoral aesthetic, but Nonoy’s outfit seems to be in the lolita style. Also, the suits we have been crafting so far for catching bugs and petting the animals is at least lolita-inspired. (People who wear lolita fashion, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the Chinese version of this fashion is a lot more loose with the rules than the Japanese version I am more familiar with). This kingdom is always the first to be introduced in these games. Expect drama to follow whenever we get introduced to the royal family of this kingdom…it always happens. Nikki's first friend is always from this kingdom--we started with Bobo in Love Nikki, then Joy in Shining Nikki, and now Nonoy in Infinity Nikki.

🐉Cloud Empire/Lanling Empire: Known for traditional and modern Asian fashion. A vast majority of the fashions are going to be inspired by Chinese fashion, so if you’re a fan of period dramas or xianxia, you’re in luck! Aside from hanfu and qipao, they also usually have some representation of other East Asian cultures, featuring several kimono and the occasional hanbok. (Due to some controversies in Shining Nikki relating to conflicts between China and Korea, however, I’m not sure if the developers will continue to add hanbok in future games). Love Nikki also included some outfits for Chinese ethnic minorities like the Miao, and Vietnamese ao dai if I remember correctly. All games also have at least one Peking Opera costume—it’s like an industry staple. Overall, Cloud Empire is usually the second kingdom to be introduced in the game, so I’m sure we’ll see it pretty soon. Maybe we’ll go along with Tan Youyou, depending on how the story will go.

👠Apple Federation/Starhail Federation: Known for streetwear, high fashion, and casual clothing (like what you’d wear on an average day). I think Dada and Bebe’s outfits would be classified as Apple, even though they live in Heartcraft. Unlike the rural towns we have seen so far, Apple tends to be a very urban, city-based environment, filled with spies and shady businessmen. Nikki's girlfriend, Kimi (from Love Nikki), is also from here.

👑Pigeon Kingdom/Twinmoon Kingdom: Known for European fashions, including fairy costumes, witch/sorcerer outfits, Rococo dresses (with long skirts, compared to the lolita style in Lilith/Ninir/Heartcraft), and anything else you’d expect to see in a Western fantasy or period drama. Funnily enough, there is always at least one scene in the Pigeon Kingdom that has to do with a cathedral, so expect some fashions with gothic and Catholic-inspired imagery as well. Some of the inhabitants who live there are elves and fairies, like Timis. Although most of the ability outfits we have so far look like they're from Lilith/Ninir/Heartcraft, the "purification" outfit strikes me as something more typical of Pigeon.

⚔️North Kingdom/Empire of Light: A cold country best known for winter clothing—heavy scarves, overcoats, and hats—as well as military attire. There is also at least one "ice queen" style suit in every game. If I recall correctly, this kingdom has been having civil wars since Love Nikki, so expect a lot of action in this area. I suspect that Bettina is from here, but I'm not sure yet.

🐪Wasteland/Terra Alliance: The original name of this country sparked a lot of controversy, so I'm glad that they have changed it. This kingdom usually has desert-themed clothing, ancient Greek/Egyptian clothing, clothing inspired by nature, bohemian clothing, South, and Southeast Asian clothing (the cultural representation isn’t always the best, unfortunately…but I am optimistic that Shining Nikki and Infinity Nikki are more culturally sensitive than Love Nikki).

🤖Ruin Island/Whaleport: A mysterious island that features “futuristic” or sci-fi inspired clothing. In previous games, we have seen medical doctors with dubious legitimacy, scientists who experiment on themselves (?) and androids, so I’m curious to see who we’ll meet this time. Many players from the previous games who liked this style have felt that the developers often neglect this kingdom, unfortunately.

❄️Story and gameplay advice

Without spoiling the older games, I can say that, generally...

Most of the story is based on conflicts between different characters and sometimes different kingdoms. These problems, as mentioned before, are solved through styling battles.

Infinity Nikki seems to be going for a cozier vibe. However, both of its predecessors have sometimes gone into dark territories, featuring themes of war, violence, and betrayal. (I may or may not have cried over the death of a certain someone in Love Nikki...)

Therefore, dramatic things could very well happen in Infinity Nikki. I'm not saying that it can't be your comfort game if that is what you are hoping for, as the other games can still also be light, funny, and cozy. I just want to warn more sensitive players who might not be expecting it from a dress-up game.

When I first wrote this guide, I initially thought that the miracle outfits were like the "lifetime suits" of previous games, where crafting them was optional and not necessary to progress through the story. However, this seems not to be the case. Nevertheless, take your time while crafting them--there's no need to rush.

I'm not sure how f2p-friendly Infinity Nikki will be, but I haven't spent anything on either of the other games and I've been able to buy many of the suits I wanted. Just make sure that you budget accordingly and remember that if you want one suit but can't afford it at the time, another suit with a similar aesthetic might come out in the future. Also banners can re-run!

Keep an eye out for redeem codes! These are often posted by the game's social media, and you can get a lot of free stuff.

The fan-favorite kingdoms are usually Lilith/Ninir (Heartcraft) and Cloud (Lanling), followed by Pigeon (Twinmoon) and Apple (Starhail). The other three tend to get neglected, so if you like the sound of those the most, I'm sorry... :(

The last two sections include speculation, trivia, and an explanation of some inside jokes from the other games. Feel free to skip them if needed!

❄️Continuity and Fandom References to Other Nikki Games

Like I said earlier, the Nikki games can all work as standalone games, and the only returning characters are Nikki and Momo.

However, I've added this section to discuss possible theories and connections, as well as catch others up to speed on some of the inside jokes and characters that we Nikki veterans like to talk about.

If you keep hearing names like "Bobo," "Lunar," "Kimi," and "Nidhogg," these are characters from Love Nikki.

Bobo and Lunar are some of the first characters we met in LN. Kimi is the closest character we have to a canon love interest for Nikki. All of them are fan-favorites, so we're hoping to see any references to them in Infinity Nikki as well.

I can't say much about the very controversial and very popular Nidhogg without spoiling LN, but at least you now know where the name is from.

In Love Nikki, there is a "blood curse" that prevents people from using violence. Therefore, people often resolve conflicts by entering styling battles and destroying each other with the power of a good outfit.

Never ask a Love Nikki player what happened in Chapter 15.

Shining Nikki takes place roughly 700 years before Love Nikki, where there is no blood curse (which means certain people have managed to commit certain crimes...). Several SN characters are the ancestors of, or otherwise related to, LN characters.

Nikki veterans often like to make references to Ashley, Lilith (the person), Joy, and Qin Yi. These are all Shining Nikki characters.

So far, we haven't seen such a connection between old games and Infinity Nikki, so a lot of people suspect that this might be an alternate universe. When more about this version of Miraland is known, I might make another post.

❄️My predictions for future updates

Every time we enter a new country in Miraland, we will have new ability outfits to craft to fit the style of the new setting. This is because most of the outfits we have so far look like Lilith/Ninir suits in previous games, with very few influences from other nations.

The next country to be introduced will most likely be Lanling. I originally thought that they'd let us visit Lanling in time for Lunar New Year, but with the scope of the story, I think it may take some more time before that.

The next big update will be around Lunar New Year, where they'll probably hold some five-star banners, give free diamonds as a login event, and make a new short story, if they celebrate the same way as in Shining Nikki. They're probably also going to give us another free suit. (I hope it's Legend of the White Snake themed, since next year is Year of the Snake!)

Then, we'll probably see the equivalent of the Apple Federation, followed by Pigeon Kingdom.

We will get a new version of this stunning dress. It's called the Star Sea and has shown up in every game so far. I'm actually surprised we haven't heard about it in Infinity Nikki yet.

Please let me know if this guide has been useful, and if there's other parts of the games you'd like me to cover!

[koiiiso]

Lay My Curses All To Rest. (Make A Mercy Out Of Me.)

Caitlyn Kiramman/F!Mage!R!

Tags: @kings-paintbrush

Proofread: Yes/No

Summary: Within the world was a land neighboring Piltover and Zaun. A land where magic was normalized and accepted, praised even. When dear soldiers from this land were sent to assist their neighbors, a woman catches Caitlyn’s eyes. Perhaps it was the fact that she looked like that of a beast yet so human, or the fact that this woman was a practical parallel of her own self, both the one of the past and the present.

Oftentimes, memories are that of a mystery to ponder. To ponder your own thoughts and feelings amongst the experiences and expectations once set feels natural yet so odd, as if sinful. The case here within her large mind was similar to that, a questionable sense of idealism that could be so horrid was so prevalent among her thoughts.

The memories she had long since pondered, ones of magic questioned her knowledge of the rules. Piltover never allowed magic within its grand walls, to keep out all that wasn’t explained. Caitlyn liked it this way, she had the vast knowledge of sciences recorded at her fingertips at the daily.

Yet as almost a decade or two passed since the time she didn’t have knowledge to explain this, memory, it comes back more prevalent than before.

Then she looked into the foreign books, ones she wasn’t allowed to even mutter the names of, ones of magic.

She felt a guilty urge deep inside her, as if she was breaking the laws of science, the ones she adored, yet she pushed her feelings down. She needed an explanation. One for magic. One for you.

She hated you.

You were this mage from the neighboring nation, and you just so happened to live next to the border, which she lived next to on the opposing side.

The pair of you were opposites, truly.

You were magic, she wasn’t. She was wealthy beyond imagination, and you weren’t. You were a force of chaos, always joyful, and she was more peaceful than not.

You would oftentimes go over the boarder for whatever reason, always after either flowers or bugs needed. You showed her magic she couldn’t explain so easily, it was normalized for you.

She can recall when she asked you how you could do that, how magic is even feasible.

“Didn’t I just show you how?” You asked her, head tilting a bit as you lowered your hands, the magic once so vibrantly pulsing now dispersing.

“Well, just how do you do it?” She egged on, the accented voice of hers was softer than normal, she tilted her own head to meet your eyes, your pretty eyes. Her bangs got in her eyes for a moment, and just as pulled them back, you were gone.

That was the last time she saw you, and despite her dislike for you, she missed you. You intrigued her, and she missed her curiosity that seemed to overwhelm her when she was near you.

She missed you so goddamn much.

The tellings of war spread faster than the action given against the opposition.

Within the world of magic, rumors are their own powers. The words echoing forevermore amongst the systematical order of the world, of the hierarchy. 

Miraland was the neighboring nation to Piltover, full of joy and magic within. There were few exceptions for the more talented users. They were sent away to hone these skills they had, then sent off to different nations of war to just be used as a defense before death overtook them.

Miraland used to be a weapons capital, having great trade with those who needed to have violence as a surrounding factor. Then within a fit of rage, a mage, full of a bittersweet love he just lost to these weapons cursed the land forevermore.

The rumors of this curse spoke of horror to those who use their magic, their blessings, for violence, forced or not.

The first to happen would be their organs tightening until they burst inside of the magic user, keeping them alive still yet in such pain that could be considered torturous.

Then fire would replace the organs, cooking the person alive until they were nothing more than that of a pile of ash, lost within the wind.

You were a part of the advanced mages, unwilling. You didn’t want to die, never minded death but it certainly wasn’t a want. When the curse was described to you, it felt more like a prophecy than a warning.

You suppose it is one due to where you find yourself currently, on a one way cart to Piltover. You knew your fate was sealed.

Looking around at your fellows, those who graduated with you, they all seemed tense. They knew what you knew, and it was anything but comforting.

You were about to die, shipped off to a war you wanted no part in, and it made you hope to die not of the curse but of being killed. It would be more than merciful for you.

The cart arrived at the border, and your fate was sealed.

The gate to the border opened, and the cart went through, heading toward the entrance of the meeting point. Then the doors opened, you all got up and exited the cart, which left just as soon as it came.

Following the guards into the meeting room, you clutched onto your staff whilst looking around. The staff was a special one for you, carved of owl and goat bone, Titan blood poured upon the jewels, allowing a magic not yet known to flow through you. At the end of the staff was a flower, the white lily, a mourning flower. Your mother encased and sewed it upon your staff, she knew just as well as you did that you were to perish.

Finally, you stood before the doors to the meeting room. It’s time to meet your commanders and your killers, those who will knowingly lead you to your death and have to not care.

The doors open, and you all enter, coming face to face with them all. Then face to face with that girl. You remember her, and it seems she remembers you.

Caitlyn’s lips part slightly. The meeting paused as the others turned to examine you all. There was a girl with poorly dyed black to pink hair, a goddess-like woman, and a bear-like man there as well.

You cleared your throat, going to speak, and address what is to happen upon your side. “I would like to make you lot aware of what is to happen in case you were not informed. When the magic is violent we have a small window to use it when it’s active. During this window the magic is shrinking our organs before they burst and then burn us inside until we are only mere ashes. This is protocol. So we will need a plan to be informed of.” You stated, blunt. This was a standard upheld, let them know what hell you were to go through and hope you don’t have to use magic.

Then a pause.

Then a plan came.

Throughout the conversation, Caitlyn stared at you. You missed her, and it seemed like she missed you as well.

The plan was enacted, and the magic did its part. It was hell.

Most died before the plan failed, leaving only you and a girl. She was a stranger to you, only having short interactions at the school. Janna you wish you would have spoken to her.

From the upper levels you saw what happened, it was all a failure. Caitlyn and Ambessa were fighting it out, those of the undercity just appeared, and it was chaos as they were mostly taken in the arms of the robots that caused so much grievance.

Taking the girl’s hand within your own, you led her up higher. You needed to get to a better vantage point. You needed to see what was happening and cause a distraction.

You reach the top, unaware of the robots that were following you two until the swarm came upon you. You didn’t have time to think, setting the girl down as she started to gasp for air, choking on her own blood as the fire seemed to overtake her. Her reaction to the curse was delayed to the point you thought of her as a survivor.

The robots surrounded you, nearly atop you. So you did what you could. Raw magic poured from your hands, connecting to your staff as you slammed it into the ground, shattering it.

The bones cracked, the jewels shattered like glass, Titan’s blood bursting out like that of whips. The white lily became that of a ball of light, so you spread it, larger than Piltover itself, all in hope of dissolving the robots.

You succeeded mostly, but that has its consequences.

The robots completely disappeared into little bulbs of light.

Then your own death started. Yet it was different, it felt different.

Grass grew upon you, overtaking you fully before your staff came back to life, finally in your hands one last time. Eyes were upon you as your body turned to mold before becoming that of light and disappearing. It was a beacon, and a distraction and then.

Then you were gone.

Yet Caitlyn was still here.

She recalls those stupid smiles, that stupid grin you always had! How your stupid magic always had an effect! She hates-!

Then she woke up, her arms around Vi’s waist. She felt sticky as sweat clung to her. With a sigh she burrows her face into Vi’s neck, giving it a gentle kiss before dozing off once more into her thoughts.

How could she miss and mourn someone she barely knew?

[mortalityplays]

Does it seem like Infinity Nikki is building on the lore in the previous games, or is it doing its own thing? It's been a few years since I played Love Nikki Dress-up queen, and all of the proper nouns seem to be different than I remember.

Okay let's talk about Nikki lore!!!

if you've come straight from Love Nikki, Infinity Nikki probably feels strikingly different and yet eerily familiar. It presents itself as a clean slate for new players and a straight reboot for returning players, with Nikki and Momo encountering a magical outfit and being pulled into Miraland where they learn a whole new set of terms and mechanics for the dress-up game you're about to play. All the proper nouns have changed - 'styling power' is still the same, but now magic and tech are 'whim' and base currency is 'blings' etc. The story, setting and characters are all a little different too. So it's a total reboot for the new format, right? Makes sense.

TL;DR: for everything I'm about to unpack:

Doylian answer: IN is a clean reboot of the basic isekai premise, allowing them to easily onboard new players and update the core nature of the game.

Watsonian answer: the reboot is itself part of the ongoing canonical lore of the Nikki series!!!

The context you're missing is Shining Nikki. SN actually pulled this move first - it was a total overhaul of LN to move the series from 2D paper doll graphics to full 3D models, and like IN it seemed to begin the isekai type story of LN again from the start. Not too many people in english speaking markets played the first two games in the series (Nikki Up2U and Hello Nikki), but what you need to know about them is that they were both set in Nikki's own earth-like world, where fashion was an ordinary element of everyday life (i.e. the player was asked to dress her appropriately for real-world situations, with the context that she was an aspiring fashion student). They were also direct instalments in an ongoing story.

Here's the timeline up to where you stopped:

NU2U: Fashion student Nikki and her talking pet Momo practise her skills as a stylist in everyday situations. Though it's usually played as a joke, both Nikki and Momo acknowledge that he's a 'cat-like thing' - not really an earth cat.

HN: Nikki and Momo travel their world, finding styling inspiration in different locations / through meeting various characters. Some of the costumes she creates in this game continue to appear through each sequel as lower-level outfits, implying continuity.

LN: The first game that really broke through in english-speaking markets, and the first in the Miraland cycle. Nikki is preparing for graduation, when she finds a mysterious outfit in the attic. Touching it gives her a vision where she glimpses a strange realm brimming with fashion-related power of some sort. When she comes to, she and Momo are in a field of flowers. They've been transported to another world called Miraland, where styling has literal magical power that's used to settle disputes in place of violence. She embarks on a quest to attain a set of uniquely powerful dresses at the centre of a burgeoning magical/political crisis, in order to save Miraland.

^ Big sideways jump, right? The Doylian explanation for all this is very mundane. They have to keep rebuilding this game for newer phones, and updating the graphics/mechanical gameplay as the series goes on. There are only so many times you can ask a player to dress Nikki up to go to a café or whatever, and the isekai genre is massively popular among the target playerbase. BUT they retain the canonical continuity of the series with LN - Nikki frequently refers to her sister Yoyo and their travels around the world throughout LN and SN, and Momo hints that Miraland may be the origin of his clan (or at least tied to their origin somehow). It would have been an easy place to wipe the slate clean, but they didn't.

And then comes Shining Nikki. On starting the game, Nikki speaks to you directly from a meta-realm where you set up your username and get introduced to basic concepts. Nikki has an encounter / vision with a mysterious figure related to this styling meta-realm, and then she wakes up. She and Momo find themselves in a field of flowers, in a world called Miraland - sstop me if you've heard this one before.

SN is where things started to get really interesting, and where I suspect the writers started laying down some intentions for the series going forward. As Nikki travels around Miraland, she runs into a variety of people and places that are reminiscent of, yet different from, the cast and setting of Love Nikki. And little by little, she begins to recover memories of that game.

As it build towards its climax, SN does one of the coolest things I've ever seen from a rinkydink fantasy mobile gacha. Nikki comes up against an opponent she can't beat, and you're asked to style-battle them again and again. She starts to dissociate and refuses to back down, and then- well at this point my phone couldn't handle the 3D effects and it booted me back to the game's home screen.

SN was pretty ambitious with its 3D elements, to the point that the home screen itself featured a 3D nikki you could dress up, who would move around and strike poses, and spit out lighthearted quips when you tapped her ('I wont give up on my friends!', 'If Momo eats any more BBQ he's going to turn into a beach ball...' etc.) So anyway, my game was locked up apart from homescreen Nikki's idle animations. And then she started talking to me, by username, commenting on the defeat she was suffering repeatedly in the story chapters.

At this point, SN introduces the idea that the player is (from Nikki's perspective) a powerful being from another parallel world, who has been influencing her styling choices the whole time. It also introduces a meta-meta-realm where outside observers can access people's memories to subtly alter their world's timeline. When I say this game got high concept...they had a limited-time event at one point where Nikki essentially explores the lingering cognitive dissonances left behind by the inhabitants of Omelas. I'm insane about this series. Anyway.

A LOT went on in SN, but what you need to know is this:

Nikki learns that she found herself in the story of SN because she went back in time 600+ years from the events of LN in a last ditch effort to prevent the apocalypse she failed to avert.

By accessing the Ocean of Memories, she also learns that this is not the first time she's done this. She has been stuck in a time loop for thousands upon thousands of cycles, perpetually failing to save Miraland, going back in time, and creating new causal offshoots that she again fails to save.

Nikki realises that by doing this, she is perpetually rebooting the lives of all the friends she keeps meeting and bonding with and then failing to save, and wrestles with whether this is ethical. Ultimately she decides to persist, determined to save Miraland.

Now here's the million-dollar question: Is Infinity Nikki a straight reboot, wiping the slate clean to simplify the lore and onboard new players? Or is it a continuation of Nikki lore to date, setting her on a new cycle in the same sequence? I would answer: yes and yes.

Every game in Miraland seems to follow a certain pattern with minor changes, and IN is no exception:

Nikki arrives in a tutorial zone themed around cosy rural villages and flower fields.

She meets a friendly girl who introduces her to Styling and its role in Miraland, and who puts her on the path to her first set of competitions (rip Bobo greatest anime betrayal of all time)

Nikki gets drawn into a political crisis centred on Miraland's system of styling contests, inevitably involving mercenaries and corporate espionage at some point.

Reference is made to an ancient fallen monarch who had a personal connection to certain outfits of immense power.

Reference is made to an elusive but powerful spiritual being (a god, a prophet, ???) whose divine power is bound up with the mysterious source of Styling Power.

Nikki encounters a reclusive society of magical beings whose life force depends on that same power source.

She travels to a variety of regions including Fairytale Forest, Gothic Lolita Town, Literally China, Uncomfortable Desert Realm, Big City, and Separatist Tech Freak Island. [in progress]

War breaks out somewhere and Nikki ends up on the run [hasn't happened yet, but I believe]

Vampires/demons get involved [hasn't happened yet, but I believe]

There is a goofy yellow mascot that looks like a fat duckling. [I'm a Gifty truther, what does it all mean.]

So far we're only a few chapters into IN, but I can already see a lot of familiar pattens starting to take shape. Factions are an interesting twist on regional styling competitions, and elements like Eureka and the Mira Crown contest (and the repeated motif of mirrors and fragmented crystals) look a lot like the seeds of more meta-realm content to me. Well, and the actual literal meta-realms accessed via waypoints and whimstars.

If you read all this, well done!!! You are definitely insane enough to enjoy the Nikki series.

[dcs-teaspoon]

I want to talk about the Nikkiverse's use of fashion in Miraland

Some spoilers under cut

Everytime Nikki is in Miraland (please let this girl rest) there is always some sort of impending conflict. The people of Miraland tend to resort to fashion battles to avoid escalation of conflict

Stuff like the Blood Curse are probably why Miraland has resorted to fashion battles

In Love Nikki, Miraland may be experiences the results of an over-reliance on fashion battles. Every little thing warrants a fashion battles, and now the entire fashion-based political system is being destroyed

Items of clothing are conduits. They are vessels to store power and abilities. The story could make marbles the conduits and it would still work. Miraland just so happened to pick fashion.

Being able to create and use these vessels is valuable. That is part of why stylists are so important. They are sort of like an artificer and conduit class rolled into one.

A DEFINITE OVERANALYSIS ON MY PART: The Nikkiverse tends to have an ongoing theme of the ego of man being the death of God. (In Shining Nikki we literally are the aftermath of said death) And throughout history, man has displayed its greatness by creating art. Or in the case of fashion - a wearable form of art.

[momo-shut-the-fuck-up]

So i ve done the main story in infinity nikki and im gonna stop playin now, before i squeeze the game dry of content and have nothing (new) to do on release.

Time for a lil review/thoughts post

I m not gonna review every single mechanic in the game, simply things that stood out to me or that i wanna talk about. I also wont add more images, i kinda want ppl to see the world for themselves... i ll share more when the game comes out tho.

There s a lot of text under this. Tldr, i like the game i think it's a solid, enjoyable experience with a good gameplay loop, the story isn't for me, and i'll keep playin of course. And u should try it too if ur device wont blow itself up tryin to run it.

Dress up

The bread and butter of Nikki games... it's good as usual. Game doesn't shy away from long skirts or coat tails or complicated ballgowns just cuz nikki can run and jump and dash now and i'm very happy bout that. There's some clipping issues once in a while, but it's nothing major and the clothes we do have in the game are lovely. There s an evolution system for some of the sets, which makes em a diff color.... usually they can evolve once, but i saw Three extra evolutions for one of the UR sets and that scares me. Bcs to evolve them u have to craft the suit again. So u have to pull 4 copies of a suit to max it out..

Combat

Game's definitely succeeding in its quest for being cozy. There's no real stakes, combat isn't difficult in the slightest but i do welcome it- super simple but it's pretty fun regardless. The boss fights were surprisingly creative and fun for what they are, it's just unfortunate that you have to do them more than once or twice (crafting mats)- but they do change what the boss does so it's different depending on what mat u are farming for... and u can claim double or triple or however much stamina u got-le of the mat after u complete it once. So that s rly nice.

Exploration

I actually think it's really really good. Again this isn't a difficult or complicated game, not yet i guess... but with the major goal being "get new clothes" and "take pretty pictures maybe", the open world feels actively engaging to participate in. There's collectibles everywhere, little challenges you can do that are diverse but quick, styling battles, collecting everythin from animals fur to bugs to fish, and allll of this brings u closer to that never ending goal of woo more clothes.

However even if a challenge doesnt give you a blueprint, it's still just. Really Nice to exist in this world. It's very whimsical, as expected of Lilith, and the world has a combination of realism and cartoon artstyle that is just soso appealing to me. It's genuinely how i would've imagined miraland to look in 3d. Shame it's not the same miraland we know..

Story

Hmm... silly is one word i could use for it. Cute also. The story isn't doin anythin bad per se, and i did start skippin dialogue near the end w the pieceys because i want to keep at least Some part of the story for the game's release... but i get the gist of it, and it s just not my thing.

It feels like a story made for children, and it definitely would get a G rating. Easy and simple to follow, there's moments of tension or sadness sure but with the antagonist bein a literal babie lookin cutey fairy with a grown man's voice, or the creatures that i'm interacting with are a bunch of. Fuckin weird lookin big eyed balls of fabric that look closer to plushies than somethin Alive... it's all so silly and dramatic sometimes i can t help but cringe.

Part of it is a me problem, if u just open ur heart and free urself from the cringe the story is fine. It's just a little too kiddy for me and i so desperately hope it won't stay like this forever. My prayers might be answered though, there's a whole war beyond the borders and we have refugees around... shit's lookin bad for Umbrosa.

Other things i noticed that i liked:

The effect on nikki's skin when it's raining, she actually has water dripping down her face... its so cool

Momo capes are actually kinda neat ngl. Especially cuz the fucker follows u around everywhere, at least i can bedazzle him

Npc models look really good im a fan. They do suffer from "everyone is very beautiful" syndrome, which makes some of the npc villains look/sound ridiculous, but they have kid-teen-adult-elderly versions of models (i never see teen models in these games! Its cool!) And some body variation. The grandmas look so lovely i cry

The dark skin tone is really dark, and it looks quite nice and natural.

The lighting engine in this game is just rly good in general. God bless UE5

The edges of the map where there s forest, which u obv cant go thru, the forest is made to be darker, thicker.... i m a huge fan of this idk y. It's not just *invisible wall in front of an open field* nopee cant go there lets explore that area later tee hee. And it looks good to boot.

Camera function is p robust, has more options for changin brightness/saturation/contrast etc which i feel Shining Nikki lacks.

Some of the creature designs are so good man i looove themm <3.... the pieces are awful tho. Ok creature design is a hit and miss sometimes but the stray hatty? Peak. All the weirdy fashionable animals? Peak.

Bein able to quick switch thru ur saved sets while in the overworld is real neat

Oke that was it. Bye

[okashibox]

7 Things I Wish I Knew Starting Infinity Nikki

Glowing Up / Styling Competitions: Don't need to glow up/upgrade pieces with subtags. I wasted a lot of shiny bubbles on pieces I did not need. Focus on upgrading 5 main tags (Sweet, Sexy, Fresh, Cool, Elegant) and you can still get Perfects in competitions and re-use the same outfits. I also wish I took my time and planned out which pieces in each of the 5 main tags to craft/pull for and invest in.

Upgrade Skills / Heart of Infinity: I wish I had upgraded foraging, bug catching, grooming, and fishing sooner so I could collect more materials while exploring. This is easily achievable using Realm of Nourishment.

Use Energy: Related to the above, use that energy wisely as it replenishes slowly! You can use it at the different realms for leveling up skills and getting Eurekas, Shiny Bubbles for improving styling points and materials for crafting quest outfits (Miracle outfit).

Collect Fragrances / Heart of Infinity: Whilst not needed these are super nice to have to help with purifying Esselings, and you can find lots of Whimstars, Chests, and Dews on the way!

Mark Dews: You can use interactive maps such as https://infinity-nikki.interactivemap.app/ and https://mapgenie.io/infinity-nikki/maps/miraland to track which dews you've already collected. This can help if you want to keep unlocking outfits with Kilo! (Note that some of these maps might be incomplete as the game is still new)

Eurekas: You do not need to upgrade every type of Eureka you get--this chart for Eurekas can help with prioritizing upgrades. Also, it randomly chooses a color when you level it to 10, you can't change it but you can get the same one and upgrade it with the same or different level 10 one to try for a new random color.

Ocean's Blessing / Resonance Banners: You can select a guaranteed item for the 5-star resonance banners. I missed getting the item I wanted because I did not use the ocean's blessing on my resonance pulls :[

[cockroachparty]

im still very much new to the nikki verse and i have many questions. but the one thats been pondering me the most is: does this girl sleep.

i have probably only 4 hours total in the game so far and have traversed a decent chunk of miraland, rain and shine, day and night, and NOTHING stops nikki from exploring. no matter the time or weather, she is out and about. this makes me wonder: does nikki require sleep? is she even human? why doesnt she have a little cottage in florawish? that seems like a type of house thats right up her ally. do none of her new friends care about her wellbeing and whether or not she has a safe place to stay?!

and i got a lot of reblogs on my last nikki post and many of you nikkster's informed me that nikki is like, 1000 years old or something?? which makes me think she ISNT human? do all the others humans she run into also have this weird sleep defect? does no one sleep in this universe? is time a concept not yet invented? does nikki eventually INVENT time?

gaslight (make everyone in miraland think you're normal) gatekeep (gatekeep how you're able to have so much energy on 0 sleep) girlboss (put on a flutterstorm fit and no one will ask any questions)

[theshiftingfairy]

Shining Nikki Dr script

Took me a little bit of time, but finally, it’s here. Now, I know there is probably not a lot of people that are familiar with the Nikki franchise in the shifting community, but that’s also why I wanted to talk about it. Also it’s one of my main dr at the moment and talking about it makes me happy.

Shining Nikki is a mobile dress up game, in the world of Miraland where instead of violence, people fight with Styling power, the magic system of the game based on beauty.

I have two shining Nikki dr. One of them follow the plot, solely because the player character is a consciousness without a body that follows Nikki in the beginning and I am so curious to have this experience of not having a body and just existing in the world. But for my main dr, I completely got rid of the plot to enjoy Miraland when it’s peaceful.

The main reason I love Miraland is that it is one of the only fantasy world I know within a modern setting. There is elves, fairies and dragons, but at the same time, the technology is advanced, as much if not more than ours, and there is a futuristic island where all advanced technologies are made. And all is mixed together and still feels cohesive.

This is also because it’s kind of my version of a fame dr

Miraland

Feel free to ignore this part if you don’t want spoilers

- As I mentioned, there is no war of gods and no threat of end of the world. There was also no war between the elves of light and water elves and they were never banished. I want my Miracle land to be the most whimsical place it can be.

- The gods exist though, at least the new gods like aphrodia and the god of beauty and their envoy, but there is no consequence, they just exist as they are in the game.

- There can be movement between the different factions, but not to the point of creating war. I don’t think Savior would have a reason to exist in this reality, unless maybe as an organisation that monitors individuals with strong styling power.

- Elves can actually fly with their wings and leave the Pigeon forest normally. Forest elves typically prefer to stay in the forest and are more secluded. I also decided to script in Chloris and Lakris, the princes of the forest elves from Love Nikki as they would be alive in this era.

Me

My dr name is Elina Wilde, like in all my drs (actually I think it’s the first time I introduce my dr name so hi!)

I am half elf. My mother, Rosalie Bellflowers is a Forest Elf and a noble from the Pigeon capital while my dad is a human scientist from the pigeon kingdom as well. They are the same as my hogwarts dr parents as well.

Their relationship was not well accepted among elven nobility (in this world, elves think themselves superiors to humans, the only half elf in the game is a paria for having a human mother) so they left the Pigeon kingdom for Ninir where I grew up in Starheaven. I have 3 younger siblings. My sister Lynn is 22 and studies interior design at Cicia university. My brothers are still in high school in Starheaven, I honestly have no idea of what they will do after school.

I decided to make this dr into a ballerina dr as it’s something I always wanted to try, so i am a professional ballerina and i went back in the pigeon kingdom as an adult to pursue dancing.

I live near the pigeon forest in a village called Winged Manor (another thing I borrowed from Love Nikki) The manor is the property of my grandmother Adélaïde Bellflowers and I live in a small but cosy cottage within the village.

Ballet 🩰

I started to learn ballet at 6, in Ninir Starheaven. I then was accepted in the Pigeon royal academy at 18 and started dancing professionally for the royal ballet company at 23 and I am now 29. (If you were here when I was questioning myself as to what to do with my age, I decided to go with my cr current age, since elves lives for hundreds of years, I have still so much time to enjoy this dr)

ninir ballet style is a dreamlike, theatrical fairytale, and tells the stories of the most famous fairytale of Ninir. While Pigeon ballet tells the numerous legends of the Pigeon forest , mythological stories and dramatic stories. For comparison a Ninir ballet would be the Nutcracker and a Pigeon ballet would be Giselle or Romeo and Juliet.

Pigeon ballet have the particularity to have roles that are reserved to elves as they use the elves ability to fly. With time companies in Pigeon started to include some of the most popular ninir ballet.

My logic is that each nation in the game has a big faction that is in the entertainment industry. In a world where beauty is power, the most important aspect of everything is art. Ninir has the December troupe, Cloud has the neverfall troupe, Apple has the Mercury group, I thought Pigeon could have an Opera house and a big Ballet royal company.

Designer style

In Miraland, it is kind of expected to be skilled in designing, no matter what your main occupation is. Even if, people still buy clothes, it is more common to buy patterns and to make your clothes yourself (as a node to the game crafting mechanic) I of course scripted to be very skilled in sewing and clothes design.

As a designer, I specialise as a ballet and theatrical costume designer and I am known for my elegant and whimsical style that blends skillfully the Ninir fairytale style with the intricate and whimsical Pigeon Elven style.

To keep my designs in the styles of Shining Nikki, I went to Love Nikki to literally pick and choose what sets I wanted to be the designer of, as well as stealing design from the game that are attributed to other characters 😅 (Aloysius and Mercury stinks anyway, I have a pattern of loving sets made by characters i hate in this game…) I also stole the tinker bell dress from Yexiao but I gave her credit to a fairy dress with Chinese influences so it’s fine I think x)

If you think about it it’s not really stealing, I just go to a reality where I am indeed the designer of those sets, they would have no idea.🤷‍♀️

Styling power

I took inspiration from the new infinity Nikki game to visualise what styling power actually looks like. Different outfits carry different powers, such as the ability to glide, some would let you have a control over the elements like wind, water etc…The stronger the styling power in a person is, the easier it is to use this magic system.

With styling power, clothes can be stored into a pocket dimension and one can change magical girl style. In infinity Nikki , you see characters planning their outfits on a tablet and have them appear on them, so it would be something like that. It just sounds fun to me…and with the amount of clothes I planned, rather convenient. This dr really is for my inner child.

Nikki ( and Momo)

Let’s not forget about our main character. In the games she gets isekai into Miraland, so she appears out of nowhere. In this reality I decided to make her a Shifter as well, so she shifts there, but she have her family as well. Since Nikki is Chinese, I scripted her family to be from the Cloud Empire. She works as a journalist at the designer intel hub, which allows her to travel all around Miraland and she is a designer and stylist for the Apple apparel group.

There it finally is 🥰

I feel like not a lot of people will really know what I’m talking about here, but that’s okay.

If you don’t know the game shining Nikki, definitely check it out (but please don’t waste your money into gacha, there is rerun of the events all the time, you don’t have to pay to get the full set if you’re patient. And if you loose interest in the game, there would be no reason to spend money on it.)

[kanarienvogel-miau]

Probably my favorite fact about Werner (if i remember correctly the adaptation of his name) is the legend that he was stabbed with tailor's scissors.

Let me explain who is it a little: Werner, aka the Light Bringer, is a pacifist who brought all of Miraland under his control and later cursed it. He adored design, so the styling competitions as a way to settle things instead of violence are partly a tribute to him.

But let's get back to the scissors. Werner especially carefully delegated weapons, apparently believing that they are what create war. And after the assassination attempt, he realizes that it is not the tool that brings destruction, but the people in whose hands it ends up. After all, even what was intended to create beauty turned out to be his undoing.

This is not the only irony in the story of the assassination attempt: after all, the generals who arranged it ultimately did not achieve their goal. In fact, the result was completely opposite to what was desired: wars are now purely physically painful. As can I say, they got rid of Werner, but the order still remained by his will.

[infinitydesigners]

The Five Attributes In "Infinity Nikki"

So, a lot of fashion/dress-up games have attributes for each piece of clothing: simple, gorgeous, sexy, handsome, etc. In Shining Nikki, the predecessor to this game, the attributes are consolidated into five:

-Elegant, the gold attribute

-Fresh, the green attribute

-Sweet, the pink attribute

-Sexy, the purple attribute

-Cool, the blue attribute

In the lore, each attribute is connected to a different kind of beauty, and to an immortal being that served the God of Styling and Beauty. It's unclear if any of them are alive or still in Miraland at the time that Infinity Nikki starts.

However, the five attributes carry over into the new game.

The same attributes from Shining Nikki, just with different names. (They tie in with the lore from the Unicorn/Nightmare hell event, where they go into depth with each one.)

So, even if the God of Styling and their Five Envoys are gone, their power lives on in the future.

(picture taken from YouTuber RednasYo, "MY FIRST HOUR ON: INFINITY NIKKI")

[caitas-cooing]

Hi! As someone who follows you and knows nothing about Shining Nikki, what is the game about and why do you love it so much? I'd like to hear you talk about something you're passionate about :)

Okay, that is something that could take a while to explain, but let's start with the basic. Shining Nikki is a 3d dress up game and is the 4th game in the Nikki series, although Love Nikki and Shining Nikki are the only ones that are still on the Play store with active servers. Nikki up2u (the first one) was up on the door a long time, probably due to being an offline game overall so there was no server costs, but it was taken off somewhat recently though I don't remember when exactly. Nikki up2u was my first Nikki game because even though Love Nikki was out at the time I happened to stumble across Nikki up2u first, and then love Nikki a few months later. Shining Nikki is the only 3d one though, all the other entries are 2d. There's going to be another game called Infinity Nikki which is going to be an open world dress up game, but who knows when that's coming out, and when it does it still probably take a few years for us to get a global server.

Shining Nikki is important to me because I have been playing the Nikki series on and off since highschool. The combination of story and pretty clothes intrigued me and even though the translation can sometimes be not great (Love Nikki had some interesting statements and typos in there, Shining Nikki is much better in this regard but it still pops up occasionally) they are very interesting stories that are often darker than the cute clothes and bright colors would have you believe. Love Nikki's story involved being sent to another world called miraland where every dispute is solved by fashion battles, and later you find out that the reason that happens is because the people there are under a blood curse so that is they are violent against each other they will die painfully unless they take drugs to stop that from happening. Also someone stabbed Lunar onscreen and I was not expecting that from the game which was mostly lighthearted up to that point, but that scene probably alter my brain chemistry somehow I swear. Like the showed her getting stabbed onscreen and then she died in Nikki's arms while Nikki is crying. This happened in a dress up game. Lunar did not deserve that, Nikki did not deserve that. Lunar's death haunts me because of the shock of it all. Also Nikki gets swords and knives and guns as handheld objects in these games so that's fun.

Okay now finally onto Shining Nikki (you know, the game you actually asked me about originally and then I got sidetracked horribly). This game also takes place in miraland but in the past, so like before the blood curse happened. They still decide a lot of things through fashion and the use of "styling power" which can be used to do a lot of different things including controlling people like puppets or making illusions that people with lower styling power can't see through. These are both things villains in this game do in like the first few chapters of the game. That said, because it does take place before the blood curse there is a lot more violence, there are guns and knives and swords and gangs and wars. This stuff is described more than shown, but they are very present. Shining Nikki takes place in the past because miraland was destroyed in the time she was originally taken and she's trying to stop it from happening again. This games story is dark from the start unlike Love Nikki.

Shining Nikki also made the inspired decision of having Nikki directly talking with the player as a big part of the game and she is such a sweetie and I love her. She'll celebrate your birthday with you and ask if you've eaten and compliment your sense of style. Hearing Nikki say "I know you enjoy your leisure time at night, but try not to stay up too late" is so nice every time. She'll also sing a son about what she would do if she were a cat and complain about how Momo never lets her touch his toe beans. She'll say sadder stuff sometimes to like how she feels lonely when she remembers she doesn't belong to this time and space or how she misses her family at night.

There's more stuff to say too but it's way later (or technically earlier) than I thought it was so I should attempt the sleep thing so I'm stopping here. This whole ramble was a mess and I apologize for that.

Anyway look up Shining Nikki Star Sea and I think that will help explain some of the appeal too. Pretty animation make my brain happy. The physics in the hair and dresses in game are also neat. It goes whoosh

[hazelrose3637]

Nikki's Birthday Live Stream!

Well, Shiny Designers, the Glitter of Wishes live stream has come to an end. And, wow, has it been a treat!

In case you missed it, here's the full itinerary:

A sweet Momo montage! Our favorite kitty gets a new song! Of course he mentions food in it lol

And we get a cute animation sequence of Nikki finding Momo practicing a dance in secret. Who knew Momo was so skilled?

Now, we get into the main part of the live stream. After greeting us, Nikki and Momo have a memory notebook that contains well wishes and gifts from across Miraland... and even from real life!

We visit Cloud Empire first, where the game devs filmed a stunning display of molten iron fireworks! They spent a whole day finding the perfect spot, setting up the smithing tools, and then setting off brilliant sparks. They were incredible to watch!

And then, the first round of giveaways: 12 lucky people will get 12 Sea of Fantasy tickets and 1206 pink gems. (Get it? 12/06 is Nikki's birthday.)

Off to Pigeon Kingdom afterward! A short and cute stop-motion sequence made of clay and felt shows Nikki and Momo having fun with arts and crafts. I wonder how long it took the animators to move the figures frame by frame? Nevertheless, it looks amazing!

The next giveaway code is PIGEONKINGDOM, and it will give 2888 to 5 stylists.

Third stop on our journey is Wasteland, and it offers the most gifts! First, we get Letters from Wasteland, where Vivian, Jiang Beixi, Zoey, Tess, Yisu, and even Queen Hester share memories and wishes for Nikki.

And then, we get a second dance, this time of Nikki in her standard SN dress, the Voice of Desire suit, and the Bloom Up suit as three versions of her dance to Bloom Up! It's all so cute! ^_^

Lastly, we get a quick animation sequence of Momo and his hamster friend grilling (and fighting over) steak. Nikki saves the day in a very sweet way.

Before we go to Ninir Kingdom, the third round of giveaways starts, with the code NINIRKINGDOM offering 5888 pink gems for 2 lucky stylists.

Now in Ninir, we get a glimpse of Nikki's birthday outfit! It's a lovely pink fireworks-themed dress, complete with a crown. You can check out OrangeCatty's blog here for a video and full rundown.

And we get to see our next event: the second Sanrio collab, this time with Kuromi and Pompompurin! Who else can't wait for the adorable animal friends?

Not only that, but the entire server gets a redeem code: HBDNIKKI for 520 gems! Make sure to claim it before the 14th of December.

But guess what is a bigger surprise? Real gamers voicing their wishes for Nikki! I recognized only a couple, but it was still so cool to see how many people the devs reached out to make this live stream even sweeter.

To wrap up the live stream, we got a mashup of several different Nikki songs, all leading up to the premier of a new song, Fireworks of Memories. Such a sweet song :)

The last giveaway is BESTWISH for 8888 pink gems, and only one very lucky stylist will get that. Momo comes back for an encore montage, this time with Nikki singing along.

If you'd like to check out the full archived video, check it out here.

See you next time, Shiny Designers!