I’ll play just about any game for customization options. I spent hours upon hours in Black Desert Online’s character creator, but never really played much of the actual game. I design neighborhoods full of mansions in the Sims, only to never fill them with people. In my favorite game, Final Fantasy 14, I’ll log in and lose entire nights to perfecting one outfit. If I can play dress-up or design a living space in a game, then I wanna play it. So you better believe when I stumbled upon a mobile game a few years ago called Love Nikki Dress Up Queen that I frantically smashed that install button. Now with the launch of its sequel, Shining Nikki, just this last week, I’m as happy as can be, and this version may be better than the original.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Nikki games, then I’m sorry to say you may be missing out. The name gives you just about everything you need to know right there, but yes, it is a game about dressing up. The original Love Nikki saddled you with a 2D Nikki, a beauty queen who could be damn near anything she wanted to. My Nikki usually looked like a Gundam pilot, but I’d also dressed her as a pop star, femme fatale, doctor, witch, and every other fantastical or real occupation you could think of. Sometimes she was a pop star doctor. It was incredible.
I spent years on Love Nikki—and I don’t say this lightly—but I think the new one may be even better. Don’t get me wrong, I still adore the original and I think I may prefer the old art style over Shining Nikki’s 3D effects. But, it’s the new UI, summons, home screen, bonding with Nikki, and overall less jank that has me super into Shining Nikki. I’ve gone speeding past my friends in levels, eagerly checking my stamina throughout the day to see if I have enough to do anything else. Shining Nikki is my new mobile game love, taking second place only to Genshin Impact.
No matter how much I adore Love Nikki and hate to admit it, the game has always felt like it lacked a level of polish. Nothing is really broken or anything nasty like that, but the original Nikki has a painfully cluttered UI, and I spend more time than I’d like navigating complicated menus that could’ve used a few quality of life updates years ago. Shining Nikki’s home screen is a polished, easy-to-read hub that’s far cleaner than its predecessor. While I can still have a million notifications upon logging in on any given day, they seem more manageable. I have a clear idea of where to go, what to do, and it’s just easier to read. Shining Nikki still has plenty of the same features, but it’s not nearly as busy. I still maintain that Love Nikki’s biggest problem is taking you a million menus deep with no clear end; Shining Nikki eliminates most of that.
As for the most important bits—the actual dressing up—Shining Nikki obviously doesn’t have the variety in clothing that the original has yet, just because it’s so young. That’s okay though, because I dig the “battle” system way more now. Yes, it’s still based on some arbitrary score assigned to various clothing items, but now you get cool summons and skills that are way less complicated than Love Nikki. The summons are actual fashion designers, and they’ll rush in to aid with bonus points in a fashion showdown. I reckon at a glance, Shining Nikki’s new system doesn’t have the “depth” we had before with the reduction in skills, but Love Nikki’s system often felt convoluted and messy. This is a cleaned-up version, adding new bells and whistles in place of old jank.
Nikki’s new digs also include this kind of weird bonding mechanic, but I’m hopeful this leads to another housing setup for me to decorate. Right now, I can’t customize Nikki’s room, but I can hang out with her and flood the poor girl in a sea of snacks and books as gifts. It looks like as things progress and I butter her up, Nikki will reward me with a few gifts of my own, too.
Ultimately, I’m kind of ill that I dig Shining Nikki so much this far. I wanted to stick with my old stomping grounds in the original, but even just Shining’s cleaned up UI has won me over. I’ve got a massive wardrobe in Love Nikki, so I reckon I’ll eventually just give up and part ways with it to focus on the new game. Honestly, I think it’s worth it though, and if you’re still on the fence, at least give it a shot. You may not have the same, massive closet you once had, but Shining Nikki is definitely worth the plunge.