Since its announcement at Sony’s State of Play earlier this year, Infinity Nikki has grown from an intriguing oddity to potentially the next big thing. It’s certainly got plenty of Genshin Impact vibes in its gorgeous open world, with activities ranging from dungeon delving to bike races to keep players engaged. On top of that, it sports some of the best-looking clothes we’ve ever seen in an RPG — and that’s a bigger deal than it might sound like.
If you’re not a mobile gamer, you may be unfamiliar with Nikki, a series of dress-up games that are a lot of fun, but nowhere near the scale of Infinity Nikki. In the Nikki series, fashion is all-important, and the ability to put together a good outfit is as important as the ability to vanquish monsters in other RPGs. That’s most evident in Infinity Nikki’s Styling Challenges, which ask players to construct the perfect fit, according to a unique scoring system.
Here’s how Styling Challenges work in Infinity Nikki: Throughout the world of Miraland, you’ll come across all sorts of stylists who want to challenge Nikki to the game’s equivalent of duels. The most fashionable people across the land are always eager to compete, and talking to someone marked with a distinctive icon will let you initiate a challenge.
Stylists across Miraland are divided into different factions, all of which focus on a different style attribute: Cool, Elegant, Fresh, Sexy, and Sweet. Every piece of clothing in the game has a numerical score in each attribute, plus a letter ranking. These scores are what determine your success in Styling Challenges.
When you challenge another stylist, you’ll be given a theme for the duel, depending on which faction they represent. Some more challenging contests include a sub-theme, but at least in the early part of the game, you only need to worry about one attribute.
Styling Challenges are purely a numbers game. On the outfit selection screen, you’ll want to choose whichever clothing items have the highest score in the correct attribute. That can result in some downright goofy-looking outfits winning the day, but you can always change back to a more sensible look afterward.
When you’re getting dressed, you can click the filter icon at the bottom of the screen to only show clothing with the appropriate main attribute. That makes it easy to pick what to wear, but you shouldn’t trust it completely. Certain pieces of clothing might have a better score in the attribute you need even if it’s not tagged as its main one, so if you worry you won’t hit the target, it’s best to sift through everything you’ve got manually. In challenges with a sub-theme, you should also make sure you’re representing both attributes with your choices.
The final step is adding Eurekas. These appear in a separate menu after you’ve selected your outfit, and can make a major difference in your score. Eurekas are optional extras that can provide a major boost to your score, and you can equip up to three at a time. You’ll get a set early in the story, and you can earn more as you play. Especially if you don’t have the best score in a challenge’s attribute, Eurekas can be essential, as they add a flat bonus to your total score without needing to match a theme.
You will eventually need to win all of Infinity Nikki’s Styling Challenges to finish the main story, but there’s no rush to do them in any order. If you don’t have the pieces you need to compete, it’s best to just keep playing other content and come back when you’re sure of your style.
