How far is Paper Games from a 3A game after the third test of "Shining Nikki: Puzzle World"? | 36Kr Game Observation
Written by Feng Min
Edited by Liu Shiwu
The third beta test of "Infinite Nikki" has ended, and Paper Games is one step away from a 3A game.
Since the release of the first exposure video in November 2022, "Infinite Nikki", developed using the Unreal Engine 5 (hereinafter referred to as: UE5), has become a long-term topic of discussion in the game industry and among players. The debate from "3D dress-up" to "Whether female players care about 3A" has never stopped.
Image source: Infinite Nikki
In the wave of the digital age, "She Economy" as a force that cannot be ignored is showing extraordinary potential, and the same is true in the game industry.
In recent years, many game products for the female market have been continuously launched. Whether it is the "evergreen" "Love and Producer" in female-oriented games or the rising star "Code: Feather" in recent years, most of the style types are "love + combat", with their own independent worldviews and plot structures.
In contrast, the traditional "pure-blood dress-up" games obviously can no longer meet the increasing emotional investment needs of female players.
Image source: Miracle Nikki
From "Nikki's Wonderful Story" to "Miracle Nikki", in order to keep up with the players' expectations, the "Nikki Series" has been continuously enriching itself in the exploration. It has extended from the initially flat and simple dress-up gameplay to a story context and a unique combat system. In its newly launched "Infinite Nikki", players can control Nikki to move freely in the open world, linger in the beautiful scenery in the game, experience and witness various vivid stories, and experience all kinds of joys and sorrows on the "Miracle Continent".
Although the label of "female-oriented game" has been removed, "Infinite Nikki" still pays attention to the game demands of female players. The beautiful and exquisite pictures, the leisure and warm atmosphere, and the cute and soft little animals as the game preferences of many "players pursuing a sense of relaxation" can be seen everywhere in the world of "Infinite Nikki". The elements of the organ tasks in the big world are also relatively soft, with a relaxed and warm style. Even the violent attributes and tension of the boss battles have been greatly weakened, allowing players to enjoy the scenery of the big world more easily and experience beautiful and harmonious small stories.
Image source: Infinite Nikki
In addition to the overall style, Paper Games has improved the game content according to the current emotional demands of female players: In this utopian world full of kindness, the emotional communication between people is friendly and gender-neutral. As the heroine, Nikki made a wish in the plot that "I hope that girls all over the world will not have stomachaches", which is as simple and warm as her name. Many female players exclaimed "My heart is melting" and "Nikki is really a sweet daughter" after playing this plot. Such a worldview setting and related plot design full of humanistic care give players sufficient emotional value and spiritual experience.
IPs with unique representative images like Nikki are not rare. From Sun Wukong, Mickey Mouse, to Barbie, Hatsune Miku, these classic literary and animated images are well-known to everyone, and a series of related IPs have been derived due to the commercial value brought by their high popularity; Game products that continuously improve their unique worldviews and create unique sentiments through a series of works like Nikki are not rare either. From the well-known "Chinese Paladin" and "Gu Jian" series in the early years to the "Honkai Impact 3rd" and "Pokémon" series that are quite popular among players in recent years, they have constructed unique narrative styles and strong sentiments through the accumulation and improvement of one work after another, attracting countless players. These IPs usually use a shared worldview as the main bridge to connect the previous and subsequent works.
Compared with the above cases, Nikki is unique - The image of Nikki is not only born from the game itself, appearing as the fixed heroine in each work of the "Nikki Series", but also continuously enriching itself through the co-creation of the production team and players. Every transformation of hers is participated and witnessed by each player, and every step of her growth also reflects every footprint of the Nikki IP from its rise to the present continuous innovation. Whether it is the image of Nikki or this game IP, it condenses the joint efforts of the creative team and players. Therefore, "Infinite Nikki" has received high popularity and support since its establishment.
Image source: Infinite Nikki
Of course, for Paper Games, which is using UE5 to develop a large-scale 3D game for the first time, the long development cycle, various bugs during the testing period, and the acceptance of the 3D open world by IP players are all challenges it faces.
Up to the end of the third beta test, "Infinite Nikki" still has problems such as many bugs, frequent frame drops, and severe heating on some device models. Moreover, the game currently only supports a smoothness of up to 30 frames, which is not friendly for a game that focuses on visual experience. Paper Games still has a long way to go before the game is officially launched.
Fortunately, Nikki's user group is very patient. Many IP players are "worried about their daughter" and have provided feedback to the development team during the testing stage. Thanks to their feedback and suggestions, problems such as the rough face model in the first beta test of "Infinite Nikki", the inability to hide the big cat when taking pictures, and the overly monotonous combat gameplay have been adjusted in time, showing good results in the third beta test.
With the continuous growth of the game industry, the competition trend among products is becoming increasingly fierce. Relying solely on "sentiment" is obviously difficult to gain a firm foothold in the current wave. Therefore, using emerging technologies to continuously improve the game quality and enhance the playability is also an extremely important task for major manufacturers to attract and retain new and old players.
Image source: Infinite Nikki real machine test
The new dress-up open world gameplay of "Infinite Nikki" is a major breakthrough made by the team. Similarly, as a game with clothing as the main selling point, how to "make the clothes look good" is particularly important.
In the internal test version of Infinite Nikki, the artistic expression brought by the UE5 engine meets these needs. Different scenes such as high mountains, flower seas, and jungles are presented with a strong sense of reality and fairy tale. The suits also use the OIT rendering technology, and the clothing materials can be clearly observed from different perspectives.
The photo mode has also been optimized in the third beta test. Technologies such as simulation photography, light and shadow rendering, self-selected camera positions and parameters can already meet the needs of the vast majority of players to "wear beautiful clothes and take good-looking photos".
During the testing period, Nikki players were tirelessly looking for various sceneries in the game, unlocking photo poses, and posting countless of their own photography works on social platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu. In addition, "taking photos" has also become a new social way on the Miracle Continent. Players can have friendly interactions by taking photos with the marks left by other players and leaving messages. Such an asynchronous social gameplay appropriately meets the "light social" needs of some players.
Image source: Infinite Nikki real machine test
After the end of the third beta test, the expectations of countless players have been raised again. Many players said that they "can't wait to travel the Miracle Continent with Nikki". Perhaps this carefully polished work full of ingenuity and warmth can make the Nikki IP rejuvenate after its official launch and prove to the market that games targeting the female market also have the opportunity to become 3A.