NIKKE: A worthwhile gacha with a great story and jiggly waifus!

 

Alright, I'm cheating a little on this blog post. I know that I mostly cover Japanese entertainment and specifically media, but over the past week or two, I've been addicted to Nikke. Sure, it's a Korean gacha made by Shift-Up, the developers who also brought us Stellar Blade, but the game is worth giving a shot. 

Going into the game blind, I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the animation that played whilst downloading the necessary files for the updates. The rock song that played during the download was nice too, although, for larger updates this does tend to get a bit repetitive as it's the only song that plays. 

The lobby which also doubles as the main menu in which players are to spend a good chunk of time between activities, is rather nicely designed. A plethora of options are displayed on the left and right hand side of the screen, as well as at the bottom in the centre, this leaves plenty of room for taking in the very detailed, gorgeous background. Players can customise the lobbies to showcase their acquired Nikkes, event scenes, skill cutscenes and even some favourite items wallpapers. It's a neat thing as the Nikkes have voice lines that change after you've bonded with them. I recommend Mihara if you want to be made to blush. 

The gameplay itself is quite simple with it being a crosshair shooter. That doesn't mean it is bad however and it actually stands out amongst a sea of gachas that all follow the Mihoyo formula or are turn-based RPG style games. The player controls the crosshairs of their chosen Nikkes, moving around the screen before settling on their targets before unloading on them. Guns play a little different with machine guns firing in bursts whilst shotguns fire powerful close range spread-shots, snpier rifles only fire after the player has let go of a held down trigger and RPGs operate in a similar manner. A player can select a squad of 5 Nikkes, placing them on either the front or back row, allowing for a little strategy in terms of placement. There's also the special skills/abilities known as Burst, which amongst other things, allows players to deal heavy bursts of damage in a short span of time. It feels good to hit it just right, especially on bosses. 

What sets Nikke apart from most other gachas in the writing in terms of the story. Heading into blind, I had no idea what to expect, but by the end of the tutorial, I was already made to feel incredibly sad via a character's sudden death. It came after spending enough time to get attached to the character and as such, it was quite shocking that the scene occurred. In terms of the characters, everyone has a sense of depth to them, no one is really one-note and with the size of Nikke's roster, that's one heck of an achievement. Oh also, the game has an incredible atmosphere. It's captivating in a bleak, melancholy manner and the fantastic artwork, the level design, the backdrops, the music, etc all add to it. Be warned though, that the difficulty starts creeping up faster than you might expect and be prepared to have to spend some time upgrading your Nikkes in order to progress.

Speaking of characters, Nikke is all about the waifus! The character design is top tier, each waifu having a distinct style and personality to go along with their incredible jiggles. Most also have more than one costume than can be acquired, from the costume gacha or from the passes. The Live2D animations are quite the sight to behold. In the lobby, you have access to messages which functions quite like a mobile phone, in which your Nikkes will text you, resulting in some fun and often times hilarious conversations. Also, through bonding with them through the advise feature or from playing through events, you can gain scenes in which some Nikkes get quite intimate with your commander. They come in all forms from gyarus like Rupee to S&M fetishists, Mihara and Yuni. My personal favourites are Anis, Mihara, best girl Rapi and Rupee so far. 

The gacha is rather generous, or at least it has been in my personal experience. 10 tickets gets you 10 pulls and it can net you some super useful SSRs for meta if that's what you're going for or you could also just gain your favourite waifus. Advanced tickets are used for anniversary units, limited units and collab units such as the Chainsaw Man characters, Evangelion characters and Nier characters. 

Overall, I would highly recommend Nikke to those who enjoy some great waifus, a surprisingly gripping story and don't mind a gacha system. It's a fun time.