History YMMV / ShiningNikki

** After chapter 6's finale, [[spoiler:Nikki will have a creepy cutscene regarding her being possessed, which can't be taken seriously depending on what the player made her wear in the main menu screen.]]
*** Related to the above, on the main menu screen Nikki will make comments about [[spoiler:feeling odd after the incident. The first comment will be automatically played after the cutscene. Any additional comments will be played if the player taps on Nikki. Problem is, other more lighthearted comments (such as singing about cats) can interrupt this normally dark atmosphere.]]

** The general GameplayAndStorySegregation is at its worst here. While the story gets progressively darker, outside of the story Nikki remains relatively the same lighthearted girl, making the tone shift wildly within seconds.

* PeripheryDemographic: The game is rated for kids 12 and up, yet its fanbase consists of numerous adult women and even men!

** Other factors can also limit gameplay, including not having enough gold or running out of free challenge attempts on challenge stages and in the arena. Due to players needing to hoard gems, they often can't spend anything to undo these limits and when you combine this with the stamina problem, it locks out most things in the game.

* ThatOneLevel: Most of chapter 6 has become this after being released, given its sudden DifficultySpike and high point requirements.

* ScrappyMechanic: Almost every battle requires stamina (the exceptions being the Diamond Arena and the guild commissions), with later main stage levels even requiring eight stamina per stage; this isn't helped by the fact that stamina regenerates at 1 point per 5 minutes. Even if a player buys the rebate pack giving 200 stamina initially and 350 stamina per day for a week, it'll still run out in a moment's notice.

* WhamEpisode: The end of chapter 4 features [[spoiler:Qin Yi's betrayal and Joy being badly injured, thus forcing Nikki to snap out of her naivety.]]

* {{Starboarding}}: Although Loen seems to take interest in Nikki, players may identify Nikki as a lesbian and thus ship her with someone else but still enjoy the interactions between the two.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Nikki has a few ships to her name, including being shipped with Kimi from the original ''Love Nikki'' as well as newcomers like Loen and the MC.

* LGBTFanbase: The game has attracted a fanbase that has openly embraced Nikki's AmbiguousBi tendencies and the other LGBT themes hidden within the story,

* ScrappyMechanic: Almost every action in the game requires stamina, with later main stage levels even requiring eight stamina per stage! This isn't helped by the fact that stamina regenerates at 1 point per 5 minutes. Even if a player buys the rebate pack giving 200 stamina initially and 350 stamina per day for a week, it'll still run out in a moment's notice.

* SidetrackedByTheGoldenSaucer: Artists have used ''Shining Nikki'' to create their own outfits and it's not uncommon to see players focus on designing random outfits outside of battle for fun and taking photos.

** Collecting suits from events can take up to about 20k gems for some, forcing players to save every single gem they collect if they want to collect an entire suit. Problem is, once a player progresses further into the game it's unlikely that they'll get more than about 100-200 gems ''per day''...
** Raising your bond with Nikki is extremely slow and difficult. Many players choose to save almost all their gems for events to use on suits, meaning they have little to spare on buying gifts / snacks for Nikki. Even with those gifts and snacks, deepening your bond with Nikki can be an arduous process. Momo's guide almost always recommends that the player deepen their bond to receive the bonus effects to clothing attributes, but it's highly unlikely players will be able to achieve this goal.

* WhamEpisode: The end of chapter 4 features [[spoiler:Qin Yi's betrayal and Joy being badly injured, thus forcing Nikki to snap out of her naivete.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** The MC is the biggest glaring example of this. Despite accompanying Nikki on her journey, they have little actual dialogue options for a good chunk of the chapters. The dialogue options they do receive often don't impact the plot much in any form. One could modify the plot to not include the MC and the game / plot would run about the same.
** Joy was introduced as Nikki's friend but ultimately wasn't fleshed out enough as a character [[spoiler:before her near death experience at the hands of Qin Yi.]]

* DifficultySpike: Chapter 6 is known to be surprisingly more difficult than chapter 5, with many players struggling to keep up with the high requirements.

* ScrappyMechanic: Almost every action in the game requires stamina, with later main stage levels even requiring eight stamina per stage! Even if a player buys the rebate pack giving 200 stamina initially and 350 stamina per day for a week, it'll still run out in a moment's notice.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The MC is the biggest glaring example of this. Despite accompanying Nikki on her journey, they have little actual dialogue options for a good chunk of the chapters. The dialogue options they do receive often don't impact the plot much in any form. One could modify the plot to not include the MC and the game / plot would run about the same.

** The voice acting for the characters can vary in quality, even within single scenes. One early example shows a young man challenge Nikki to a styling battle and yell "Styling power!" in a goofy voice.

** Nikki soon gets dipped into this trope, being the savior of Miraland and all. [[spoiler:This is especially the case after being betrayed by Qin Yi and getting shot in Chapter 6.]]
** Ashley was often derided for her [[InformedAttractiveness unsightly appearance]], which [[spoiler:eventually led to her becoming the cold lady Lilith we know today.]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForLittleGirls: Although the game appears quite cutesy and accessible to kids, the story itself features dark themes and violence.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: There's only a handful of clothing sets released, with many being overlooked in actual styling battles due to the simplistic gameplay. Players will often find themselves using the same clothes over and over again to win battles.

* Narm: While the game is often praised for its darker story, some elements can be hard to swallow.