YMMV / Shining Nikki

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Caprico's disdain towards human elements like emotions and even biological needs might be seen as mere misantropy, but there's also a chance he's hiding his own flaws in an attempt of making himself better.
    • On a related note, is Caprico's admiration for Glow merely that of a geek looking at a masterpiece of engineering, or is it another kind of infatuation?
  • Paisley's actions and demeanor in Ashley's backstory are undeniably reprimandable, but it's arguable if she deserved to be literally set on fire over it; after all, did she do it all out of her own malice or was she just a product of the society she was raised within?

• Complacent Gaming Syndrome: Since there's only a handful of clothing sets currently released on the global server, with many being overlooked in actual styling battles due to the simplistic score-based gameplay, players will often find themselves using the same clothes over and over again to win battles during early game.

• Contested Sequel: The gameplay is criticized for being too simplistic compared to Love Nikki, especially since the game is in its early stages and there's overall less to do. The hefty stamina requirements for every action don't help matters either. Many fans at least hold out the hope that because the game is still early in its release, it has time to improve.

• Difficulty Spike: Chapter 6 is known to be surprisingly more difficult than chapter 5, with many players struggling to keep up with the high requirements. Even after successfully completing one stage, the player will likely be stopped dead in their tracks by the next one due to the successive stage requiring a different attribute to be mastered entirely. And that's not even mentioning the challenge stages...

• Enjoy the Story, Skip the Game: The story is noted to be one of the game's stronger points (for those that enjoy the darker themes), while the gameplay is noticeably simplistic in contrast. Many battles can even be skipped due to their repetitive nature and the right clothes for each battle can be donned automatically if the "Recommended" button is available.

• Even Better Sequel: Given the 3D models, deeper storyline, and likable main character, some have preferred Shining Nikki over its predecessor Love Nikki.

• Fan-Preferred Couple: There are some people who ship the player character with Nikki, due to their close interactions. Some have expressed the wish to even date Nikki.

• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: The new game brought a lot of new (beautiful) faces to Nikki's sphere of influence, which logically spawned a myriad of ships including but not at all limited to Loen, Aeon or Joy; for those adventurous, Helz, Lilith and even the player themselves are valid choices.

• LGBT Fanbase: The game has attracted a fanbase that has openly embraced Nikki's Ambiguously Bi tendencies and the other LGBT themes hidden within the story,

• Moe: This game's Nikki is often relatable, sweet, and all around a bundle of cuteness. Her moments of dorkiness (such as accidentally dropping her phone on her face) only further endears her to players.

• Narm: While the game is often praised for its darker story, some elements can be hard to swallow.
  • For some, the entire premise of the game being on styling battles taken deadly serious can throw people off.
  • After chapter 6's finale, Nikki will have a creepy cutscene regarding her being possessed, which may or may not 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 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) may appear and interrupt this normally dark atmosphere.
  • The voice acting for the characters can vary in quality, even within single scenes. One early example shows Shawn challenging Nikki to a styling battle and yelling "Styling power!" in a goofy voice.
  • The Moments section of the game has a strange tone that is almost entirely divorced from the plot. This allows the player to see what characters are like on a regular everyday basis. Problem is, the player can also speak to attempted murderers, traitors, and other unsavory folk right after they've committed their crimes. It can be jarring, to say the least.
    • The general Gameplay and Story Segregation 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.

• Periphery Demographic: Even though the game is rated T, its fanbase consists mostly of young adult women and even men.

• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • 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.
  • 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 won't spend anything to break through these limits and when you combine this with the stamina problem, the pacing of the game may get a bit too sluggish.

• Sidetracked By The Golden Saucer: Even though the nail salon has no bearing in the main story of the game, it's one of the main attractives for potential new players, and a heavily demanded feature in servers that have yet to see its release. Besides, given the nature of the game, it's only natural that countless people have used Shining Nikki to freely style their own outfits and it's not uncommon to see players focus on styling for fun and taking photos rather than for the salvation of Miraland.

• Starboarding: Although Loen seems to take interest in Nikki, players may ship her with someone else but still enjoy the interactions between the two.

• That One Level: Most of chapter 6 has become this after being released, given its sudden Difficulty Spike and high score requirements.

• That One Sidequest:
  • 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... That said, since most events cost 8k if the player is unlucky, a well-prepared player will hardly be caught with their pants down by the more expensive events, which are few and relatively far between.
  • 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. Fortunately, the bonus is so small that in practice relying on it is a non-issue.

• Wham Episode:
  • The end of chapter 4 features Qin Yi's betrayal and Joy being badly injured, thus forcing Nikki to snap out of her naivety.
  • The end of chapter 6 shows Nikki being possessed.

• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Little Girls?: Although the game appears quite cutesy and accessible to kids, the story itself features dark themes and violence.

• The Woobie:
  • Nikki soon gets dipped into this trope, being the savior of Miraland and all. This is especially the case from chapter 4 and beyond.
  • Ashley was often derided for her unsightly appearance, which eventually led to her becoming the love-thirsty queen Lilith we know today.