UPDATE 2018: Hello Nilki Let’s Beauty Up Has Been Closed For Almost Two Years. There is a newer app available in English called Love Nikki Dress Up Queen which I reviewed here.
Here is some more info about Hello Nikki Let’s Beauty Up shutting down their English version:
The game I reviewed was actually Hello Nikki Let’s Beauty Up! Developed by Gamedreamers MY (maybe stands for Malaysia? I’m not sure, but the game was released in English by a chinese publisher named xiong xiang (at least on the IOS app store)
The game closed in November 2016
It is amazingly similar to Love Nikki Dress Up Queen (because of the quests, overworld maps, story, characters, gacha, and online competitions with other players, etc)
Here is a post about the English servers shut down notice: https://www.facebook.com/gamedreamer.HelloNikki/photos/a.884213698312653.1073741828.820401318027225/1204833252917361/?type=3&theater
Interestingly enough last year the developers teased that the game may be coming back? (not sure why we’d need 2 very similar Nikki games, but then again we have 2 English versions of Romantic Diary too lol). (Unless they were hinting about Love Nikki Dress Up Queen – but I think that one’s by another developer?)
Here is a link to that teasing post from the Hello Nikki developers: https://www.facebook.com/gamedreamer.HelloNikki/photos/a.884213698312653.1073741828.820401318027225/1241024009298285/?type=3&theater
And you can see a lot of images, videos and past events at their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/gamedreamer.HelloNikki/
Here is my original review below of Hello Nikki Let’s Beauty Up!
I’ve been obsessed with “Hello Nikki”, a cute kawaii anime dressup game that lets you learn about different cultures around the world while experiencing their fashion.
NOTE: Nikki is a series of games; you will find many other “Nikki” games available in the app store featuring the same characters AND the same basic “dressup” style gameplay. What sets “Hello Nikki” apart from any of the others is that it has “Gacha” mechanics to get random limited edition items. It’s also the only one to feature runway challenges, sky tower, quests, and more “RPG” like mechanics. ALL of the Nikki games are cute – but gameplay wise, “Hello Nikki” is the most addictive because it has that little extra something. It’s also updated very frequently with events and new items being added to the shops, etc.
Each map has several levels, each with a new challenge. There’s also limited time events which offer you the chance to get unique items that will never be offered again. There’s also weekly “runway” challenges where you compete against other players each week. Lastly, you can craft your own items with quest rewards or buy items with one of two game currencies, both are easy to win through playing the game but also available for purchase within the app.
The game has adorable graphics and characters which really add to the charming nature of this app. If you want a kawaii dressup game – look no further!
Title: Hello Nikki – Let’s Beauty Up
Release Date: October 2015
Developer: Game Dreamer MY
Publisher (English Version): xiong xiang – I’m assuming this is a chinese company – which is probably why the translation can be a bit rough – I don’t think it’s THAT bad, but a lot of users are complaining about it in their reviews. The Japanese version is by Line Play – Since Line is popular also in North America – I’m not sure why Line sold the rights to the English version – but whatever. The only complaint I have with the translation is they removed all the voice acting :*(
Grab it on IOS here: https://itunes.apple.com/…
Here is the Android Version: https://play.google.com/…
You can play on both versions without losing your data by connecting your account with facebook – or registering a username and password before playing the game. The two versions are identical.
Geeky: 1/5
Overall: 65/80 81% B- “Very Good Game For Girls”
Concept: 8/10 The concept of Hello Nikki is not that different from other dressup games. You collect new outfits, new hair, new accessories, etc, and use these items to put together a new look for each challenge. Hello Nikki does differentiate itself with it’s system of RPG like quests; however, those quests can suffer from a weak translation which can make some of them a bit difficult or even frustrating to complete. Hello Nikki also attempts to educate you about different cultures, food, fashion, and customs – however, it does so in a way which does not cram education down your throat and it manages to be fun and funny still. It’s not just all about Asian cultures either, which is really unique. There’s maps (and quests) for Australia, UK, USA, Egypt, and many more “western” civilizations as well. I deducted 2 points because of the sometimes quirky translation, and that the English version of Hello Nikki removed all of the voice acting :*(. I played the original Japanese version and it is 100% fully voiced. I miss that in the English version. Still, it’s a super cute, fun, and addictive dressup game.
Gameplay: 10/10 The game is played through a series of challenges. Each challenge has a short story which involves the different characters and gives you hints and clues about what to wear. Challenges are marked by circles on an overworld map. You must pass each challenge before moving on to the next. At the end of each map, you must have a certain number of clothes in your closet and a certain percentage of high scores to advance to the next map. Challenges can be replayed multiple times. You will use “hitpoints” to enter each challenge and lose hitpoints when failing a challenge. Hitpoints refill fairly quickly automatically over a period of time.
Dressing Up consists of layering different pieces together to create your look. This includes hair, makeup, top and bottom (or dress), socks, shoes, coats, hats, hair accessories, earrings, neckwear (such as necklaces and scarves), belts, bracelets, purses, and much more. All of your items need to look like they go together, either based on color, fabric, season, warmth, casual vs formal, or other criteria. The game does not really explain what these are – or if it does, the translation is often too vague to make it very useful, so you kinda just have to guess your way through a lot of it – still it’s not terribly difficult since it’s a casual game.
After you present your outfit, Momo, your cat, will grade you from F to S rank. S is the best you can get, A is the second best, B, C, D, F – that’s how the ranking goes. If you get an F you will have to repeat the challenge before moving on.
There’s also weekly “runway” challenges where you’re given a theme and compete with other players for best dressed each week. You can enter the challenge for free, and also if you vote on other people’s outfits, you can get free gems, the better of the 2 in game currencies. And if you happen to win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place you can win gems or exclusive outfits.
There are various shops and different “gacha” to help you get new outfits which you can use in the challenges. You can play Dream Loft for 18,000 gold, and get a ton of items this way. You have three seconds and just have to tap the screen as rapidly as possible. Each tap = one item. There’s also two “free” gachas each day. One you can play for free twice a day even.
There’s a clothing shop, pretty self explanatory there. And a crafting shop, where you can make items once you have the blueprint and necessary ingredients. Blueprints and ingredients drop randomly with S rank wins from each challenge.
Most recently (at time of this review) they introduced Sky Tower challenge where if you pass the series of random challenges you win exclusive items. There’s another tower too (or maybe I have them mixed up) where you have to guess what the outfit would be ranked as for a given challenge, matching your score to the actual score. Once again you’ll win (different) exclusive items for passing a series of challenges there.
You can also give “gifts” to the NPCs who run all of the shops to help lower prices and unlock new items.
They also have events frequently. Right now it’s a “clover” event, you can play once a day for free. You just pick a clover on the screen and get a random limited edition item.
New maps, new challenges, and new events are constantly being added to the game which keeps it super fresh and fun.
Story: 5/10 There actually really is a story in Hello Nikki – however, it’s not that great, either due to writing or translation. – But the basic gist is, on Nikki’s birthday she finds a treasure map left behind by her father. Apparently she has not seen her father in a long time. She enlists the help of her sister to travel around the world in search of their dad. There are other side stories that delay their investigation. For example one of Nikki’s friends goes missing and she has to look for her, another one she becomes an idol singer, or goes on a summer vacation.
Characters: 10/10 Hello Nikki is one of my favorite games because of the adorable characters. You get fashion advice from your cat! How cute is that? And Nikki herself is so adorable, no matter what she wears she looks great! Like a virtual barbie doll lol. There’s also other cute and interesting NPC’s such as Nikki’s sister, Nina, or her friend, a short little lolita girl.
Graphics: 10/10 I have to admit, I love cute, kawaii, moe games like Hello Nikki. It’s just my preferred style. I love the graphics in this game. Everything is so cute. It’s like a dream come true for me. Not only are they cute, but the characters are very large and detailed unlike a lot of anime dressup games that use chibi style characters.
Music: 6/10 Music is enjoyable and some maps have their own music; however, many of the sound tracks are reused throughout the game. Also as I mentioned, they removed all of the voice acting from the game which is a big disappointment.
Replay Value: 10/10 The frequent updates, the limited edition events, items, gacha, and the weekly “online” competitions with other players, will keep you coming back. It’s one of those games that I play every day just to see what’s new.
Overall: 65/80 81% B- “Very Good Game For Girls”
This game, Love Nikki- Dress Up Queen aka Nikki UP2U 3, Nikki UP2U World Traveler, and the other Nikki UP2Us are all made by the same person. The original chinese company changed names several times and partnered with different companies/people to make the english version, hence the different names such as the example you gave, Rhino Studio, and ELEX (current english partnership company name for Love Nikki – Dress Up Queen)
🙂 thank you for clearing it up. There do seem to be slight differences in some of the games, but maybe they’re running different updates and versions. Thanks for visiting my blog. And cute avatar! Is that a dollfie dream?