As a youngster I was a huge Nickelodeon fan. At a young age I was lucky enough to get Sky TV, and that meant watching thousands of episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Saved by the Bell, and Sister Sister. As time went by more Nicktoons arrived on the scene, and even though I was probably getting a little too old for them by the standards of my peers I didn’t stop watching. I’ve now reviewed video games in all shapes and sizes full of Nicktoons, from kart racers to Super Smash Bros style fighting games. The idea of a Diablo loot-fuelled RPG with my beloved toons was even more appealing though, so I jumped into Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny sword first.
As you’d expect there’s a silly story in The Dice of Destiny that brings together all your favourite characters in a big multiverse explosion. Timmy Turner has been playing some sort of off-brand Dungeons and Dragons with his fairy godparents, and after becoming bored of always winning decides to wish he was in a fantasy game for real. His wish is granted, but some dark dice magic means he and a bunch of other familiar faces are trapped there until they complete an adventure. It’s a cute enough way to bring these universes together, and start the dungeon crawling.
The first order of business is to select your character, who you can change at any time. There are five options you can pick from at the start of the game, ranging from Leonardo to Timmy Turner. I opted to start as SpongeBob, as I figured his knight class would be a good starting choice and he’s one of my personal favourites regardless. Initially all I had to work with was a basic attack and a dodge roll against hordes of jellyfish, but before long I levelled up and unlocked my first special move.
Each character unlocks a variety of special skills as they level up, and can equip any four of these at once. Melee characters usually have some fun thematic smash attacks and whirlwind abilities, whereas ranged attackers tend to have more exciting skills at their disposal. After a few stages I decided to try out Timmy the mage, and was delighted by his bouncing spiky balls and elemental barriers that made beating down baddies a blast. Some classes even have nice synergy if you play in co-op too. If you’d told me that Rugrat Susie Carmichael would be my ultimate favourite before I started playing I’d have laughed at you, but this toddler has all sorts of entertaining abilities like spreading Lego everywhere to damage approaching enemies. Your overall level applies to all characters too, so you’re free to switch at will with no grinding required to find your preference.
As well as levelling up and learning new skills, Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny also features a whole host of gear to equip to make yourself stronger. I was a little worried that being a game marketed towards a younger crowd that this side of the game would be a bit lacking, but it has all the usual rarities of gear and a nice amount of different interesting modifiers attached to them. As an entry point into the action RPG genre The Dice of Destiny is almost perfect, and will delight newbie dungeon crawlers.
The structure of the game is nice and simple too, with the game split up into individual levels that take around five to ten minutes to complete for the most part. You’ll usually have a task or two to complete in these levels, like killing a certain number of enemies or using levers to unlock gates. They also often feature hidden chests full of loot, and challenge portals that’ll pit you against foes with various background lasers or explosions to dodge that net you bonus rewards. It’s nothing revolutionary but the fantasy Nicktoon theming is endearing, and you can choose from various difficulty levels for each stage if you want some extra challenge.
There’s a lot to love about Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny for young cartoon loving gamers, but it’s not without issues. Melee classes are much less fun to play as for example, because the up close combat just feels a bit clunky and they generally get less exciting skills. The hub area is disappointing too, with very few shops and services worth using and a particularly lifeless feel. Worse than all of this though is the performance on the Switch. Without a dedicated Switch 2 version you’ll be greeted with stuttering cutscenes and an underwhelming framerate, which is a shame if you only have Nintendo consoles to play the game on.
Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny is a nice entry level action RPG, which is especially fun if you play as a ranged attacker. It’s got more depth than I expected from a game aimed at kids, and as long as you avoid playing it on the Switch or Switch 2 (or there’s an update post launch) you’ll enjoy looting with SpongeBob and company.
