Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, & PC)

If it’s not nostalgia bait, then it’s a shameless cash grab: one or the other, with most of these TV game adaptations. Hardly any of the Nicktoons games have captured fans’ hearts as much as, say, Nicktoons Unite! And God has been a lot of them going around. Okay, fair, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is a load of fun, too. But hey, the story there is barebones. (If it’s not the gameplay that feels simplistic, it’s the plot, hardly adding any new content to the original Nickelodeon shows.)

When I caught wind of Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny, I wasn’t pessimistic at all. I have to say my childhood heart and joy still cling to the hope that there will be more adaptations worth playing. Even decades from now, I firmly believe we’ll still be getting at least one good Nicktoons game. This time, Fair Play Labs and Petit Fabrik ventured into the path of action role-playing. And while it’s not the usual fighting/kart racing/platforming road most traveled, the final game came out surprisingly good. 

Let’s break it all down in our Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny review below.

Be a Kid Again

For the decent story Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny tells, I’ll try not to reveal all the cards that await. A pretty serviceable story to fuel your adventures across a Nicktoons metaverse? Let’s call it that, a merging of some of fans’ most favorite Nickelodeon shows from the ‘90s through to the ‘00s. There should be something here for anyone remotely acquainted with Nickelodeon. SpongeBob even? Or Avatar? The rest you don’t need to be all too familiar with to enjoy your playthrough. 

This is your standard action RPG, in every gameplay sense of the genre. Most of your time will be spent ripping apart enemies in the most whimsical, flamboyant ways. Very cartoony are the environments and the characters within them, borrowing, I wanna say, heavily, from their Nicktoons counterparts. Up to nine playable characters, with solo players only able to control one at a time. 

Do find out the story for yourself. It should be worth your time when you’re one of two people: a youngster kid, even as young as, uhm, five years old? Characters are fully voice-acted in their most silly quirks, packed with jokes like you’d be watching the cartoon show itself. If not, a ‘90s kid like myself, an ‘00s kid who grew up in the golden age of being a child and watching Nicktoons right after school. 

You should find the references to the show in the environment and dialogue heart-melting, and the story, while not particularly expanding on the Nickelodeon universes they are based on, should still make for a fun, silly time.

Diablo Style

It’s not all innocent and silly here. Most of your time will be spent in combat, and while not particularly hardcore, it does have its invested moments of trial and error. Much of it comes from the surprisingly deep core systems and progression. With nine playable characters you unlock over time, and each one having unique skills and fighting styles, you should enjoy switching them up across your runthrough.

Further, each character has four slots of core skills and two additional ones you can swap out. And pretty unique to the personality and charm of the character you control. SpongeBob with his spatula, whacking at enemies at close range, and Sandy with his Reptar switch-up. Even the supplements are faithful to the shows, SpongeBob, again, downing his crabby patties to renew his strength, never gets boring. Katara comes in with her water-bending healing and damage buffing role, and it all culminates beautifully in colorful, flashy graphics. 

It’s pretty fun, I’ll say, to maul down enemies on your path, completing the few stages of each universe you unlock. The running around, breaking chests open, and retrieving gold and resources. Bumping into the one odd puzzle for unlocking gates, and the consumables, potions, and all you need to replenish health. Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny’s tabletop Dungeons and Dragons-like world, via a top-down isometric view, has much to offer than initially meets the eye. 

Nostalgic Past

It’s fun, not because combat is particularly difficult to wrap one’s head around. Once you’ve settled into your preferred character, whether the tankier SpongeBob knight or the barbarian Sandy, and so on, you should make easy fodder of the regular enemies you come across. Yet, it’ll still be a pretty fun time, thanks to the vibrant and colorful environments you navigate through. Be it Bikini Bottomshire or Avatar’s Fire Nation, they all feel well gamified: still memorable and also deeply nostalgic. 

Always right before you unlock a new character or area, excitement brews over the next Nicktoon you’ll be romping about. And the navigation is pretty intuitive, finding your way easily through the enemy-ridden but light dungeons. Light by the easy-to-beat enemies, but also the overall vibe here. It’s all so wonderfully vibrant, downright a cartoon adaptation whose sole aim is to spur warmth and joy. The bosses, though, watch out for those, especially toward the latter stages. 

You want to be constantly leveling your characters, from their skills’ base damage and defense stats, to their weapons and armor. You also have gear like special amulets to consider, all culminating in an increasingly powerful build to combat stronger enemies. And in the latter bosses, they move more unpredictably, quicker, and with more aggression. Your leveling up cuts across the board, though. So, even when switching characters, you should have no problem adapting. 

Just a Little Bit More

Yet, there still feels something more that’s missing. Take combat itself, where basic attacks mostly reign. Often, button-mashing and spamming basic attacks should do. And as long as you time your attacks well, dodge roll out of the way of incoming attacks, and manage your health and mana, you should be good to go. It might sound like a lot, but an aspect like mana replenishes pretty quickly as long as you keep attacking. 

And in the occasional moments, your special attacks will come in handy. This makes combat a bit dull and repetitive. If this wasn’t Nicktoons in full gaming action, combat may have fallen completely dull altogether. You can tell Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny is made for a good time, without any stress or frustration over fine-tuning the most minuscule weapon parts. Even with the upgrades and decent progression, it doesn’t go in deep or strategic to the levels of Diablo, at least, or any other super-serious action RPG.

It’s the same case with the puzzles and chest-cracking, and all the other things you do here. You’ll crack open so many chests that the staggering gold you’re carrying loses its value. Perhaps finding rare items in random chests would have helped make exploration more meaningful. Perhaps more clever puzzles, because as is, the one puzzle to open the locked gate at every universe won’t cut it for brain-teasing.  

Over and Over Again

Doesn’t help either that the placement of the enemies, chests, puzzles, collectibles, and so on is in the same spots across stages. The only thing that changes is the theme, which, while it can help keep you engaged, you still never quite get rid of the feeling of repetition. Again, Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny is a simplistic game that doesn’t portray itself to be anything but. It owns its appeal and accessibility to gamers of all ages, and wears its Nicktoons theme and character dialogue inspirations on its sleeve. And if you’re a staunch fan, I suppose that could be more than enough to have a pretty great time. I sure did. 

For more serious gamers looking for layers of exploration and combat, you might find solace in the difficulty options. You can always toggle your current stage to harder difficulties, presenting you with trickier enemies to beat, and more evasive traps to avoid. With traps, for instance, always in the same spot, though, I’m not sure upping the difficulty will do much for a deeper, more strategic experience. Then comes the $49.99 price tag at launch. Is it worth it? I should add that your playthrough will be short, roughly six to eight hours, including the simple side quests available. Is this a fan service that could explain the price tag? Perhaps it’d be better to wait for a discount if this review hasn’t been convincing for you?

Verdict

What’s certain is that you will enjoy yourself playing Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny. You’ll definitely plaster a smile on your face as you harken back to the good times watching Nicktoons after school. The fooling around of the characters with their silly jokes and personalities, and it all comes with full voice acting to boot? 

With the only contention being its simplistic story and gameplay, perhaps the local multiplayer might be the excuse you need to indulge in childhood joy? Even if it’s letting loose and enjoying a good laugh with your youngish kids, nephews, nieces…