Sand Land is shaping up to be great fun, not just for fans of the original manga by the late Akira Toriyama (who will always live in our hearts), but for anyone who is interested in a solid action game in a world reminiscent of Borderlands/Mad Max or anyone who enjoys some form of vehicle combat, be it tanks or walkers.
Sand Land first met the world as a pretty short manga series in the early 2000s. In the world of Sand Land, the river supplying the titular country dried up years ago, leaving behind a desert country where its people are forced to buy overpriced water from their King. In classic Akira Toriyama fashion, this world is inhabited by humans, dinosaurs, demons, and various sorts of giant monsters and creatures. Our protagonist is the prince of demons, Beelzebub, who teams up with Rao, a human sheriff, and Thief, his demon underling, to find an alternative water source. The game is an open world, with players free to explore this vast desert. There are two main ways to play the game, on foot and in vehicles. While on foot, you mainly play as Beelzebub in a third person view, punching your way through enemies and occasionally calling on your allies’ abilities. The other way to play is, in my opinion, the superior way to play the game, in the various wonderful vehicles that the game has. As the game progresses, you’ll gain access to a stable of vehicles, with one of the very first ones being a Tank. Every vehicle is unique and has its pros and cons. The tank offers good firepower and protection allowing you to blast your enemies away with its cannon. If there is a need for speed, the bike is great, allowing you to zoom across the vast desert. There is also a walker, a hovercraft, etc. Each vehicle can be extensively customised, with players acquiring new weapons and upgrades for them. One of the highlights for me was a tank boss fight. To avoid spoilers I would not go into the details, but at one point I was firing at the enemy with my tank, then switching instantly to the bike to get away from the enemy’s superior firepower, and everything felt seamless and was very enjoyable.
For anyone familiar with the story, the game has some changes to the original manga, expanding the story beyond the source. For the purists, this might be a scary prospect, but based on what I’ve experienced, the changes seem to be rather consistent with each character’s original personality and traits, and do not feel out of place. After all, the original manga was only 14 chapters long, and would definitely need more to make a beefy game such as this. There is also a brand new chapter to the story that is the Forest Land area, which is also teased in the new Sand Land anime that was recently released.
The overall controls are snappy and responsive, and traversal is pretty intuitive. The art design is amazing, bringing Akira Toriyama’s artwork to life beautifully, similar to how well done Dragon Quest was. The characters are wonderfully animated and voiced, and the enemies feel threatening and comically entertaining too.
The game was thoroughly impressive for me and even though I am a Akira Toriyama fan, I have not always taken too kindly to games that have sprung out of his creations. Sand Land is an exception and I am eagerly awaiting its release, ready to jump into the vibrant desert world with all manners of races and monsters, along with the stellar vehicle designs and combat!
