A few months ago we received the news that Sand Land, one of the manga created by the great Akira Toriyama (Creator of Dragon Ball) would be adapted to an open world video game, developed by ILCA and distributed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. This caught the attention of both the anime and gaming community, as this intellectual property was not so well known at the time, but the trailers promised a fun and unique experience.
Now, the new Sand Land video game is about to be released and here at ANMO Sugoi we had the chance to try it out. In this review we will tell you all about this incredible experience that not only left us fascinated with its world, its presentation and its gameplay, but also reminded us why we love so much the work of Akira Toriyama (D.E.P.), whom we can remember with much affection through this wonderful game based on his work.
What is the Sand Land story about?
This game mostly follows the events of the anime that was recently released: We control Beelzebub, the prince of demons who lives in the desert country of Sand Land, which is suffering a horrible drought, and those who want water must pay high prices to the king to get it. Sheriff Rao has had enough of the situation and decides to ask Beelzebub and his demon henchman, Thief, for help. The three of them must travel together in a variety of vehicles to find the legendary fountain and return the water to their country. Although, of course, not everything is so simple, as it quickly turns into an intense plot of war, corruption and political conspiracies.
The Sand Land video game not only follows the plot of the anime, but also expands this colorful universe in some really ingenious ways. But fortunately, it also doesn’t set aside those who experience this story for the first time through the game. Win-win: If you’ve already seen the anime (or read the manga) you’ll appreciate the smaller details, but if this is your first time delving into the vast world of Sand Land, you’ll be able to understand and enjoy everything without any problems.
This is a relatively simple story, but that’s a good thing because it means it’s also a fairly lively and accessible adventure, full of humor and personality. The characters are charismatic and will stay in your memory forever, especially the lovable but determined protagonist, Beelzebub. This is all thanks to two factors: The excellent performances of the voice actors (both in Japanese and English) and the impeccable character designs, which were created by Toriyama himself.
If you are familiar with the original manga, you may find its plot too short to be adapted to a video game as big as this one (after all, it only had 14 chapters in total). But don’t worry, because Akira Toriyama was in charge of expanding the story of Sand Land, and designed a whole new arc (both for the game and the anime) which features fun new characters and beautiful new locations. So this is quite an extensive adventure that will take you a long time to complete.
Exploring a colorful, cartoonish world straight out of an anime
Thanks to its beautiful graphics rendered in Unreal Engine 5 through the technique known as Cel-Shading, Sand Land manages to perfectly replicate Toriyama’s art style seen in the anime and manga, which ends up being a delight for the eyes. Although it is also important to clarify that it does not stand out in its technical aspect or anything like that (there are many modern video games that look much better). This is because, after all, this is a title that is available for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. But it still looks pretty good and will age very well in the years to come.
Despite its decent graphics, Sand Land is a product that works flawlessly. In our 20+ hours of gameplay, we didn’t encounter a single glitch, or glitch, which is pretty impressive when we remember that this is an open-world video game with thousands of enemy models, vehicles, NPCs, environmental elements, etc. We had the opportunity to test it on PlayStation 5, where we had no performance issues and everything felt dynamic because loading screens were almost non-existent.
One aspect of Sand Land that surprised us a lot and that will surely be remembered by the public is its exceptional soundtrack, which is incredible for a video game like this. The background music always manages to capture the atmosphere of each moment to perfection, whether it is action, mystery, or exploration. This beautiful soundtrack is a pleasure for the ears, and it is a pity that it is occasionally interrupted by the dialogues of the characters. Who, by the way, often repeat the same lines over and over again, which ends up being extremely annoying (Fortunately you can manage the volume of the voices and music from the menu).
A simple (but effective) open world reminiscent of the old school
Surely, like us, you saw several trailers of Sand Land and wondered what exactly the gameplay of this game is about?, since they presented several different mechanics in their images. But we are pleased to report that all of these mechanics blend together seamlessly: It’s a breath of fresh air for the modern industry, because it feels like one of those old-school open-world games that were simple and didn’t have thousands of elements on screen at the same time. If we have to compare it to something, we could say that it is similar to the classic 3D installments of The Legend of Zelda saga (before Breath of the Wild).
The gameplay of the Sand Land video game is divided into two parts: First, the segments in which you control Beelzebub, which combine jumping on platforms in three dimensions with third-person action similar to a beat ’em up game. While we can’t say any of it is special or mind-blowing, it all works perfectly. Beelzebub’s controls are precise when it comes to jumping (although getting used to his jumps takes a bit of time) and the combat system is fast and feels great, especially when you start unlocking his different demonic abilities that add more variety to the experience.
But the highlight of this video game is the second part of its gameplay: The vehicles. That’s right, an enormous part of the Sand Land experience revolves around driving tanks, cars, motorcycles, etc. So this game won’t be to your liking if you don’t enjoy spending a lot of time inside a vehicle. Fortunately, all the machines that Beelzebub and his friends will control also have precise controls and rarely feel clumsy to drive.
Specifically, there are 5 main types of vehicles you’ll be able to control: a tank, a jumping mecha, a motorcycle, a hovercraft and a combat mecha. Combining all of these with some optional machines, Sand Land is an experience with quite a bit of variety. The core of this entire video game is based on the combination of all of Beelzebub’s vehicles. They are not just means of transportation or weapons of war, but also function as tools to solve various problems, and those levels that use all the vehicles together are some of the most satisfying moments in the entire game. It’s similar to how Link uses his items in The Legend of Zelda saga.
Another interesting aspect about Sand Land is that there is a surprising amount of customization in the gameplay. Throughout your adventure, Beelzebub will find different new parts for your vehicles (such as weapons, engines, wheels, chips, etc) that you can use to modify each one to your liking. Not only that, but you will also have the possibility to design your own room with furniture and decorations. It’s a minor element of the whole experience, but it was something unexpected and a lot of fun that reminds us of Animal Crossing.
As we mentioned previously, Sand Land features not one, but two open world maps that are packed with things to do, such as enemies of all kinds that you can defeat, treasures with valuable items to find, and NPCs that give you plenty of side quests of all kinds. On the one hand, we must admit that it’s not the busiest open world we’ve experienced in a video game and many people may find it a bit empty, and it’s understandable why.
However, we found its simplicity to be part of its charisma, as at no point did we feel overwhelmed by hundreds of missions and objectives marked on our map at the same time. Not to mention, driving the vehicles feels so good that using them to get from one place to another is basically a huge part of the Sand Land experience (Although don’t worry, there is a fast travel mechanic that works efficiently).
It’s also worth noting that, despite this convenient simplicity, Sand Land is a pretty extensive video game. It took us nearly 24 hours to beat the main story, but there are also a huge amount of side quests to complete that will extend your total play time considerably. This means it’s a product with a lot of content to enjoy, which is ideal if you were looking for something you wanted to immerse yourself in for several hours.
If we have to point out a rather annoying problem with Sand Land it’s its horrible checkpoints. All of Beelzebub’s vehicles have their own life bar, but, if just one is destroyed, it’s an immediate Game Over. When you pop back up, the last checkpoint takes you way back and you’ll have to replay long segments all over again. This can be very frustrating, but this is not a particularly difficult game either, so this is not something that will happen very often if you are careful enough. Note that you can save whenever you want, so be sure to save frequently just in case.
Sand Land was one of Akira Toriyama’s most overlooked works by the general public, but, with the release of this excellent video game (in combination with the release of his new anime) we have no doubt that this franchise will become globally recognized in the near future. It’s not a particularly innovative title, but it doesn’t need to be either, as it’s fun, accessible, satisfying and reminds us of other great experiences from the past. ILCA continues to impress us with each new title they develop and we can’t wait to see what they have planned for the future.
Please note that Sand Land will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (Steam) from April 26th. Thanks a lot to Bandai Namco Entertainment for giving us the opportunity to review this game.
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