An adaption of the famed, late Akira Toriyama’s desert adventure,Sand Landis the story of the Fiend Prince Beelzebub, who resides in the titular Sand Land, where humanity has turned it into a desert wasteland due to years of all-out war and natural disasters. It doesn’t help that the land’s king has dried things up even further by keeping the remaining sources of water to himself. Beelzebub and his fellow demons pass the time by stealing shipments of the king’s water for their Demon Village, and one day an old man named Sheriff Rao comes to said village, looking for someone to help him on his journey to find the Legendary Spring, a potential source of water that could benefit the whole land. As Beelzebub can’t say no to Rao’s offer up front of a sweet video game console, he and fellow fiend Thief head out with Rao, and things pick up when they tick off the Royal Army, meet up with a mechanic named Ann who joins them in their fight, steal a tank, get a bounty on their head and find themselves heading towards a ton of secrets to uncover on their journey…
A Deal with the Devil(’s Kid)
Well, that’s one part of it, anyway.Sand Landis really a story consisting of two different arcs, as those who have seen the anime likely know, with one arc consisting of the story mentioned in the previous paragraph and the other being “The Story of the Angel Hero.” There have been changes to a bit of the material to seemingly combine them better in this format, such as Ann joining our heroes in the first arc instead of the second. The version of the story here is highly enjoyable with a great tale about war and greed, finding a perfect balance between comedic and dramatic moments, able to handle tragic backstories one moment and then a criminal family dressed entirely in speedos and led by their muscular father the next moment.
Of course, part of the reasonSand Landhandles this balance so well is because of Toriyama’s signature style, which always gives his characters a lot of personality. And as seen with the Dragon Quest games orBlue Dragon,it’s a style that works well in video games and this is no exception. Every wild animation, fight scene, monster design and more is a sight to hold, with the visuals in general perfectly capturing the feeling of a sprawling desert filled with epic adventures, backed up by great voice acting and a terrific soundtrack. Every character design from Beelzebub to even the most minor NPC has a unique look and charm to them, making for a terrific cast that you’ll want to meet.
It Takes a Village
And meet them you shall, as one key component of the central gameplay is rebuilding the central hub village of Spino. Doing this requires you to seek outside quests to bring new residents to the village, and while the side quests themselves aren’t that hard (one was pretty much just going into a cave to the right of the quest giver and killing three scorpions), they are rewarding in that you get well-crafted character moments as you hear each person’s story, again, be it mode comedic, tragic or heartwarming. The bigger reward, however, is that more residents in the town means more shops and resources, which means more materials to upgrade your tank and other vehicles, providing a great incentive to get invested even further. Whatever you get out of it, there’s always a joy to be had in seeing the cinematic of someone arriving to the village for some sort of fresh start.
Speaking of those vehicles, let’s get into the main gameplay proper. While the game doesn’t get off to the greatest of starts (with the opening bits including two back-to-back stealth missions for some reason), things kick into high gear once you finally gain access to the tank, and beyond that, several other vehicles like Jump-Bots and motorcycles that you can build in the garages by finding and/or crafting the right parts.Sand Landis an open-world action-RPG, and in any open-world game, getting movement and travel down perfectly is critical to their success. Luckily, each of the vehicles that you can summon (having the ability to bring out up to five thanks to a magical container) control well, be it speeding along the desert or engaging in heated combat. The vehicular battles are a splendid affair, which have you zipping around in your ride of choice and blasting opponents, with nice and simple controls.
Indoors is No Place for a Tank
That said, the combat mainly succeeds in an open area like the desert and less so in more close quarters such as the battleships or ruins that you explore as part of the story. Not only are things more cramped here, but the pacing grinds to a halt as you have to travel in one vehicle in order to fight enemies or jump to a large platform, then get out in order to walk down a hall, then switch to a vehicle again and repeat. Aside from not being that visually interesting as well, it just gives the game the feeling of being padded, as if to cover for what feels like a lack of challenge for the longest stretch of it. And sadly, the second arc annoyingly features way too many of these areas. The game also feels like it tries to encourage melee combat alongside the tank battles, and while those battles are fine, they don’t compare with the thrill of fighting in a tank.
Speaking of padding, though,Sand Landalso suffers from open-world bloat, adding in way too many extra features that never feel necessary, as if they were only added because they’re features that open-world games typically have. There’s the token racing sections, the token radio towers, even the tokenAnimal Crossing-style bit where you can decorate your own room in the back of the garage. A lot of it just feels shallow, as if it only exists to get the game into double-digit length territory. Even the token stealth bits mentioned earlier that get introduced in the beginning for the longest time are only used for sneaking into optional bases for extra loot. It isn’t until about thirteen hours in that they finally become mandatory again. And even the loot itself is mainly just generic weapons and resources, with no real personality. It’s a case of an amazing open world to speed through and explore, yet the actual open-world gameplay is just so-so.
Talking Loud and Sayin' Nothing
There is one more flaw inSand Landthat needs to be addressed. As much as I love all of our main characters, I can’t stand them at several moments due to the simple fact that they will not stop talking. Everyone is incapable of letting you go from Point A to Point B without dispensing a generic comment or hint, all with no sense of timing and constant repetition after a short while. Aside from just generic comments about the story – not even the current relevant story moments – you’re subject to Rao and Thief trying to give Beelzebub constant reminders about basic activities and strategies, even when you’rehoursinto the game and fully familiar with everything.
Akira Toriyama’s Sand Land to Receive a Video Game From Bandai Namco
Out of nowhere, they remind you to check your map so that you don’t get lost. They remind you that you can go off the beaten path to maybe find secrets. They remind you that you can use the Jump-Bot to climb rock formations to get treasure atop themliterally as you are midway through climbing up said rock formation with the Jump-Bot. I thought Chadley fromFinal Fantasy VII Rebirthwas a shoo-in for the gold at this year’s Annoying Video Game Helper Olympics, but nope, looks like we might have an upset. They even dispense generic strategies and words of praise over and over when fighting bosses. And it’s just puzzling, because how can the rest of the game be so well-written, down to the smaller moments during side quests, but then completely drop the ball here?
But putting that annoyance aside, the most important question is ifSand Landends up being a quality adaptation of one of the final works Akira Toriyama was involved in. In spite of its flaws, the game made a fan out of me. It’s still fun overall and has a great cast with a highly-enjoyable story. So it’s a good enough game that provides a nifty way to experience the story, but be warned that the ride may be rough at times.
Closing Comments:
Much like the vast desert making up nearly everything in it,Sand Landcan be rough and coarse at times, yet also provides a lot of beauty in various ways. The story is great, the characters are an enjoyable lot, and the vehicular combat and traversal are superb, marred only by annoying travel dialogue and bland levels at times. Whether you’re a fan of the great Toriyama’s work or not, there’s still something special here to check out if you’re willing to put in the effort.
Version Reviewed: PlayStation 5
