Initially printed all the best way again in 2000 as a standalone manga, it is unusual, however not unwelcome, to see Sand Land be revived as each an anime sequence and a online game virtually 1 / 4 of a century later. Authored by the late and legendary Akira Toriyama, Sand Land is an extremely charming story a couple of post-apocalyptic world, the place a cocky demon prince is roped into serving to out what’s left of humanity.
On condition that the manga consists of only a single quantity, it is no shock to see the anime tremendously broaden upon the supply materials — and the sport, additionally simply known as Sand Land, follows that very same path. At its core, it is a retelling of the not too long ago launched anime’s story, however because of an open world setting, the dominion of Sand Land itself has by no means felt so grounded, and its unbelievable characters have by no means been given a lot room to breathe.
You play because the aforementioned demon prince, Beelzebub, as he forfeits the isolation of his fellow fiends in favour of travelling the desert with a grizzled military veteran named Rao. The outdated man wants assist — highly effective assist — in attempting to revive water to Sand Land, and so the journey begins.
The sport’s storytelling is nicely completed, sporting some nice cutscenes and spectacular route, which actually seize the spirit of Sand Land as a property. Simply from the prologue alone, it is abundantly clear that this is not just a few fast cash-in; a whole lot of effort’s been funneled into making a trustworthy adaptation, each by way of presentation and tone. However on the similar time, the sport does such an excellent job of offering a whole expertise that you do not must be in any respect accustomed to the unique work with the intention to get pleasure from it. And in that sense, Sand Land is one thing of a benchmark for licensed manga and anime titles.
Gameplay is predominantly explorative, as Beelzebub and his ragtag companions enterprise from settlement to settlement searching for the so-called ‘Legendary Spring’. The map is huge and barren by design, and so a whole lot of hours shall be spent blasting throughout the sands aboard one in every of your customized autos. Out of your trusty tank and bipedal fight mech, to your speedy bike and cosy four-seater, Sand Land locations a heavy emphasis on gathering and constructing ‘bots’ as a way to higher traverse its blistered environments.
To begin with, you solely have entry to a choose few machines with apparent implementation. Your tank, for instance, is your go-to choice for vehicular fight because it’s geared up with a cannon and heavy armour — however you will desire a bike or a buggy for extra environment friendly journey. Nonetheless, as you progress by way of the principle questline, you will progressively unlock extra specialised mechs alongside a variety of customisations that allow you to tweak your fashion of play.
There’s really a shocking diploma of depth to Sand Land’s mechanical endeavours, as you loot, craft, and improve elements to remain one step forward of your enemies. Issues do get a bit of bit grindy within the recreation’s latter half — particularly if you wish to take down non-obligatory bosses — however typically talking, development feels easy and largely rewarding. Getting your fingers on a cool new mech, and even only a tank turret that rockets your assault stat, is kind of thrilling.
Naturally, all of those upgrades and changes feed into the title’s motion fight. Whereas Beelzebub himself is mainly superhuman, capable of kick overgrown wildlife into submission and shrug gunfire off prefer it’s nothing, he’ll nonetheless battle towards hulking robots and flying foes. Luckily, you possibly can carry as much as 5 mechs with you at any time, and swap between them — even in battle — by way of a radial menu. Fight, subsequently, is as a lot about choosing the proper instrument for the job as it’s really dodging assaults and retaliating.
The basics of combating are pretty fundamental. Enemy assaults are telegraphed by way of apparent animations and visible cues, and as a rule, vehicular victory lies in your means to maintain transferring, whereas additionally ensuring that your bullets, rockets, and laser beams are on the right track. If you happen to’re versed in motion video games, it’s going to all appear slightly simple — even on the ‘exhausting’ issue — nevertheless it’s your assortment of gun-toting toys that hold fight attention-grabbing. The truth that you are capable of method battles on foot, driving a tank, or piloting a mech, implies that there’s an pleasant quantity of participant company to go round; it is only a enjoyable system to mess about with.
Gunning down hapless creatures as a way to add but extra supplies to your stock is mindlessly entertaining and all, however the recreation’s motion actually shines throughout the core marketing campaign. There are some participating encounters dotted all through, a lot of that are spiced with distinctive mechanics. In reality, it is the extra extended battles that ring a bell; having to crunch by way of waves of enemy tanks is at all times a pleasure, and it is these extra chaotic, difficult skirmishes which have us wishing the sport would let free just a bit extra usually.
Certainly, the title does stumble from time to time, with very particular gameplay parts that really feel half-arsed. Stealth is an ideal instance; it is solely used a number of instances all through your entire recreation — fortunately — however being compelled to sneak previous enemies that Beelzebub can simply pummel feels arbitrary, like the event group had a field to tick.
Nonetheless, throughout its 40-hour or so runtime, it is exhausting to not recognize how full Sand Land is — particularly when in comparison with most anime tie-ins. We would not essentially name it formidable — a lot of its mechanics are in the end tried and examined — nevertheless it’s rock stable throughout the board, and there is a whole lot of meat on its bones.
As an example, exterior of the central plot, there are a great deal of totally voiced aspect quests which you can undertake, and there is even a broader goal that entails rebuilding — and repopulating — a near-abandoned city named Spino. The situation acts as a hub in your journey, and watching it evolve is without doubt one of the most pleasing elements of the sport.
Talking of pleasing, Sand Land seems beautiful. Toriyama’s unmistakable artwork fashion goes a great distance — the character and mech designs are excellent — and it kinds the premise for the sport’s hanging visuals. It additionally runs flawlessly on PS5, sustaining 60 frames-per-second no matter how busy issues get — and the load instances are instantaneous.
Conclusion
Damaged down into particular person items, Sand Land does not do something notably superb, however when taken as an entire, this is without doubt one of the finest anime-based video games that we have performed in a very long time. It is acquired loads of nice story moments, its open world construction is moreish, and fight is satisfyingly stable. A strong and lovingly crafted journey that charms from begin to end.