After most recently the anime series „Sand Land: The Series“ has been launched, fans of the manga short story created by Akira Toriyama can already look forward to the upcoming release of the video game. With their action role-playing game simply titled “Sand Land,” ILCA (“One Piece Odyssey”) and Bandai Namco let us experience the charming fantasy adventure surrounding the demon prince Belzebub up close like never before.
We recently had the opportunity to play the upcoming video game for three hours. We were allowed to look around at various parts of the PS5 version and of course we don't want to withhold from you what we experienced.
The hope for more water
But first a few short words about the story of “Sand Land”: In the world created by Toriyama, natural water sources have almost completely dried up. The king and his army control the last water reserves while the population suffers. However, Rao, an aging sheriff, firmly believes in the existence of a legendary spring that he is determined to find. To do this, he is forced to join forces with the demons Belzebub and Sheef.
Since they pursue a common goal, the unlikely trio sets off into the desert. Shortly after her departure, we were allowed to take control of Belzi and take a look around in the first preview section. However, apart from some resources, roaming monsters and a bandit camp, we didn't find too much. The robbers kept us on our toes because they were stronger than our demon.
A great adventure awaits Rao, Sheef and Belzebub in “Sand Land”.
A great adventure awaits Rao, Sheef and Belzebub in “Sand Land”.
A great adventure awaits Rao, Sheef and Belzebub in “Sand Land”.
During our first jaunt through the desert of “Sand Land”, we were taught the basics of the controls in short tutorials before our vehicle was rudely stopped by some bandits. After a small boss fight in which we were able to test the hand-to-hand combat skills we had previously learned, we continued on to the next village. There Sheef was able to show what he can do, because the old demon is a specialist in stealth operations.
A tank ride is fun
With Sheef we had to steal some supplies so we could continue our journey. It was one of three stealth passages in the preview version that left a pretty good impression on us. It's nice that ILCA varies the pace of play in this way and adds a bit of variety. However, we had the impression that there was, so to speak, an “ideal line” from which we should not deviate too much.
Experiments don't seem to be very welcome here. It's nice that the developers are closing one or two gaps in the content of the manga template. For example, Sheef's thieving spree takes place at the end of Chapter 2, although we don't get to see it. Speaking of things that don't appear in the manga: our aged demon sees a mysterious young woman who later reveals herself as Ann.
Ann's design comes from “Sand Land” creator Akira Toriyama
Ann's design comes from “Sand Land” creator Akira Toriyama
Ann's design comes from “Sand Land” creator Akira Toriyama
We should get to know these at the end of the first section. As part of his mission, Sheef discovered a tank stored at a nearby base. Our Trio Infernale manages to infiltrate the base and borrow the tank. Of course, the soldiers don't let their vehicle be pulled voluntarily, which is why we have to fight our way out. By the way, Ann is on board with us, rather reluctantly.
As we learn after our successful escape, she is a skilled mechanic who can modify our tank. In fact, in “Sand Land” we can customize any of our vehicles, including our tank, a motorcycle or a buggy. We can change the armament as well as the engine. In addition, it is possible to customize the color and markings. This probably won't be of the same proportions as in an “Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon”, but we can well imagine spending an hour or two on the modifications in the finished game.
Well-known puzzles and challenging boss fights
Then we continued in the second section, which was supposed to take us to an ancient ruin. In addition to various small and large monsters, there were also several lever puzzles waiting in there. So we had to run around all over the place to keep flipping a few levers. It's a tried and tested, if rather old-fashioned, puzzle mechanic. So we made our way through the facility, which would ultimately lead us to a boss fight.
Someone has unleashed the Kraken in the ruins!
Someone has unleashed the Kraken in the ruins!
Someone has unleashed the Kraken in the ruins!
More specifically, we had to contend with a large octopus who wasn't happy about us being in his paddling pool. Thanks to our trusty hovercraft, we were able to dodge the boss's attacks while firing on all cylinders at the beast. The tension of the fight developed primarily due to the small area in which we had to avoid the Kraken's long-range attacks.
After we finally defeated the monster, we actually ended up in Waldland or Forest Land. It's a completely new area that we get to explore as part of the Angel Hero arc created for the anime series and game. Ann, whose design was personally designed by Akira Toriyama, comes from this green neighboring state of Sandlands. However, things go haywire there.
We got a little idea of this in the third demo section, where we had to face General Rosetta and her tank troops. She is one of the chief commanders of the Woodland military, having fought on the front lines herself with a truly huge armored vehicle. By the way, we liked this “Sand Land” section the most, where we had to maneuver under the scorching desert sun.
We particularly liked the vehicle combat in “Sand Land”.
We particularly liked the vehicle combat in “Sand Land”.
We particularly liked the vehicle combat in “Sand Land”.
No matter whether in the ruins or in the sea of dunes: the vehicle battles are pleasantly tactical and were overall more challenging than we initially thought. In the fight against Rosetta and her tanks, we had to use the boost strategically to avoid enemy attacks, while cleverly positioning ourselves and firing on the small support vehicles and putting pressure on the enemy's main vehicle.
The vehicle combat has the potential to be one of the highlights of Sand Land!
Nice cel-shaded look and a few question marks
In the final fourth section of the preview version we were able to move freely through the game world. For example, we could try our luck as bounty hunters with Belzi & Co. or take part in races. Unfortunately, since our time was almost over, we can't tell you too much about it. But there seem to be some fun side activities. However, we don't yet dare to estimate how varied these will be.
The cel-shaded look of “Sand Land” skillfully captures Toriyama’s style.
The cel-shaded look of “Sand Land” skillfully captures Toriyama’s style.
The cel-shaded look of “Sand Land” skillfully captures Toriyama’s style.
We also can't tell you too much about the story of “Sand Land”, because unfortunately we haven't seen too much of it yet. But the cutscenes we saw were quite stylishly staged and aroused our curiosity. We would have particularly liked to know more about Ann and her story.
The graphics of the action RPG were able to convince us. Admittedly, it doesn't match the opulent look of genre competitors like “Final Fantasy 16”, but the cel-shaded look is really chic and skilfully captures the style of Toriyama's drawings. The English dubbing of Belzebub and his friends is also well done. Unfortunately, we will probably have to do without a German language version.
As a fan of Akira Toriyama's works, I was extremely excited about the adaptation of his “Sand Land” manga and the first extensive preview definitely made me want more. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough of the story to see, but the vehicle passages were even more convincing. The tank battles in particular were really fun and were one of the gaming highlights of the preview version.
A few old-fashioned gameplay elements, such as the outdated lever puzzles, were removed, but that hardly detracted from the fun of the game. Of course, there are still some unanswered questions, such as how engaging the story will be or how varied the side activities will be, but I am confident that “Sand Land” has what it takes to become an insider tip. Action RPG and manga fans should definitely keep an eye on the game.
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