Sand Land review – demons of the desert

The death of Akira Toriyama in March was a great blow for manga and anime fans everywhere but the great man also had a significant influence on video games, being the lead artist for the seminal Dragon Quest franchise and many others. There is also a legion of Dragon Ball games but few based on any of his other creations. Sand Land makes a belated attempt to address that failing and is not at all what you might expect.

While you’d assume that Sand Land would adhere to the well-worn conventions of Japanese role-playing games, in practice it doesn’t. While technically this is a role-playing game, it feels more like an open world single-player action game, which is not usually how anime adaptations work.

Sand Land’s gameplay is much more varied than that of the archetypal Japanese role-player, its two main pillars consisting of driving – there’s some excellent vehicular combat and more exotic types of vehicles to traverse the landscapes, almost platform-style – and brawling. But you also find more conventional platforming sequences from time to time, along with the odd outbreak of stealth, and bosses and mini-bosses to overcome.

Sand Land’s overall vibe is thoroughly charming, to such an extent that it is suitable for a pretty young audience. You play as Beelzebub, Prince of the Demons, a pink, teenage devil-in-training, who is basically the nicest demon who ever existed – even his demon mates are keen to point out his kind-hearted nature.

Beelzebub, unusually for a demon, is open to interacting with humans and when an aged local sheriff called Rao seeks him out, in his hideaway in a parched desert autocratically controlled by the Royal Army, the pair, along with an old gnome-demon called Thief (who likes to dress up as Father Christmas when he goes on stealing missions) teams up to find a legendary spring that will ease the local populations’ desperation for water.

Beelzebub and his crew, which is also joined by mechanic Ann, soon starts taking on the Royal Army, led by the superannuated and thoroughly evil General Zeu. At this point, Sheriff Rao’s surprising backstory, forged in a devastating war 30 years earlier, begins to emerge but when the team manage to restore water to the region and cut the corrupt king down to size, that merely triggers further evil machinations.

Sand Land is full of quirky personalities and manages to be relentlessly charming without descending into tweeness. You soon find yourself caring a surprising amount about its inhabitants (one of its many gaming mechanics allows you to upgrade villages that you pass through). You shouldn’t expect too much profundity though, as it’s very cartoonish, an impression reinforced by its cel-shaded graphics that call to mind a gentler version of Borderlands.

It’s also great fun to play. Vehicles are key; as you progress, you get to build a huge variety, including tanks, cars both wheeled and hovering, motorbikes, and various types of bots – including a jumping one. There’s plenty of tank-battling, which is great fun, and picking the right vehicle according to your particular situation is hugely important. All the vehicles can be customised in great detail, so they become ever more powerful and fun to drive.

Sand Land screenshot — Sand Land – the vehicle action is great (Picture: Bandai Namco)

That forgiving nature does chime with its surprisingly life-affirming vibe. It’s far from perfect: some of the ambient conversations that take place, in long tank-drives, can be rather grating and some of the villains in the cut scenes are toe-curlingly over-the-top.

It’s also strange that the original manga came out in 2000 and yet only now is Bandai Namco attempting to transform it into a ‘transmedia’ IP. How successful that will be, and whether it will be affected by the death of Toriyama, remains to be seen but in pure gaming terms Sand Land is a solid little adventure. It will probably never achieve the sort of adulation enjoyed by Dragon Ball, but this first game represents a promising start for a thoroughly charming franchise.

Sand Land review summary

In Short: A charming, cartoonish action role-player that’s probably not going to make Sand Land the next Dragon Ball but is a fun and unusual adventure in its own right.

Pros: Great vehicular combat and fun melee action. Distinctive cel-shaded visuals and a decent storyline create a charming vibe. A surprising amount of variety to the gameplay.

Cons: Some of the non-core gameplay is a bit basic. Dialogue can grate at times, occasionally becoming a bit too cartoonish. Difficulty curve is initially too shallow.

Score: 7/10

Formats: Xbox Series X/S (reviewed), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC
Price: £59.99
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Developer: ILCA
Release Date: 26th April 2024
Age Rating: 12