Throughout most of his professional career as a manga author and artist, the late Akira Toriyama was known for two mainline properties – beginning with Dr. Slump in the 70s and 80s until moving onto his most prolific work, Dragon Ball, which catapulted him to international acclaim through manga, anime, film, merchandising, gaming and so, so, so much more. But amongst his flagship works, there were a few projects that I would argue are underrated and underappreciated – including his work on the Blue Dragon RPGs by Mistwalker and Artoon, carrying across his trademark art style, and most relevant to this review, his short-lived one-volume manga, SAND LAND. Originating in the 2000s, it depicts a world of humans and demons, and due to the former’s neglect and squabbles, the arid desert had spread and water was becoming much harder to come by. A worthwhile read, but one that could’ve fallen into the ether, were it not for Bandai Namco Entertainment, Bandai Namco Filmworks and Shueisha announcing plans in late 2022 for the SAND LAND Project. Now in 2024, the video game portion of that project has debuted and, while not a groundbreaking RPG, is a solid 30-or-so hour romp that presents SAND LAND at a scale never before seen.
Bandai Namco Entertainment has collaborated with numerous development teams on video games that adapt popular anime franchises. Some of these releases have been better than others. For SAND LAND, they went with ILCA, a studio with roots as a supporting developer before making their break in the 2020s, including multiple titles for Bandai Namco: The Japan-exclusive The Idolm@ster: Starlit Season and, more known for us, the well-received 2023 RPG One Piece Odyssey. The studio has brought the same level of quality across the development and audiovisual spaces of SAND LAND, presenting an experience that has its faults, but is competently delivered and feels like an “Interactive Anime” in its presentation and style. As with the other instalments in the SAND LAND project, this doesn’t feel like just another attempt to make money off the work of the now unfortunately late Akira Toriyama’s legacy, but a genuine attempt at bringing this work to the public eye.
The strength of SAND LAND is that it feels like an ‘Interactive Anime’, both in its design and presentation. There is no mistaking the hallmark signs of it being a video game, however the artistic style is very much respectful of Toriyama’s art style, giving each character a hand-drawn aesthetic to them as if lifted off the pages of the manga itself, instead of taking it in a “new direction”. The character models are well-detailed and blend seamlessly with the environment, complemented by a good diversity of unique demon designs – some which align with classic tropes and others less so. And let’s be honest, a game set in a barren desert doesn’t sound like it would lend itself to being the most visually appealing experience, but they manage to make it work. The creative team provides an open-world environment with a good diversity of landmarks and vistas that, when coupled with the game’s art style, works nicely. Furthermore, at least on the PlayStation 5 copy of SAND LAND I was playing, it was technically sound with no noticeable frame rate or other performance issues.
The same carries across to the audio side of the audiovisual spectrum. SAND LAND’s soundtrack, while nothing profound, does a solid job of capturing the tone of the story and complementing the combat, doing its duty when needed. The English voice cast was also a great choice, each cast member of SAND LAND feeling tailored towards their respective character, and also perfectly embodying the uniqueness of their character – from the spunky Beelzebub (Risa Mei), to Jonathan Lipow and Owen Thomas as the wiser figures of Rao and Thief, to Kira Buckland shining in the role of Ann. Among the cast were some great cast match-ups, all shining in the lighter-hearted, slightly retro-style, comical anime aesthetic.
Complementing the audiovisual quality of SAND LAND came its narrative. The initial premise of the game was sourced from the manga, and follows a rag-tag team of demons and humans, led by the son of Lucifer, Beelzebub, as they seek out a legendary water spring amidst the cruel and unforgiving desert of SAND LAND where such resources were scarce. What quickly begins as this journey evolves into something more complex, one of military might and royal corruption. The storyline isn’t overly serious and is a fusion of a decent enough plot, substantially stronger character development/engagement and some genuinely good comedy facilitated by the mix of personalities undertaking their journey together.
But while serving as a more than adequate ‘interactive anime’, SAND LAND is more or less a run-of-the-mill action RPG experience that doesn’t do anything badly but also doesn’t push the boundaries of anything further. The combat system is nothing complex, with players primarily controlling Beelzebub as he attacks enemies using a combination of light and heavy attacks, with charging meters for more powerful attacks on occasion. Provided you aren’t under-levelled, in which case you’d typically be pummelled, there are only a few times when button mashing wouldn’t suffice to take down foes and even most bosses.
More impressively is the game’s Vehicle Combat system, unlockable a couple of hours into SAND LAND allowing you to obtain, upgrade and fight/traverse your way throughout the open world environment in a tank. There are a lot of customisation opportunities here and is arguably the best-implemented feature of the game, with it seeping into the exploration, combat and puzzle elements of the game – with different set-ups working for different scenarios – but feels like they could have gone bigger (and better) with their ambitions around it, as its ease-of-use and combat-potential both shine. Other than that, the overall gameplay experience is one that is your standard anime-turned-video-game affair, nothing revolutionary or challenging, but enough to hook you in for its 25-30-hour experience.
While notable for a reason that both fans and the creative team alike wouldn’t have wished for, SAND LAND is a fitting tribute to the creative mindset – narratively and visually – of the late Akira Toriyama, showcasing that outside of the landmark series he was most known for, there were many gems that shone in his impressive career and a lasting legacy that his works have left audiences. While not pushing the boundaries of gameplay much, although I would love to see ILCA expand upon the vehicle combat concept further in the future, SAND LAND is an enjoyable game from start to finish.
Final Score for SAND LAND
We would like to acknowledge Bandai Namco Entertainment Australia, who provided a PlayStation 5 review code of SAND LAND to facilitate this review.
SAND LAND is out now for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC platforms.
