First Look at Akira Toriyama’s ‘Sand Land’ Manga Adaptation
Bandai Namco has a proven track record of successfully adapting anime and manga series into video games. Their latest addition, Sand Land, was unveiled at the Summer Game Fest and prominently displayed alongside their popular Naruto (now Boruto) Ultimate Storm fighting series at the Los Angeles show floor.
But sandy soil? You may never have heard of it, but don’t let that put you off, it’s a 21st century comic written by legendary manga artist Akira Toriyama. Yes, Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. The man who created the characters for Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon and the Dragon Quest series. And Toriyama’s creations have never looked better.
Sand Land is an action-adventure game in which you play as the devil’s rampaging prince, capital d, Beelzebub, as he explores a desert-themed setting where water is a rare and precious resource. Demons and humans coexist in this world, and the human sheriff Rao and the demon thief follow Beelzebub on his quest to solve the water crisis.
At SGF 2023 last week, I played a 15-minute demo that showed off a few elements of the game, including melee, exploration, and two vehicles: a tank and a golf cart. The demo kicked off with the trio fleeing a desert dragon, and after guiding a cart away from relentless attacks, the gang eventually had to give up their water supplies to escape.
Obviously, this is a direct copy of how Sand Land plays in the manga, and you can expect the game to follow the same plot beats. It’s sometimes frustrating in games where the story is already known. For example, I know who dies in Dragon Ball’s Frieza saga, so it’s no surprise when it happens in one of several Dragon Ball video games. However, with Sand Land many of us are hearing the story for the first time.
During the demo, the game split into two playstyles. You explore the desert, outposts, and cities with your vehicles, but you also go on foot when you need to fight someone or interact with things. Bandai Namco has teased that you can customize the vehicles in the game by adding different weapons and components to improve performance or provide tactical advantages. I loved the use of armor piercing. Sure, they had a low rate of fire, but they destroyed almost everything. Vehicle controls are simple enough, but vary by type and whether or not they have weapons. Don’t forget: my first Sand Land car was a golf cart. There was no artillery option.
When Beelzebub isn’t spinning on a tank (which can be repaired if it takes damage), he can go toe-to-toe with enemies in melee. He has a mix of weak attacks, dodge throws, and super attacks that charge up as you fight enemies. If that sounds a bit… simple, it is. Bandai Namco isn’t reinventing the wheel here. More movement and supporting characters could add depth to the combat sections, so I’ll reserve judgment for now, but it’s also worth remembering that this game is probably aimed at players younger than me. You only control Beelzebub himself, but both of his aforementioned companions can eventually help out in battles, although this wasn’t visible in my demo.
The highlight of this early demo was encountering a band of bandits. They gave off a slight Ginew Force vibe that I wasn’t mad about. Each one used different weapons and attacked differently, providing a nice opportunity to try out the little devil’s combos and send enemies high with a punch only to jump up and knock them back to the ground.
The fact that even these secondary characters are interesting is proof that hopefully the developers will make sure that Toriyama’s characters and his original humor and charm make it to consoles.
While there are some questionable lip-syncing moments (at this point, all voiceovers are in Japanese), this generation of consoles and PCs offer more than enough power to reproduce Toriyama’s detailed drawings. I glanced at the tank during the game because it looked so good. Imagine how long I would stare at a custom tank.
Sand Land will be released for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
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