I would never consider myself a huge anime fan. I’ve watched a good deal of shows though, and actually as of this writing I just finished Attack on Titan and highly recommend it to anime and adult cartoon fans alike! But when you get deep cuts I’m clueless. Some heavy hitter series’ I’ve yet to watch. Things like My Hero Academia I’ve only watched a couple seasons. Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and so many more I haven’t even watched a single episode. So when something like Sand Land comes up that is supposed to be relatively popular in Japan, I’m at a loss.
For the unfamiliar, like me, Sand Land is a 2000 manga written and drawn by famed manga and anime icon Akira Toriyama. That name is powerful in the Japanese animation scene, as Toriyama is known for worldwide phoenomenon’s like the Dragon Ball series of manga and anime, as well as the Dragon Quest video games, in which he provides the iconic artwork and character designs. Toriyama has created, been a part of, and collaborated with countless other IPs, and is easily one of the most prolific names in the scene. So, Sand Land the manga released in 2000, and was no where near as popular as his previous works. But recently, as in 2023, the series was adapted into an anime, which saw an English dub in 2024. And the relatively recent resurfacing of Sand Land came with an eponymous video game for the PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles, which is what we’re looking at today.
The first thing to catch your eye when spying the Sand Land box art has to be Toriyama’s character design front and center. “Wait, is this another Dragon Quest game? Or something related to DBZ?” Nope. It’s entirely its own thing, and I’m here for that. While the spiky hair and big eyes may lead you to think otherwise, the story of Sand Land (the anime, manga, and video game) are all wholly unique. The world is plunged into a post-apocalyptic-like desert environment, and the people living there live a rough life as they desperately need water. The government is fishy, there’s a fabled source of water somewhere, and oh yeah, for some reason there are demons here. But not like “oh no, evil demons!” Instead they’re more like misunderstood denizens of the desert, known to cause mischief but true of heart, and likely more than some of the people living in this land.
Sand Land the video game has you playing as the demon Beelzebub, the son of Lucifer; a small pink fiend with a penchant for wicked hijinks and a heart of gold. When Beelzebub is approached by an old man named Rao and asked to help find a water source to bring the people of Sand Land a better future, Beelzebub agrees as it will allow him to rough up some government bad guys, and, well, cause some typical demon mayhem. With his faithful friend and fellow demon, Thief, along for the journey, the group sets out to find the illusive water source. From what I am finding online, this story emulates the plot of the manga and anime directly. Playing through the game I found myself thinking how the game was very much an anime but in game form: there are scenes that seem like they’d be right at home on the TV screen, or storylines playing out like they would as you read chapter after chapter.
The main gameplay hook of Sand Land is vehicular combat. Think something like 2015’s Mad Max with its customization of your ride, or even something like Twisted Metal, but WAY slower and simpler and for kids. Very early on Beelz and the crew come across an old military tank they soup up and use to progress through Sand Land. As you explore you find access to a small handful of vehicles, like one that can jump to reach higher areas, a motorcycle that goes very fast and can clear large gaps, a hovercraft to get over quicksand, and even a freaking mecha-like tank to dish out devastating damage. Finding parts, upgrading vehicles, and getting from zone to zone using each vehicles core mechanic is kind of game-y and not all that special. Tons of materials drop from enemies, and you’ll routinely upgrade and swap vehicles as the game progresses.
Speaking of progressing, Sand Land is technically an open-world RPG. Once you get through the tutorial zone and dungeon and get your first vehicle (the Tank), you can then proceed as you wish… kind of. Like any other open world game there are certain quests you must do to progress the story forward, unlock new content, and in general move on to the next part. Typically these mandatory elements are complimented by side quests and story lines that flesh the world out and offer a greater sense of “Realism” to the world you’re playing in. However, in Sand Land these side quests are not remarkable. They feel very by-the-books, sort of like the been there done that feeling of the RPG mechanics. Quests are boring, repeated, and worst of all very simple. The world is open, but there is legitimately nothing to do between quests. Riding through the sand is cool and all, but after like, 15 minutes of doing that it starts to become stale. Later in the game there are more obstacles and threats to deal with, but by that time you’ve already experienced everything the game has to offer, and the only challenge is higher numbers to beat out of your enemies.
So we’ve got a renowned artist, a fairly decent storyline, run of the mill gameplay, and an open world that doesn’t offer a lot of fun in exploring. What started out great turned into something I wished was different. While I wouldn’t call this an RPG for kids, it does feel a bit too easy. Combat becomes routine and simplistic very early on and does not offer a lot of variety even 20 hours in. The story is fine, but with only a small cast of characters and very cliche tropes it can get monotonous. And my biggest gripe has to be the missed opportunity to explore the open world. Sand Land is just not populated enough with stuff to be a fun experience to explore. I get that the world is sparse given the context of the story, and that works for something like a movie or comic book. But as a video game, traveling for up to a minute straight with literally nothing to do does not work. Enemies like dinosaurs and evil government military personnel roam around but they are few and far between. Give me some sand storms. Give me more textures and aesthetic difference between areas. Hell, give me some competing hunters or demons roaming around to have fun with!
Being critical of Sand Land on PS5 is equally a very easy and very difficult thing to do. It’s easy in that I can point to things like the gameplay being lackluster. But it’s difficult thinking of the visual styling and Toriyama’s pedigree. Easy to criticize the failed implementation of open world mechanics. Hard to overlook the way it successfully adapts the anime’s story. Sand Land is a real love/hate type of game. I wanted it to be a large, open world RPG to get lost in, with wonderful characters from Dragon Quest or something adorning the adventure. But it isn’t that. It is a sparsely populated world with good ideas that are wasted on a mediocre game. There is so much to love with Sand Land, but I think that love will be better reserved for the Manga and Anime.
That being said, I am very much interested in watching the anime sometime soon. Probably after Jujutsu Kaisen. Oh, and I should finish One Punch Man. And yeah, everyone is watching My Hero Academia, I should get on that too. My friend keeps pestering me to watch Hunter X Hunter, and I really should finish the final few episodes of Spy X Family and Yu Yu Hakusho…
Laters,
Jsick
