Explore a vast desert in SAND LAND in a quest to find the Legendary Spring!
SAND LAND is a brand-new game by Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. that was released on April 25th, 2024 for Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam. Bandai is originally a Japanese multinational publisher that was founded in 2006 as Namco Bandai Inc., following the merger of Namco and Bandai. The company is well known for their games such as Pac-Man, Tekken, Soulcalibur, and Dark Souls. In 2015, they changed their name to Bandai Namco Entertainment and are now located in different countries across the globe.
SAND LAND is a special game because it is based on the popular Dragon Ball manga that debuted in 2000. As most people may know, the Dragon Ball manga was created by the legendary Akira Toriyama. Before his unfortunate passing in January, Toriyama shared his praise for the game and gave a statement about how the game vastly builds upon the world of Dragon Ball and offers new elements.
He also mentions that it is a great stand-alone game and is a satisfying action RPG. He also approves of the visual representation of the manga. Toriyama is also known for his character design work in games such as Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon.
SAND LAND follows the story of a Prince Fiend called Beelzebub and his friends, demon Thief and Sherrif Rao in an epic adventure in search of the legendary Water Spring hidden somewhere in the desert, and restore normal life to the rest of the country.
SAND LAND is an action RPG where you take control of the main character Beelzebub. Throughout the game, you lead your comrades and explore the world of SAND LAND. You learn how to use Beelzebub’s demon powers and use them to your advantage to overcome enemy forces. As you progress through the game, you will become stronger with the more abilities you learn. You can also apply skills to your allies who can also assist you in battle at your command.
In addition to melee combat, the game also features vehicles that not only are useful for transport but also for combat. On your travels, you can come across different blueprints and resources that allow you to build new vehicles such as tanks and bots. These vehicles are customizable at the garage for you to equip any weapons and defenses you like. Additional vehicles include cars, bikes, and buggies. Each vehicle type can equip 2 weapons, and each component can be leveled up to make them stronger, as well as the vehicle itself.
The main character, Beelzebub, is a kind-hearted Prince Fiend who tries to present himself as intimidating but can’t resist the urge to help the people he meets along the way. He is a strong melee fighter with the ability to call on the power of darkness to deliver devastating attacks to his enemies. While he is at home, he enjoys playing video games with his demon friends. During the story, he becomes excited when you discover a new vehicle, and he cannot wait to test drive them.
The demon Thief is a friend of Beelzebub who accompanies him on his journey. His specialty is stealing goods from humans. He is also very knowledgeable on various topics, as you learn as you go through the story. Sherrif Rao is a human who used to work with the Royal Army. We meet him very early in the game when he visits Beelzebub’s village to ask for assistance in finding the Legendary Spring. At first, he is untrusting of demons but learns to get along with Beelzebub and Thief over time.
Ann is another human companion who is skilled in mechanics and engineering. She is the one you go to make and upgrade vehicles. Occasionally, she will join Beelzebub on his journey but likes to stay in the village to help the other humans. Early in the game, SAND LAND teaches you various game mechanics. There is one in particular that sets a different pace to the rest of the opening hours. While being in the wild blowing up enemy tanks and shooting down their soldiers, you will occasionally be faced with stealth missions.
In SAND LAND, potential threats will have arrows above them that show their awareness level. You can use this to plan your timing and route. There are 3 levels of awareness. White arrows mean the enemy is neutral and is unaware of your presence. Orange arrows show that they are facing your direction or are suspicious.
Red arrows show that you have been seen, and if so, you are sent back to the last checkpoint. The idea is to progressively make your way to the objective without being seen. If needed, Beelzebub has an ability that lets you silently take out enemies that are in your way. But this is only worth doing if the enemy is alone.
Around these areas, there will also be multiple loot chests you can pick up if you are brave enough to go for them. While I didn’t go for the loot in these sections, I personally felt the stealth missions were a little too easy.
There are dungeons in SAND LAND that you will encounter during the game. Some are relevant to the main story, while others are optional. Like the overworld, dungeons offer the chance to explore their many paths. The first story dungeon features very light platforming, and sometimes the tank is required to drop crates to create paths. In some areas, the camera forces you into a side scroller. I didn’t come across any major puzzles, so it would have been nice to see some extra difficulty with creating the paths.
There was an optional dungeon I decided to take on that required the use of the tank as well as traversing on foot. Throughout the game, you can use the tank’s cannon to blast open rocks to reveal new paths. In this dungeon, these paths lead to loot or just rooms of enemies.
The world map of SAND LAND covers a large area of the desert. There are multiple points of interest for you to explore, including loot spots. Some loot found in the overworld can be found on top of climbable rocks. You can reach the loot by using the jump bot to jump up. Other loot spots can be found in caves, which are also shown on the map. These caves aren’t instanced, so you can freely walk in, collect your loot, and leave.
There are radio towers around the map that when used will reveal more areas. The story will lead you to a couple of these towers as you play. However, you need materials to repair the tower generators before the tower can be used. You will find plenty of materials, so this generally isn’t a problem.
Some dungeons and major cities are shown as icons on the map. These are usually instanced areas that are separate from the rest of the map. Other dungeons and small villages are shown on the map and are accessible by simply walking into them. City maps will have icons for vendors. You can use vendors to purchase items used in battle, or materials to use for crafting and modifying vehicles.
Water stations are scattered around the map. When interacted with, they can restore your HP and refill your water bottle which you use for healing. Campfires are resting spots that can be found near some water stations. However, I am unsure of how these work as I didn’t use them much myself.
Quest markers are easy to see, and it is clear which markers are for the main quest and which ones are for side quests. Your current active quest will be marked by a yellow border to help you identify where you want to go. The map also offers a waymark function that lets you place up to 3 markers at a time. This is useful for when you want to come back to an area and don’t want to forget where it is.
The music production for SAND LAND is one of my favorite things about the game. As someone who enjoys listening to video game music, the soundtrack of a game is one of the key things I look forward to when playing something new. With SAND LAND, the majority of the music is relaxing to listen to, while at other times there is a fun and upbeat song. My favorite tracks come from the game’s boss fights. While the fights were lacking in mechanics, the music surely made up for it.
Voice acting in a game is one of the most important factors that can influence your opinion. In SAND LAND, while the acting was good, it sometimes doesn’t feel as good as it could be. However, there is plenty of dialogue that helps explain the plot and what the character’s motives are. There is also some dialogue as you are roaming around the desert, but they can get easily repetitive as the party doesn’t really say anything new. The different personalities are what give the most points to the acting. Overall, I would say the acting for the game is decent.
SAND LAND’s graphics offer a light cartoon style that gives off a solid Borderlands feel, while also paying tribute to the Dragon Ball manga. As for the characters, there isn’t anyone I thought that looked bad. Everyone fits well with the game’s style and is pleasing to look at. For the scenery, there are many moments where you want to just stop and admire the view. The colors are bright and vibrant, and it is the Legendary Spring area that stood out to me the most.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed playing SAND LAND. The combat and exploration are a lot of fun. The characters are fun and energetic. The game slowly eases you into its mechanics by giving you only one tutorial at a time, so you don’t feel overwhelmed early on. The music and sound direction are both amazing and well written and the graphics are fun to look at. The story could be a little stronger at times, but it is decent for what it is, and not too difficult to progress.
