Sand Land, the work of the late Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, has grown from a niche manga practically only available in Japan into a very well-known franchise. There’s a new anime on Disney+ and now it’s available in the form of a video game that allows us to explore the world after the disasters that turned the green planet into a brown and depressing wasteland.
On the other hand, we cannot say the same about our protagonist, Beelzebub, a charismatic pink demon with more energy than the Duracell Rabbit in search of water to quench the thirst of humans and demons who have long been at war. This adventure begins on Sheriff Raowho despises his ruthless king because he suspects he is trading water for his own benefit and to control the population.
Thiefthe protagonist’s companion, will also take part in the journey Mechanic Ann who form the final characters of the first quartet led by Beelzebub himself. As in so many other dystopian popular culture phenomena set in desert worlds (like Rage, Borderlands and Mad Max), vehicles play a central role, and very early in the game you have a simple car, followed by a tanka motorcycle, a robot and many other means of transportation in the world.
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A huge world full of places to explore, which in my opinion is unfortunately rarely worth it because you usually only get resources as a reward. This allowed me to focus on continuing the story rather than seeing the world the side missions They are one of my favorite parts of these games. The lack of good rewards isn’t my only problem with the world of Sand Land, as it’s so big that even with fast travel it takes a long time to travel anywhere, and often the journey isn’t even interesting.
This title stands out when the intensity increases, be it in car racing, Meeting with bosses (of which there are many and generally very good ones) or important battles. Because you have the opportunity Customize your weapons In different ways and even by different means, it is convenient to create something that we can trust and like. Personally, I spent all my money on various explosives as I found the machine guns to be a bit weak. You can also change the look of your vehicles in various ways. So if you know you like this, feel free to experiment with the different options in Sand Land.
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Back in the world, which I find too empty and desolate, you’re alone most of the time, with no enemies around, and when I travel to places I haven’t visited (and therefore can’t use fast travel), I remember I remember the boat rides from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, one of the worst parts of the game. You have the option to use radio towers to find more secrets, but the world could have been even more exciting and interactive.
This is somewhat mitigated by the wonderful presentation and beautiful, colorful graphics that perfectly complement Toriyama’s style. In the technical part it is nothing extraordinary, it works well and without errors, but that’s what I think The game is very beautiful in its entirety and full of cinematic scenes that could fit perfectly into an animated series.
You select vehicles from a radial menu and they all have different abilities. The robot allows you to jump and climb mountains like a platform game character, with the freedom to change vehicles to move further across levels or get into another one Hovercraft B. to explore a nearby lake, but thanks to versatile controls and a variety of uses, playing in the aquarium is the most fun. apart from Vehicular combatIt is also often necessary to fight on foot, so you can get out of the vehicle at any time to explore a town, dungeon, or new area you find. The combat system is similar to any beat’em up in that, at least on normal difficulty, you can win many battles by pressing the attack button. However, if you level up Beelzebub, you can do this Unlock upgrades in a skill tree in which you will find powerful attacks towards the end of its branches, but which, like the mediocre rewards, is plagued with minor statistical improvements such as slightly more health or damage. As the enemies become more powerful, Beelzebub’s growth appears to stagnate, as does the challenge level.
Your companions can also take part in battles in various ways and level up individually, which you can give them skills to contribute passively (e.g. to earn more money in combat) or actively (for use in direct combat). I think it’s a clever system and the fact that you can choose which properties they use is very convenient. Rao It particularly suits my play style as it contributes a lot to the damage. The combat menus are pretty good and have the recurring radial layout to quickly select the right item for the situation without getting hit for no reason. On the other hand, I don’t really like upgrade menus, where it’s not always clear how effective the upgrades are and where mistakes can easily happen. There is also a simpler system for building your own city, which adds some variety.
In fact, the variety of play styles is very good in Sand Land, where different vehicles offer different exploration styles, there are tons of puzzles to solve, powerful boss fights, stealth sections and other activities like Career. The different environments also come into their own surprisingly well thanks to the day and night cycles, military bases, cities and green spaces. There are also missions where my decisions matter, which helps make the adventure more personal.
By the way, I played the first few hours of the adventure with the English dub before switching to Japanese (which requires a reboot), and I can say that the Japanese original is much better. So if you are not allergic to reading subtitles, I recommend you keep the original voices.
All in all, Sand Land is a game that I enjoyed a lot, but aside from the more intense combat, it’s somewhat limited in its entertainment potential and fails to create a sense of tension. As an RPG, there are many better Japanese adventures out there, but the combination of the open world and the ability to explore as much as you want, along with Toriyama’s charming designs and a light-hearted, “simple” story, make it a very enjoyable experience.
An adventure awaits us I recommend Toriyama fans and although I wish Bandai Namco had made the world more alive and worth exploring, exploring the game’s dungeons and solve riddles Inspired by the classics Tomb Raider and Zelda, the game makes battling giant bosses very entertaining for those unfamiliar with the work of the late Dragon Ball creator.
