I know a lot of people were hoping for the Xbox Series X/S sequel to Blue Dragon to be released at Summer Game Fest. I know there are a lot of people out there who would also love some kind of Chrono Trigger or Chrono Crossover re-release or remake. There’s a loyal group of fans waiting for a new Dragon Quest game (no, the new Yakuza doesn’t count). Some even celebrate the release of a new Dragon Ball game, despite the proliferation of such titles over the past few years.
But, at le ast for now, we don’t get any of them. What we got instead was Sand Land – a new Bandai Namco anime RPG in the style of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot or the many Naruto games on the market. Instead of pairing the new game with a more mainstream anime show, though, Bandai Namco opted to revisit the relatively obscure Toriyama manga of the same name.
Part of a lesser-known lineup of Akira Toriyama’s oeuvre, “The Sand” isn’t as iconic as “Dragon Ball” or as cult-appealing as “Dr. Crash.” But the property is also well worth it, at least in my opinion – Toriyama is known for his exemplary work using lo-fi and ground vehicles in otherworldly fantasy worlds, and I think the sandy terrain is actually the best There are examples of this throughout his catalog.
It’s fitting, then, that this newly released game puts a heavy emphasis on vehicular combat, and exploring the desert in hulking and realistic machines in a desperate search for water. In my hands-on preview, I saw how it all started–which is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from such a light-action RPG.
Playing as Beelzebub, the little pink demon, you are thrown into the desert and tasked with sniffing out the precious water by roaming in various vehicles or on foot, encountering the dangers of the desert and helping NPCs survive this harsh climate. In about 10 minutes, I jumped from my starting go-kart onto a tank, beat up a group of bandits who were trying to steal all my stuff, and used a couple of special attacks to fight off a group of loitering thugs.
None of this should come as a surprise if you’ve ever played a Bandai Namco RPG like this one. It handles the same, feels the same, and is all put together with the same production values and not quite AAA-level pseudo stutter. It’s charming, but I have a tolerance for these midrange RPGs that I suspect many readers here don’t.
But there’s one thing about this game that stands out from the seemingly never-ending treadmill of the likes of One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Naruto, and helps keep Bandai Namco’s bankroll healthy: It has Akira Toriyama’s hook. I might be poisoned by a very particular kind of ’90s nostalgia, in which the thick black shadow lines, big white eyes, and mean-looking furrowed brows just fit me, but this game is gorgeous. In my opinion, it captures the spirit of Toriyama’s illustrations better than Dragon Ball FighterZ, which is probably my favorite Dragon Ball game.
Bandai Namco’s iteration on the toon shading problem and its disappearing styling made Sand Land popular. More action-oriented combat might help make it more appealing to those who take issue with Blue Dragon’s turn-based nature, or who are bored by the retro-pixel goodness of the Chrono series. Those who remember sitting through Dragon Ball with a bowl of cereal and juice boxes as kids will be drawn in by Sandy’s more diabolical, apocalyptic vision of Earth, and by its gloomy (and short-lived) attracted by the story.
The manga’s original release lasted less than a year, so this game is a real opportunity for Bandai Namco to expand on one of Toriyama’s less popular titles. Combat and gameplay can be pretty mediocre, but if the development team can add depth and flavor to this dry, weird, wonderful world, it’s sure to be a game I’ll be keeping a close eye on as we get closer to launch.
sand Developed by ILCA Inc., plans to release soon for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (via Steam). No specific release date was given.
