[Vyse]

Article:

Bandai Namco Entertainment is proud to announce SAND LAND, a new action RPG based on the masterpiece by Akira Toriyama, creator of DRAGON BALL and DR. SLUMP. The game is being developed by ILCA Inc. SAND LAND was revealed at this year's Summer Game Fest "Kickoff Live" livestream and is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via STEAM.

Dive into a desert world where both humans and demons suffer from an extreme water shortage. Play as and watch the Fiend Prince, Beelzebub, Sheriff Rao, and demon Thief set off on an adventure in search of a Legendary Spring hidden in the desert. Introducing himself as a "super evil fiend", Beelzebub has a pure heart like a little boy but has superhuman strength and telepathic abilities. Rao, a small-town sheriff, seeks the aid of demons to save all of Sand Land from the water shortage. Thief, a wise old demon with thieving abilities also accompanies Beelzebub and Rao on their adventure.

Playing as Beelzebub, players will be able to explore a vast world accompanied by his unlikely group of demons and humans. Whether roaming in various vehicles, or traveling by foot, players will encounter dangers as well as helpful characters they meet in the vast desert while uncovering SAND LAND's many secrets. Vehicular and character combat is a big part of the action in the game. Players will have access to a variety of vehicles that they can customize and equip with loadouts to traverse the desert, overcome obstacles, and take on a diverse assortment of mighty foes.

Source: https://www.bandainamcoent.com/news/sand-land-new-action-rpg-announcement

 

[Eneru]

Don't know why but love it for whatever reason.


Most probably will be shit though.

 

[Kadayi]

Doubt I'll play it, but something about the Aesthetic I thought was rather charming. Could be rather cool. One of the better reveals IMHO.

 

[Vyse]

Yeah, visuals are great. Always like to see Akira Toriyama's art and Sand Land is one of his lesser-known works.

Gameplay looks kind of fun too.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Could be fun. I love the art style even though I don't know anything about the manga. Those battles on the overworld map with tanks looks interesting

 

[Vyse]

New gameplay (35:20 - 38:30)

 

[Vyse]

Demo gameplay from San Diego Comic Con:

 

[Vyse]

 

[Chozofication]

Hmm looks like borderlands

 

[Vyse]

 

[Eneru]

still unsure if it's gonna be good but I want to play this game.

Somehow gives me nostalgia vibes like it could be a PS2 game or shit like that. Cannot point a finger on it.

Seems like you're only fighting in vehicles?

 

[Rock And Roll]

Actually looks really tight! Will wait for the reviews (or d pad impressions) but I like what I see

 

[Vyse]

still unsure if it's gonna be good but I want to play this game.

Somehow gives me nostalgia vibes like it could be a PS2 game or shit like that. Cannot point a finger on it.

Seems like you're only fighting in vehicles?

You can fight enemies while not in a vehicle. The vehicles you can level up and customize all of their different parts.

Actually reminds me a little bit of Steambot Chronicles for PS2.

 

[Zeta Dragoon]

Damn this reminds me of Dragon Quest meets Valkyria Chronicles with a tank as your hub, the post apcolpyse batshit vehicle battles of Mad Max Fury Road and a little bit of Borderlands (just with the western like setting and landscapes, don't see cringe humor and writing so far.)

Games got my attention now.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Looks like a PS2/PS3 game yanked out of time. Probably won't be a massive open world or innovative, but that's okay. Seems fun and charming

 

[Eneru]

Not sure who puts this into the calendar here but it's already there. Nice job

The more I think about this game the more I'm convinced I'm going to buy it.

 

[regawdless]

Weird. I like it and don't like it. It's kinda cool but also not. Latest trailer pushed me more towards "good". I'll keep an eye on it. I bet this looks fire at clean 5k.

 

[Vyse]

 

[Eneru]

Still looks great. I didn't know that you can carry the vehicles with you and change them on the go. That's really neat. Plus there's a shit ton of costumization and some some stealth sections too. you can even upgrade your side-characters with new abilities. And you can build your city and Mario kart is integrated too.

It kind of reminds me like the ratched and clank games on ps3 (don't know if the new ones are any good). Game looks like it's a lot of fun and offers a lot of stuff to do.

honestly never expected that. But I will play this one for sure. Hyped!

Game will release at the end of April.

 

[Vyse]

 

[Vyse]

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Dang, the demo only shows a taste of what you can do with the combat system and with the customization. Feels very much like a PS2/PS3 era game that knows its strengths and limitations and simply tries to deliver a fun experience. The fact that this game and Megaton Musashi (western port) are coming out at the same time is CRAZY. I may have to end up getting both.

 

[synchronicity]

Looks really interesting to me. The only thing that has rubbed me the wrong way was some of the voice work, but I'm really hard to please in that regard. I'll surely pick it up sooner or later.

 

[Bullet Club]

It is time...

 

[DonDonDonPata]

It is time...

I have it pre ordered. My kids spent a ton of time with the demo which is what sealed the sale for me.

I also nabbed Vol.1 of the manga so it'll be fun to read through it at the same time we're playing the game.

 

[Amorous Biscuit]

I played the demo and it kind of felt a bit aimless, not sure whether that's due to it not explaining mechanics or what precisely I was supposed to be doing but I can't say I particularly enjoyed it.

Love the art style though and definitely awaiting impressions from people here who play it.

 

[p_banned]

It is time...

Hahaha, they literally licensed Sandstorm, that's badass.

 

[Zeta Dragoon]

Sand-Land might be a major darkhorse this year. Looks solid.

 

[Vyse]

 

[regawdless]

Hey it's just one day left. Metacritic sits at 73 and 75, so it's not bad.

SAND LAND

Dive into a desert world where both humans and demons suffer from an extreme water shortage - SAND LAND. Meet the Fiend Prince Beelzebub, his chaperone Thief, and the fearless Sheriff Rao, and follow the team on an extraordinary adventure in search of the Legendary Spring hidden in the desert...

www.metacritic.com

 

[bork]

Wow that looks cool. This went under the radar for me.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Every year I roll the dice on 1 - 2 "could be good, could be meh" sort of hidden gems, and this one definitely fits the description. I'll give my impressions in a few days after the kids and I play it over the weekend.

I think as long as they don't detract from the core combat/exploration with too much story or fetch-questing, it could be special. I liked the demo a lot.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

It's good. It's exceptional, actually, if you are looking for this specific kind of game.

It wears its heart on its sleeve. No pretense. You know what you're getting. Very much a PS2/PS3 era game built on modern hardware. You press 'start' at the main menu and the game immediately begins. I like that. Load times are fast across the board, actually. Performance is smooth. No complaints there. The production values are a cut above the typical Bandai Namco Dragon Ball or Naruto game, if we're gonna compare.

The intro town gave me such a good impression. The design isn't anything special, but I quickly discovered that you can use your double-jump + ledge grab to reach all sorts of out-of-reach places. That was my first pleasant surprise: there's a lot of platforming in this game, and it's handled well. The game is a hybrid, not a straight platformer, but there's a lot more jumping around than I expected. Wandering around town talking to NPCs (most of them voice-acted) felt very much like playing through a PS2 hub world in Jak & Daxter or Sly Cooper.

After exploring the town, instead of completing the first quest I wandered outside of town and -- to my surprise -- the game didn't yell at me by telling me to go back! I fought some critters in the surrounding desert and then went back after a few minutes. It does a great job of just letting you play.

The tone of the game is... so unexpected, but so good. It's funny. The humor reminds me of Disgaea series but never teeters into schlocky eye-rolling territory that a lot of anime-style games do. Yet, everything has a somber side to it due to the music and the parched landscape. At first I began comparing it to Ni No Kuni in my head (and there are some similarities), but after the first hour I thought to myself "This is like the old Nier game on PS3". I haven't yet gotten the impression that the game is trying to be serious, but the undertone is definitely there.

Listen:



(also if you watch until the King Lucifer scene about 22 minutes in, you'll get a very good taste for the humor)

The main character reminds me of Laharl from Disgaea in all the best ways (or more likely, Laharl was influenced by Beelzebub from the manga). He's badass and loveable at the same time, and he says a lot of goofy things that made me crack a smile. Thief is a great supporting character and has a very funny Metal Gear Solid scene early in the game. Sheriff Rao suffers from a voice-actor that sounds bored but otherwise is fine, and the fourth character, Ann, starts as a pretty standard "plucky female adventurer" but quickly becomes more likeable. All four of these characters play off one another to round out the storytelling and tone.

I don't have a scrap of familiarity with the source material so I don't know how faithful or unfaithful the game is to the Sand Land manga or anime, if that's a sticking point for you. I do like Akira Toriyama's style which is represented well in this game, especially in the cutscenes and dialogue. You definitely get that Dragon Quest charm.

 

[Eneru]

Oh man thank you so much for the impression. It felt like this game will receive "not more than okay" reviews between 70-80 but this game seemed like a lot of old fashioned fun from the first trailer and like a sleeper hit.

Very excited to get my hands on it in June.

When you're further advanced in the game please post some more impressions.

 

[Rock And Roll]

PS2 era game built on modern hardware sounds like a dream. Also not being pestered by waypoints and being told where to go. Might have to grab this sooner than expected

 

[DonDonDonPata]

I'll give more impressions after I play more over the weekend, for sure @Eneru and @Rock And Roll

My kids enjoyed the demo and they're playing the full version, so I have a bit to say about that later, too.

One major thing I wanna call attention to (shoutout to my Stellar Blade and Sweet Baby bros like @Hardensoul @Saruhashi @Stilton Disco @cryptoadam @Spiders @regawdless and others)

This game is a breath of fresh air in our current gaming climate. It may be the best medicine to all the woke stuff going on, without itself trying to be anti-woke in any way. Now, I'm going to chalk a lot of that up to how faithfully it seems to be recreating the original Sand Land story. See below (very early spoilers, I guess):

(mind you, I never read this manga. I had to look up these comparison shots)

The Sand Land manga is from 2000. Anime has always been a decent refuge from the Western rot, and so a game trying to faithfully recreate a 2000s-era anime ends up accidentally being woke-free in every conceivable way. It's shocking.

I'm not suggesting people should buy it because it's anti-woke, because it's not, it's better. It's pre-woke. I'm not trying to riff too hard on the game's theme, but it truly feels like stumbling upon a fountain of pure spring water after drinking so much fluoride-laced tap water. If you have any fondness for this era of anime, it's an easy sell. If you have any fondness for the PS2/PS3 era of action adventure games, it's an easy sell. But even if that doesn't apply to you, playing Sand Land still feels like a respite from all the culture war stuff going on.

 

[bork]

Damn man that sounds dope. I want to get it

 

[Hardensoul]

No Switch version. Gonna wait since it's on Steam!

 

[bork]

Any reviews?

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Any reviews?

Reviews in the 60s and 70s are all pretty much saying "it's a neat game but it doesn't have Muh Innovation, and the graphics can't compare to Spiderman or Horizon."

Sand Land Review - IGN

A by-the-numbers action game with a story that only occasionally lives up to the original work.

www.ign.com

SAND LAND Review – The World in a Grain of Sand

If exploring a unique sand-filled setting and blowing up other vehicles sounds like a good time, SAND LAND may just be what you need.

gamingbolt.com

Reviews in the 80s and 90s are full of praise for the setting, the gameplay, calling it a game that is more than the sum of its parts.

Sand Land Review - A True Desert Rose

Noisy Pixel's Sand Land Review from developer and publisher Bandai Namco, available now on all platforms.

noisypixel.net

SAND LAND Review (PS5)

If you love Toriyama-san’s art style, world building, and share his love for vehicle design, then Sand Land is the game for you.

www.heypoorplayer.com