Created in the mid-2000s, the manga Sand Land is one of the last works that has the participation of Akira Toriyama, and tells the story of the demon prince Beelzebub, Sheriff Rao, the mysterious Ann, and the charismatic Thief, as they embark on a journey through the sandy desert to locate a Legendary Spring, fight dangerous and gigantic monsters, as well as deal with an army and end the tyranny of an evil king. With a story that doesn't beat around the bush, Sand Land already shows all its potential to be a farewell worthy of the eternal Dragon Ball writer.

Mad Max of anime

The beginning of the journey closely follows the story of the manga, in which the scarcity of water throughout the desert is the main cause of many deaths and poverty in the area, and the culprit for this greed is the evil General Zeu, who leads an army with many men capable of causing all the cruelty to anyone who tries to steal his precious liquid to survive.

Seeking to put an end to this cruelty, the demon Beelzebub and his faithful companion and master of disguises, Thief, decide to help Sheriff Rao put an end to this story, facing all dangers to reach the Legendary Lake, so that all creatures of the desert can enjoy water and survive the scorching sandy and very hot climate in which humans and demons coexist peacefully.
 

Although the mission seems quite simple, dangers appear in various forms, such as gigantic desert creatures, as well as soldiers of General Zeu spread everywhere and ready to thwart the friends' plan. With that, the trio meets a mysterious mechanic, Ann, who besides being the leader of a rebel force, is unprecedented for the manga arc and slightly modifies the events as compared to what was originally planned. And I say this in a very positive way, as the character manages to create more dynamics and avoids the clichés already known by all fans of Japanese culture, such as fights and more battles until they find what they are looking for.

Unprecedented Part 2

Without many spoilers about the events of the game, as the story progresses, the trio discovers that Ann is not just a mechanic, but someone very important in the abundant kingdom of Forest Land, unprecedented in the manga's story and possessing abundant water, but which is being controlled by a usurper king named Muniel, who has evil intentions of global dominance, even if he has to end all forms of life on the planet.

Once again the title demonstrates how greed is one of humanity's great evils and generator of many wars. Not only that, but as the adventure progresses, it is also noticeable how humans antagonize the hero demons, despising them only for their different appearances, even though both have a huge heart.

The story of Sand Land only reinforces how the writer always sought to address social issues that society tries to mask, so that his readers can open their minds and take his teachings for a lifetime, creating a fairer society with more love for others.  Toriyama has always been one step ahead, hasn't he?

Way beyond the standard

I confess that when I heard about the release of Sand Land, I didn't expect much in terms of gameplay, as the standard for the vast majority of games is to solve any kind of problem faced in a brawl in closed arenas, where just pressing a button and walking forward is enough. Fortunately, I was surprised.

The studio Ilca did very well in their homework and knows that Sand Land is much more than fights and lots of action, but it addresses refined characters, with excellent humor, charisma, and that can offer much more to the player. And this is very clear from the beginning of the game, offering a range of opportunities for the demon prince to explore with his friends, but of course, without forgetting the dynamic combat and unrestrained action.

One factor that caught my attention a lot is about invading enemy bases, which work stealthily, in which case if you are seen, it's game over right away, reminiscent of games like Metal Gear where you have to hide behind boxes and kill enemies without being noticed.

Featuring an abundant area full of interesting activities, such as side missions and revelations about the secrets that can be found in the arid desert, Sand Land understands that having Beelzebub run around would not be the smartest way to explore its map, so it provides a series of vehicles to cover the distances of objectives more quickly, as well as the possibility of avoiding unnecessary fights if you judge that the fight may be unfavorable at that moment.

Both sides of the coin

I was pleasantly surprised by the possibility of using vehicles in Sand Land to traverse the game map, it also offers the possibility of escaping threats, but of course, it works as a real weapon, especially at the beginning of the game when we control a tank stolen from General Zeu's forces.

This possibility of resolving conflicts against monsters and gigantic creatures found in the desert with vehicles is a huge advantage, which makes the battles not repetitive and monotonous as in most games of this style. Without a doubt, this option made the game much more inviting and surprising.

But as not everything is perfect, I confess that initially, driving the vehicles is somewhat complicated, as acceleration is given by the cursor that is greatly hindered by the camera that doesn't always manage to obey the side with which it is necessary to reach to make the view more satisfactory. You end up getting the hang of it, but you go through some moments of anger when hit by a blow caused by the camera delay.

That said, the vehicles have a wide variety of modifications through parts, manuals, and other weapon blueprints that can be found on the map. In general, the vehicles have two weapons: a main one and a secondary one, which undoubtedly are capable of saving the characters' skins in several moments of greater danger.

The weapons of the demon prince

As you may have noticed, I praised Sand Land's qualities in providing a vehicle as an alternative form of combat, but this does not mean that the game's characters are weak or unable to face opponents head-on. Quite the opposite.

Beelzebub has weak and strong attacks, as well as the possibility of using a more powerful attack when the enemy is seeing stars, causing fatal damage. Not only that, but the hero also has special abilities that can be unlocked on his skill tree.

Of course, Rao, Thief, and Ann cannot be left out of the party and also assist Beelzebub in the toughest battles, with the help of the L1 command. This does not mean that the characters will steal the scene, but it is still fun to watch their combos during the confrontation.

Here, it is worth noting that the battles are always very fun and with iconic scenes, giving the sense of accomplishment when winning an epic battle full of nuances and varieties due to the effect of being able to use war vehicles and other confrontation tricks.

A desert as you imagine

I have never had the opportunity to go to a desert, but I have always imagined them to be places with little life and scarce landscapes. As the game also takes us to a forest, you must imagine something more colorful, with fauna and flora everywhere, right? I think I have bad news for you.

The big problem with the map is the lack of creativity, making all kinds of creatures and monsters encountered give you the vast impression that you have already encountered them before. The initial models are always reused. Not only that, but even the structures of the scenarios are repetitive, making exploring the map something tedious to observe. Fortunately, the game offers the possibility of fast travel through already visited bases.

Despite the lack of imagination, this does not mean that Sand Land delivers poor graphics when it comes to characters, quite the contrary. With that anime aesthetic already in mind, the game justifies the label of adaptation and delivers characters with a lot of charisma, charm, and that special touch of shonen drawings.

Honoring its creator

Without a doubt, Sand Land has some expected negative points, such as a certain delay in the movement of characters in some scenes, the lack of creativity in the scenarios, among other problems like the initial movement of vehicles, but this does not in any way overshadow the brilliance of how Akira Toriyama's last adventure was respected, as well as his legacy.

The game escapes the monotony of action games and manages to add very welcome novelties in this new RPG style, as was also the case with the excellent One Piece Odyssey, which also had the participation of the Ilca studio, which is showing itself more and more capable of innovating in games that have been stiff over time.

The adaptation of a story not so well known to the West was a bull's-eye and ended up culminating as a beautiful way to pay homage to the creator of Dragon Ball, showing also that his way of telling stories has always gone beyond Goku and company.

Sand Land was played on a PS5, kindly provided by the publisher.