Dragon Quest, Dragon Ball, Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon and now Sand Land: Toriyama’s RPG hits just keep coming
I do know there are lots of people on the market that will have favored a correct Xbox Sequence X/S sequel to Blue Dragon introduced at Summer time Video games Fest. I do know there’s lots of people that will have favored some type of Chrono Set off or Chrono Cross rerelease or remaster, too. There’s a devoted group of followers ready for a brand new Dragon Quest recreation (no, the brand new Yakuza doesn’t depend). There are even some folks on the market that’d have a good time the announcement of a brand new Dragon Ball recreation, regardless of the on-going proliferation of them over the previous few years.
However, for the second not less than, we’re not getting any of them. What we’re getting as a substitute is Sand Land – a brand new Bandai Namco anime-RPG within the vein of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot or any of the numerous Naruto video games available on the market. Somewhat than pair this new title to one of many extra mainstream anime reveals, although, Bandai Namco has opted to revisit a comparatively obscure Toriyama manga of the identical identify.
Sand Land kinds a part of the lesser-known works of Toriyama’s output, less-iconic than Dragon Ball and with much less cult attraction than Dr. Hunch. However the property is not any much less worthy, not less than not in my eyes – Toriyama has develop into identified for his exemplary work with lo-fi tech and grounded autos in his over-the-top fantasy worlds, and I believe Sand Land is definitely the most effective instance of that in his whole catalogue.
It’s becoming, then, that this newly-announced recreation may be very centered on vehicular fight and the thought of exploring the desert in clunky, genuine machines in determined search of water. In my hands-on preview, I acquired to see the way it all kicks off – and it’s just about what you’d anticipate from this sort-of gentle motion RPG.
Taking part in because the little pink demon Beelzebub, you’re dumped into the desert and tasked with sniffing out the valuable aqua by roaming round in varied autos or travelling by foot, encountering the perils of the desert and serving to NPCs survive on this unforgiving local weather. Inside about 10 minutes, I’d hopped from the beginning kart to a tank, battered a gaggle of bandits that attempted to nick all my stuff, and used a few particular assaults to repel a band of roving goons.
Should you’ve ever picked up a Bandai Namco RPG like this, none of this can be stunning. It handles the identical, it feels the identical, it’s all kitbashed along with the identical manufacturing values and not-quite-triple-A ranges of pseudo-jank. It’s charming, however then I’ve acquired a tolerance for these mid-band RPGs that I think quite a lot of the readership right here doesn’t.
However the recreation has one thing particular that makes it stand out from the seemingly limitless treadmill of One Piece, Dragon Ball and Naruto titles that assist hold Bandai Namco’s coffers wanting wholesome: it’s acquired that Toriyama hook. I could also be poisoned by a really particular sort of 90’s nostalgia the place thick black shading traces, huge white eyes, and mean-looking furrowed brows simply do it for me, however this recreation is attractive. It captures the spirit of Toriyama’s illustrations higher than even Dragon Ball FighterZ, I believe, and that’s in all probability my favorite Dragon Ball recreation on the market.
It’s between Bandai Namco’s iterative upgrades to the way it solves cel-shading and the styling it’s gone with that make Sand Land pop. The extra action-orientated fight would possibly assist make it attraction extra to people who took challenge with the turn-based nature of Blue Dragon or who’re turned off by the retro pixel goodness of the Chrono sequence. Those that keep in mind sitting and watching Dragon Ball with their bowl of cereal and juice bins as children can be enticed by Sand Land’s extra demonic and apocalyptic imaginative and prescient of Earth, and brought in by its dour (and short-lived) story.
The manga lasted lower than a 12 months in its preliminary run, so this recreation is an actual probability for Bandai Namco to develop on one among Toriyama’s less-beloved properties. The fight and gameplay is likely to be pretty middling, but when the event group can add depth and flavour to this dry, bizarre, great world, then it’s actually going to be a recreation I’ll hold my eye on as we trundle nearer to launch.
Sand Land is being developed by ILCA Inc. and is aiming to launch for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X|S, and PC (by way of Steam) quickly. No particular launch date has been given.
