Sand Land, the open world adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s standalone manga, has actual potential. And truthfully, that stunned us, as a result of we had this sport (maybe unfairly) tagged as one other considerably underwhelming Bandai Namco tie-in. However now, having performed by way of a number of hours of the journey ourselves, we predict this might be one of many writer’s greatest initiatives in years.
You play as Beelzebub, a plucky demon prince who, a lot to his displeasure, will get wrapped up in humanity’s battle for survival. Set in a seemingly countless desert, the sport’s an attractive mix of exploration and fight, and far of what you do appears to be in service of levelling up each Beelzebub and his choice of automobiles.
Yep, our horned hero has entry to a fairly rotund tank, a gun-toting bike, and even a hulking mech swimsuit. You may change between the machines at any time, every of them sporting their very own strengths, weaknesses, and weaponry. For instance, we stumbled throughout some ruins that had been inaccessible with out the mech swimsuit’s enhance soar, and traversing the huge Sand Land itself could be a nightmare with out hopping aboard one thing that has treads or wheels.
There is a very nice rhythm to Sand Land’s gameplay, as you swap between automobiles each out and in of fight. Whereas Beelzebub is completely able to punching people and moderately-sized monsters into submission because of his demonic power, grappling with large beasts and enemy machines requires some extra firepower.
Fortunately, the controls are easy and the motion fight is straightforward to know proper off the bat. With the tank, you will be strafing round targets and shelling them when there’s a gap, whereas the mech swimsuit can block incoming assaults earlier than retaliating with its large steel fists. It simply feels enjoyable to play, and there appears to be a satisfying diploma of enemy selection, particularly with non-compulsory bosses dotted across the open world.
There’s only one side of Sand Land’s gameplay that we’ve not been capable of expertise, and that is the grind. You see, all of Beelzebub’s automobiles might be upgraded and customised utilizing assets that you just collect whereas exploring. Primarily based on what we have performed, it is arduous to inform simply how a lot hoarding you will must do with a purpose to maintain each Beelzebub and his arsenal on the acceptable ranges. If Sand Land nails its development techniques, we actually could possibly be onto a winner — but it surely’ll need to guarantee that all the things’s balanced in a approach that does not detract from the open world’s sense of discovery.
The storytelling’s additionally a little bit of an unknown on the time of scripting this preview. The manga tells an easy however charming story that is full of enjoyable characters — and that very same story is on the coronary heart of this sport. Nevertheless, as will little question be the case with the upcoming anime adaptation, the sport considerably expands upon the supply materials, introducing recent places and new characters. Establishing an attractive story in an open world launch is not simple, however hopefully Sand Land can do the unique manga proud.
With some placing visuals, buttery easy efficiency at 60 frames-per-second, and a gameplay loop that already feels enjoyable, our expectations for the total model of Sand Land have been heightened. Should you’re on the fence, very like we had been, then we would extremely suggest testing the demo for a style of the sport’s exploration and fight. Once more, this has the potential to be one thing of a shock hit when it launches later this month on PS5.
Have you ever tried Sand Land? Are you trying ahead to the total sport? Hop aboard your trusty tank and begin rolling into the feedback part beneath.
