SAND LAND - Pre-Order Bonus (DLC)

SAND LAND is an action RPG adaptation of Akira Toriyama's single-volume manga of the same name, developed by ILCA and published by Bandai Namco. You play as Beelzebub, a young Fiend Prince, teaming up with the elderly Sheriff Rao and the demon general Thief to find a legendary water source in a world where drinkable water is hoarded by a corrupt king. It is a compact world with a very specific aesthetic - sandy wastes, retrofuturist vehicles, and that unmistakable Toriyama character design that made Dragon Ball what it is. If you bounced off the source material, this probably will not convert you. If you loved it, the game translates that visual language with genuine care. The combat system is action-based and vehicle-heavy, which is genuinely the most interesting thing about it. Beelzebub does not just run around punching things on foot - your company builds, upgrades, and pilots a growing arsenal of tanks and mechs, each with distinct handling and weapon loadouts. There is real mechanical variety in how different vehicles feel, and the upgrade loop gives you something to chase across the runtime. On foot combat exists and is serviceable, leaning on Beelzebub's demonic abilities, but the vehicular combat is where the design ambitions live. Boss encounters in particular use the vehicle systems in ways that feel thought-through rather than tacked on. Where SAND LAND stumbles is in the open world surrounding those systems. The map is large relative to the story it is telling, and the side content rarely rises above fetch-quest filler - the exact kind of padded XP scaffolding that makes me tired. The main narrative is brisk and mostly faithful to the manga, which means it resolves before you feel like the world has been fully explored, yet the optional content does not add meaningful character depth or lore payoff. Choices do not branch here. This is not a game that rewards re-reads or second playthroughs for narrative reasons. What you see in hour one is structurally what you get in hour twenty. The writing is affectionate toward its source, and the trio of Beelzebub, Rao, and Thief has genuine warmth that carries the lighter tonal beats well. Toriyama's comedy-adventure DNA is intact. But SAND LAND the game is ultimately a vehicle (literally) for action set pieces dressed in a beloved property, not a deep RPG with branching consequence or systemic storytelling. The 88 percent Steam approval and 75 Metacritic score feel accurate - it is a solid, sometimes fun adaptation that will not embarrass the source material, but it will not transcend it either. Fans of the manga get a playable love letter. Everyone else gets a decent but unambitious action RPG with good mech combat and a thin world.

Monika · Scout Team

RPGs

Be the first to comment on SAND LAND - Pre-Order Bonus (DLC).