Despite having passed away just over a month ago, Akira Toriyama continues to live on in his many creations. Dragon Ball It is easily the best known and loved of all, from where the prolific creator took the vast majority of his production during his lifetime, still an active franchise today, both in manga and anime as well as in games. 

Among his works outside of the adventures of Son Goku and company is sandland, an irreverent saga that takes us to a world transformed into a desert, explored by none other than the son of the devil himself, who together with Zao, a human with a mysterious past and his friend, the monster Thief, try to bring water from back into people's mouths. 

The production includes a new anime, which debuted last month on the subscription service Star + and a video game produced by ILCA and distributed by Namco Bandai, and this is the topic of this review. Is it worth playing? You'll find out soon...

Welcome to Sand Land, where headquarters is your companion!

Based on the manga released in 2000, sandland has a very contemporary premise: in a not too distant future, the earth has become a desert after continuous wars between factions and human greed. There are few villages left that struggle to obtain the precious water so necessary for life. On the other hand, demons began to live in this immense desert, including the devil himself.

One day, the sheriff at one of the stops decides to take action and finally find out where a legendary water source is located, which according to rumors, is in the extreme south of the so-called Sand Land. To do this, he recruits the help of Beelzebub, the devil's son, an extremely powerful but somewhat immature little boy, much like Goku in Dragon Ball.

This adventure brings them face to face with the king's army, a clueless chubby guy who controls all trade in H₂The one on the planet, which guarantees a lot of the action, brawls and jokes that Toriyama is well known for. The game, in turn, has homeopathic doses of all these factors, resulting in a very fun experience, but simple when compared to other similar releases.

You can understand this simplicity, after all Namco Bandai's target audience with this game are fans of the animation and manga, and in the same way that it brought the entire story of Dragon Ball Z to an open world game with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, sandland it also has a vast explorable map, several missions and a somewhat more dynamic rhythm for the plot. 

We can say that it is an amalgamation of some game styles that Namco Bandai itself has already had a lot of success with, especially with the incredible Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, game that I had the pleasure of reviewing last year, and the fight between the Narutos of life. While in the heaven of customization wicks that Rubicon is that you have total control over the type of vehicle you will take to combat, in sandland things are more direct, and when it comes to blows, the little pink devil's list of tricks doesn't even reach Kakashi's thumb.

Even so, the little complexity that the game brings is enough to make the entire adventure something worth following and doing a little of everything. This is especially true for combat inside the tank and other means of transport that you gradually discover. Each one has parts that can be exchanged to make it more powerful and even more useful, and it's really cool how every vehicle has its uses outside of fights too, like the jumper, which takes you to heights that are inaccessible on foot. and the motorcycle, with which it is possible to cross vast fields of quicksand.

As for the fights in the muque, sandland brings a small range of moves that Beelzebub can use, and a few more to unlock by spending points earned as you level up. Don't expect to have one Tekken ou Street Fighter, because you won't find any of that here: there's just a fast, strong and special attack variation. But even without much complication, it's fun to fight, especially because the character is so charismatic and full of catchphrases.

But not everything is rosy in the game's desert. Side missions tend to be a little repetitive and even those that advance the story are quite linear, with a rare case of variety here and there, like the occasional stealth phase. Another part of the game where it loses a little strength is the boss fights. In the overwhelming majority, they boil down to locking aim at him and dodging the surrounding attacks, and then throwing down the wood. The rare exception to the formula ends up being a fight against a tiny enemy that moves like a mosquito, which ends up being a bore.

Toriyama's trait and humor transformed into a game

Other aspects of sandland make up for this lack of depth in terms of gameplay. Its graphics are absolutely beautiful, combining polygons with Toriyama's characteristic drawing style in a beautiful way, very reminiscent of the treatment given to the classic Dragon Quest VIII for PlayStation 2. Those who follow the anime will also love knowing that the voice actors from the cartoon are present in the game and many of the songs are also present here.

The story of the original material, both manga and anime, has a faster pace in this release, joining events and changing the order of appearances so that anyone who knows everything about the plot will be surprised by some things happening out of order during this adventure. . It's not scary at all, but for someone who's already read the comic book and watched the animated adaptation, it was pretty cool to see.

Something that bothered me, however, was the repetition of lines between the characters throughout the game. When you're exploring and without much action going on, the protagonists tend to exchange ideas, developing their personalities and revealing a little of their background, but for some reason these conversations end up happening more than once, sometimes even in sequence, which which tends to fill your patience a bit.

Moreover, sandland takes care of the animated scenes and transitions, keeping the game pace very dynamic and even frantic, always throwing in some new element along the way to make the heroes' journey more chaotic, just as it was done in kakarot. This part is something that I can't complain about in the game, as I never felt bored, even with all the repetition of lines and even content. The delivery of news is done in a pleasant way and even though it is simple, I really enjoyed modifying my weapons and technological gadgets.

Price and availability

sandland will be available from the 26th on most current video game platforms, with the exception of Nintendo Switch. Street Steam, it is possible to pre-purchase the game in two different versions: for R$242,50, you get the standard one, and for 40 extra sleeves, you get the “deluxe” version, which brings a few more items to give you a advantage at the beginning of the adventure.

Now at PlayStation e Xbox, the game is a little saltier. For R$299,99, you get the standard versions of PS4 and PS5 (in the case of Xbox, de One e Series S | X) together in a single purchase, and when you spend R$349,99, you get the perks of the version premium.

So, is Sand Land worth it?

For those who love Akira Toriyama's works, sandland It's an excellent choice. The game treats the creation of the beloved with great care. manga artist bringing quick and easy-to-learn gameplay and a little depth that will please the most experienced without letting the kids down.

The game is beautiful and matches the visual style adopted by the anime very well, which recently debuted on the paid streaming service. For those looking to delve deeper into this not so well-known story written by Kamisama de Dragon Ball You will find a very funny and irreverent world to explore in this game.

Even with its simplicity and tendency to repetition, sandland successfully manages to adapt the nuances of the anime and manga to the video game, even though it does not reach the level of complexity of other games from the producer. It is an excellent choice for newer players with moderate expectations, even a heated veteran will have something to enjoy in this release from Namco Bandai.

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