SAND LAND Review – The World in a Grain of Sand

SAND LAND is a relatively recent development, launching in 2000 and running for 14 chapters. While it wouldn’t seem as fitting for an epic action adventure, ILCA’s adaptation surprisingly delivers the goods. There are some rough edges here and there, and the vehicular combat isn’t the deepest, but this is a satisfying journey with an enjoyably well-realized atmosphere and more than its fair share of content.

SAND LAND takes place in a post-apocalyptic world called, well, Sand Land. Bandits and wild creatures run rampant. Water is a luxury, and with the Royal Army essentially monopolizing it, it’s a struggle for most of humanity to survive. You control Beelzebub, the Fiend Prince, who hangs out with his demon friends, playing video games, reading comic books, and assaulting the Royal Army’s transports to steal water.

"There’s some interesting commentary about the preconceived notions that demons and humans have of each other, represented through the conversations between Rao and Thief."

In fairly quick succession, he meets Sheriff Rao, who seeks help locating the Legendary Spring. Choosing Thief to accompany him, Beelzebub sets out, in no small part motivated by the last remaining video game console. As far as premises, SAND LAND is very straightforward, but that’s one of the appeals. You hit the ground running, exploring the world and familiarizing yourself with the vehicle controls one moment before outrunning a Geji Dragon and beating up some bandits.

Throughout all this, we learn more about Beelze’s strength, how he never runs from a fight, and how demons aren’t supposed to kill. Thief provides comic relief but also serves as a source of wisdom when he’s not sneaking around in a comical Santa Claus outfit to steal stuff. Rao is perhaps the best, fulfilling the responsible adult role, but also possessing surprising tactical acumen. Ann also plays a central role as a mechanic and is equal parts happy-go-lucky and skilled in upgrading, customizing, and building new vehicles.

It’s a motley crew, to be sure, but they play off each other quite well. There’s some interesting commentary about the preconceived notions that demons and humans have of each other, represented through the conversations between Rao and Thief.

Meanwhile, Beelze and Ann are the more future-facing heroes, tackling whatever comes their way and constantly moving forward. The voice acting is solid in this regard, though some dialogue and localization aren’t the best. It’s serviceable overall and shines the most when focusing on the core cast. However, I could do without characters repeating the same lines and advice ad nauseam.

"The vehicles are the main attraction, as each has a unique function while exploring the world and different weapon loadouts and traits in combat."

There are plenty of other characters to encounter in the Sand Land, from the Swimmers and their obsession with taking out Beelze to the arrogant but ultimately honorable General Are. I wasn’t too enamored by the main threats since they come off as comically evil at times with very little else to them. They don’t ruin the experience by any means but they also don’t stand out. The game does a pretty good job of creating stakes, even as Beelze whoops almost all challengers without breaking a sweat, but as a whole, you shouldn’t expect anything too extensive.

There are two main gameplay components to SAND LAND – traveling on foot, which turns it into a beat-’em-up style game, and vehicles, which form the bulk of exploration and combat. Beelze can unleash light and heavy attacks and perform tricks on stunned opponents, amounting to tossing them around. Special skills eventually become available, from rush combos to tossing boulders. Rao and Thief don’t participate directly in combat, but you can call them in to assist, and they have their benefits (like the latter causing enemies to drop more items or money).

Hand-to-hand combat can feel simple initially, but you’ll eventually unlock combos, launching enemies into the air to juggle them, sliding sweeps, and charged attacks. Overall, it’s solid—again, nothing extraordinary—but smooth and responsive, though I would have preferred better tells on enemies. A faint red glow is hard to make out at times.

The vehicles are the main attraction, as each has a unique function while exploring the world and different weapon loadouts and traits in combat. Your first is a tank capable of firing heavy armor-piercing rounds and machine gun fire, though it’s not the fastest. The Jump-Bot is next, a bi-pedal bot capable of accessing higher terrain and stomping on enemies (which I found underwhelming). It also has a machine gun but lobs grenades in an arc.

"Though this isn’t a seamless open-world game, with some towns and areas requiring a loading screen, it incorporates several elements of the same."

Other options open up quickly, and while leading to interesting encounters, they also play a part when progressing through the story. Thanks to the miracles of capsule technology, you can store vehicles and deploy them instantly, blowing up a cracked boulder with a tank one moment and accessing the high ground the next with the Jump-Bot. Since you’ll encounter enemy vehicles and ground infantry, not to mention overwhelming creatures, the vehicular combat feels more engaging.

There’s also a hefty amount of crafting and upgrading, whether you’re leveling the vehicle’s base stats, unlocking new Chip Slots (which can offer different benefits like more health or disrupting foes), or adding new parts. The gear grind is thankfully not that hefty—you can get by on salvaging parts from defeated enemies and opening chests—but be prepared to kill and collect everything you see since the resource demand is no joke. At times, it felt like the amount of Zeni wasn’t enough, necessitating a quick visit to the store to sell any excess materials.

Combat isn’t too challenging overall, especially when you’ve leveled your vehicle and its weapons enough (at least on Normal). Still, there’s some satisfaction in mowing down hordes of foes and blowing up tanks, which is a good thing since there’s a lot of it. Like in regular combat, your allies can assist in different ways, like Rao magically rolling up in his own tank (and admittedly not doing much due to some AI kerfuffles) or Ann refilling your health.

Though this isn’t a seamless open-world game, with some towns and areas requiring a loading screen, it incorporates several elements of the same. You’ll cruise around on seemingly endless plains of sand, exploring caves with chests of parts, jumping on rock formations to mine materials, saving wandering NPCs from attacks, and fighting Alpha monsters, who do put up a pretty good fight and encourage skillful boost usage without burning out.

"SAND LAND won’t win any awards for its mechanics or gameplay systems, and even with the interesting characters and setting, the story can feel pretty typical and even cliched."

However, the range of activities does feel a bit lacking. SAND LAND has an extensive range of side quests, yet they boil down to picking up and delivering materials, slaying some monsters and defeating enemies for bounties, or partaking in battle arenas. While this can get monotonous, at least the game sticks to its strengths, which is the combat. There are some vehicle races to mix things up slightly, and as you complete tasks in Spino, it starts to change for the better (even providing a room that you can customize to your liking).

It is somewhat odd that the development team didn’t play around a bit more with survival mechanics. Despite the dire state of the world, water is plentiful, located in random outposts throughout the world, and all it does is restore your health. Granted, elements like dehydration would probably interfere with the overall game flow, so I won’t complain. It’s just weird, given the state of the world.

Visually, the world is stunning to behold, maintaining the manga’s aesthetic (right down to the shading) while still looking high-fidelity. The atmospherics, lighting, and particle effects are especially important in a setting like this, and they’re capably handled, making you really feel like a Fiend Prince traversing a roiling hot desert and being cooked by the sun.

SAND LAND won’t win any awards for its mechanics or gameplay systems, and even with the interesting characters and setting, the story can feel pretty typical and even cliched. Nevertheless, as an adaptation, it’s a solid action RPG with a significant amount of vehicle customization and combat, gorgeous graphics, and extensive activities, making for a fun experience.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.