By Akira Toriyama
Forming bonds with people we don't know is undoubtedly something strange, but it happens more than we could imagine. Especially when you find a form of entertainment or art that you are passionate about, it is easy for you to begin to create a relationship with a certain author through his or her work. Being one of the most important cartoonists and storytellers of Japanese pop culture, having generated affection for Akira Toriyama It is something that happened naturally, whether thanks to his manga, anime or of course, video games, almost all of us had something to do with his father. dragon ball. We were able to realize all of the above firsthand after the strong news of his death a few weeks ago, which feels even more intense having tried for the first time one of the last products in which he was involved. . How does the game based on Sand Land?
A few days ago we had the great opportunity to be at the previous event of Sand Land at the Bandai Namco headquarters in Irvine, California, where together with several members of the international press, we were able to test the game for just over three hours. Due to the very nature of the product and the not so outstanding results that other games based on anime or manga have had, there was some skepticism. At the outset, we can tell you that we are facing an experience with other objectives and with much more important ambitions, since it is committed to an open-world action RPG with different layers of depth that make us think that it is a title with a lot of potential. which could make a big splash once it is released in a few more weeks. Yes, we are quite excited and excited about what is coming from one of the latest works of Akira Toriyama.
Burning desert… and more
Converting any film, anime or manga to a video game will always be a complicated process, due to the natural difference between each form of entertainment. Over the years we have seen countless series that, through a game, try to recreate the events of a certain narrative arc. The results are usually average and in reality, only intended for those who have already consumed the original work, that is, it is almost impossible to watch an anime through a video game. Sand Land It is in an extremely different situation in all this regard, because although its animated series is already being released, in reality the only thing we had as a reference was the manga, which of course, not many have consumed at this time.
For now it is somewhat difficult for me to talk to you precisely about how it is that Sand Land will present the story of Beelzebub and company, because in the demo that we had the opportunity to try, we jumped between different points of the campaign, and of course, the intention was that we would rather see what it offers in terms of game mechanics and design open world. Despite the above, we learned some pretty interesting things that I'm sure you'll be happy to know, whether you've read the manga, or whether this is going to be your first exposure to Toriyama's work.
The first thing to say about this is that the game of Sand Land It will tell us all the events that we saw in the manga, that is, from when Beelzebub and Thief meet Sheriff Rao, until they fulfill their mission. In case you don't know, I tell you that this arc is quite short, getting straight to the point, so it was easy to imagine that its length would not be enough for a complete game. For this reason, it was decided to expand the lore of this entire franchise, making the game basically a sequel. Throughout everything we played, the parts of the story that I got to see were totally new to me who already read the manga. I didn't recognize characters or factions. How does everything look? Honestly, brutally interesting.
Of course, one of the questions that immediately came to mind after seeing all this was how involved he would have been. Akira Toriyama with what is basically a sequel to Sand LandWell, let's remember, this series was supposed to be just a narrative arc and that's it. In an interview with Keishu Minami, producer of the title in question, we were assured that the father of dragon ball He closely supervised all the new story that was made for the game, approving the new adventures that his beloved characters will live beyond the manga. I think that with that, we can all rest assured. Obviously we still need to play the full title to know what the final result has been like. By the way, apparently it won't be a small game, as we were told that completing everything will take around 60 hours.
Action RPG, vehicles and open world
Yes, we know, another anime/manga game. With the exception of just a handful of games, whenever we talk about titles based on anime or manga, things usually go wrong. Even great series like One Punch Man or more recently, Jujutsu Kaisen, were victims of truly terrible video games that in no way do justice to their important names. It also comes to mind One Piece Odyssey, a much more elaborate RPG but for different reasons, ended up falling short. Well, I tell you that ILCA, the developer who was precisely behind said Luffy and company title, is back to Sand Landwhich of course, might not be too exciting, especially if we remember that they were also the ones behind the not-so-loved ones Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Before you go into complete panic or disappointment, there are several important things you should know. The first thing is that in reality, ILCA's last two works were not bad at all, they just did not fit the taste of some fans. The second and most important thing is that I can tell you that after all these hours of this first meeting with Sand Land, I came across an ambitious game, with several layers of depth and with enormous potential thanks to the great care that it seems to take in each of its sections. The truth is that at no time did I feel like I was playing a product that was only promotional for something else or that had the objective of making money from fans. Let us remember that Sand Land It doesn't even have many fans yet, this game precisely has the mission of bringing the audience closer to the franchise, so the commitments are markedly different than if, for example, we were talking about a game title. dragon ball or any other consolidated IP.
Having said the above, I tell you that Sand Land is an open-world action RPG, which, although it uses concepts and mechanics already tested hundreds of times by other similar games, also has something of a proposal. The game's combat is divided into two main pillars. The first of them is when we are on foot directly controlling Beelzebub, who has two types of main attacks, as well as the possibility of using arts with the help of Thief, Rao or any other character that is in our party. Here, the title behaves in a standard way and just as you would expect from an action experience. The fights I experienced were fun and the encounters against the couple of bosses I saw were quite challenging, but up to that point, nothing out of the ordinary or worth highlighting too much.
Things get much more interesting with the whole topic of vehicles. You see, almost at any time, you can use the iconic tank from the manga, as well as a high-speed light motorcycle, a combat robot or a kind of flying chair that reminded me of the one Frieza used from Dragon Ball Z before their transformations, among many others. Each of these machines, which by the way, are controlled markedly differently, having their own advantages and disadvantages, have two types of shots, as well as a special attack. These characteristics can be modified at will and the truth is, I was very surprised by the enormous variety of pieces there are. Fighting aboard these vehicles feels great, as you can see all the firepower of your tank, for example, wreaking havoc on the enemy. I would tell you that in reality, the central point of Sand Land revolves around this whole idea.
My only doubt about this is that by being able to take out your vehicles practically at any time, combat on foot loses some meaning, especially in the open world; That is to say, why would I be bothering to eliminate the enemies one by one in hand-to-hand combat, if I can cannonball them with my tank and kill five or six of them at once. I'm not sure if the whole issue of combat on foot is going to be limited to closed spaces. Speaking of closed spaces, I tell you that in the demo we were also able to see a section inside a dungeon in which we had to solve some puzzles to lower and raise the water level to progress, as well as another stealth section. Yes, it seems that Sand Land It will also bet on variety in its gameplay, not everything will be combat.
The graphical presentation and performance of Sand Land It was another of the things that surprised me the most. We carried out this test on a PS5, which ran the game in a beautiful 4K and at a completely stable 60 frames per second. The title is being developed in Unreal Engine and the truth is that ILCA is doing a spectacular job in portraying Akira Toriyama's art in each of the assets that we see on the screen. The use of cel shading is brutal and makes you almost feel inside that world of dunes and high temperatures. Furthermore, I can tell you that the game already feels finished, because added to its great performance, I did not encounter any bugs, glitches or any fateful crash typical of preview events of this type.
More than an anime/manga game?
I am extremely excited about what I was able to play Sand Land. After having fallen in love with the manga, it seems to me that the game will do justice to what is one of the last works on which the great Akira Toriyama worked directly. I have a great taste in my mouth and the idea that ILCA will be delighting us with a great title that will completely break the rule that games based on an anime or manga are terrible. Of course, these reactions are only preliminary and some of them could change once we get to play the full experience, but right off the bat, I can tell you that you must be pretty excited about what Bandai Namco is about to release.
I would have liked to go much deeper into each of the aspects of Sand Land as an open-world action RPG, but as usually happens in these types of events, time passed like water. We can only look forward to the official launch, which, by the way, will be taking place on April 26 on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Also, if you want to have a first-hand taste of the title, I tell you that for a few days now, there has been a demo available for everyone.
#Hands #Sand #Land #Atomix
