When films, series and books are implemented as video games, there is always a fine line between a brilliant masterpiece and absolute trash. The developers not only have to deliver a good game, but at the same time they also have fans breathing down their necks who are watching the work like a hawk.
Anyone who has never heard of Sand Land before (buy now ) heard, he gets a short crash course. The Shonen manga was originally penned by Akira Toriyama in 2000. The mangaka previously made himself known with series such as Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump a name. However, Sand Land initially only consisted of a few short stories with sparse action and focused more on socially critical topics.
Advertisement
This video is currently being created. Please try again later.
In a near future – the exact year is not specified – the world will be just a single dusty planet. Wars have turned the blue planet into a desert and water is a scarce commodity. The apparently last source of water belongs to the greedy king of Sand Land and he only gives out his expensive water at horrendous prices.
At this point we will forego any spoilers. Later, however, we will discuss content that is not yet known from the manga, but happens quite early on in the anime. We won't give any late-game spoilers – but this much will be said: Anyone who has already watched the anime knows what direction the game is taking approximately developed.
General…Shiva?!
Now back to the king and his water. Sheriff Rao, who previously served as a general in the Great War, is tired of the king and turns against him. In search of the “Legendary Source” he teams up with the demon prince Belzebub and his subordinate Sheef. In return, the prince receives a games console. It's not named in the game, but we know from the manga that it's a Playstation 6 with Dragon Quest 13. A little Easter egg that would have worked great in the game and would have paid tribute to Akira Toriyama, who, in addition to his manga, was also involved in character design for games like Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger and Blue Dragon.
Advertisement
Source: reddit.com
Are you ready? Teamwork!
As befits a JRPG, we work as a team throughout. We are almost never separated on patrols and in fights. However, we cannot change the characters. Our main character, who we always control with a few exceptions, is Belzebub. The Demon Prince is supernaturally fast on foot, can easily take enemy blows and bullets and can deliver just as powerfully.
Depending on your preference, individual team members can be improved as they level up. Belzebub's abilities are directly geared towards combat. Sheef, on the other hand, has some passive abilities with which he can suck up objects from the environment or reveal secret items. Rao, on the other hand, is prepared for battle as a seasoned general with offensive skills.
A whole host of different enemies await us in the extensive Sand Lands desert. In addition to the royal troops, who don't like it at all when a demon combs the desert, we also encounter dangers from nature: scorpions, dinosaurs, crocodiles and a few more.
Right from the start of the game we get a brief introduction to infiltrating enemy facilities. To do this, Sheef puts on his finest clothes and explains with a lot of humor how we have to proceed. Over the course of the game, Sheef has infiltrated our hearts anyway, because with his slightly annoyed attitude and meta comments about the game that keep appearing, he is an absolute favorite.
However, the stealth passages are neither numerous nor demanding. We sneak through various military bases, past soldiers. If, in rare cases, someone does get in the way, we scare them from behind so that they fall over and disappear. However, we don't stand out too quickly, which means we can happily “run” through these passages. The game signals us in good time when a discovery is imminent.