Sand Land Spoiler-Free Review: A Fitting Tribute to Akira Toriyama | Backlog Battle

[@Heavenlaid]

I have to say you nailed it with this one Alex. Really respectful tribute to Toriyama and nice review of the game itself. Kudos

[@BacklogBattle]

Thank you! Glad you appreciate it!

[@FireBomberBassist]

Toriyama has been with me since childhood. His passing really hurt. I cant wait to pick this up.

[@loto7197]

Its more than just a tribute, its his swan song. He was much more involved in the game development than he was with the anime

[@dogdogthecat3129]

The game really surprised me in terms of how much I've been enjoying the characters and story so far. It just feels "fun". It's hard to explain, but characters like Thief or Beelzebubs dad add a lot. There's just so much heart here. The repeated dialogue thing is definitively an issue though. At first, it's interesting, then it's just weird. Not even annoying, it's just awkward feeling. Repeated lines is one thing, we've all heard it a lot with attacks and whatnot, but the things repeated are more akin to little stories and anecdotes which aren't things that should be repeated like they are here.

[@BacklogBattle]

You have the right of it! I think the things that really pulled me in were the fun vehicular combat, how the side quests grew Spino, and the story being so faithful to the source material. Like you said, it’s fun - and it’s difficult to explain!

[@leemcknight4862]

I watch Dragon Ball when I was little it's a shame that he passed away 2 months ago Akira Toriyama will always be remembered he's the one that inspired a generation hopefully someone will keep his legacy going

[@civilwarfare101]

I just finished the Sand Land anime and it was pretty enjoyable, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece but it's an enjoyable watch, it even has stuff that other post apocalyptic stories don't have by including the supernatural. It even has tanks defeating mechs which is what I enjoy seeing since tanks would realistically defeat mechs with no problem at all. I'm going to be getting this game since it has vehicular combat and those kinds of games don't really come out anymore and the latest Twisted Metal got cancelled as well as it was going to be a live service game. This game looks like everything the Mad Max game from 2015 should've been especially since things in this game don't seem to be as big as grind as that game is. It's nice to know that this is an anime and manga licensed game that has a decent amount of soul put into it, I hope I enjoy it. This game looks like something I would enjoy.

[@laniston]

My first RPG was the Dragon Warrior game on NES that my brother got via Nintendo Power magazine. Safe to say then that Akira Toriyama's work helped shape my childhood love of gaming and all the way until now

[@PikUpYourPantsPatrol]

It starts off slow but I'm loving it now, 12 hours in

[@WaruiDeshou]

Loved your review here. You got all the relevant points across while adopting a bit of a different framework. Keep up the great analysis and experimentation with your format!

[@Zero_Tester]

The tank/mecha battle reminded me a bit of Steambot Chronicles,and Toriyama mecha design has always been good.

[@colesutra]

The sensibilities behind a "purehearted" fiend who makes the world a better place by beating up everyone who's eviler than he is, instead of becoming eviler himself, is just so good! But yeahhhh...if I hear how cacti are prickly by nature *one more time*.. Thief's walking home.

[@lc3212]

Yea the repeating dialogue especially in boss fights is annoying but something I try to tune out lol. To touch on your point though it’s crazy how much is repeated when exploring but they have so many excuses written for beelzebub to try and convince the characters he’s this mean evil demon while doing all these good deeds lol. I know it’s silly and can be considered cliched even but it I can’t help but smile.

[@NachtKaiser666]

While the demo did leave me with an appetite for more with the town locked off and dungeons being basically empty, I did sense there was more to it than that. Your review did confirm what I thought and I'll definitely pick the game up at some point. Thank you Toriyama-san for all your work!

[@lc3212]

Well I’m not far in (11 hrs I think) a few of those hrs have been side quest and messing around in the garage. I love this game though. Yea I agree about the difficulty and the melee combat but the mandatory melee sections so far haven’t last long enough to annoy me or anything and are still fun imo just not as much as vehicle combat. Also Alex I wanted to say thanks for the awesome reviews and I love how you put toriyama sans quotes throughout your review. I have read and seen many stories from others about how his works have inspired and helped others and also hearing other manga and anime creators talk about his impact on their careers. To have sandland, a simple manga that he wrote on a whim as his farewell to us sad since he passed away but also fittingly in honor of his memory as you have pointed out. So thank you for the thoughtful review.

[@GeoChad71]

I truly love your content man, keep up the great work!!

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks!

[@ryanschulz1838]

Hey, thanks for letting me know about this game!

[@Buradoran]

The editing on this video is fantastic

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks!

[@femtrooper]

I have so much on my plate but I really love Toriyama so I owe it to myself to at least play the demo for this one and give it a chance!

[@BacklogBattle]

The demo is pretty dry, no pun intended! Not a good representation of the full game

[@Rave265]

Just got my copy last night! It'll be something I can easily slide into when I'm breaking from Stellar Blade and Unicorn Overlord. So far, and as much as I enjoy the English voice talent, the DIRECTION has been very lackluster, even just plain bad. It's as if the talent were just given a single take to work with, because a lot of the lines don't quite match with the characters in the moment very well. Other than that, being a big fan of DQ, and all of Toriyama's monsters and characters, Sand Land is something I've been anticiparing since hearing of it back then.

[@BacklogBattle]

Some of the scenes fell a bit flat for sure, but I think it’s fine for what it is. It’s not this overly dramatic story that really counts for that. I suppose I count voice performances as bad if it’s truly atrocious. But certainly, Sand Land’s is a bit better than that.

[@Rave265]

@BacklogBattle Oh, for sure! I understand that it isn't a big, epic story or anything. However, as you've mentioned about the same lines repeating over and over ('Put the pedal to the floor!' lol), it honestly feels like proper care and attention wasn't given to situations like that. (I also have my own personal training in VO, and witnessing this just makes me want to low-key pull my hair out, lol.)

[@ty_sylicus]

I'm excited for Sand Land.

[@jgreysquirrel]

Great review! , after the lack of direction in the demo I was a little worried about the game. I'm going to pick it up and take it slow to enjoy the story and silliness.

[@BacklogBattle]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@sepulchral.]

Another game to add to the backlog.

[@MrDarksol]

If we didn't have so many other R PG's coming out within the next few months and if I wasn't so heavy focused on certain ones then I would definitely buy this. I grew up on dragon ball Z and some parts of dragon quest in my teenage and adult years and while I am sick and tired of the open world genre at least with this one it's warranted considering that it takes place in a desert which is perfect for all those mad max jokes. Except it would be if mad max was replaced by Akira Toriyama characters and our MC is a demon lol. Which speaking which I think this is the first time to my knowledge we actually had a demon as the protagonist that doesn't just look like a human but it's told multiple times they are a demon. I could be 100% wrong in that regard especially for the man's work but overall for the last thing he did before he died I think this is a good comfort game. Plus you can get a model kit of the tank which is just awesome so great job Alex and once again, Akira Toriyama may you rest in peace❤❤❤!

[@Kuzgunrunner1]

Can you show us the Sand Land tank model please looks sicks

[@BacklogBattle]

I’d have to build it first!

[@adamheeley285]

Really hope this comes to the switch. It looks like it might be to gfx intensive for it though.

[@BacklogBattle]

I’ve played so many games that shouldn’t be intensive on the Switch lately that are that I feel like if they attempted this, the Switch would explode lol