Sand Land introduces the Hearts gang and the new Forest Land gameplay

27.03.2024 - 16:45 / blog.playstation.com / Bandai Namco

Earlier this month, the world lost a one-of-a-kind creative talent with the news of Akira Toriyama’s passing. While Dragon Ball will always be Toriyama-sensei’s best-known work, he leaves behind a legacy full of many other imaginative worlds across games, anime, and manga. Before leaving us, he worked with Bandai Namco to flesh out one of his short manga creations further: Sand Land. Alongside a new anime series, Toriyama-sensei gave input on a videogame adaptation of Sand Land that would allow players to explore this unique world for themselves.

The classic manga Sand Land lives on in Bandai Namco’s new game, which ventures beyond where the original story concludes. Read on to find out what new adventures await our mech-powered demon hero in the wetlands, caves, and Forest Land. Speaking of Forest Land, we also have a reveal of new gameplay from the woodland biome.

Sand Land follows the exploits of Beelzebub, the prince of a tribe of demons living in a vast desert environment known as Sand Land. Because of his heritage, Beelzebub is mischievous, spoiled, and snarky, but he’s also got a soft spot for helping others in need and a strong sense of justice — even if he won’t admit it. Sand Land is facing a crisis: water is becoming increasingly scarce, as a selfish human king is hoarding the live-giving resource. While Sand Land descends into chaos as fighting over the limited supply intensifies, Sheriff Rao approaches the demons to help liberate the water supply. Beelzebub, his handservant Thief, and the ever-mysterious Rao to help Sand Land and maybe even realms beyond. 

Sand Land is an action RPG with a vast world to explore. You directly control Beelzebub, who is accompanied by companions Thief and Rao. Beelzebub is the one who gets in the thick of most of the action, using hand-to-hand combat and dark magic to overcome his foes. The other characters provide support and advice, bantering with the Prince about current events and suggesting where to go and what to do next.

Beelzebub is pretty nimble on foot, but one element that sets Sand Land apart from other titles is its emphasis on vehicles. Beelzebub can acquire and upgrade a huge variety of sweet rides: bikes, tanks, hovercraft, dune buggies, and more. Each vehicle is tailor-made for certain terrain and combat situations: bikes can get you around basic terrain with ease and speed, while jump-bots can help you spring up to higher ground, and tanks are, well, tanky. Vehicles you acquire can be upgraded and customized with weapons, paint, and emblems to make them each uniquely yours.

What’s especially handy is that Beelzebub can call upon many of his vehicles with a few button presses. All it takes is a poof, and you’ve got some mega mobility or