During Summer Game Fest 2023, Bandai Namco Entertainment announced one of their upcoming titles: a Sand Land action RPG. Based on Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s classic manga, the publisher showed a reveal trailer highlighting Sand Land‘s post-apocalyptic aesthetic and gameplay. While Bandai Namco is the game’s publisher, ILCA is in charge of development. Both these companies plan for this game to be among the first installments of the Sand Land Project, which focuses on bringing the Sand Land manga IP to transmedia.
The Sand Land game follows Beelzebub and his group as they navigate a vast desert world. As humans and demons suffer from a water shortage, they embark on a quest to find the Legendary Spring. Players experience the game as Beelzebub, a “super evil fiend” who possesses a little boy’s pure heart but also superhuman strength and telepathic abilities. Alongside him is Sheriff Rao, who intends to save Sand Land from the water shortage by enlisting demons, and Thief, an elderly demon who’s proficient in thievery.
A couple of Sand Land‘s prominent features will be vehicular and character combat. Throughout the game, players can access various vehicles which they can equip with custom loadouts. Vehicles can be used for desert traversal, combat, and to overcome obstacles in the open world. As seen in the trailer, players select from a wide range of vehicular weapons. For example, players can strike from a distance by using missile launchers and guns; they can also engage in melee combat with Beelzebub’s mech. As for character combat, Beelzebub uses his aforementioned abilities against enemies. Whether players travel by foot or vehicle, they will face both perilous forces and valuable allies as they discover their world’s secrets.
Sand Land directly transcribes the premise of Toriyama’s original manga, which has gained worldwide recognition since its publication. This game is one of the first steps in the Sand Land project announced back in December 2022. Bandai Namco and ILCA are working alongside other partners to progress the manga’s entry into multiple media formats. The other known work-in-progress within the Sand Land project is an anime film being produced by Sunrise Studio, Kamikazedouga Co. Ltd., and ANIMA Inc. Limited information is available on this project.
Sand Land will launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. No release window has been given at this time.