Bandai Namco has released a touching statement made by Sand Land (as well as Dragon Ball) creator Akira Toriyama ahead of the game’s release tomorrow.
In the statement, which was made in January this year, Toriyama, who sadly passed away in March at the age of 68, shares his thoughts about Sand Land, how it relates to his original manga, and what he thinks about video games in general.
He begins by saying that Sand Land (the game, that is, not his manga) “greatly expands the worldview” of the original story, and that the game’s visuals constitute an “excellent” representation of the manga’s art style.
Toriyama goes on to reiterate that Sand Land will feature a new land called “Forest Land”, where you’ll meet new characters that didn’t originally appear in the manga, as well as getting to explore a world visually distinct from the desert environment in which you start.
His statement closes with a particularly touching sentence in which he describes his relationship with gaming. Here’s the sentence in full.
I myself can only play casual games, but I do check out the trending games my family plays, and I think I know a little something about them even for an old man. I seriously recommend the game Sand Land!
It’s a little difficult to read Toriyama’s comments in light of his untimely death, but it’s still nice to hear his thoughts about a project that clearly meant a lot to him.
If you’re unfamiliar with Sand Land, it’s an upcoming open-world action RPG based on Akira Toriyama’s manga of the same name, which was released in 2004.
Developed by Bandai Namco, Sand Land will see the Fiend Prince Beelzebub and his companions exploring a Mad Max-style desert world in search of water to solve an ongoing drought.
The game isn’t the only Sand Land project to land in 2024; an anime based on the manga was also released earlier this year, and it, too, features the new Forest Land area of the manga’s world.
Sand Land launches tomorrow for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox Series X|S. A demo for the game is available right now if you want to try it out.
