Name: A rough diamond beneath the sands.
Item: Sand Land
Rating: 7.5
Author: Philip Tauschek

Before I begin, I wanna start of by saying, rest in peace Akira Toriyama. 

You magnificent bastard, thank you for brightening my childhood with your masterpiece artwork, anime and mangas.

So, Sand Land. 

I have never read the manga series nor have I watched the series recently released. 

However, after spending 15 hours (I am close to finishing the game), I can say that this game is fun and entertaining.

Sadly, this diamond is uncut to perfection and its flaws will show the more you play it.

As you creep towards the finale, the flaws will start rearing its ugly head.

I will not put any spoilers in this review. So if you are a fan of Akira Toriyama's work, go get yourself this game.

So, lets start with the pros.

1. Fun and quirky characters that make you reminiscence old-school cartoons.  The vibe, the dialogue, its got it all. Love it.
2. The vehicle selection and customization. Each vehicles got its strength and weakness. Some are great for exploration, others are for combat etc. As for the customization, you can find some parts can boost up or change the way your vehicle moves or fight.
3. Amazing soundtrack. The Sand Land exploration theme with the duo rhythm guitar riffs is so freaking good.
4. Fast paced and on the Get-Go from the start. This is what I love about the game. it gets you straight in to the meat and potatoes of the game. Unlike most AAA games where you have to sit through 30 minutes of expositions and cringe.

Now for the cons.

1. The story drowns out the more you play. As more characters get fit in and the main goal sways from one side mission to the next, it slowly turns into a (gasp) chore to go through.
2. High-tier vehicle customization parts are dropped by the end-game. This doesn't make sense since, if you beat the story, what else is there to do. The vehicle upgrade progress is meant to make exploration on the open-world easier.
3. Boring side quests. Yes, this game fall prey to that one as well. 
4. The obnoxiously weird transition from cutscene to gameplay. You'd be driving a vehicle towards a quest checkpoint, and as you arrive the cutscene shows that you have exited the vehicle. By the end of the cutscene, it transitions you back inside of it. It's a little pet peeve of mine. So, if this doesn't bother you, you can scratch this off the list.  
5. The annoying repetitive banter/dialogue in the open world. This is on the same level as Dragons Dogma's pawn dialogue in the open world. Instead of "HARPIES!!!" you get lines such as "What do you do when you face a strong enemy?" or "Will we ever fully explore Sand Land?" lines over and over and over again. It will bore into your skull like a hot knife through butter.

And that's about it.

Despite its flaws, I am still playing this game to fully complete it and I am still enjoying the game.

And like I said, if you are a fan of Akira Toriyama, please give this game a chance. 

It is far more better than most recently released games out there.

Sand Land

A rough diamond beneath the sands.

Player Score

Philip Tauschek