New RPG inspired by Dragon Ball creator’s manga looks stunning

pcgamesn.com:

Sand Land grabbed a hold of my attention unexpectedly after its reveal this summer, and I’ve been waiting for more news on the upcoming RPG since. Developed by ILCA and published by JRPG king Bandai Namco Entertainment, Sand Land is shaping up to be nothing short of exciting. The new game is inspired by Akira Toriyama’s manga of the same name. If you don’t know who Toriyama is, he is the creator of Dragon Ball and pretty much a deity among dedicated manga readers.

While Sand Land features an art style reminiscent of Dragon Ball’s own, the upcoming RPG game packs its own unique story and cast of quirky characters. You play as protagonist Beelzebub, the Fiend Prince, as he explores a legendary desert-scape inhabited by devilish demons and humans suffering from a water shortage. Joining Beelzebub is a crew of heroic misfits, accompanying him along the way in his action-packed adventure.

The game just got its first developer diary, where the game’s producer, Keishu Minami, discusses Sand Land’s ins and outs. In this first video, Minami explores the game’s enemies and vehicles. Vehicles are central to gameplay, especially when taking on the bigger enemies. It looks like we’ll get to make use of everything like battle bots, motorcycles, tanks, and hovering vehicles to gain an advantage.

We’ll get to customize our vehicles to suit our playstyle by changing up engines, primary and secondary weapons, the undercarriage, and more. The Fiend Prince is powerful on his own, too. Outside of vehicular combat, the developer says that “Beelzebub can connect combos with normal attacks, or activate skills to use powerful techniques that are different.” As you progress, Beelzebub’s skill tree will unlock and the number of skills available