Akira Toriyama praises Sand Land in published posthumous letter

The late Akira Toriyama has given his seal of approval on Sand Land, through a letter written before his passing.

Anime and manga fans are celebrating the release of Sand Land today, the desert-dwelling RPG that’s now available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Check out the trailer for Sand Land below

The game’s story follows the Demon Prince Beelzebub who’s joined by a number of friends on a quest to find the Legendary Spring to bring water back to Sand Land.

In my review I gave it a 8/10, calling it one of the most gorgeous anime games I’ve ever seen, and praising its open-world combat, exploration and story-telling.

The manga the game is based on was written by the late, and great, Akira Toriyama, the father of Dragon Ball who inspired a wide variety of other manga and anime series with his work.

Akira Toriyama passed away last month shortly before Dragon Ball’s 40th anniversary and as a tribute, Bandai Namco has shared a letter from the artist providing his thoughts on Sand Land’s video game adaptation.

In the letter, Toriyama described the graphics as “an excellent balance of the atmosphere of the manga and its drawn style,” going on to praise the “attention to detail” found in world design and its inhabitants.

Toriyama went on to say, “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."

The letter concluded with the creator recommending the game to all of his fans, as well as highlighting the new area and story exclusively made for the game adaption, Forest Land.

Sand Land is available right now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, and I’d highly recommend it to any and all RPG fans, whether you’re into anime or not.