Review:
Sands of Destruction: A Game Review

Imagine a world where anthropomorphic animals called "Ferals" rule and we humans are subject to their whims. Imagine a world plagued by natural disasters where the only way to save the world is to destroy it.

Imagine that and you have Sands of Destruction (World Destruction: Guided Wills in its Japanese release), SEGA's latest RPG for the DS.

The game follows Kyrie, a naive, sheltered boy with the power to reduce everything to sand. He was forced by Morte on a quest to destroy the world and eventually rebuild it in their hearts' desires.

Despite the protagonist being naïve, Kyrie has the untapped power of destruction, unlike other RPG games where the protagonist themselves are avoiding the end of the world. The overall story is refreshing, even if the love story that developed between Kyrie and Morte blossoms as the end draws near is somewhat a reminder of other RPGs out there.

The graphics are not as breathtaking as other RPGs out there, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not that good. What it lacks though, is a lengthy movie sequence in the ending other than a simple visual of what happened.

The soundtrack more than makes up for it with amazing music scores and a cast of Japanese voice actors. The English dub is a little off with the timing, but it's not something the players couldn't forgive.

Combat in the game is a new experience. Rather than the usual method where the characters are limited to performing one action per turn, Sands of Destruction allows the character to perform several amounts of moves at a time. Healing a member, attacking the enemy and defending oneself can be done in one turn.

Of course, the downside is that the enemy has the same ability, which may lead to game over. This provides an additional challenge when dealing with random encounters, and especially in boss fights.