Sands of Destruction

 DS
  • Publisher: Sega
  • Release Date: Jan 12, 2010
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 19
  3. Negative: 3 out of 19
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  1. Magnvs
    Nov 4, 2010
    4
    Giving a game a low score is always sad, especially when it's a game with a lot of potential. Sands of Destruction, unfortunately, is a sad excuse of the great JRPG it could have been. The plot's premises (a group of heroes out to destroy the world) could have been interesting in better hands, but sadly the characters' horrid dialogues and lack of characterization (mixed with a lack ofGiving a game a low score is always sad, especially when it's a game with a lot of potential. Sands of Destruction, unfortunately, is a sad excuse of the great JRPG it could have been. The plot's premises (a group of heroes out to destroy the world) could have been interesting in better hands, but sadly the characters' horrid dialogues and lack of characterization (mixed with a lack of concrete reasons to do what they are doing for 90% of the game, especially the main character) totally ruined any pathos the plot could have had (quite surprisingly, since the writer is Masato Kato). The shallow attempts at humour are not only unsuccessful, but also manage to further compromise the game's atmosphere. The setting is also quite unpolished: aside from the initial premises there is no effort to give it any life or credibility, making for a world not worthy the time to be saved or destroyed. And those aren't even the main issues: the battle system, sadly, is completely broken, with bugged turn order (the turn indicator is practically useless, since any monster will act multiple times in a row even when he wasn't supposed to have a turn, totally ruining any strategy), senseless damage fluctuations from turn to turn (an attack that does 1 damage could very well be a one-shot killer the next turn) and unbalanced attacks (the flurry combos, being ridiculously powerful, are the way to go, nor is there any practical reason to develop the characters in any other way). Sure, the graphics are nice and Mitsuda's OST while not a masterpiece is enjoyable, but Sands of Destruction is nonetheless a big disappointment.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

56
#56 Best DS Game of 2010
29
#29 Most Discussed DS Game of 2010
23
#23 Most Shared DS Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
63

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 20
  3. Negative: 3 out of 20
  1. Universo Nintendo
    70
    If you can put up with the flaws, this will be a fun and exciting RPG, but it’s indeed hard to ignore some of them.
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  2. SpazioGames
    64
    It's hard to play Sands of Destruction where it could have been enjoyable and easy: hard for the tremendous amount of random encounters and, most of all, for the insanely unbalanced battle system, base on luck more than ability.
    Read full review
  3. Nintendo Power
    70
    It's a colorful, splashy fantasy role-playing game--no less, but also no more. [Jan 2010, p.89]
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