Loulan: The Cursed Sand Might Be the Hack-and-Slash Comeback We’ve Been Waiting For

As much as I love what Santa Monica Studio did with the God of War reboot - the emotional storytelling, the cinematic depth, the sheer dad energy - sometimes, I just want to go back to basics. I want the button-mashing, weapon-spinning, chaos-fueled mayhem of the original games. The kind where you walk into a room and your only thought is, "How fast can I turn everything in here into dust?"

That's exactly what Loulan: The Cursed Sand looks ready to deliver. Announced on the PlayStation Blog, this upcoming action RPG is set along the ancient Silk Road and puts you in the bones (literally) of a skeletal warrior known as the Cursed Sand. He's part mummy, part storm, and all rage - a resurrected royal guard on a quest to find his lost princess in the desert kingdom of Loulan.

What's instantly striking is how unapologetically old-school it feels. You've got two forms - Sand Form for balance and Bone Form for pure destruction - and a combat style that's one part God of War, one part Devil May Cry. Massive bosses, wild weapon transformations, cinematic finishers - it's the kind of stylish violence gaming hasn't seen in a while.

Developed by a 16-person team supported by PlayStation's China Hero Project, Loulan mixes myth, archaeology, and hack-and-slash bliss with a haunting desert aesthetic. And honestly? It looks incredible. It's moody, brutal, beautiful - and exactly the kind of over-the-top action game we've been missing.

Watch the trailer below: