At this evening’s (or morning’s, depending on how you look at things) Xbox Presents, we got a very in-depth look at Ryu Ga Gotoku’s upcoming title, Stranger Than Heaven. The game, which takes place in five different eras of modern Japanese history – that’s 1915, 1929, 1943, 1951 and 1965 – will follow the lifelong friendship of a pair of protagonists and examine how that friendship holds up in the rapidly changing context of the country’s vast and complicated 20th Century.
Whilst there are plenty of elements that make this game stand apart from the studio’s previous titles – whether that’s the Like a Dragon series, the Yakuza series, or the Judgement games – there’s one headline difference here for anyone that’s played RGG’s titles in the past decade or so: the combat.
“The true star of combat this time around is that, for the first time, players control the left and right sides of our protagonist independently,” explains RGG producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto during the presentation for the game. “By pressing the [right shoulder button] or [right trigger], players can launch attacks using the right side of their body – be it the right hand or right leg,” he continues. “Naturally, pressing [left shoulder button] or [left trigger] will unleash attacks using the left side.”
A video shows this in action, showing how protagonist Makoto uses a large array of context-sensitive attacks to respond to enemies in different situations. Sakamoto claims this allows for an “unprecedented level of control”, which we can’t verify without having had a chance to play ourselves… but in action, I must say, it looks pretty fluid. Various parts of the presentation show Makoto taking out two enemies at once as they attempt to flank him, or taking advantage of an opponent leaving one side with a particularly grizzly counter.
It seems like there’s slightly more going on here than we got in some of the older Yakuza games; you don’t just mash the inputs to generate chains and take down hordes of hired goons, here. Instead, you can time attacks by holding the relevant buttons to charge up attacks, releasing it at the right moment to take advantage of the situation and deliver a decisive blow. “Using this to land well-timed hits will be the key to excelling in combat,” adds Sakamoto.
You can chain quick attacks into heavy attacks, finish things with one well-timed blow, or block with one hand and dish out punishing counters with the other to out-maneuver your foes. It seems more involved than the more arcade-style combat of the Yakuza series; you need to examine your enemies, get used to the timing, and learn how to execute everything with skill in order to excel.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an RGG game without a massive array of weapons for you to use. In the trailer, we see mallets, knives, hammers and other bladed weapons – and quite a lot of blood, too. But there aren’t always weapons around, so you need to know when to make the most of them when they’re available to you. Beyond the standard combat, Sakamoto also teased certain set-pieces; a fight atop a moving train, a stealth section in the docks, a night-time ambush… it seems the multiple time periods of the game aren’t the only way the studio plans to deliver variety in the title.
I’m intrigued by this system; paired with the myriad other activities in the game (promoting and putting on shows, gathering music and inspiration from the streets of urban Japan, playing cards and getting involved with other gambling ventures), it seems Stranger Than Heaven is really attempting to expand the solid action game foundations already laid down by the Yakuza series and galvanise the strengths RGG studio already knows it has. I’m looking forward to seeing more.
When it launches this Winter, Stranger Than Heaven will be available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud, Xbox Game Pass, Steam and PlayStation 5.