Stranger Than Heaven Hands-On Preview – Fists of Fury

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RGG Studio is known primarily for churning out games in the Yakuza franchise at a blistering pace. Unfortunately, if you aren’t familiar with the franchise, it might be a bit daunting to jump into the Yakuza pool given there’s so much lore that might fly over your head.

That’s where Stranger Than Heaven comes in. While not outright marketed as a Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza in the West) game, it does act like a prequel of sorts, though beyond focusing on the formation of the Tojo clan, the extent of it being connected to the previous series is not known. But considering the new name, new cast of characters, and being set in an entirely different era, players should be able to jump in without knowing anything about the prior series.

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That’s not the only thing changing in Stranger Than Heaven, as the combat has also been given an overhaul. We’re far off from the game’s release date in January 2027, but based on what we’ve played so far, the upcoming action game is already one of the big titles to keep an eye out for next year.

This Open-World Game Looks Heavenly

At Tokyo Game Show, MP1st was given a chance to try the game out for about 25 minutes. In the demo, RGG Studio prepared three fight scenarios that ranged from beginner to advanced, giving us a taste of the game’s combat.

First thing off the bat, the game looks stunning. I asked the PR rep whether it was running on a PS5 or if I was playing on a PC and using a DualSense, and I received confirmation that yes, it was on a PS5.

Let me just say that the trailers do not do the game justice. Even in an unfinished state, the game’s world looked gorgeous. Not only were the characters animated well, but the fidelity of each was a sight to see. Walking through the streets, you can see papers being blown away by the wind, dust particles, smoke and all that.

A small note, we couldn’t really explore the open world much in this demo, as going off specific sections would stop us via an invisible wall and trigger an in-game message saying this part will be available in the full version of the game.

The shops that you can enter are filled with residents going about their daily lives, and the vendors sell anything from liquor to ramen, which you can consume using your in-game money. These will trigger temporary buffs to your health or stamina, though they will be timed and usually last just for 30 seconds or so.

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You can also interact with the stalls and vendors, and you can not only buy stuff from them, but you can even mess up their shops. I wasn’t able to tell if this will have any long-term effects, but it is a nice touch to be able to just wreak havoc if you wanted to.

Yes, I’m aware we could do this in Yakuza/Like a Dragon, but it does seem like things have been scaled up even more.

Violence Is Key

The demo primarily focused on combat, as it’s evident RGG Studio wants to show this off moreso than exploration or the game’s narrative. One main difference from the Yakuza games is that in Stranger Than Heaven, the controls have been changed drastically. This time around, the left and right triggers act as your left and right hands/arms, respectively. This means pressing the right trigger will result in a right-handed punch/attack, and the left trigger, left-handed attacks. In contrast, these were reserved for guarding, heat action, and stances in prior Yakuza/Like A Dragon game’s.

The left and right buttons are heavy attacks, which usually take a lot longer to pull off, be it barehanded or with weapons equipped.

Blocking is done by pressing circle, but you can’t just spam your blocks, as you’ll need to also press left or right trigger depending on which direction the enemy attacks. It’s easier said than done when you have 3-5 guys trying to kick your brains out.

So far, the combat feels visceral and very satisfying, be it using your fists and feet, or with weapons. Each punch felt impactful, and getting enemies dizzied enough meant you could take them down by pressing the right and left triggers together (you’ll know you can do it since the game will show an indicator which buttons to press). If you don’t do it fast enough, the enemy will recover. But if you do manage to take them down, you’ll then be able to mount and pummel them to a pulp.

Things are taken up a notch with weapons. The game’s protagonist, Makoto Daito, is able to wield hammers, crowbars, samurai swords, and more to aid him in taking out enemies. Each weapon has a different attack animation and a different finisher that felt super satisfying to pull off.

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Using your samurai sword to stab an enemy in the stomach when they’re down felt very satisfying. The game doesn’t shy away from violence, that’s for sure.

Each phase of the demo had different enemies, with the first phase primarily there to show the player the ropes, while the second phase teaches you to deal with multiple enemies at once. The third phase sees the player go one-on-one with a samurai-wielding villain who was a nasty piece of work to take out.

Pray to the Heavens!

As someone who’s not a that massive of a fan of the Yakuza games, Stranger Than Heaven turned things around for me, personally. After the three phases, I wanted to experience more. More combat, check out more shops, and granted it wasn’t possible, see more of the open world.

Not only that, but the title went from being “another Yakuza game” to now sitting atop my most anticipated game of 2027.

SEGA and RGG Studio seem to have something special with Stranger Than Heaven, and I pray that the demo’s magic carries over to the final version when it releases on January 15, 2027 for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

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