Tokyo Game Show 2026 - Stranger Than Heaven Hands-on
RGG Studio demos are a fixture of TGS.
This year, we got Stranger Than Heaven, a spin-off-slash-prequel to the Like a Dragon (Yakuza) series. It follows Makoto Daito, eventual founder of the Tojo Clan, across five eras, stretching from 1915-1965, and five distinct locations. The demo offered a very limited slice from three of those: 1915 Kokura, Fukuoka; 1929 Kure, Hiroshima, and 1943 downtown Osaka. Each linear section was structured identically: do some light exploration while walking toward a fight, then throw down.
The demo didn't reveal much about Makoto Daito, beyond what we already know. Instead, all the focus was on the setting and combat.
It did an excellent job of showcasing the eras and accounting for the progression in time between each of them. This was most evident in the changes in fashion between 1915 and 1943, and the gradual appearance of modern features of city life. If you removed the tram and telegraph wires from 1915 Kokura, much of the town would pass for a setting from Yakuza Ishin; by 1943, the streets of Osaka are bathed in the bright lights of almost-modern signage, and Makoto is dressed more like a modern gentleman, as opposed to a street urchin. Each of the three locations were rich in detail and offered multiple distractions, including an arm-wrestling mini game and countless food vendors. No SEGA arcade, though! On the strength of this tiny sample, I'm confident that these locales and eras will be a delight to explore.
Combat feels a lot different to previous RGG games. The physicality has been ratcheted up, every move feels heavy and deliberate, and in general it lacks flair. Attacks are allocated to bumper and triggers, which took some getting used to, and counters and parries require directional inputs to match where an attack is coming from. Dodging at the right moment slows down time, which I suspect will be a crucial technique, given that Makoto is slower than most of the RGG leads we've played as in the past.
Finishers are executed by using two triggers, and while they are quite brutal, they're not as mad as the Heat actions that we are accustomed to. You bash heads into concrete, pin opponents on the floor to unleash a flurry of blows, or sink a dagger into a chest - more grounded, but still ridiculous of course, as foes continue to survive attacks that would be fatal in any kind of "realistic" fight.
Makoto lumbers more than he glides. He feels heavy, sluggish even, lacking in fluidity and pace, and I can't say I enjoyed him very much. The demo was keen to force heavy weapons into my hands, where wind-ups felt like they were taking a fraction of a second too long, and I did a lot of swinging and missing. Fortunately, it was easy to switch between weapons on the fly, using the directional buttons, and opt for something a little more lightweight. Makoto can carry a selection of tools all at once, so there are plenty of options.
The 1929 fight featured one particularly big lad, who was slow but packed a punch. I could see him winding up from a mile away, yet I still struggled to move out of the way fast enough. The third and final fight, against a single swordsman, was far more exhilarating. The heavier, slower combat is perhaps a better match for one-on-one battles, and against more demanding opponents, like this one.
Makoto lacks the pace of Ichiban, Kiryu or Majima, and the battles were more demanding of time and effort. This will differentiate it from what has come before, but I'm sceptical of this shift. To be fair, my issues perhaps stem from an inability, or unwillingness, to consider it separately from previous Yakuza games and to judge it on its own merits, but when its lineage is so clear, it's not that easy to do.
Between the demo and what I've seen of the trailers, the series' trademark daftness appears to be missing, or at least is less of a feature. This concerns me. Repetition is a key component of RGG, of location, theme, characters and mechanics, and it can wear you down. However, the silliness cuts through it and has always kept me entertained, even when it has felt like I'm walking an overly familiar path. It has kept me smiling, and invested, across a dozen adventures. I wonder how Stranger Than Heaven will fare in this regard, if it's going to lean into series' staples yet be a more "serious" experience.
Overall, Stranger Than Heaven did not demo well. However, there were glimpses of something potentially great. I have my fingers crossed that this was just a subpar demo for what I hope will be a good game, and that the combat will grow on me over time.
I'm still looking forward to the January launch, albeit with a little less enthusiasm.
Comments
Post a Comment