RGG Studio's STRANGER THAN HEAVEN Hands-On: A Harder, Lonelier Action Game
RGG Studio is applying its action-game craft to a period story about two mixed-heritage men facing discrimination across 50 years, a subject and tone well outside the Like a Dragon series.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
A hands-on trial of STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, the action-adventure from Like a Dragon developer RGG Studio, opened at the game's start in 1915 America, with protagonist Masao Daito fleeing police amid discrimination against Japanese Americans. Combat uses four buttons and left/right directions, parrying attacks on the side they come from and striking the enemy's weaker guard. Snoop Dogg plays Orpheus, who runs the ship carrying the characters toward Japan. The game is set for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, and will also be on Xbox Game Pass.
The trial began at the very start of the game, in America, with Masao Daito chased by police through the shadows of a residential neighborhood. The direction is cinematic and Western-film styled, and the gap from the Like a Dragon series is clear from the opening. Caught and cornered, Daito takes a stance and the combat tutorial begins.
Enemies switch between left and right guards, so players attack where the defense is weak. The characters grip knives and other weapons rather than boxing gloves, and the retro, subdued color filter leaves a sense of loneliness over the scene. Yutaka Mashiro appears once the scene moves inside a suspicious ship bound for Japan, run by Orpheus, played by Snoop Dogg.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.