Stranger Than Heaven Preview: Controls Could Overshadow Historical Epic Premise

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Stranger Than Heaven outshines Ryu Ga Gotoku's other titles in visuals and atmosphere, but fans of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series will struggle to get used to the controls.

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Ryu Ga Gotoku is best known for its work on the Yakuza / Like a Dragon franchise and its two Judgment spin-offs. In recent years, the team has embraced bold changes: Like a Dragon (Yakuza 7) introduced turn-based RPG combat and a new protagonist, marking a turning point for the series that brought in new fans while dividing some existing ones. Judgment, meanwhile, used the series' setting and timeline to deliver one of gaming's best crime thrillers.

Stranger Than Heaven is the studio's latest title. Although nothing has been officially confirmed yet, fans speculate that it shares a universe with Like a Dragon and Judgment, setting the stage for the rise of Kamurucho's infamous criminal underworld. The story follows Makoto Daiko, a young man born in the United States to an American father and a Japanese mother. After losing his parents and facing discrimination over his heritage, Daiko sets sail across the Pacific to start a new life.

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This looks like Ryu Ga Gotoku's most ambitious project yet. We will follow Makoto's rise through the underworld across five distinct periods: 1915, 1929, 1943, 1951, and 1965, spanning industrialization, war, reconstruction, and the profound cultural changes that swept through Japan in the 20th century.

We had the chance to try the playable demo of Stranger Than Heaven at *Brasil Game Show 2026. Here are our first impressions: what works, what doesn't, and what could be improved.

This Is Not Yakuza

If you have played any Yakuza game from before the switch to turn-based combat, you know the drill. You encounter enemies, string together combos and use the environment as a weapon as much as Kiryu's fists. Judgment introduced switchable fighting styles, each with its own purpose, but the core remained the same: pressing buttons to execute combos.

Stranger than Heaven offers more of that, but anyone familiar with Yakuza will likely struggle for a few hours while adjusting to its mechanics. Combat lets you control the left and right sides of Makoto's body independently for everything from executing combos to blocking attacks. In theory, this is RGG's deepest and most varied combat system yet, and it has its merits once you get a feel for it.

The controls use the controller's L and R shoulder buttons, breaking with convention and forcing some awkward adjustments. In a way, it reminded me of the struggle to get used to Crimson Desert's controls at launch, but without the initial impression of playing with a 40-button controller.

The problem is learning those controls while keeping track of the fight around you. The demo's camera does not help: I would often lose track of enemies, only for one to appear behind Makoto mid-attack. Some commands also feel unintuitive to execute, and the demo's heavy emphasis on combat at the expense of other appealing features creates a steep barrier to entry for anyone unfamiliar with action games, or anyone expecting Yakuza/Judgment and finding something less familiar.

The Historical Setting and Visuals Are the Highlights

While combat can feel frustrating, Stranger Than Heaven's visuals are a huge leap forward for RGG. None of the studio's previous maps have featured characters this detailed, right down to the NPCs. Although the demo offers only a brief look at each era, the streets feel lived-in, and the environments have enough detail, distinctive lighting, and variety to draw you in.

The graphics look set to be a major selling point at launch, alongside the historical premise. With little to no story exposition in the demo, it is difficult to comment on the plot, but each period captures a different aspect of Japan's transformation, encompassing industrial labor, organized crime, entertainment and show business, postwar reconstruction and the urban dynamism of the 1960s onward.

There is potential to explore a side of the country that other works of fiction often overlook or forget, addressing sensitive subjects that shaped its transformation over those five decades while also including the influences that helped establish the modern yakuza stereotype.

What Needs to Improve?

The controls will challenge even longtime fans, but it makes sense to treat the changes to combat as a feature rather than a flaw. They lack intuitiveness and take time to learn, but there is a finely polished gem here that could shine with the right adjustments in the final game.

I cannot say the same for the camera. Managing it during fights became my biggest headache while playing the demo. A small tweak in the options menu might be enough to solve the problem, but many people who have played or will play the Stranger Than Heaven demo at BGS 2026 may come away feeling that the game is "too complicated" because of its controls, or "too clunky" because of its camera, without the patience to give the finished game the benefit of the doubt and adjust its settings.

Stranger than Heaven launches on January 15, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam.

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