RGG Studios has finally revealed more details on its upcoming brawler, Stranger Than Heaven, with a lengthy Xbox Presents showcase outlining the game’s era-spanning adventure, its brutal new combat system, and a global all-star cast.
The showcase featured a strong emphasis on the game’s narrative, which isn’t surprising considering the scale and ambition of Stranger Than Heaven’s story. Centred on Makoto Daito, a young man born to an American father and a Japanese mother, the game’s plot will focus heavily on his path to seek a place where he truly belongs, and thrusts players into an adventure spanning 50 years and five distinct eras of Japan.
Set across multiple generations, Stranger Than Heaven will unfold in numerous locales inspired by places from Japan’s past, including Kokura, Fukuoka in 1915; Kure, Hiroshima, in 1929; Osaka, Minami in 1943; Atami, Shizuoka in 1951, and Shinjuku, Tokyo in 1965. Apart from providing players with new sights and sounds to experience with each time period, these places will also tell their own story as Makoto navigates the complexities of organised crime, rising global tensions, and the rising influence of Western culture in Japan.
To tie its story together, Stranger Than Heaven will also feature a diverse cast of characters portrayed by numerous notable faces across the globe, including Yu Shirota (SPEC franchise) as main protagonist Makoto, Dean Fujioka (Orang Ikan) as Makoto’s dearest friend and rival Yu Shinjo, hip-hop sensation Snoop Dogg as the notorious smuggler Orpheus, HIGE DANDism’s Satoshi Fujihara as Takashi, a young yakuza member with a hidden talent for music, and singer Tori Kelly as Suzy, an overseas singer looking to make it big in Japan.
Other members of its cast include legendary Japanese artiste Ado, Snoop’s son Cordell Broadus, Moeka Hoshi (Shōgun), Akio Otsuka (Ghost in the Shell), veteran Japanese star Tokuma Nishioka, and a posthumous appearance of the late and great Bunta Sugawara, whose likeness will be digitally recreated in the game based on archival footage and photographs.
Apart from its narrative, the trailer also showcased a proper look at Stranger Than Heaven’s new combat system, which looks to be more brutal than anything seen from RGG thus far. Players will use the trigger and bumper buttons on their controllers to perform dedicated left and right side attacks, stringing together combos and seamlessly shifting between offence and defence. They will also have access to various weapons like pistols, knives, and hammers, allowing them to bring down the pain on their foes in a violent and satisfying manner.
While not serving beatdowns, Makoto will engage in show business, the game’s core management element this time around. Armed with a unique ability to recognise musical potential, Makoto can derive beats from everyday occurrences, such as the flapping of bird wings or the clanging of industrial machines, noting these makeshift tunes down to compose original pieces of music. Throughout the game, he will also make his mark on the world of entertainment in Japan, building up his reputation as a showman by hiring musical talent like singers and band members, and even taking charge of production elements like stage layout and lighting to host performances to win over audiences across the country.
With a lengthy tease of the game’s setting and cast, excitement is at an all-time high for RGG’s upcoming title, so hopefully the studio will offer a better look at Stranger Than Heaven’s undoubtedly complex plot and other gameplay elements, which will hopefully include RGG’s renowned offering of mini-games and humorous Side Stories, in the coming months.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Yonk
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