Stranger Than Heaven’s Combat System Makes Both Your Hands Play Separate Roles

Like a Dragon and Yakuza developer RGG Studio has built its gangland dramas around a very distinct combat core over the years, but with its upcoming game Stranger Than Heaven, the studio is introducing a brand-new way to bang knuckles.

At Summer Game Fest, we got to go hands-on with the Yakuza prequel, which spans 50 years and five distinct periods in Japan’s history. Yakuza and Like a Dragon games have a very arcade-inspired approach to their beat-’em-up action, but in Stranger Than Heaven, RGG Studio wants players to put more thought into every fist thrown or attack parried.

How is the team doing this? By introducing a combat system where the left and right sides of the protagonists are controlled independently. For example, you’ll use the right shoulder and trigger buttons to throw out attacks from the right side, and vice versa for the left side. In practice, this creates a dynamic sense of action, allowing you to chain attacks together organically, parry enemies, and stun them long enough for you to follow up with a knockout blow.

You don’t have to rely on just your fists, either, as weapons can also help even the odds when you find yourself outnumbered. Overall, it looks like RGG Studio is aiming to expand on its action game heritage and move players closer toward some visceral ground-and-pound violence that isn’t as over the top as what you’d see in its other games.

Stranger than Heaven launches on January 15, 2027, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game features a star-studded cast of actors, as well as the rapper Snoop Dogg. The game even features people in its cast who have been deceased for a while, like beloved Japanese actor Bunta Sugawara and legendary rapper Tupac Shakur.