Last week, SEGA invited me down to London to go hands-on with its upcoming historical action game Stranger Than Heaven one final time before its launch on 15th January, 2027.

This was my third time playing the game, but while previous demos had focused solely on the combat, here I was able to get a taste of the wider campaign Yakuza dev RGG Studio is creating.

The event – in Brixton – showed how seriously the Japanese publisher is taking this project: a traditional British pub had been transformed into a period jazz bar, complete with a live band performing songs from the game’s soundtrack.

(Videos weren’t allowed, as this included unreleased material I suppose.)

We also got to see a music video for Ado and Snoop Dogg’s theme song, which I suspect will be released before the end of the year. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if the pair performed it live at The Game Awards in December, but that’s purely my own speculation.

My demo was broken up into several segments spanning four different chapters from the game, each with an emphasis on unique features and elements from the game.

Rather than run through each aspect individually, I’ve decided to break down my key takeaways from the demo, to give you a fuller idea of what to expect from the final game.

Punch Drunk

It should come as no surprise from RGG Studio, but Stranger Than Heaven is a heavily cinematic game.

Of the segments I got to play, the prologue in San Francisco and second chapter in Kokura really emphasised this.

As mentioned above, the story starts in America with mixed-race protagonist Makoto Daito in disguise, trying to evade the police. He’s been framed for murder, and is trying to escape.

As you wander through shady back alleys wearing a wig and women’s clothes, a rap song accompanies the names of the many stars in the game: Dean Fujioka, Ado, Snoop Dogg, Tori Kelly, Akio Atsuka – it’s an impressive cast.

Daito finds himself on a pirate ship named Arcadia, captained by Orpheus (played by the abovementioned Snoop Dogg).

A lot of these opening moments focus on teaching you the unorthodox control scheme, which maps left punches to the L1 and L2 buttons and right punches to the R1 and R2 buttons.

One mechanic I wasn’t aware of in previous demos, however, is a parry, which can be initiated by holding the Circle button to block and tapping the correct shoulder button to defend against an incoming strike.

So, for example, if an opponent throws a right hook in your direction, you can parry it with L1 just before it connects.

I still find the multiple button presses a bit cumbersome, but this added a layer to the combat I didn’t know about previously, and helped me to better succeed in subsequent fights. (Regular readers will know this title kicked my ass at Gamescom.)

Absolute Cinema

As I alluded to above, this is very much a narrative game, and the segment in Kokura I got to play heavily underlined this.

Set in 1915, Daito has been tasked with visiting a hostess bar, looking for the mistress of a rival gang leader named Tae-san.

I was quite impressed at how the shyness of the protagonist came through, and I think being able to play some of the later chapters allowed me to better appreciate the journey this game is going to take you on.

In the early exchanges, Daito is a little lost. As a mixed-race character, you get the impression he doesn’t belong in America or Japan, which is an interesting thing to explore.

There are no language options in the game; the voice actors will dynamically transition between English and Japanese depending on what the context demands, which I think is a fascinating way to underline this aspect of the game.

While I don’t think the visuals are particularly impressive from a raw technical level (more on that later), RGG Studio’s cinematography is excellent, and my attention was fully focused on the cutscenes playing out – even in an uncomfortable setting.

(The abovementioned pub was not a perfect venue for a game demo, and I was sitting inches away from a 40+-inch television screen with virtually no leg room at all.)

One thing that I noticed is the little details RGG Studio shows you to develop the characters but doesn’t expressly point a spotlight on.

Tae-san, for example, has many bruises on her body, showing you she’s mistreated by her clients. But no attention is ever brought to this, it’s just there for you to acknowledge through the way the cinematics unfold.

The voice acting is outstanding by the way; Tae-san is played by Moeka Hoshi from the TV show Shogun, and you can definitely tell all of the acting is a cut above most other games.

Combat Woes

My big concern with Stranger Than Heaven thus far, though, is playing it.

I’ve mentioned previously how I struggled with the combat in past demos, but I think the game has been tuned a lot since Gamescom on its standard difficulty. I certainly didn’t die as much during this demo.

But remaining in the industrial town of Kokura, I still found the enemies spongy and the overall control scheme cumbersome.

I’ll focus on the big set-piece in this area, which sees you embroiled in a gang war against a rival gang. (The one led by Tae-san’s client; no prizes for guessing how we got here.)

In this segment you’re fighting your way through an ironworks factory, and it’s actually quite cool how you’ve got multiple NPCs all engaging around you.

But it feels like enemies can soak up damage like crazy, and you can get hit from all directions without any real reasonable means of evading, beyond a step-dodge mapped to the Cross/X button.

While I think the dev probably expects you to build up combos naturally – like you’re a real-life boxer, working with both sides of your body – I just ended up spamming the trigger buttons to persevere.

One big issue I have with the game is when you’re holding a one-handed weapon, like a knife.

This feels like it skews all of your combat options towards one hand, so while you can still throw jabs with your other arm, obviously it’s a much weaker option in this context.

Other aspects of the gameplay feel less polished than I’d like, too; the abovementioned ironworks factory is made up of lots of narrow walkways and ladders, but Daito moves sloppily and it can be clumsy manoeuvring him through these areas.

I did enjoy the general open world exploration (going in medicine shops, playing poker, and even rolling cigarettes), but after three hands-on sessions I’m still not convinced by the title’s combat system.

Stage of History

As alluded to above, the remainder of my demo focused purely on exploration, and watching Daito wolf down several bowls of gyudon left me gagging for my own beef bowl.

I didn’t get a lot of time to play all of the minigames, but one involved a traditional card game named menko, which reminded me somewhat of Pogs. (The goal was to throw your cards onto a table and knock your opponents’ off.)

One thing I really love about Stranger Than Heaven is its commitment to the period across multiple different cities and decades.

I got to explore a snowy Kure in 1929, for example, and get a taste of some of the showbiz aspects planned for the main game.

While I wasn’t allowed to put on my own show – this tycoon-style gameplay will comprise a major activity in the main campaign – I was able to interact with a composer and “mix” my own songs.

There are various different tracks you can pick from, but then you’re able to select different stems within them. So, for example, you can make a tune more upbeat by selecting a bouncier bassline or a driving drumbeat.

You don’t really need any musical knowledge to do this, but I think there’s just enough creativity in the way this works to make you feel like a genuine music producer.

It all ties into the mechanics, too, because certain audiences will be looking for different things; a sad performance may sell more tickets in one particular venue, while other patrons may prefer a more upbeat show.

I didn’t see enough of this to make any broad conclusions on it, but I think this is the part of the game I’m personally most looking forward to interacting with myself.

Ugly Beauty

I’m torn on Stranger Than Heaven’s presentation, because I think soaking in all of the showbiz posters and cigarette packaging is so much fun.

I got to explore 1945 Osaka at night, with its dazzling lights and bustling patrons, and it’s beautiful.

But playing on an Xbox Series X (Microsoft has marketing rights) the game definitely looks ugly under inspection.

There’s a hazy, sepia colour to the visuals which I suspect is supposed to capture the time period but just looks straight-up grim in places. Furthermore, there are a lot of clunky animations and low-resolution textures.

On a macro level, I think the artistic achievement is quite impressive, but under scrutiny I wonder whether the game is struggling with the sheer weight of its ambition. (Multiple different cities, dozens of characters, etc.)

The game seems to run smoothly and play fine, and the dev was eager to acknowledge this is still an unfinished build.

But I’m starting to just accept that the vague, blurry nature of the visuals is an artistic choice.

Leaving the demo in London, I came away looking forward to Stranger Than Heaven, despite my reservations.

The one thing I’ll say here is at least RGG Studio is trying something – it’s taking a big swing with this project.

The director – who appeared to be in his 20s – noted this is being developed by a new generation of staff, and I think that shines through in how effortlessly “cool” some aspects of the game are.

But I think this will be a campaign of highs and lows; I’m still not convinced by the combat and finer aspects of the presentation, even if I think the sense of historical place is looking to be a real standout. I can’t wait to dig deeper into all the showbiz aspects in particular.

I had a late train back so I swung by Chinatown after the demo and bought myself some gyudon; London prices mean it cost me about four times as much as it would in Japan, but I simply refused to end the day without a beef bowl in my belly.

Thanks to SEGA for inviting me out to this event, and if you have any further questions about the game, let me know below.