Stranger Than Heaven, RGG Studio’s next title, marks several departures for the developer. Though technically a prequel to the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series, it doesn’t follow any of the same characters. Many locations are new and built from the ground up, and it’s exclusive to current-gen platforms and PC.
Perhaps the biggest departure is the combat. For the first time, players can execute left and right attacks separately using a controller’s bumpers and triggers. There’s also a stronger emphasis on parrying than before. All in all, you’ll need to be a lot more active than before, which may be challenging.
Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto and the development team are aware of all this, and told IGN at Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show 2026 that, “Based on feedback from players who tried the hands-on demos at various game shows, like [Gamescom Asia], we’ve fine-tuned details like difficulty balance and control responsiveness.
While you can expect difficulty settings, there are also “cheat items” that can tip the scales in your favor (like health regeneration). “We believe that if we offer enough support for action-game beginners,
