Now give me fifty feet, defeat is not my destiny.
The reveal of Tupac Shakur being added to the cast of Stranger Than Heaven wasn’t the only Summer Game Fest story to share. At Play Days last week we had the chance to go hands-on with the upcoming Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio game set in the Like A Dragon/Yakuza universe. Our session focused solely around one of the biggest changes to the series to date— the combat.
Aside from Like A Dragon and Infinite Wealth, the majority of the games feature brawling fighting mechanics and although they can have challenging encounters are usually not as tense as what awaited us at Summer Game Fest. As each encounter slowly ramped up in difficulty throughout the demo, I could feel sweat materialize as my pulse pounded and my patience persisted. These street fights immediately removed button mashing from the equation and replaced it with intentional inputs.
Utilizing the four triggers to maneuver your attacks, pressing RT and RB would control Makoto’s right side fists and kicks, while LT and LB would control the left. It wasn’t just something implemented to add a meaningless layer either. Mixing up your left hooks and right kicks seemed essential to navigate around enemy blocks and counter attacks. While also having the ability to charge up your attacks for more devastating blows granted advantages like leveling a charging attacker or stopping an incoming blow.
It wasn’t just punches and kicks that fueled these SGF fights either, we got to see two of the many weapons you’ll be able to equip in Stranger Than Heaven. A blade and a crowbar offered varying speeds of attacks, power, and range. A hulking enemy in the second of our three fights was met multiple times with a charged up crowbar to try and halt incoming tackles. While in the third encounter against a sword wielding boss we brandished a blade to aid our efforts. Both weapons had their advantages situationally and I’m sure that will be a constant through many parts of Stranger Than Heaven. Weapons are crucial to the Yakuza/LAD suite of combat so having these seemingly still a crucial part of the arsenal felt natural.
It’s clear that this revamped combat is a key piece to what makes Stranger Than Heaven what it is. It wasn’t nearly enough time to cultivate strong opinions on the change, but as someone who loved the move to the turn-based tactics of Like A Dragon and Infinite Wealth I’m eager to give them an honest chance. What I did play though, I enjoyed enough and I’ll remain optimistic until I’ve had a chance to dive a little deeper into the streets of each era. We’ll be looking forward to playing more when Stranger Than Heaven arrives in 2027.
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