LV1 Gaming had the opportunity to go to Summer Game Fest and take part in the interactive Play Days. The three-day event that took place separately from the showcase housed playable demos of much-anticipated upcoming titles. While there, we checked out what SEGA was working on. They had a building to themselves that housed playable versions of the recently announced lineup of games from the Summer Game Fest showcase. We were lucky enough to get hands-on with Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s (RGG Studio) highly anticipated upcoming title from the Yakuza universe, Stranger Than Heaven.
Similar to our experience with Alien: Isolation 2, we had to make our way to the basement of the onsite SEGA facility. Except instead of ending up in a dark corridor, we were led through what seemed to be a portal to the past. The Stranger Than Heaven setup placed us in an old-timey nightclub from the ’40s or ’50s. We were given a presentation on the world of the latest RGG Studio title, along with a breakdown of the basics of how combat in that world works. Compared to classic mainline Yakuza games, this combat will require more focus and intentional button combinations.
Stranger Than Heaven‘s combat is built around stamina and left/right side attacks. So when you want to punch with your left fist, you have to press the left bumper. And button mashing will lead to you becoming very familiar with the game-over screen. The demo let us play through three different eras of the main character’s life, with each era showing off different aspects of the new combat system. Combat basics and entry-level combos were used against a group of gangsters who wielded small weapons. The game features a perfect dodge and parry system, which took me a few tries to get the hang of, but that’s just because I’m a button masher at heart. After learning the basics and defeating the mob of ruffians, you are transported to a later part of life and engage with a new variant of enemies. The introduction of large two-handed weapons and even larger enemies were the focus of the next era/tutorial. You are able to do massive damage to a crowd of enemies but still have to be mindful of your stamina. On top of keeping an eye on your stamina, you have to continue parrying and dodging; otherwise, you will die a lot. I sure did.
The final part of the Stranger Than Heaven Summer Game Fest demo was a high-intensity boss fight that tested how well you mastered the previous tutorials. The number of deaths experienced against this wiry sword-wielding speed demon was disgusting. Honestly, I thought the developers were going to tap me on the shoulder and say, “Time’s up; you tried your best. But after I learned how to properly parry, the fight became a lot more manageable, and I was able to clear the demo.
I imagine that Stranger Than Heaven will be a hit with the fighting game and soulslike community due to the depth of combat. To perfectly parry an attack, you have to hold down the block button while pressing the left/right bumper button depending on which way the attack is coming from. And this action is only available to do if you have enough stamina to do it. This game will have a higher difficulty than previous action adventure Yakuza titles, but this new combat system will likely lead to some unforgettable fights.
