Stranger Than Heaven launches this winter, new characters and combat details revealed
During the Xbox Presents: A Special Look at Stranger Than Heaven showcase that just aired, Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio revealed new details and a trailer for Stranger Than Heaven going over new characters, combat, locations, and more. Sega also confirmed that it will launch this winter.
Stranger Than Heaven will take place in five different cities and time periods. These are:
- 1915 - Kokura
- 1929 - Kure
- 1943 - Osaka
- 1951 - Atami
- 1965 - Shinjuku
The story follows Makoto Daito and Yu Shinjo over the course of the 50 years going across the different cities and eras. Each city has a different focus. Makoto Daito loses his father soon after they arrive in America and his mother also passes away after years of exhaustion with the prejudice against them as a Japanese mother and Makoto who couldn't speak much English at the time. This had Makoto Daito wanting to go back to Japan, his mother's hometown, instead of staying in America. After boarding a ship to try and get to Japan, Makoto and Yu run into the smuggler Orpheus (played by Snoop Dogg).
It begins in Kokura, Fukuoka in 1915. This is the destination of Orpheus' ship and an industrial area in western Japan. Kure, Hiroshima in 1929 is where the story continues. Kure focuses on shipbuilding and heavy industry, but it is also a social hub for many countries with a unique atmosphere. Kure has a labyrinth of underground waterways and hilltops as well. Minami, Osaka in 1943 sees the story head into one of Japan's big entertainment districts. This is where it is more evident how deep in foreign culture Japan has become with the Yakuza and Mafia aiming to control more.
The second last destination is Atami, Shuzuoka in 1951 which is a famous tourist destination. The story concludes in Tokyo, 1965 in Kamurocho, Shinjuku. The presentation mentioned a "tremendous secret" would be revealed here, but more details were not given.
The presentation then went on to reveal a lot of the cast from Stranger Than Heaven. The cast so far includes:
- Yu Shirota
- Dean Fujioka
- Snoop Dogg
- Moeka Hoshi
- Tori Kelly (who is also singing the main theme song)
- Akio Otsuka
- Tokuma Nishioka
- Satoshi Fujihara
- Cordell Broadus
- Ado
- Bunta Sugawara (voiced by Takashi Ukaji)
Following the story and location details, Stranger Than Heaven's presentation focused on Show Biz and finally the combat. Show Biz has Makoto discovering sounds to memorize and use in future compositions. These sounds can be found in a variety of locations ranging from animals to combat and even trains. Makoto can use these to create his own songs. These will vary based on the location, time of day, and era.
Makoto can work with composers he runs into to work with these sounds and create original compositions in-game. Makoto uses this to plan performances and promotion with other artists as a Showman. This initially appeared to be like the hostess club management mini-game, but appears to be a bit more involved based on the footage.
Stranger Than Heaven's combat system will let you control Makoto's left and right sides separately. The right shoulder button and trigger control Makoto's right side while the left buttons control his left side. Stranger Than Heaven's combat will also feature charge attacks. Weapons have been shown multiple times so far, and they will have their own upgrade system.
You can watch the full broadcast below:
Stranger Than Heaven launches this winter for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC (Xbox on PC, Steam). It is also a Play Anywhere title and included in Xbox Game Pass.