Stranger Than Heaven Hands-On Impressions: Yakuza, Like A Souls Game

[00:00] Michael here with IGN and I am at Summer

[00:02] GameFest and I just played the game I've

[00:04] been looking forward to since it was

[00:06] announced, Stranger Than Heaven. I got

[00:08] to play a three-part demo and you know

[00:10] what? It's not quite what I expected.

[00:18] So, to kick things off, combat works

[00:20] very different from any of the other RG

[00:22] games you may have played. Yakuza, Like

[00:24] a Dragon, Judgment, any of those. This

[00:26] is very different. Yes, they have gone

[00:28] back to action combat, but it controls

[00:30] so differently from the action brawlers

[00:32] you may have played in the past. So, the

[00:34] way this works, the bumpers and the

[00:36] triggers control each limb of the main

[00:38] character. So, the right bumper is a

[00:40] right fist, the right trigger is the

[00:42] right foot, and the same for the left

[00:44] side. And you have to create these

[00:46] combos with each trigger pull and kind

[00:48] of be aware of the spatial area in which

[00:50] you are fighting all these enemies. and

[00:52] you can do some crazy things with it

[00:54] where you can hold one enemy to the

[00:55] side, be punching another guy to the

[00:57] left side. It's a lot more complex than

[01:00] what RGG has done in the past, but the

[01:02] combat is also a lot more deliberate.

[01:03] It's a lot slower, and I wouldn't call

[01:05] it sluggish necessarily, but you do need

[01:08] to be a lot more thoughtful about the

[01:09] actions you take in combat. You can't

[01:11] just button mash. This is not a button

[01:13] masher at all. So, the first part of the

[01:15] demo was pretty simple. I ran into a

[01:17] group of goons in the middle of the

[01:18] street and I got to get my feet wet with

[01:21] how all of the different controls work.

[01:23] So, it's a little tough when you're

[01:24] working with crowds though. If you're

[01:26] fighting like four or five different

[01:27] enemies because there isn't really a

[01:28] lock on. It's more of like a magnetic

[01:30] targeting. It's a little hard to kind of

[01:32] get your head around who you're actually

[01:34] attacking when you press any of the

[01:36] inputs. But I think it allows for a lot

[01:38] more flexibility. You are in control of

[01:40] each attack and you kind of need to

[01:42] think ahead of how you're going to

[01:44] control the character. And the thing

[01:45] about it being a little slower is that

[01:47] you can get locked into frame

[01:48] animations. And so the thing I'm getting

[01:50] my head around is what the frame timing

[01:52] is because you also have a dodge and you

[01:54] also have a block. And those you

[01:56] absolutely need to know how to use. So

[01:58] you really need to wrap your head around

[01:59] how those things work. And you can get

[02:01] perfect timed dodges to create a slow

[02:04] motion and an opening in which you can

[02:06] really do some more damage. Or you can

[02:07] just rely on a block. But you also have

[02:09] a stagger meter that you need to worry

[02:11] about in the bottom left of the screen.

[02:12] And when enemies stagger you, you fall

[02:14] to the ground and then it becomes a

[02:16] whole different thing where you just

[02:16] need to like wait it out or dodge their

[02:18] ground attacks. So there's a lot of ways

[02:20] in which you are vulnerable in a way you

[02:22] just haven't been in other action games

[02:24] from RGG Studio. So it's a very short

[02:26] demo, so I had very little time to

[02:27] actually get to grips with it. But once

[02:29] I got my head around directional dodges,

[02:31] that's the thing that you really need to

[02:33] learn. You can't just back away. You

[02:34] can't just dodge roll out of the way.

[02:36] You need to be a little bit more

[02:37] aggressive and you need to dodge around

[02:38] characters so you can get the opening

[02:40] that you need to actually knock them

[02:41] out. And the way you also have command

[02:43] grabs works really well where you pull

[02:44] both triggers and then the character

[02:46] will go into a grab mode, throw them to

[02:48] the ground, and then you can do your own

[02:49] ground attacks. And this is happening

[02:51] while you're fighting a big group of

[02:53] guys. And again, like I said, you need

[02:55] to think about what your moves are

[02:57] because again, you can get locked in

[02:59] these animations and you're vulnerable

[03:00] often. So, the last part of the demo was

[03:03] really difficult. It was a 1v one boss

[03:05] fight with what's ostensibly a super

[03:07] boss. And this is where I started to

[03:09] think to myself, is RGG doing Dark Souls

[03:12] style combat? Now, by no means are they

[03:14] trying to do a Dark Souls game? That's

[03:16] not what this is, and that's not what

[03:17] I'm saying. But it is this 1v one boss

[03:20] fight where you take a lot of damage.

[03:22] They have a lot of health and you kind

[03:24] of have to really be on top of your game

[03:26] lest you die in the middle of the fight.

[03:29] So, I'm not going to lie to y'all, it

[03:30] took me like five or six tries to defeat

[03:32] this guy. And maybe like Mr. shakedown

[03:34] from Yakuza Zero. That that's a tough

[03:36] boss in that game, right? But he doesn't

[03:39] compare to this. After my fourth or

[03:40] fifth try, I got him down to like a

[03:42] sliver of health and then there's

[03:44] another phase in which he has a onehit

[03:46] attack essentially knocks you to the

[03:48] ground and stabs you and you're done. So

[03:50] that speaks to the difficulty that is

[03:51] part of Stranger Than Heaven. Now again,

[03:53] they were dropping us in the middle of

[03:54] the game. So after 10 minutes, it's

[03:56] like, well, guess what? You're going to

[03:57] have to learn how to fight one of the

[03:58] hardest bosses in the game. So, I do

[04:00] think there will be a ramp up so you can

[04:02] hold your own against these kinds of

[04:03] bosses, but you also have to account for

[04:04] other things like the weapons that you

[04:06] have. So, you don't just have fists. You

[04:08] have a crowbar, you have knives, and the

[04:10] way you cycle through those weapons to

[04:12] create openings can be an interesting

[04:13] aspect of the combat. So, the demo I

[04:15] played here at SGF again was all combat.

[04:18] There was no story. But I think that was

[04:19] the number one question I had going into

[04:21] this game. Of course, the showcases we

[04:22] saw before gave a deep dive into the

[04:24] kind of story that they're trying to

[04:26] tell. But this was the one question I

[04:27] had was how combat was going to be

[04:29] because they had stressed that they're

[04:31] going more in-depth. And yes, they are.

[04:33] The thing is, I respect the approach.

[04:36] I'm not sure if I'm entirely on board

[04:38] yet. So, difficulty is one thing, and I

[04:40] kind of like that RG is focusing in on

[04:42] making their games a little bit more

[04:44] deeper when it comes to combat and

[04:45] challenging you a little bit more. I'm

[04:47] sure with time I can figure out deeper

[04:48] combos and how to get around these

[04:50] enemies. But for now, I'm focused on how

[04:52] movement works in this game because I

[04:54] think that's the part I'm getting hung

[04:55] up on. As someone who plays a lot of

[04:57] fighting games, who has played all of

[04:58] RG's action games, I think being nimble

[05:00] was a thing I liked a lot about those

[05:02] games, but this is very different and I

[05:04] just need to see more of it. So, there

[05:06] was no story in this demo, but I did get

[05:09] to see what the rest of that world looks

[05:10] like. This is a game that takes place

[05:12] across five different cities in five

[05:14] different time periods in Japan's

[05:16] history. So to see all these different

[05:18] cities alive in a way that Kamaroo is in

[05:21] the old Yakuza games was really nice to

[05:23] see and it feels like a generational

[05:24] jump in that regard. And if you haven't

[05:26] paid attention to any of the story that

[05:28] has been shown in showcases, this is one

[05:30] of RGG's boldest stories that they're

[05:32] going to tell. It's about a half

[05:34] Japanese, half American man who is

[05:36] escaping persecution in the United

[05:38] States, going back to Japan, but also

[05:40] struggling with the idea of finding a

[05:42] home. And this is such an interesting

[05:44] thing because if you've seen any of

[05:45] those demos or showcases, this is a game

[05:47] that focuses on music. And I think

[05:49] that's one of the most interesting

[05:50] aspects of it. Now, I didn't get to hear

[05:52] much of the soundtrack, but I think it's

[05:53] also a story theme where this is how he

[05:56] finds his connection with people in

[05:57] Japan and people in America. So,

[05:59] Stranger Than Heaven is working with a

[06:01] lot of interesting ideas, including the

[06:02] fact that it is tied to the rest of the

[06:04] Yakuza games. The Tojo clan is part of

[06:06] this story and it is tied to that, but

[06:08] it's not exactly a prequel and it's not

[06:10] exactly a direct relation to the Yakuza

[06:13] games, but it is sort of an origin story

[06:15] of how people push to the sides of

[06:18] society, how they find a living, how

[06:20] they survive in those streets, and the

[06:22] things that they resort to. kind of

[06:23] tells you what the underground criminal

[06:26] organizations of Japan at the time were

[06:28] like and the reasons why those things

[06:30] exist. And that was part of the

[06:32] conversation I had with Masayoshi

[06:34] Yokoyama, the director of this game when

[06:36] I did an interview. So I also asked them

[06:37] about the historical context in which

[06:39] they're working with because this is a

[06:40] tumultuous time in the world and

[06:42] especially with Japan with World War II,

[06:44] Imperial Japan. And I asked about how

[06:46] that's going to impact the rest of the

[06:47] story or how that's going to inform the

[06:49] things that happen to our main

[06:50] character. Of course, he said that we're

[06:52] going to have to wait for the game, but

[06:53] he also spoke to again what I mentioned

[06:55] about criminal organizations and the

[06:58] reasons why people resort to them in

[07:00] trying times. And that is kind of the

[07:02] ethos of the Yakuza series, right? You

[07:04] see a lot of characters who are

[07:05] desperate, who have to resort to these

[07:07] things and the emotional stories that

[07:09] are attached to that. That's kind of the

[07:10] expectation going into Stranger Than

[07:12] Heaven. But also, I think the bar is

[07:13] higher now because it is a game that

[07:15] takes itself more seriously. and he

[07:16] said, "Yes, there is a serious side of

[07:18] Yakuza, but it's also like a goofy game

[07:19] that has a lot of levity, but Stranger

[07:21] Than Heaven is trying to go for that

[07:23] more serious tone." And I think it kind

[07:25] of has to because it is working with

[07:26] more serious elements here, especially

[07:28] when you consider the history in which

[07:30] this game is taking place. There are a

[07:31] lot of elements they're working with

[07:32] there that I need to see for myself when

[07:35] this full game comes out. Now, there's

[07:37] no ignoring the fact that Tupac is in

[07:39] this game. Rest in peace to a legend,

[07:40] but he's been gone for 30 years, and I

[07:42] do think it's a little awkward to

[07:43] include him here. Yokoyama did mention

[07:46] that Snoop Dogg was part of the

[07:47] selection process for who this character

[07:49] was going to be. So maybe it's going to

[07:52] work. He did mention that there was a

[07:54] reason why they brought him in because

[07:55] there's a theme of music in this game

[07:58] and the bridge between Japan and America

[08:00] and how that's a binding factor. But in

[08:01] a game that takes place between the

[08:03] early 1900s to 1960s, not sure what

[08:06] they're trying to do here. And

[08:07] regardless of the fact that they said

[08:09] that they went to Tupac's estate and

[08:11] actually got approval for it and

[08:13] everyone involved was excited about this

[08:15] inclusion, there's no denying the fact

[08:17] that someone who's been gone for 30

[08:19] years is included in this. And I guess

[08:22] you'll just have to see for yourself. I

[08:24] am excited about the casting they have

[08:26] in this game. They have Tory Kelly, they

[08:27] have Otto, they have Snoop Dogg, who

[08:29] seems like a really interesting

[08:30] character who is going to be important

[08:32] to the story. And I still think RGG has

[08:34] it in them. They've been great

[08:35] storytellers in the past and they've

[08:37] told emotional stories that I still

[08:39] remember to this day. But I hope they're

[08:40] not out of their depth with this. And

[08:42] again, this was just a gameplay and

[08:44] combat demo, but we'll see when the game

[08:46] comes out in January next year. We've

[08:48] seen so much more at Summer GameFest, so

[08:50] for all of that, stick with IGN.