I’m sure you’ve heard the descriptions of Stranger than Heaven’s combat from the trailers and such: “It’s so unique! You control both Makoto’s left and right sides independently!” My first thought upon hearing that was to equate it to Dark Souls. Right bumper and trigger for whatever’s in your right hand, and left bumper and trigger for whatever’s in your left hand. I’m here today to tell you to throw that comparison right in the trash because it’s dead wrong. It really is as unique as they say it is, and the oddball control scheme gives me a feeling I haven’t had in ages when playing a new AAA game: novelty.
The demo I played of the game was straightforward: three fights in three eras of the game, increasing in difficulty. I went in with the confidence of a player who’s played every Yakuza and Judgement game, and came out humbled and in awe of what RGG has accomplished just with the combat system. I had access to three weapons in the demo: my fists, a knife, and a large crowbar. Initially, I thought these were just preferences: fists for fast strikes, knife for a more deadly option, and the crowbar for crowd control, but it’s very different.
Let’s go over the basics first, though, before we get into weapon differences. You’ve got light attacks on the bumpers, and heavies on the triggers. You could just mash R1 to have Makoto deliver some punches, but it’ll feel much better and leave your enemy less room to counter or evade if you alternate left and right. You can dodge with the bottom face button, swap weapons with the top, and prepare to block with the right. I say prepare to block because the key to combat here is choosing which side you want to block from. You can hold both bumpers for an all-around block, but this will cost stamina every time you do it. Run out of stamina, and you are left totally vulnerable on the ground for a good amount of time.
You also can’t just dodge your way out of every problem like I initially wanted to. There’s no canceling out of animations or invincibility frames here, so you have to commit to your lumbering dodge and know exactly where you’ll end up after. Instead, combat in Stranger than Heaven honestly feels a little turn-based. You hit your opponent a few times, block, dodge, or parry, counterattack, then repeat. It took me many, many tries to get used to this system, but once it clicked, I felt more like a samurai than I did in Ghost of Tsushima. Staring down my opponent, waiting for them to strike first, both out of an abundance of caution (you die fast here), and because that’s just how fights flow here. You can’t just go full offense because the game WILL punish you for trying. Or even thinking about it.
Your weapon choice is key to meeting whatever challenge is ahead of you. About to fight a gang of basic mooks? Your fists are your best option so you can lay off the attack at a moment’s notice. Facing a large man with a very fancy moustache? You’ll want the two-handed crowbar so your hits actually stagger him. An enemy with a blade, like a shirtless samurai? You guessed it, you need the knife to properly block his slashes without taking chip damage.
Those were the three sections of my demo, and I really had to buckle down and learn what I was doing to clear the second encounter. The big guy comes with his own gang of mooks, so I needed to swap between the pipe and my fists depending on who I was targeting. Try to hit a jobber with the pipe, and they’re likely to move out of the way before I can land a hit. Go for the massive man with my fists, and he’d hit me out of my combo instantly. Juggling both was a challenge, but a ton of fun, especially once I started knocking guys to the ground with light attacks, then charging up a stomp to keep them there (you can charge up all attacks, not just heavies).
Everything culminated in my duel with the samurai. I knew what I was doing this time, so it only took me three attempts to take him down, and it was incredibly satisfying. I knew if I made two or three mistakes, I would need to heal, or it was basically over, so I had to get to know his animations, anticipate his moves, and block on the correct side. It’s almost like a fighting game in that regard.
Initially I was looking at Stranger Than Heaven as just a Yakuza prequel, but it is so, so much more than that. I haven’t had that much fun learning a game’s controls since Ape Escape. Every time I failed, I learned more and gained confidence, getting back up for just one more round before I moved on to the next game. Just one more fight; I can do this. I can tell a lot of people are going to bounce off of this game immediately because of that friction, but to me it is just so delightful and fun. I cannot wait to play more.
Stranger Than Heaven launches January 15th, 2027 for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S.
