As hinted at by previous peeks at it, which were set in 1915 and 1943, Like A Dragon devs RGG Studio are jumping around in time with their upcoming historical brawler Stranger than Heaven. They’ve confirmed via a fresh trailer that it’s set in five different decades and, arguably more surprisingly, five different Japanese cities.
Sure, jumping between a number of different locales is par the course for an RGG adventure at this point, especially with recent entries expanding into Hawaii, but still having elements of their stories play out back in Japan. Though, I’d by lying if I said that when Stranger than Heaven first started hinting at letting you wander around during different decades in history, I didn’t envision that might come with a focus on showing how a single city evolves over time.
After all, that’s long been one of the things Yakuza heads like me appreciate about RGG’s main breadwinner, the Like A Dragon series. New places pop up on Kazuma Kiryu and Ichiban Kasuga’s travel itinerary, sure, but returning to locations like now-iconic stomping ground Kamurocho – a section of city based on real world Tokyo’s Kabukichō district – is just as big a draw. Wandering down familiar streets while you remember key moments they’ve served as the backdrop for in previous entries and see how they’ve subtlely changed in the time you’ve been away’s always a joy. It was even a key element of latest mainline entry Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth‘s story, with old man Kiryu wandering around his old haunts reminiscing and ticking items off his bucket list.
So, I’d pegged Stranger than Heaven as an ideal chance for RGG to show off their chops for keeping one setting fresh by having it grow, change and be rearranged before your eyes. The jumps in technology, historical context, and fashions might be be even more stark jumping from 1915 to 1929 to 1943, and then on to 1951 and 1965 than even the Like A Dragon series’ biggest time bounce from 1988 in Yakuza 0 to 2005 for the bulk of Yakuza Kiwami. Instead, while there could still be some crossover, it sounds like Stranger than Heaven might whisk its characters off to a different city for each of its eras.
That’s not to say the loop of battering goons while humming jazz tunes before you hop back on a tram that the new game offers isn’t still something I’m keen to get my teeth into. “We’re putting a tremendous amount of care into bringing to life these times and places we feel are rarely explored in games,” executive producer Masayoshi Yokoyama promised in a fresh chat with Xbox Wire, which sounds promising.
Aside from revealing the exact number of cities and eras, though, he largely kept his lips sealed and teased a Stranger than Heaven deep-dive set to air on May 6th. So, mark that in your calendar if you’re intrigued by the time-jumping baddie-puncher, which is the main upcoming work RGG are currently teasing now Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties is out of the door.
