Ryu Ga Gotoku (RGG) Studio has been on a roll over the last few years. Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties launched earlier this year, and the studio already has its next project generating a ton of buzz. During today’s Xbox Partner Preview, the team behind the Like a Dragon series shared a new trailer for Stranger Than Heaven, formerly known as Project Century, and announced that a dedicated broadcast is coming on May 6.
The new trailer revealed a lot more about the game than we’ve seen before. Stranger Than Heaven will span five different eras (1915, 1929, 1943, 1951, and 1965) across five Japanese cities. RGG Studio executive producer Masayoshi Yokoyama acknowledged the scale of the undertaking, saying the team is putting “a tremendous amount of care” into bringing to life times and places that are rarely explored in games. Anyone who has played a Yakuza or Like a Dragon game knows RGG Studio is capable of building incredibly detailed, lived-in worlds, so hearing the team describe this as a massive project is saying something.
We also got a much better look at combat, which appears to be a noticeable step up from what we’ve seen in RGG’s previous action titles. The trailer showcased weaponry, grappling, one-versus-many encounters, and environmental interactions, all with a brutal, highly dynamic feel. Yokoyama called it “an all-new level of combat design” and teased that what was shown is just the tip of the iceberg. Beyond the fighting, there were glimpses of tram travel through cities, potential romances, and, of course, beautifully rendered food, because it wouldn’t be an RGG game without it. The jazz-heavy soundtrack continues to stand out too, and Yokoyama hinted that some of his favorite tracks haven’t even been revealed yet.
Yokoyama was also shy about some familiar-looking faces spotted in the trailer, saying the studio “wasn’t exactly subtle” with some of the footage but that players can look forward to an all-star cast that will be revealed during the upcoming dedicated broadcast.
That broadcast, titled “Xbox Presents: A Special Look at Stranger Than Heaven,” airs on May 6 at 4:00 PM Pacific (7:00 PM Eastern). It’ll dive deeper into the cast, the music, the combat, and more. Yokoyama promises it will “shock and hopefully amaze people.”
