The makers of Like a Dragon are stepping back a century — and taking Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur with them. RGG Studio’s Stranger Than Heaven is a bold new standalone prequel to the Like a Dragon universe, landing on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on 15 January 2027. Singapore’s PlayStation Store is already open for pre-orders, so there’s no time like now to get caught up on what the studio’s most ambitious project to date actually involves.
Fifty Years of Japan: The Setup
Stranger Than Heaven follows Makoto Daito, a Japanese-American orphan who stows away on a ship to Japan after the death of his parents — and then lives the next half-century of his life there. The game unfolds across five distinct eras in five real Japanese cities, each with its own visual identity and full supporting cast:
- 1915 — Kokura, Fukuoka
- 1929 — Kure, Hiroshima
- 1943 — Minami, Osaka
- 1951 — Atami, Shizuoka
- 1965 — Shinjuku, Tokyo
The scope spans Japan’s transformation from the late Meiji era through imperial expansion, defeat in World War II, and the beginning of the post-war economic miracle. RGG Studio has always used real Japanese urban landscapes as dramatic stages — the jump to five separate historical periods and five cities is easily the largest canvas the studio has ever worked on.
Watch: First Official Trailer from SEGA Asia
Combat Overhauled: Triggers, Bumpers, and Thirteen Weapons
The clearest signal that Stranger Than Heaven is something genuinely new from RGG Studio — not another Yakuza reskin — is its completely redesigned melee system. The familiar face-button combo chains are gone. Instead, independent left/right attack inputs are mapped to the controller’s bumpers and triggers: left bumper and trigger for left-hand strikes, right bumper and trigger for the right. The result is a system that rewards deliberate attack sequencing over rapid button mashing.
Thirteen weapon categories are available — unarmed, knives, katanas, crowbars, sledgehammers, and more — each with its own stance, moveset, and situational strengths. Blocking and parrying now require reading the angle of incoming strikes rather than just holding a defence button, and stamina limits penalise passive turtling. Hands-on preview coverage from the Summer Game Fest 2026 Play Days in early June described the combat as notably more demanding and cinematic than anything in the mainline Like a Dragon or Yakuza entries, with ground attacks, charged strikes, and brutal finishers rounding out a system that feels built for the grim realism of mid-century Japan.
A Cast That Made Headlines: Tupac, Snoop, Ado, and More
The voice and motion-capture roster has been one of the most-discussed aspects of Stranger Than Heaven since it was revealed at Summer Game Fest 2026. Protagonist Makoto Daito is brought to life by actor Yu Shirota. The supporting cast spans Japan and the world:
- Snoop Dogg voices Orpheus, a figure central to the story’s mid-century chapters
- Tupac Shakur portrays a character named Amaru — SEGA confirmed in its official announcement that the portrayal was created in close collaboration with rights holders and without the use of AI
- Ado — one of Japan’s biggest current music acts — plays Keiko Shirai
- Tori Kelly plays Suzy Day
- The Japanese dramatic cast includes Dean Fujioka, Moeka Hoshi, Akio Otsuka, and Tokuma Nishioka
SEGA’s decision to be explicit about the absence of AI in Tupac’s portrayal was clearly important to the studio, and the right move given how publicly sensitive the issue of AI-generated likeness has become in entertainment. The Tupac announcement dominated conversation around the game at Summer Game Fest, drawing in audiences far beyond the usual Like a Dragon fanbase.
Last words
For Singapore players, the practical details are these: the PlayStation Store Singapore listing for Stranger Than Heaven is live now, ahead of the 15 January 2027 global launch. Xbox Singapore and Steam listings are also open for pre-orders. If you’re already on Xbox Game Pass, the game launches day one as part of your subscription — likely the most cost-efficient route.
Stranger Than Heaven is shaping up to be one of the most distinctive games of early 2027. RGG Studio has always understood Japan’s urban drama better than almost any developer working today — Stranger Than Heaven takes that instinct across five historical eras and fifty years. We’ll be covering it closely as the launch approaches. Check out more upcoming game news on GameTrader.SG.
