Stranger Than Heaven Debuts Heavier, Parry-Driven Combat That Leaves Its Motives Murky
Hands-on with Stranger Than Heaven reveals a weighty, parry-based combat system that maps left/right bumper actions to stance-specific strikes and uses directional blocks for precise counters, all while sticking to a knife-wielding, no-dodge approach. Encounters with waves of enemies and a challenging miniboss showcase a tense, Souls-like rhythm, but the author remains unsure what Makoto Daito fights for or what RGG Studio is ultimately aiming to say, especially given recent controversies around the Tupac cameo and broader studio direction. At its core, the demo excites with its brutal, methodical combat, even as the larger narrative questions linger.