Stranger Than Heaven Offers Optional 'Cheat' Items to Soften Its Demanding Combat

Stranger Than Heaven, the upcoming street brawler from Yakuza and Like a Dragon studio RGG Studio, will include optional in-game assists to make its challenging new combat system more approachable, the developer confirmed to IGN during an interview at Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show 2026 this week.

In IGN's latest hands-on with the game, my colleague Michael Higham called Stranger Than Heaven's parry-focused combat "demanding," noting that "you really have to pay attention to attack animations not just for timing, but to make the correct call on the direction it's coming from." That initially seemed like it could split fans of the more relaxed, button-mashing combo systems in previous RGG titles like Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Lost Judgment—but it turns out Stranger Than Heaven's more complex combat will only be as hard as players want it to be.

"We knew mechanics like parrying would be challenging, but based on feedback from players who tried the hands-on demos at various game shows, like [Gamescom Asia], we've fine-tuned details like difficulty balance and control responsiveness," said Hiroyuki Sakamoto, producer of Stranger Than Heaven. "We've also included difficulty settings and provided plenty of support features, such as cheat items that increase health regeneration. We believe that if we offer enough support for action-game beginners, it will give them the chance to play through to the very end."

Sakamoto stressed that with some perseverance from players—and a lengthy tutorial phase early in the game to help them along—he hopes most players will eventually come to enjoy the new mechanics. But for those who would rather focus purely on the decades-spanning story and the showbiz-themed side activities without mastering the rhythm of combat, the cheat items should mean every fan of RGG Studio's games can enjoy Stranger Than Heaven.

"Equipping those cheat items makes you much harder to defeat by automatically restoring health and providing other perks," Sakamoto explained. "For beginners who still struggle with blocking, we're prepared assistance items that let you clear encounters using basic left and right punches alone."

There is one small catch to using these assist items, however—and it's a fairly humorous one in typically cheeky RGG Studio style.

"You can obtain [the cheat items] right from the start of the game," said Sakamoto. "But because they function as 'handicap' items and you wear it as a cloth/garment, anyone watching your gameplay screen will immediately notice you're wearing them."

So no activating cheats and pretending to be an absolute parry beast on a livestream, then.

Stranger Than Heaven is set for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on January 15, 2027.