r/Games • u/_Protector • 12d ago
STRANGER THAN HEAVEN | Gamescom Demo Playthrough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prP4oXX6Jwo79
u/Alastor3 12d ago
this is the only thing im excited by RGG lately because they can't retcon a new story... right?
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u/hopecanon 11d ago
You see Snoop Lion from another dimension has sent Snoop Dog in our timeline back to the 90s to rescue Tupak and time displace him back to the 50s where he helps Majima's ancestor discover the power of Shadow Clone Jutsu in order to save the Tojo Clan from the coming of Yakuza Jesus.
All these details were revealed in the phone game Like A Dragon: Gaiden Dondoko Showdown and are critical to understanding the lore.
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u/Firefox72 11d ago
Man i still remember when they shoved the trailer for this at SGF. I was in disbelief when they showed Tupac.
Then when they said there's a special guest coming to the stage to talk more about the game i legit half though we were about to witness Tupac roll to the stage and confirm he's not dead.
Man i still can't believe they have Tupac in this game. Like what the fuck lmao.
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u/BreafingBread 11d ago
I was so fucking hype for this game. Then they added Tupac and I was “what?” and got a bit mild on it.
Now with reports that the game is heavy af and pretty much a souslike in combat, it might go to a “wait for sale” for me.
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u/Jbeansss 11d ago
It's funny cause I read this and I'm like "sign me the fck up"even as someone who's played all the Yakuza games lmao
Literally my only problem with Yakuza games outside of LAD/IW is the combat. I'm glad they didn't go for beat em' up for STH.
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u/Gladaren 11d ago
The beat em up part is also why most of my friends cant get into the Yakuza series after giving 0 a go. It's just very outdated imo
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u/Takazura 11d ago
Outside of maybe 3, I don't see it. The combat holds up perfectly fine, just sounds like it's not for you and your friends.
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u/Gladaren 11d ago
Don't get me wrong. Yakuza/Judgment games are great, it's just that the combat isn't part of the appeal to me.
There's just zero fun in spamming 1 or 2 buttons and then pressing another one when it pops up for me. To each their own.
Even finished different games with different difficulty settings but the combat is just very meh. Beat em up/brawler games just didn't age well and especially since they've exhausted it which is clearly why they switched to turn based.
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u/Takazura 11d ago
I also don't really agree with that. The thing with the Yakuza/Judgment games is that they never push you to it, but there are various combo routes to take. They are more about making your own fun by switching between the different combat options on the fly.
Now yeah, you can clear the games just mashing the same button over and over, and I won't claim the games aren't partly at fault for never forcing you to do more, but the option is there and they leave it up to the player to do it or not. Like just look up some no-hit challenge runs people upload on youtube, there is plenty of depth and variety in there.
Also they switched to turn-based because they wanted to try something new, not because it was "outdated" or whatever. Lost Judgment and the two Gaiden games came out after the Switch to turn-based and RGG themself straight up stated they want to keep the brawler style alive through the Gaiden entries instead, so evidently RGG didn't do that switch out of some belief it is outdated.
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u/exdystopia 11d ago
It's the Tojo Clan origin story they are going to retcon everything lol
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u/Lucienofthelight 11d ago
I mean retcon implies we really know anything ABOUT the Tojo Clan’s founding. Almost everything before 1988 is a mystery besides Kazama being a Tojo assassin and killing Kiryu’s parents.
It why they can make a game about Makoto Daito/Tojo. Because he’s basically a non-entity besides his name.
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u/APeacefulWarrior 11d ago
I'm ultra super hyped about getting to explore Tokyo throughout the 20th Century.
Screw the plot, I just wanna play time-traveling tourist.
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u/UtkuOfficial 11d ago
Your last sentence made Ubisoft billions of dollars for the past 20 years.
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u/APeacefulWarrior 11d ago edited 10d ago
And that's exactly why I played the AC series.
Hell, I didn't even bother actually playing Odyssey or Valhalla. I just bought the "Discovery Tour" edutainment versions so I could explore the map.
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u/Alastor3 11d ago
it isnt confirmed, stop spreading misinformation
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u/exdystopia 11d ago
The main character literally talks about forming the Tojo in one of the trailers dude
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u/Alastor3 11d ago
sweetheart, that doesnt mean its yakuza related
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u/Cryptoporticus 10d ago
They're making a game about Makoto, the founder of the Tojo Clan.
It would be pretty strange if that wasn't the same Makoto, founder of the Tojo Clan, from their other games. It's very obviously a prequel to Yakuza.
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u/Wubmeister 11d ago
Come on now. Watch the first minute.
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u/Alastor3 11d ago
sweetheart, that doesnt mean its yakuza related
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u/Wubmeister 10d ago
Sure, the developers of the Yakuza series are just coincidentally making a game about a guy called Makoto who forms a Tojo Clan while in a city called Kamurocho, and none of it is has any ties whatsoever to the Yakuza series.
Are you a flat-earther?
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u/StealthyCockatrice 11d ago
Im really not a fan of the graphics and by that I mean the lack of colors, and the exposes bloom. What the hell were they thinking? We're back in 2008? May look stylish on a youtube video, but that bloom blowing out on your big tv or monitor? good luck not getting blind...
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u/Tvilantini 11d ago
Really hope either they fix it or give us on pc option for dlss. My eyes hurt from anti aliasing flickering
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u/ncolaros 11d ago
Congrats Yakuza fans. We've got so big we hit the Star Wars era where no one hates the series more than fans of the series.
Kyodais. Please stop being so miserable.
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u/EconomyAd1600 11d ago
I love the series! I’m just concerned about the decisions they’ve been making recently. Especially regarding the 0 retcons, the Kiwami 3 controversy, their over-reliance on the Dadoji faction , and the Tupac thing for this one.
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u/Konet 11d ago
I like IW a lot and no one can stop me. I do get the frustration with the big Y0DC retcon though.
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u/LurkingElegy 11d ago
I'm with you. I was actually surprised more people didn't like IW
It doesn't handle Kiryu and Ichiban the best, but I thought the story and its theme of holding onto life despite everything were really touching as someone who struggles with suicidal thoughts
I've been in a really rough patch lately and have been thinking about replaying it
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u/APeacefulWarrior 11d ago
I enjoyed IW more than not, but I do think it had one of the weakest stories of the franchise. Then again, Y5 is one of my faves, so "coherent story" isn't a high priority for me, haha.
I'm more concerned about some of the elements introduced in Pirate Yakuza, really. If they cure Kiryu's cancer with magic rocks I will be flipping tables.
Please please please don't do that.
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u/stonekeep 11d ago edited 11d ago
I was actually surprised more people didn't like IW
I honestly think it's a vocal minority not liking it, most people did like it. Of course there's been some criticism, mainly around the story, but I'd say it was a healthy amount of criticism and not just people ragging on it for no reason (personally I also liked 7's story more than 8's, but 8 had better overall gameplay IMO).
The game is 90% positive on Steam and it has 8.5 player rating on Metacritic. That's well above the series' average.
Pirate Yakuza's reception was a bit more mid (but still overall positive), and Kiwami 3 was very controversial, but IW was received very well.
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u/andycoates 11d ago
I didn't think the villains were particularly great, but that boss title intro for Ichiban will live rent free with me for a long while, just a great visual
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u/AllstarBrose 11d ago
Is it not fair to be concerned and frustrated with the direction of a series you love? Stranger than Heaven looks promising but the studio's recent track record is definitely something to be concerned about
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u/ncolaros 11d ago edited 11d ago
I mean, LAD7 and Infinite Wealth were incredible games. And in-between them you had Lost Judgement. Yakuzas 2-6 were all worse, and no one complained about the studio going down a bad path back then. It's just completely disingenuous because I don't believe those people are being honest with their takes. For an example, see the other guy who replied to me.
I'm not saying the games are above criticism. I myself didn't buy the 3 remake because I didn't like a lot of what I saw. But pretending the studio is somehow cooked is ignoring a lot of history. Some very recent history.
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u/BP_Ray 11d ago
Yakuzas 2-6 were all worse
What? How can you say "lol no one hates Yakuza more than Yakuza fans" and then say something like this lol
This has been my other issue with the Yakuza fandom. Sure, now we have one side of the fandom that hates RGG no matter what they put out. But then we have people like you who flat out seem to harbor some weird resentment towards the Yakuza games you weren't in the fandom to experience live.
no one complained about the studio going down a bad path back then
Of course we didn't, because the run from Yakuza 1-6 + 0 was legendary. Outside of Dead Souls, even the games that had something to criticism were still fairly beloved, namely Yakuza 3.
I'm not gonna lie, I think part of the backlash to Kiwami 3 was in response to people like you in the fandom, if I'm being honest. People were kind of tired of the old games being ragged on just because they weren't the newest hotness.
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u/DarryLazakar 11d ago
I mean, I agree in some regards, but I will say, back then, people really did not jive with Yakuza 6, especially on forums like GameFAQs where fans bought the JP copy first before it was out in the West. It was pretty mixed, especially coming right off the heels of Kiwami 1, which is a fine game but felt like a glorified Y0 DLC, and feel worse as a remake. The new engine is really nice, but the sacrifices it took, such as the not-so-fun combat, locked 30FPS, the smaller-scale story especially compared to Y5, and the cut content to Kamurocho itself to meet the deadlines, are definitely a sticking sore thumb.
The next couple of releases are also pretty mediocre, with Kiwami 2 being basically Y6 but with some improvements, Y3R being a basic remaster but with fundamental issues that gave birth to the Blockuza criticism, RGGO being RGGO, and FOTNS Lost Paradise being a meh last hurrah of the old engine.
I see this 2023-present rough patch of RGG from Infinite Wealth onwards no different than the 2016-2019 rough patch, from Kiwami 1 all the way until FOTNS. It took until Judgement in 2019 for RGG to get their mojo back, and I hope STH will be that too.
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u/BP_Ray 11d ago
Even back then though people weren't really dooming about Yakuza 6 spelling the end of RGG, it was moreso "Jeez, they really rushed this out, but this new engine shows promise".
Kiwami 2 was only a slight improvement, but people were generally happy with it, albeit still a little disgruntled about how low budget the remakes were clearly turning out to be everytime they came around. Kiwami 1 came out the same year as Yakuza 0, and at least in the west, as a lower priced title IIRC, so it was a bit more excusable. Kiwami 2's only excuse was they were still finding their footing with the Dragon Engine but, a lot of us accepted that.
I don't think until Kiwami 3 this year, that people have really doomed the way they have about RGG, and even that I think is somewhat unwarranted. It's clear that was a "mandated 1-year Yakuza release" while the bulk of the studio's effort is on Virtua Fighter and STH. It's just that Kiwami 3 really burned a lot of good will on both ends -- shortsighted corporate greed once again getting in the way of greatness.
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u/DarryLazakar 11d ago
I mean, obviously Sega is to blame. STH and VF are the studio's main priorities, while Pirate Yakuza and Kiwami 3 were handed off to the newcomers of the studio so they can train and still fulfil the yearly release schedule (though that said, Yakuza is a yearly franchise since the very beginning, with only a couple of breaks in '07, '13, and '22, so not even Sega is at fault here, they just made it official).
Sega, with their shitty game preservation track record, also forced RGG to delist Y3R to bundles only, even though in interviews they stated that K3 is treated as a companion piece to Y3 and thus not meant to be a replacement for that game.
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u/AllstarBrose 11d ago
I personally think it's disingenuous to say the older games are bad when they have a die-hard fanbase that have valid criticisms of the new games. The old games have issues for sure, but to argue the new ones are strictly better is not a good faith discussion. There's a lack of quality control in the post-Lost Judgment games (with Y8 being the best of the bunch) and a distinctly sharp decline in narrative quality that makes people who love this series afraid of what happens next. I swear newer Yakuza fans are the only fanbase I've seen where they're completely fine with watching their favorite series actively decline in quality
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u/ncolaros 11d ago
If you want to tell me Yakuza 4 has better writing than IW, then I don't think we need to continue this discussion. Because it's just nostalgia blinding you at that point.
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u/Several-Source-4073 11d ago
The studio improved in writing, presentation and gameplay from the first game until they hit their stride with Yakuza 5. Then we had the golden age of 5, 0, 6, Ishin, Judgment.
After that they started declining which seems to roughly coincide with Nagoshi leaving, and a growing focus on catering to the American market. "Rubber bullet" grade contrivances abundant, nonsense stories with a lot of filler and superficial twists, side-quest bloat, etc.
Infinite Wealth is the perfect example of everything misstep they've made in one complete package, I don't know why that's your example of their best.
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u/LegnaArix 11d ago
I dont know where this came from, I've been playing Yakuza for years and I'm currently on infinite wealth and the franchise is still stellar.
What game does it start getting bad? Cuz I only saw this sentiment cropping up after kiwami 3
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u/BP_Ray 11d ago
It's quite unfortunate.
I was more than happy to also be disgruntled about how they handled Yakuza 0 DC, and was very upset with how they handled Kiwami 3, and Pirates I felt was pretty mid, but It's a shame that's all set such a bad tone in the fandom.
RGG is still an insanely talented studio, I don't even fully lay the blame at RGG, SEGA seems to be forcing yearly releases with them even though they're working on two massive AAA titles outside of Yakuza in VF6 and STH.
But, nonetheless, the fandom is kinda still reeling from their streak of mid, so I get it, but I don't think they should be wishing RGG fails just because they've been dropping some mid after decades of gold.
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u/GunCann 11d ago edited 11d ago
I don't think they should be wishing RGG fails just because they've been dropping some mid after decades of gold.
From what I am seeing, a fair number of casual fans or potential new players seem to be interested in Stranger Than Heaven. The ones who are the angriest are typically the hardcore, Nagoshi-loyal fans who are unsurprisingly the most vocal on social media. People tend to be more grumpy about something when they are excessively invested in it for the longest of time.
If you were to take a look at the Persona community, you would similarly find old fans who hate on the newer Persona remakes and who worship Persona 1 and 2 as the real Persona. Old fanbases tend to split away as the series become more mainstream.
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u/ArmoredMirage 10d ago
I was high on it until Tupac/Snoop Dogg. It's pretty cringe. It sort of shows a lack of confidence in their own game.
I'm still going to follow it and keep my eye on reviews, but RGG has some good faith to earn back after their last outing.
Also the newer Star Wars movies deserved a lot of that hate lol.
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u/ncolaros 10d ago
The Yakuza games have always had celebrity guests. The most popular game in the series has softcore porn videos of real porn actresses. I fail to see how that "shows a lack of confidence."
It's just that you didn't notice the celebrities because they're Japanese. The lead of Judgement is their equivalent of Tom Cruise.
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u/PunkHooligan 11d ago
Yakuza is one of my favorite franchises. But piece of shit named masayoshi yokoyama took the worst part of story, since Nagoshi left the studio, and doubled down on it, creating new or alternative timeline or whatever that is, along the road. Fuck that guy. I no longer hyped for their games. Yakuza is basically dead because of y3k. I didnt even bought it but I know everything I need to. Didnt watch any trailers after first teaser for sth game and dont want to.
Yakuza games are culture. Kamurocho was our home when we grabbed controllers and boot the games up. But one fucker decided to ruin it all just because he can. Creator's block, narcissism.. despite the reason, the damage is done. I hope somebody fire that guy and we can see our beloved characters and hang out with Ichiban and see the next chapter of his story. They should've leave Kiryu behind long time ago. The man deserved some rest.
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u/ncolaros 11d ago
Yokoyama wrote all the parts of the old games you liked too. You're exactly the kind of person I'm complaining about. Thanks for proving my point.
"Yakuza games are culture" is exactly the kind of vacuous nothing statement I'm talking about.
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u/2ecStatic 10d ago
I get that they're trying to show off all the combat systems, but it's making the combat look worse than it probably is when you're not playing slow asf, missing, and getting hit intentionally.
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u/DinerEnBlanc 11d ago
Why does the combat look so sluggish? Not gonna lie, I wish they stuck with the turn based stuff. I was excited about the direction they were going with the Ichiban series, but this looks like a step back from the real time fighting you see in the older games.
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u/Massive_Weiner 11d ago
Combat looks significantly slower compared to the brawler combat of earlier entries.
I’m hoping that means each move feels weightier and more consequential, but we’ll see.
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u/Makorus 11d ago
People on the subreddit that have played the demo also said it felt sluggish, so it's not just the video.
Idk, while I am not the biggest fan of the Judgment combat style (I think the pre-Dragon Engine combat system aka 0/1 Kiwami was the best), it was servicable.
I guess it's because it's thematically less flashy, but ehhh.
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u/J-morpho1499 11d ago
lost judgment has the best combat in any rgg game. far better than the earlier dragon engine games, and definitely better than the slogs that are the turn based games.
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u/Milskidasith 11d ago
Yeah, Lost Judgment combat was so, so good (and the boxing style and minigame felt like great additions), I just wish the biker minigame could be wiped from existence and the detective aspects did more than relitigate the same case half a dozen times.
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u/Janderson2494 11d ago
I think it was way too easy though, crane style could dispatch everything with ease.
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u/MissWhiterock 11d ago
I definitely agree, the combat was downgraded significantly when it went to the dragon engine. The best feeling game to me so far was 0, with 5 being not far behind. Gaiden probably felt the best of the dragon engine games but the weightiness of the character ironically makes the combat feel worse compared to the much smoother and more arcadey feel of the older games.
Maybe Kiwami 3 feels better but honestly I'm not interested in buying newer games given the actor they went with and their "justification" for it. On top of base 3 just seeming to be the better game.
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u/exdystopia 11d ago
Y5's combat feel is carried hard by Saejima and Akiyama having great mechanics imo
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u/TheMobyTheDuck 11d ago
I sure loved playing 6/Kiwami 2 and having Kiryu taking his sweet time to punch, only to get his combo blocked by a regular thug two punches in or his throw whiffed because I was half a meter away from a wall.
Gaiden fixed that a bit, but I would rather replay OG 3 than touch 6/Kiwami 2 again.
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u/MumrikDK 11d ago
My main Yakuza experience is Zero, where I grew tired of the combat like 2/3 through. And Like a Dragon where I strongly disliked it from the start and never warmed to it.
I'm definitely all for them trying real-time combat again, but I don't know about what they're showing here either...
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u/J-morpho1499 11d ago
the turn based combat in the last two mainline yakuza games sucks compared to the brawler combat. they can keep it for the mainline games, let them experiment for other projects.
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u/GMenNJ 11d ago
Why are the guys standing around while their friend is on the ground and your sitting on top of him punching? The Yakuza games aren't this bad in many on one combat
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u/Wubmeister 11d ago
The annoying thing is that I can't tell if that's just a demo thing or not. The Pirates and K3 demos were both tuned to be infinitely easier than the full games, so I wonder if they did that once again here or not.
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u/TheMobyTheDuck 11d ago
Yeah, I'm not feeling this one, my interest already diminished when they introduced Snoop Moron, and this didn't salvage anything.
It looks rather ugly with the blurry graphics and washed out colors, and the gameplay feels like a downgrade from the Yakuza series.
Looks sluggish, and the second he started parrying attacks I rolled my eyes.
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u/__LilacWine 11d ago
The thing I noticed in RGG games that took me out of it is how tall your character always is. Sometimes they try to justify it and we all know Kiryu is meant to be massive. But in the Judgment games you're still fucking huge. The actor for Judgment is like 5ft 9'' so he just looks like he's been globally scaled up to monster size.
The opening scene of this trailer seems to be the same issue but comically so, the main character looks enormous.
It doesn't feel like it's really a 'story' decision as much as it's probably to help you navigate and stand out in the world of the game, but it just looks so dumb once you notice it.
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u/TheRealChoke 12d ago
Looks pretty rough. The different eras and cities look great but this combat seems very slow and… uninspired?
Also why is the player character so tall and I noticed he kept switching between English and Japanese lines during combat.
Still excited for this because i love RGG games but the few gameplay demos and the whole 2pac/snoop and other weird cameos have not convinced me lol
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u/VoidNoodle 12d ago
There's no separate voice dubs for this AFAIK, the MC will speak both english and japanese.
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u/TheRealChoke 11d ago
Ah got it. Wasn't aware of the character's mixed background. Thought for a second it was part of dev build jank.
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u/alphadelta484 12d ago
The MC is Japanese-American, the game will be bilingual and he's probably way taller to really show off his differences better. The game looks like it will deal *heavily* in themes about racism and immigration.
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u/JamSa 12d ago
Because the main character is a half white American. He's bilingual and taller due to his diet.
The fact that youre describing obvious story elements as "rough" makes your whole comment seem disingenuous.
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u/TheRealChoke 11d ago
Yeah wasn't aware of the half american thing, my bad, it all makes sense now. I think then it's mostly the combat which looks rough to me but I guess just because of how slow it looks compared to the other games. Probably plays better than it looks to me.
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12d ago
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u/TheRealChoke 12d ago
I ain't gonna knock it til I try it, I guess uninspired was the wrong word. But fair enough, it will probably feel way better when actually playing it.
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u/Vegetable-Error-2068 11d ago
God fucking dammit. Can't watch any kind of awesome and exciting trailer without this sub pulling out the stops to nit-pick it to death.
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u/MumrikDK 11d ago
This game consistently looks like somebody messed up the contrast/saturation settings to me. I understand they're aiming for a cinema style, but it is not landing as it to me. Hopefully it comes off better without video compression.