Credit to RGG Studio, SEGA, embedded from Steam.
This article is in English. Untuk membaca versi Bahasa Indonesia, klik di sini.
TL;DR
Tupac, seemingly out of nowhere, made a surprise appearance in the latest trailer for STRANGER THAN HEAVEN — the newest game being developed by RGG Studio. Is this the last surprise the game has in store?
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As a note, this article was written as a script framework for my video content on social media. That video is part of a paid campaign under the STRANGER THAN HEAVEN Creator Hub program. While the video contains a sponsorship element, all writing and opinions expressed in this article are 100% my own.
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Notice and Specs
- This article aims to share information about this game.
- There is no intention to infringe on any copyright.
- The copyright for any images, videos, or other media used in this article belongs to their respective owners, whether developers or publishers of this game, unless otherwise stated.
- The author is not an employee, internal staff member, or official representative of the game's developer or publisher. The author's relationship with the game's team is limited to that of an independent creator partner through the STRANGER THAN HEAVEN Creator Hub campaign.
- This article purely reflects the author's own perspective.
- Future patches or changes to this game may not be reflected in this article.
- This article was translated from Indonesian to English with the assistance of Claude, an AI by Anthropic. Translation quality may not be on par with that of a human translator.
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Introduction
As someone who only started getting seriously into gaming at the end of 2021, and who doesn't have much experience with older titles — having only visited a PS rental shop back around 2004 to 2007 — my knowledge of classic game franchises and universes, like Yakuza, is naturally quite limited.
Since diving into gaming in late 2021, I've been exploring all kinds of games: newly released titles, games that have been out for a while, and even retro games from the 2000s, 90s, and even 80s — at the request of my stream viewers, or through organic and paid sponsorships. One of those was Yakuza. While I personally don't have a deep connection with this universe, most of my viewers are familiar with it — and some are huge fans who've played every entry in the series. A few of them have also been eagerly anticipating the newest title in the franchise: STRANGER THAN HEAVEN.
At Summer Game Fest 2026, SEGA dropped the latest trailer for STRANGER THAN HEAVEN. So, what exactly showed up in this new trailer?
Game Details
Detail
Latest Trailer, Summer Game Fest 2026
Check out the game's trailer below :)
Previous Trailers
Before the release of the latest trailer featuring Tupac, SEGA had already dropped several trailers for this game.
Hopes and Expectations
As someone who hasn't been deeply exposed to the culture of the Yakuza universe, what exactly are my hopes and expectations for STRANGER THAN HEAVEN?
Approachable
As someone who only played Yakuza through an emulator and has no real grounding in this universe, my first hope is simple: will this game be approachable for new players?
Just a few weeks ago I finished the main story of Monster Hunter Wilds, and I came away satisfied and happy — though the first few hours left me feeling quite overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information thrown at the player. For someone who had never set foot in the Monster Hunter world before, I had essentially no prior exposure to any of the game's systems, beyond maybe some gameplay clips floating around the internet. And even though some players who had played previous Monster Hunter titles said Wilds was the most newbie-friendly entry in the series — not for me. It was genuinely exhausting trying to process all the UI that appeared at the start of the game and early battles.
Honestly, I felt the same way when I played Yakuza for the first time. Maybe because I was playing it through an emulator, the feel and experience were different. There were many moments where my controller couldn't register the correct combo inputs, which were essential for playing the game. Many viewers who were far more familiar with the franchise tried to help — explaining how to combo correctly, how to aim the camera, and so on. But it still never felt truly approachable.
So... one of my hopes for this game is that it's approachable. Not "easy" — but playable by anyone without feeling overwhelmed, whether they've been in this franchise before or are coming in completely fresh.
A Memorable Song
For someone with no connection to this universe whatsoever, there is one song that is wildly popular and deeply associated with it: "Baka Mitai."
Dame dane~ Dame yo~ Dame nanoyo~ Anata ga~ Suki de~ Suki sugite~
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Honestly, I've never actually reached that moment in the Yakuza games. But the song has become so iconic that even a casual outsider like me knows it. Plenty of fans of this universe have requested that I play or sing it during streams, but I can't — I only know the chorus.
So my next hope is this: that STRANGER THAN HEAVEN produces a new song that has the potential to blow up the same way. In my view, if a song goes viral, it significantly increases the chances of people discovering the game too — so everyone wins?
Optimization
Hm, this one... is probably my biggest hope — and maybe other gamers' too.
One of the persistent struggles with modern games, whether indie or from major studios, has been optimization. A lot of games release in a state that's far from optimal — too demanding, texture issues, memory leaks, you name it. Even major studios like CAPCOM haven't been immune to this.
Yes, modern games can be visually breathtaking with hyper-realistic textures and graphics. But if that comes at the cost of unstable performance, fluctuating FPS, and a reliance on FSR and similar upscaling tech to stay playable... is the high price of a pre-order or deluxe edition really worth it? I genuinely don't know. In my view, if someone is willing to spend a lot of money on a product that hasn't even released yet — in this case, a game — they naturally expect to receive something whose quality justifies that price. But if the quality is a mess and the price is steep? Is that really fair?
And that's before even getting into demanding spec requirements. Sure, hardware from 2018 or 2019 might reasonably struggle with graphically intensive games. But if hardware bought in mid-2024 is already struggling to run a game smoothly, to the point of having to drop settings to medium or low?
Hehehehehehe... I really don't know anymore.
Length
Based on How Long to Beat, games in this franchise tend to run anywhere from a dozen to around 40+ hours. So... my hope is that the full main story of this game also lands somewhere around 40 hours. There are five eras according to the Steam page description, after all. But... maybe 40 hours is enough to get through all five of them?
Tupac — Just a Cameo?
This one — I honestly don't know. I genuinely have no idea whether Tupac here is a permanent cast member, or simply a cameo like the celebrity collaborations in HITMAN World of Assassination, which regularly features real-world celebrities in its updates.
🤣🤣🤣
Honestly, no clue. But given that there are five distinct eras, it would be really interesting if each one featured a collaboration with a particular artist — like this Tupac appearance. There's even a Snoop Dogg in one of the eras too.
So maybe... Tupac isn't the last surprise STRANGER THAN HEAVEN has in store? 👀👀👀
Closing
As I briefly mentioned above, the price of this game by Indonesian standards... is steep. 650k rupiah is roughly a quarter to a third of a worker's monthly wage in Indonesia. So... even though the release window is still quite far off, I have a few hopes as an outsider to this franchise — around optimization, length, and content. Hopefully by the time it launches, those hopes will be met, so that both players and those who have already pre-ordered feel satisfied and not disappointed after waiting months for the release date: January 15, 2027.
If you haven't wishlisted or pre-ordered the game yet, you can click the Steam widget below!
That's all for now!
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!
