Stranger Than Heaven streams its first story trailer, Kokura
Sega’s new trailer introduces the Kokura chapter of Ryu ga Gotoku Studio’s five-era historical adventure.
Stranger Than Heaven has released a new story trailer covering its opening act, “Kokura”, giving players a closer look at Ryu ga Gotoku Studio’s historical action adventure ahead of its January launch. Sega began streaming the trailer on Friday, according to Anime News Network, which reports that the video follows Makoto Daito as he travels from San Francisco towards Japan aboard the merchant ship Orpheus.1
What the trailer shows
The “Kokura” chapter is set in Fukuoka in 1915. Daito has endured persecution in America because of his Japanese heritage and, after losing both parents, chooses to travel to his mother’s homeland. Sega describes the journey as the beginning of a 50-year story about people with nowhere to go and their desperate attempts to find a home.12
The Steam version of the game’s official store page describes Stranger Than Heaven as an action-adventure saga spanning five cities and five eras of modern Japan.3 The other periods named in the announcement include Kure in 1929, Minami in 1943, Atami in 1951 and Kamurocho in Tokyo in 1965. That unusually broad timeline gives the new trailer a useful job: it establishes the first chapter’s historical setting without giving away the shape of the full saga.
A new story for Ryu ga Gotoku Studio
The project was previously known by its codename, Project Century, before Sega revealed the final title. The story trailer introduces Daito’s arrival in Japan, but it also sets up the game’s wider ensemble. The cast includes Yū Shirota as Daito, Snoop Dogg as Orpheus, Moeka Hoshi, Tori Kelly, Akio Ōtsuka, Ado and several other performers.1
Sega also confirmed that the character Genzo Iwaki is based on the late actor Bunta Sugawara, with formal consent from his family and archival material supplied by Toei. That detail matters because it shows how the studio is drawing on real performers and historical reference points while building a fictional story across multiple decades.1
The game’s theme song, “Stranger Than Heaven”, is performed by Snoop Dogg, Satoshi Fujihara, Ado and Tori Kelly. The song is due for release later this year.1
Release date and platforms
Stranger Than Heaven launches on 15 January for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam. Sega has also confirmed that it will be available through Game Pass.123
The official Steam listing is already live for pre-purchase, while Sega’s own game page provides the broader premise and setting. The release is therefore no longer just an intriguing codename or a distant studio tease: “Kokura” is the first proper look at the story players will enter when the game arrives.
Our opinion
This is a much better introduction than another character montage would have been. “Kokura” gives Stranger Than Heaven a specific place, period and human reason for its journey, while the five-era structure promises a scale beyond a single historical adventure. The risk is that the game’s huge timeline and celebrity-heavy cast could make its opening feel like setup for a story that has not started yet. For now, though, a focused first act is exactly the right way to make this ambitious project feel tangible.