A Push Square journalist previewed Stranger Than Heaven, Sega's upcoming Yakuza prequel from RGG Studio, at Gamescom and struggled badly with its overhauled combat system. Despite years of experience with the Yakuza series, the writer found the new mechanics, which map attacks from each side of the body to separate shoulder buttons, unexpectedly difficult to master, particularly during tougher enemy encounters.

The demo consisted of three escalating combat challenges set across different eras and cities, taking place in Kokuro, Hiroshima and Osaka. While the first stage felt intuitive once old habits were unlearned, the second proved punishing against a heavily armed enemy, and blocking, which requires holding three buttons simultaneously, was described as cumbersome and unclear. The reviewer also struggled with recovering after being knocked down, though they still saw promise in the dual-sided combat concept, suggesting the difficulty curve may prove more manageable within the full campaign.