Stranger Than Heaven director says 'it was really important' for RGG that
'the player experience the whole life of a man' and that the story's 50-year timeline was essential to depicting how a yakuza organization is built

Date:
Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Description:
Stranger Than Heaven director Mikinobu Abe has explained why RGG Studios
chose to tell an era-spanning story in one game, rather than across multiple titles.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Stranger Than Heaven director Mikinobu Abe explains why the game's story spanning decades is being told in one game instead of multiple titles Abe says it was "a week isn't enough to tell the story" of how a yakuza organisation is built The director says the era-spanning story worked best when framed around a man's life Stranger Than Heaven director Mikinobu Abe has explained why RGG Studios chose to tell an era-spanning story in one game, rather than across multiple titles.

"The whole starting point was that we wanted to depict why, or how, someone would create such an organisation like a yakuza organisation," Abe said in an interview with TechRadar Gaming. Stranger Than Heaven centers on the main character, Makoto Daito, and the origins of a Yakuza organisation spanning 50 years across five cities in Japan, and Abe explained that the initial idea of containing the story within a smaller timeframe simply didn't work for the team's vision. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

"We started from there, and while we were creating the narrative, we started to slowly realise that a week isn't enough to tell the story," he added. "We then explored how much time we needed to tell the narrative of a man who's going to build a gigantic yakuza organisation."

Abe went on to explain that this story worked best when framed around a man's life (Daito's) and realized it was the best outcome instead of splitting the story across multiple games, despite how long the narrative is. You may like Stranger Than Heaven director says RGG 'intentionally' forgot about Yakuza to create 'something new' 'Every single aspect of it, we started thinking about it from scratch, just to suit the style of Stranger Than Heaven' Stranger
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unique off-beat adventure from RGG Studio

"It was really important for us that the player experience the whole life of
a man, because we wanted to tell this epic story of how the organisation became an organisation," he said.

"The timespan needed for that was basically a man's life. So, if we split it, people are going to experience it separately. But again, the main focus of
the narrative was to tell why he created this organisation, and the timespan needed to tell that story was a life." Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

The director added, "So we just decided to create it and do it in one game. I will also say that the game itself is pretty long, but I'm quite satisfied with what weve built."

Stranger Than Heaven launches on January 15, 2027, for PS5 , Xbox Series X and Series S , and PC. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! The best gaming consoles All the best consoles of this generation

Read our full guide to the best gaming consoles 1. Best overall: PlayStation 5 Slim 2. Best budget: Xbox Series S 3. Best handheld: Nintendo Switch 2 4. Most powerful: PlayStation 5 Pro



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/stranger-than-heaven-director-says-it-was-rea lly-important-for-rgg-that-the-player-experience-the-whole-life-of-a-man-and-t hat-the-storys-50-year-timeline-was-essential-to-depicting-how-a-yakuza-organi zation-is-built


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