'Historical accuracy wasn't the goal from the very beginning' Stranger Than Heaven director says while research for its era-spanning game was 'really difficult,' the cities will still have 'a lot of fiction'

Date:
Fri, 23 Oct 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Description:
RGG did plenty of research for its multi-era action RPG, Stranger Than
Heaven, but director Mikinobu Abe has said historical accuracy wasn't the end goal.

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 says RGG Studios did a lot of "difficult" research to depict the game's many cities across different time periods However, Abe says
"historical accuracy wasn't the goal from the very beginning," and the team took creative liberties He says there is a lot of "fiction" woven through the cities for the player experience RGG Studio did plenty of research for its multi-era action role-playing game, Stranger Than Heaven , but director Mikinobu Abe has said historical accuracy wasn't the end goal.

In a discussion with TechRadar Gaming about the early stages of development, Abe confirmed that a story spanning 50 years and five cities in Japan
required a lot of research, which "itself was really difficult," and that RGG visited all the cities depicted in the game and libraries for material. "No one knows what it was like back in 1915 Kokura, or 1929 Kure," Abe said. "So, we had to dig into a lot of our pictures, and we visited a lot of museums. We even bought a lot of books that were published back then, or magazines that were published back then, and read every single one of them. There was one time that bugs were coming out of them, which was not good to have in the office! We did a lot of research like that." Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

However, as much as research was vital to get a sense of the time periods RGG wanted to depict, the director said "historical accuracy wasn't the goal from the very beginning," and the team took creative liberties.

"We took a lot of inspiration from what we researched, but we wanted to
depict the city in a way that we feel really represents the video game experience that we want the player to have," Abe explained. "There's a lot of fiction within the cities, but we wanted to capture the tone of what it could have been like or how it could have felt to be in that place." 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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It wasn't just historical research; Abe said he and the art director, Daishi Kanaya, researched paintings, vintage lenses, and film that were created during these decades, and that they "took a lot of inspiration from the equipment side of things," like what brush artists used when drawing at the time.

"We took a lot of inspiration from those and re-imagined how we, as creators in 2026, would use that equipment and create this new vibe or atmosphere for the game," he said. "That's just how this older colour, and the look, and the tone, and the atmosphere of the city came to 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.

"I don't think 1915 Kokura was that populated or was that big of a city, but you know, we really wanted to capture the essence and humanise it in a way that we feel like it's really entertaining for people to play."

Stranger Than Heaven releases 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

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/historical-accuracy-wasnt-the-goal-from-the-v ery-beginning-stranger-than-heaven-director-says-while-research-for-its-era-sp anning-game-was-really-difficult-the-cities-will-still-have-a-lot-of-fiction


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