SEGA’s ‘Stranger Than Heaven’ Act 1 Trailer Introduces Snoop Dogg’s Orpheus
RGG Studio expands the game’s opening chapter with a closer look at Makoto’s voyage to Japan and the figures shaping his future.
Summary
Stranger Than Heaven’s Act 1 trailer follows Makoto Daito’s arrival in 1915 Kokura.
Snoop Dogg’s Orpheus plays a major role in shaping Makoto’s early path.
The game launches January 15, 2027.
SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (RGG) have released the “Act 1: Kokura Story Trailer” for Stranger Than Heaven, offering a closer look at the opening chapter of Makoto Daito’s 50-year journey.
Set in 1915, the footage follows the Japanese-American teenager as he flees persecution in the U.S. and secretly boards the vessel of globe-trotting merchant Orpheus, portrayed by Snoop Dogg, hoping to reach his late mother’s homeland. Orpheus features heavily throughout the trailer, discovering Makoto aboard his ship before gradually recognizing his musical talent and exposing him to the harder realities of the world awaiting him.
The voyage also brings Makoto together with fellow stowaway Yu Shinjo, who later becomes one of his closest friends, before the pair arrive in Kokura, Fukuoka and encounter an environment every bit as unforgiving as the one they escaped. Set against jazz and rap-inflected sequences, the trailer introduces several figures who will shape Makoto’s early life while charting the circumstances that begin pushing him toward a career as a showman.
The Kokura trailer is the first in a planned series of story previews following Makoto across Stranger Than Heaven’s five eras and cities, spanning 1915 to 1965. RGG Studio’s latest action-adventure moves from Kokura to Kure in 1929, Minami in 1943, Atami in 1951 and eventually Kamurocho in 1965, using each period to trace the protagonist’s changing identity against a reimagined half-century of Japanese history.
First introduced as Project Century before receiving its official title, the game combines the studio’s character-driven storytelling and close-quarters combat with show-business elements, with Orpheus’ early influence appearing to establish music and performance as an important part of Makoto’s development. Stranger Than Heaven is scheduled to launch on January 15, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, with the title also available through Xbox Game Pass.
