Weapons

4:53 Stranger Than Heaven lets Makoto Daito fight with knives, hammers, mallets, katanas and "brand-new inventions of the era", as Xbox Wire listed them on May 6, 2026, and the previews since have added an odachi, a wooden club, a crowbar and guns. Each weapon type can be upgraded to learn new techniques, and Makoto's moves change with what he holds. One named weapon is known: Dosu: Kagekiri, the pre-order bonus for every edition. The Deluxe Edition adds 4 weapons that SEGA has not named as of Nov 3, 2026. Weapons sit on top of the two-sided combat system; the game is out on Jan 15, 2027. In the clip IGN's Michael Higham describes the odachi, the hammer, the knife and the wooden club in the October 2026 build.

Quick facts

Sources: Xbox Wire, May 6, 2026; IGN, Oct 21, 2026; Steam store page, Nov 3, 2026.

Every weapon type shown

Sources: Xbox Wire, May 6, 2026; IGN, Oct 21, 2026; Game Informer, Jun 11, 2026; CGMagazine, May 6, 2026; GamesRadar+, updated Aug 24, 2026.

3:20 The demos introduced weapons in stages. At Summer Game Fest 2026 the Kokura fight was unarmed and weapons came in only for the Kure and Osaka encounters, the same three eras SEGA's Gamescom demo showed. That suggests weapons open up as the story moves on, though SEGA has not said so. The clip is the Gamescom 2026 demo as IGN posted it: the 1929 Kure title card, then Makoto fighting with a long blade.

Upgrades and techniques

1:41 Weapons can be upgraded and have special attacks, Xbox Wire wrote after the May 6, 2026 broadcast. IGN's October hands-on adds that each weapon type gains new techniques when upgraded and that Makoto's attacks change with the weapon equipped. Who does the upgrading and what it costs have not been shown as of Nov 3, 2026. In the clip the official combat overview's Japanese narration names the kitchen knife, the hammer and the katana and says new materials raise a weapon's power and unlock its abilities.

6:08 Weapons last. At Gamescom 2026 director Mikinobu Abe told IGN that players choose from 12 kinds of weapon, and that a weapon used over the decades, such as a knife, is one Makoto grows more skilled with; asked whether weapons break after many hits, he said they stay with the player.

Dosu: Kagekiri

Dosu: Kagekiri (in Japanese ドス・影切) is the pre-order bonus for physical and digital pre-orders of every edition. A dosu is a short blade with no hand guard, the classic yakuza dagger of Japanese crime films. SEGA says it unlocks as the player progresses, may need the latest update, and that contents and timing may change. Its stats and moves are not published. See Pre-order Bonus for the deadlines.

The four Deluxe Edition weapons

The Deluxe Edition ($89.99 on Steam as of Nov 3, 2026, also sold later as a Deluxe Upgrade) lists 4 weapons among its items, with an outfit, 4 performers, 3 stage production items, a poster, a record player and a camera. SEGA has not named or shown the four weapons as of Nov 3, 2026. Like the rest of the Deluxe items they arrive through main story progress, not at the start. The Collector's Edition includes the same Deluxe Upgrade code.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a katana in Stranger Than Heaven? Yes. Katanas are named among Stranger Than Heaven's weapons on SEGA's Steam page, and an odachi, a longer sword, appeared in the October 2026 previews.

Are there guns in Stranger Than Heaven? Guns appear among the weapons in Stranger Than Heaven's May 6, 2026 Xbox Presents footage. How they work, and how much ammunition Makoto gets, has not been shown as of Nov 3, 2026.

What is Dosu: Kagekiri in Stranger Than Heaven? Dosu: Kagekiri is a weapon, the pre-order bonus for every edition of Stranger Than Heaven. It unlocks with story progress.

What weapons come with the Stranger Than Heaven Deluxe Edition? The Stranger Than Heaven Deluxe Edition includes 4 weapons, but SEGA had not named them as of Nov 3, 2026.

Can you upgrade weapons in Stranger Than Heaven? Yes. In Stranger Than Heaven each weapon type can be upgraded to unlock new techniques, according to Xbox Wire and IGN.

Sources

• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN, Steam, as of Nov 3, 2026
• Xbox Presents: A Special Look at Stranger Than Heaven, Everything We Learned, Xbox Wire (Danielle Partis), May 6, 2026
• Stranger Than Heaven Xbox Presents Confirms It's a Yakuza Prequel, CGMagazine (Hayes Madsen), May 6, 2026
• Throwing Hands Across Japan, Game Informer (Brian Shea), Jun 11, 2026
• Get a Look at Combat First Impressions from the Summer Game Fest Media Hands-On, SEGA (Steam), Jun 23, 2026
• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN release announcement, SEGA, Jun 8, 2026
• Stranger Than Heaven: Everything we know, GamesRadar+, updated Aug 24, 2026
• Check Out a Full Playthrough of the Gamescom Demo Featuring Combat from 3 Eras, SEGA (Steam), Aug 29, 2026
• Stranger Than Heaven: The Final Preview, IGN (Michael Higham), Oct 21, 2026
• Stranger Than Heaven Finally Won Me Over | Extended Hands-On Preview, IGN, Oct 21, 2026 (video)
• Stranger Than Heaven - Official Gameplay Demo | gamescom 2026, IGN, Aug 31, 2026 (video)
• Stranger Than Heaven - Official Combat Overview Trailer, IGN, May 20, 2026 (video)
• How Stranger Than Heaven's Brutal Combat Borrows From Classic Yakuza Cinema | gamescom2026, IGN, Aug 29, 2026 (video)