![]() This is both good and bad because it’s a “try before you buy” system but the cost can feel like a chore. There is a way to spend experience points to unlock them for the entirety of the game but come at sometimes 5 times the cost. There are skill trees and shrine bonuses that will add alternate combos, specials and stat buffs but they don’t carry over from run to run. Sadly what DOESN’T carry over are skill unlocks. This makes multiple replays a necessity to set yourself up for the following levels. To add into the unforgiving nature of Sifu, levels/areas are sequential and whatever age and multiplier you finish the first level, carries over to the second level. It feels good to defeat a gang of goons to watch the counter tick down but there’s a real demoralizing quality to dying at a particularly hard boss and seeing the multiplayer tick your age up by 6. This multiplier is a cruel mistress and makes dying a painful endeavor. The trick is, if you die AGAIN to the same set of enemies, the death counter goes up by 2, so you will come back at age 23. This is when the death counter goes up by one and your character ages to 21. Going through levels will have you fighting hordes of enemies, and sometimes death will occur, it’s a part of life of course. The player character starts at a young age of 20. The brutality of the combat is best exemplified in it’s life system. Varying your move set, analyzing your enemy and being aware of your surroundings are what is necessary to progress because Sifu won’t go easy on you. It’s a delicate ballet that feels like risks are punished in favor of playing it safe. Deciding to use a push move to make an enemy trip over a footstool is a viable strategy here and all of this needs to be taken into account for you to succeed. Throwing somebody into a wall or knocking someone off balance can turn the tables of a fight just as easy as a well timed punch. Along with the enemy learning your moves, the environment comes into play a lot within combat. Do the same three hit combo with a spin kick and enemies will notice and adapt their tactics to avoid yours. ![]() So enemies are just as likely to slow-mo dodge or parry your punches. The interesting part of Sifu comes in that all of these skills (minus the focus abilities) are part of the enemies repertoire as well. It doesn’t happen often but enough to be frustrating. While the combat is dense with possibilities, it can also feel even more difficult when you sometimes feel like you are fighting with the camera as well. Lastly there’s a focus meter that is built up from dodges and parries, that when spent will unleash a special maneuver like a trip or spin kick. ![]() Also using directional inputs while blocking can result in perfectly timed dodges but dashing out of the way fully is another variable option. You can only block so much before being knocked off guard, but using your block at the exact right moment results in a parry knocking the enemy off balance. Then there is the structure system, which acts as your guard break. Using these in varying sequences will result in combos or special unique attacks. The story acts as window dressing for a complex iceberg of systems that lie underneath the surface.Īs a kung-fu student, you are given a set of distinct moves that follow a pattern of heavy and light attacks. ![]() It’s a kung fu revenge tale seen in many 60’s and 70’s films but works well here in both style and simplicity. You do so by traveling to 5 distinct locales across China and fighting your way through countless enemies to reach the head assassin. Flash forward a decade into the future and we are the 20 year old son set on a revenge quest to defeat the gang that destroyed your family. The game begins with an assassin and his crew killing a kung fu master and his family ending with cutting the throat of the son. It’s a game that expects a lot from the player and punishes those who aren’t willing to put in the effort which is divisive to say the least. Though after delving deeper, it’s actually a mechanically dense study into game design and clever non linear progression system. At first glance it is a brawler style martial arts game that pits an aging kung fu student against a cavalcade of stylistic villains and henchmen. Sifu (the new game from Sloclap, developers of Absolver) put me in a weird headspace. ![]()
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