Sifu is a brutal 3D brawler that dissects revenge itself

Sloclap put itself on the map with martial arts-themed activity RPG Absolver back in 2022. Four years after, the company has delivered Sifu, a 3D brawler that'south cut from the same cloth, but boasts an entirely dissimilar blueprint. Sifu is a much tighter, more linear feel that'southward focused on mastering your craft: the game'due south kung fu fighting style. Information technology'south incredibly gratifying to play, as every meet is a fast-paced, dynamic fight for survival.

As thrilling as Sifu tin be, it can also be quite frustrating. The game does not pull whatsoever punches; it has a dauntingly hard difficulty that, unfortunately, will almost certainly ostracize some players just looking to whoop some virtual butt worry-free. That said, if you lot can scroll with the punches the game will (figuratively and literally) throw at you, you'll discover a visually stunning, mechanically-sound brawler that delivers a wonderfully poignant message about revenge.

Fun combat, questionable inspirations

Sifu'south biggest draw is its focus on hand-to-hand combat. The main character'due south fighting style draws heavily from kung fu — specifically the Pak Mei style. On the topic of the game'south influences, Sifu is obviously inspired by the large-scale fight scenes popularized by Chinese movie theatre. Additionally, its story regularly ponders on Wude (an upstanding system nowadays in Chinese martial arts) and besides features diverse mystical elements and artifacts usually associated with Chinese civilisation, such every bit resurrection, magical talismans, and dragons.

The game has a very credible fascination with Chinese culture, or at least the parts commonly exhibited in mainstream western media, but I'm not entirely convinced it necessarily respects the civilisation it'due south cartoon from. The game was developed by a studio comprised of mostly white people; information technology'due south been reported that non a single person of Chinese descent worked on this game. Keeping this in heed while considering the studio'southward decision to ship out press kits filled with generic items you lot'd find at an American-owned souvenir shop in your local Chinatown, along with the game's Twitter account actively promoting the Lunar New Year, it certainly feels similar Sifu is more than meant to entreatment to western sensibilities of Chinese culture — the large-scale fights, mystical elements, "fancy" tourist souvenirs — rather than evangelize an authentic product made with input from those who are an bodily part of the civilisation, which ways that the game will near certainly rub many people looking for that kind of experience the wrong way.

It'south truly a shame, because devoid of its stereotypical stylings, Sifu'south core gameplay is pretty solid. Like whatever real-world martial fine art, information technology requires a skillful amount of both practice and patience. You can't only button-mash your manner to success. This makes every gainsay see feels like a dynamic puzzle with several constantly irresolute variables. Does my opponent accept a weapon? Are they situated almost a ledge? Is there a bottle around I can throw at them? Answering these questions in existent-time feels rewarding, and the game gives you so many offensive options to work with that any one encounter could have a near-limitless number of solutions.

The depth of Sifu's gainsay only increases as you earn XP and unlock new skills, all of which feel similar substantial additions to your moveset. These skills can range from hard-hit special attacks to defensive maneuvers, such equally counters. Most of them are fairly piece of cake to use, and they tin exist worked seamlessly into your existing combos, assuasive you to experiment with them without having to deviate from your preferred playstyle besides much.

The game truly comes alive during its boss fights, which are all fell, albeit fair, skill checks. What's more than, they each call for a different kind of strategy. The encounter with the hardhearted Sean requires you to employ evasive maneuvers, while the fight against The Leader calls for abiding counterattacks and mostly more than ambitious play. I felt pretty frustrated upon my first encounter with each dominate, as these enemies are amid the hardest in the game. Simply once I eventually came out on height, I felt a genuine sense of reward, like I had simply passed some sort of milestone.

However, while I was motivated to keep retrying boss battles until I won, I tin can easily see a lot of people bouncing off of Sifu considering of these devilishly difficult encounters. The game doesn't accept whatsoever selectable difficulty levels or modifiers, meaning that the only way to progress through it is to "git gud" enough to defeat each boss. Every bit someone who gets a kick out of hard games like Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden, I had a lot of fun gradually getting amend, but I have to admit that Sifu doesn't exactly seem interested in servicing those who just want to experience information technology for its story or stunning visuals.

While Sifu is quite difficult, it does grant one cardinal concession: its controls are pretty simple. You won't have to worry too much about messing up combos here, given how elementary they are. None require more than five total inputs. Even if you mess ane up, all of the game'south attacks still work pretty well with one another. In my experience, I found that my mis-inputs would sometimes event in the accidental discovery of a highly effective philharmonic that I would and then try to replicate going forwards. If you find any of the controls disruptive, the game also features full button remapping likewise, allowing you to fine-tune your controls.

Fighting for your lives

1 of Sifu's defining traits is that its protagonist can resurrect themself upon death at the cost of their youth. This mechanic is a double-edged sword. The most immediate impact it has on gameplay is that information technology gets yous correct back in the action, as yous'll respawn exactly where you died with full health. You can even do this during dominate fights, which partially alleviates the aforementioned concerns over these hard encounters. From an aesthetic standpoint, your character will become notably more gray and wrinkled the older they go, which also factors into gameplay.

Equally yous go older, you'll deal more than damage, but your full amount of health will likewise decrease. This created an interesting dilemma for me every bit I played. As in whatever other game, information technology'due south preferable to avert dying in Sifu. However, provided y'all could avoid/parry most incoming attacks, getting older could potentially make you a more capable fighter. More often than not, I opted to preserve my youth whenever possible, simply knowing that I would receive damage buffs as I aged helped to soften the blow of death but a fiddling scrap.

That said, y'all don't want to become too old in Sifu; your resurrective power runs out at age 70, and dying after this causes a game over. You'll then lose any XP earned, as well as any skills unlocked — unless you've permanently unlocked them. Aging is even so some other variable in Sifu'southward dynamic gameplay that you have to account for. It makes the game a tad more forgiving, but not necessarily less tense. The age mechanic besides adds a corking deal of replayability, as you lot can claiming yourself to replay the game'due south story while staying as young as possible.

A beautiful revenge story

Sifu casts yous as a once-orphaned private on a journeying to kill those that murdered your begetter. At kickoff glance, the game presents itself equally a run-of-the-mill revenge quest, merely what really surprised me was how the game handles the concept of revenge. Unlike other revenge-driven games, such as The Concluding of United states of america Part II, Sifu opts to tell a more optimistic story well-nigh escaping the night shadow of revenge, rather than succumbing to it, which I constitute pretty refreshing. At the same time, information technology puts forward that revenge is a complex desire, and doesn't error its characters for their natural, vengeful feelings.

The game besides uses stunning visuals to help tell its story. The unabridged game boasts a vibrant colour pallet that makes it await just as skillful as it plays. Every level feels like a visual representation of its dominate' psyche, riddled with hidden details and lore entries that assistance mankind them out a little more than. If you're really interested in the characters, every level also has its own set up of collectibles, all of which give fifty-fifty more than insight into each of Sifu's major players.

The verdict

Sifu is a complex, albeit rewarding action game that packs one mean dial. It's a little too hard for its own skilful at times, but taking the time to overcome its challenges can be pretty fulfilling. That said, the game is grossly drenched in exoticism, which kind of puts a damper on things.

If you're in the market place for a tough-as-nails 3D brawler that will truly test your game-playing abilities, information technology's difficult non to recommend Sifu. Just know that the game will not go piece of cake on you lot. Only like real-life martial arts, y'all'll need time and dedication to go through it, so make sure you have both of those resource handy earlier jumping in.

+	Gainsay is deep, rewarding, and looks great in action
+	Crumbling mechanic makes the game somewhat forgiving
+	Highly replayable, beautiful-looking levels
+	An engaging story that asks you lot to think critically most its premise
–	Steep level of difficulty that non merely requires players to master its mechanics, but also won't accommodate those who are unable to exercise so
–	Fascination with Chinese culture reeks of exoticism and inauthenticity