SIFU REVIEW FOR PC, PS5, AND PS4.
Sifu is one of the hardest games that I’ve ever played and, if it wasn’t for naively nominating myself to write this review, I would have given up on it in the first couple of hours. And yet here I am, having forced myself through the ordeal and coming out on the other side with an unexpected, yet thoroughly deserving, Game of the Year 2022 contender. It’s just a shame that many players won’t get to see it through to the end.
Revenge is sweet
Sifu’s story is fairly simple. After their master and fellow students are wiped out by a gang of skilled killers, our protagonist trains hard and goes on a mission of revenge. Sounds familiar, right? Thankfully, there is enough nuance here to make Sifu stand out from the crowd. Namely, the supernatural element where the student survived being killed by their master’s murderers by holding onto a mystical ancient pendant. This trinket gives them multiple lives, though they age rapidly with each revival.
Therein lies Sifu’s main gameplay mechanic. Players can survive death, but they come back with increased fragility. Though older characters do dish out more damage, the decrease in maximum health is quickly punished. Therefore, it’s in a player’s best interests to avoid death to stay young for as long as possible. This mechanic forces players to not only progress through a level, but to do so with minimal damage taken. Players will need to get used to replaying missions over and over to master each encounter, memorizing the layouts and locations of enemies, à la the movie Edge of Tomorrow or, most recently in gaming, Deathloop.
Unreal presentation
Helping make the level repetition easier to digest are the fantastic, stylized visuals and fluid animations. Each level is unique in theme and their paths transform as players become more familiar with shortcuts, optional rooms, and the ability to outright skip dialogue sequences by just launching into attack mode.
The 60 FPS presentation on PS5 is very welcome and results in super responsive inputs. Moving between enemies and nailing dodges and parries, before outputting your own blend of combos and finishers, is one of the best feelings in gaming. This is especially the case in boss fights where, after many attempts, you become one with the patterns and dodge Neo-like around previously deadly strikes, before responding with your own tried-and-true flurries and Focus takedowns. When I did fail to dodge or parry, I could only blame myself, as the game never skipped a beat.
The only performance issues I came across were the occasionally buggy enemy ragdolls. It didn’t happen enough to be a major concern, however, but it is worth a mention. I would also be critical of the solely English dub, but a full Chinese localization is being worked on and will be available shortly after launch. I just wish it was ready right now.
I get knocked down, but I get up again
As mentioned in the intro, I was not having a great time with Sifu in those first few starting hours. Looking back, I can see that I was trying to parry too often and resorting to button mashing when fights got too intense. Engagements can initially feel unfair and insurmountable, and many will fall early, but overcoming a seemingly impossible challenge results in an enlightening satisfaction.
Fights range from 1v1s to entire rooms full of enemies descending upon you at once. The more intimate encounters feature more specialized foes, while the hordes are less skilled but require herding to ensure you don’t get surrounded. There’s a good amount of variety in fights, with each presenting their own challenge. One moment you’re battling in an epic corridor sequence that’s clearly inspired by Old Boy, disarming opponents and then using their own weapons against them, while the next you’re battling on a dancefloor with John Wick-style efficiency and precision.
The arenas are important too, as the environments can be used to the player’s advantage. Everyday items can be utilized as weapons, like money bags that trip enemies up and leave them open to a ground attack, to knives that deal quick powerful slashes. Players will also want to be dodging around tables or over railings to put distance between themselves and groups of enemies, in a struggle to keep the battle under control.
You are never gonna keep me down
With Sifu, it’s important to step back and assess the progress you’ve made so far, as it’s easy to get bogged down in your current failings. Then, after composing yourself, it’s time to master the next fight, and then the next, until — after 10-20 hours depending heavily upon skill level — you’re pulling off that final finisher against the last boss.
There are some permanent unlocks that can slowly be worked towards, which make progressing that bit easier. These range from special combos to unique abilities. Some, who are much more talented than I, will get through the game quickly without unlocking many of these, while others will have them all unlocked through repeating levels countless times. For the latter, after unlocking all useful talents, remaining XP can then be spent on game-changing buffs for the run. This means the game does eventually become easier, but it’s only after a good 10+ hours of punishment, which is going to be too much suffering for most.
Is Sifu too difficult?
Though I appreciate the challenge of Sifu and am proud of how far I’ve come to beat the game (and get this review out in time), this title is undoubtedly going to be too tough for most players in its current state. Some will see this as a positive, with “I beat Sifu!” worn as a badge of honor by the most hardcore gamers, but I firmly disagree and see Sifu’s one-size-fits-all difficulty and resulting inaccessibility as room for improvement.
Tough games like Hades have struck a fantastic balance between outright adding an “Easy Mode,” which could undermine the intensity of the experience, and just leaving the difficulty as is, with many players being alienated by the too-tricky challenge. Hades’ God Mode subtly makes the game easier by increasing the player’s resistance to damage by 1% for each death suffered. This genius mechanic results in players reaching their own peak toughest difficulty that they can just about manage. In addition to gameplay that still satisfies, they also get to enjoy a story and presentation that they would otherwise have missed out on.
A similar mechanic in Sifu would be incredible to see added and I hope the devs do something to allow more players to battle through to the end, enjoying the plot and visual flair with tough-enough combat, no matter their experience or skill level.
If this is too difficult to implement or goes against the developer’s vision, then I’d at least like to see a more comprehensive training mode available from the start. At present, you’re able to fight just a single enemy with either passive or aggressive behavior AI. It would be great to have this expanded to include multiple enemies or, better yet, the minibosses and level bosses. These could be unlocked after attempting a level for the first time. Being able to train dodges and parries against a boss, without having to replay the entire bit leading up to the fight — this can take valuable minutes, even with shortcuts unlocked — would make the learning grind more tolerable.
Sifu Review: Is it worth buying?
With Sifu, developer Sloclap is asking a lot from players. From the punishingly difficult combat that takes hours to learn and tens of hours to master, to the need to repeat and near-perfect levels to lower your starting age, this fighter can be an absolute slog. However, for those who can grit their teeth through the losses and frustration, you’ll come out smiling on the other side having played one of the best games of the year.
Sifu was reviewed on PS5 with code provided by the publisher.
