Sifu demands precise combat from players

Sifu’s combat system has been turning heads lately thanks to several gameplay demos by streamers. A beat ‘em up adventure game by Sloclap, Sifu has drawn attention not just its slick art style but its whole approach to fighting. View the trailer right now.

Kung Fu Fighting

Sifu follows a young (at first) martial artist seeking revenge against five deadly assassins who murdered his family. One of the game’s most essential mechanics is that you possess a magical talisman that staves off death. Instead, when you die, you revive but grow a few years older—a reflection of the adage that martial arts takes a lifetime to master. 

Surprisingly, age does provide some benefit in that your older self is capable of dealing more damage. That said, you also take more damage in return. Grow too old and you die before you can finish your quest. 

Another feature of Sifu is its combat difficulty. For one thing, there is no difficulty setting, i.e. no way to make the game easier. For another, you’re almost always outnumbered and must rely on strategy as well as reflexes to survive. 

Players and enemies alike get two meters in Sifu: the health bar and the structure bar. Blocking attacks will erode the structure bar, and once it’s broken, the defender is left open to a finishing attack. That’s why you can’t turn turtle and block your way through every blow. 

That said, you also can’t aggressively spam attacks on opponents and not expect to get punished. Button-mashing will leave you open to counters or attacks from behind. Proper defense in Sifu means changing directions to intercept other attackers mid-stream, or using the environment to your advantage through improvised weapons or parkour.

Executive Producer Pierre Tarno explains this difficulty level:

"If the game were too easy, if we gave that fantasy right away to players, that feeling of practice and mastery would not really be felt. So there is a strong learning curve. When you start Sifu, your character is a young kung fu student. But hopefully, by the time you reach the end of the game, you will have become a kung fu master."

In other words, be prepared to die, rinse, and repeat throughout the game. Eventually, you will gain the skills of a true master. Check out a no-death combat playthrough by justas:

When will Sifu be released?

Sifu’s release date has been brought forward to February 8, 2022. Buy Sifu PC keys at the best prices today.