SIFU completion age.

So SIFU seems pretty damn good. Have you completed it yet? What was your age when you did? Taking a breather right now but I'm at The Tower at age 39 with 4 deaths which I think is pretty respectable for only a few play sessions since yesterday. I will of course give an update on my first clear age.

Oh also the second half of The Museum is SICK. So so cool.

Just cleared The Tower at 68 and 4. Got the boss on the first attempt tho!

I've been enjoying the game as well. I beat it last night around age 60.

Short cuts are good for avoiding encounters, but you kind of sacrifice possible score and shrine upgrades by skipping them.

Probably the most annoying thing right now is that once complete a level at age 20, you are stuck with that particular save for that level. So if you missed a shrine or want to change your shrine upgrades from previous levels, you can't.

I've seen runs of this game where the person didn't age once, beat it all on the starting age that is.. and thats something else.

Ok first complete at age 69 (nice). That last boss there can give Isshin a run for his money for just being a real tough bastard. Had a fun time overall. Superb gameplay. Great Music. Just wish like @NotSoSneakyGuy pointed out that the skill unlock system was a little more smoothed out. Honestly this game might have been better if they just gave you all your options at the start and you just chose those initial age/score/exp upgrades at shrines. Then the death mechanic could become the main hook (just beat the game before you die die). Pretty good for my first 2022 game I played this year we'll see how it holds up as the year progresses.

Oh and if you're wondering about the age disparity from my earlier post. I started a fresh run after I decided I couldn't beat The Sanctuary starting at age 68. Was able to get to the last boss and unlock the stages main shortcut but I only could die like two more times and I decided to give myself so extra breathing room for that last fight. Cleared The Tower at age 52 or so with some pretty decent unlocks for the continuous run. So was just able to squeeze out a finish just under 70. Wich I'm completely ok with I'm to damn old to be attempting no death runs lol.

I finished it on Friday, and I was somewhere in my 60's. The first time I got to the last level was in my 60's, which wasn't enough, so I eventually got my start age to 34. And then eventually I gave up, went to bed, and beat it the next morning fairly quickly.

I've beaten the tower at 38 but I haven't used the shortcut yet so I should be able to shave it down a bit. Pretty satisfied with having beaten the Club at 22.

But the last boss is a mean bastard. Loving the game but he's REALLY annoying.

@theonewhoplays: The Tower at 38 and The Club at 22 are real good. The last boss is definitely the hardest thing in the game by a wide margin imo and that's saying a lot. Just brutal.

@csl316: Ain't that the the with these games. Gave him a few tries at the 68 age. When I got him to his second phase the first time and he destroyed me. Put the game down went to bed and did the fresh run this morning to put it to rest.

@cyrusraven: Thanks! Turns out what I needed was a small break from the game and some food, and then i beat him first try afterwards, after taking the Tower shortcut and beating it at 35. It just clicked, and the only attack that gave me major trouble was the grab in the final fight. Well that and the fact that he hits like a truck even if you block. I don't know the exact age since I was so focused (and I can't see a way to check best age?) but I got no trophy so I must have passed 50. Can't have been much higher since I beat him after loosing the coin.

Edit: Beat him again, at 52. That extra strength bonus helps getting across the finish line.

I just need one more board collectible, and then I am 'finished' with the stages. But I will definitely try to get my age lower. Unfortunately that process will probably feel more aggravating than just beating the game, since a single death will hit much harder. But I will give it a go, since the game has been really fun so far.

The ending felt REALLY lackluster, but I might be missing something. There are a whole bunch of hidden trophies left. Hidden endings perhaps?

A bunch of the collectibles open up hidden areas in previous levels that are supposed to clue you in on the secret ending.

If you want to unlock to unlock it then play through the game without using the finishing move on the bosses the first time it happens during the second stage of the fight, then on the second instance they're open for the finisher you perform it like normal

Thanks for the explanation! I haven't read it yet since I want to try something first :)

Edit: Fair warning: turns out that the PS5 activity cards will happily spoil hidden trophies. No biggie, but boy is the PS5 UI really a mess.

@notsosneakyguy I've been wondering what happens if you re-beat a level at min age. That's really annoying. I beat the first level at age 20 with just a minimum amount of dragon statues and now I can't upgrade. Thankfully they're not 100% necessary, but you can really screw yourself by taking the shortcuts and not getting focus upgrades, or the ones that restore your 'poise' and focus meters. So I will be careful about that from now on.

@bicycleham: I didn't know this either that's cool. I'm assuming that what all the Talisman stuff is about since I know those are a thing but didn't find any of them throughout my playthrough.

Now that it's sit for a little while in my head I think my favorite/coolest thing about this game is how you can actively see and feel yourself getting better at the game. Take the final boss for example the first time I fought him was just like "What! How is this possible!" Then suddenly your juking his combo strings getting an extra hit and perry in now and again then following up after the combo string ends and it all feels fantastic and intuitive. That is just a boiled down example but the whole game is pretty much like that.

I only have three trophies left now - with the hardest being beat the game at 50 (feels doable, I've beaten it at 52) and 25 (a nightmare). Absolutely fantastic game for beat 'em fans. I would never have figured out how to get the hidden trophies by myself though. I really enjoy how 95% of the abilities and stat bonuses won't really affect your chanses all that much. You just need to learn the enemy patterns and keep focused! To me this is a combination of a more streamlined, less messy God Hand, as well as Sekiro. And that's high praise indeed.

I've Beaten the game yesterday at age 69 (nice)

I'm really happy with this game and I didn't really cared for the story, so the lackluster ending didn't really bothered me. with that said i have learned the existence of the "TRUE ENDING".

My question is : did anyone in here achieved this or is willing to achieve it ? How hard is it ? Is it all worth it ?

I'm sure that the first 2 bosses are going to be a piece of cake, so is the fourth. But the artist and the last boss... I barely got through the last one.

side note : F that Prodigal Child Trophy.

@instinct666: Yeah had some time to play last night and started a new run to try and do the talisman stuff. Made it to The Sanctuary at age 52 and most of those deaths came from trying to do the secret thing with the bosses. Which is interesting makes you play a bit differently since you have to be much more careful and defense/perry focused. I'm with you on the artist fight although only the first phase I find the second phase much easier. Looking forward to seeing if the story (the weakest part by far) gets elevated at all once I get a chance to wrap The Sanctuary up. Think I have like 5 deaths to do the special thing with the last boss. Which is hopefully enough.

@cyrusraven: Oh yeah The artist's first phase is wayyy harder than it's second for sure !
Question : do you need to break their Stance on both phase or only the second ?

@instinct666: Only have to worry about breaking there stance on the second phase. You can whoop their ass like normal during the first. Also during the second phase the first time you break the stance back off let them recover and then you have to break it again to do the thing.

I've been working my way towards the age 25 trophy. Beat the museum at 21 (still don't got the timing down during the first phase) and have beaten the last boss at 32. I'm still having fun with memorizing the boss patterns and optimizing combo strings, but I'm not looking forward to actually trying to beat the last boss with MAX two continous deaths. He's much more manageable now but still hits like a damn truck. Funny thing is, I've pretty much stopped using weapons against the bosses since I want the consistent of only using my normal attacks.

A fun challenge is trying to beat all stages in one go without shortcuts. I've almost managed it, but lost focus during the last boss phase and got destroyed :/ At least you get a truckload of XP.

EDIT: achieving the true ending isn't too bad. I had some trouble at first since the involved game mechanics aren't really that important to understand unless you're going for that ending, but after the second boss I got in the groove and did it in one or two tries for the rest.. It's worth doing for the challenge but not something I plan on doing ever again.

Finished my secret ending run in the 60s again. I think that the secret ending playthrough really does elevate the story a bit with a better ending too. I also wonder about that little bit after the credits and what that could point towards. I still have plenty of trophies to unlock but I think I'm satisfied right now. This is definitely a game I can see myself going back to in the future tho just because its so fun to actually play.

I haven't finished it yet, but I'm starting the tower at age 43 or so, which feels respectable. I fucking LOVED the museum, as well as the boss fight -- the second half especially. The music and mood are so damn good.

This game gives me intense Sekiro vibes in terms of going from "how the heck is this possible" to being able to absolutely download it and not die once. I can't wait to attempt a run like that. Plus, the score multiplier gating your access to better parry structure damage (seriously, some of those score thresholds are insane) scratches that perfectionism itch for me.

@lapsariangiraff: The Museum is the best stage and visually cool boss fight imo. Especially the second half if you go the long way and don't just take the elevator. Just all around dope as fuck.

I wish this had come out in a less eventful month because the systems in this game are basically everything that I love doing.

You tell me that the solution to a problem in a game is "Just parry it" and you've already half sold me on any game.

My strategy for getting through the later stages without dying is using shortcuts but fighting as many as the enemies as possible (the museum gives you a lot of freedom especially to choose your path) and only go for specific upgrades. It makes the bosses a little harder but not having to go through a bunch of risky fights before the boss is worth it for my sanity. Ended up just taking the elevator immediately in the museum in order to finish it at age 20. Had great RNG which helped during the first phase.

The caves before the 4th boss can be pretty tricky, and especially the last group fight has ended plenty of my '20 year' attempts before I even reached the boss. Best so far is 23, but I'm feeling confident I'll get there soon. Beating the last boss in five years is still going to be a tall order. You can at maximum die once during the first phase, and twice during the second.

My goal is beating that challenge before Elden Ring comes out.

The museum might be my favorite stage as well but I am pretty fond of the club as well.

I beat the game at 24! Beating the 4th stage without dying was actually alot more aggravating than beating the last in 5 years. Now I just want to beat the whole game in a single run then I'm satisfied unless they make some DLC or something which I find unlikely.

Edit: managed to beat the game in a single run and ended at age 40, and I still want to keep playing. This is GOTY for me already.

Ok I lied. I couldn't get it out of my head so I played more Sifu. Because of my talisman run I was starting at The Sanctuary at age 42 so I got the age 50 trophy (scarless). Then I started doing age 20 runs only had to start at The Club. Just finished up and my ages are The Squats (20), The Club (20), The Museum (20), The Tower (22), The Sanctuary (24). Just under the wire for the Prodigal Child!

@theonewhoplays: 24 CLUB! it's also my GOTY but to be fair it's the only game I've played in 2022 so looking forward to how it stands up throughout the year. It's strong tho.

I got through Student difficulty at something like 60 but I'd also taken ten years off. So far I'm 24 after the Squats on Disciple. I was not expecting my permanent upgrades to carry over between files. Whilst that mode does dilute the ageing mechanic, it delivers some pretty handy training. It's not like it can be wholly mashed through, either.

You know, for all the challenge this game flaunts, you can play things pretty cautiously. You have the mobility to control fights and tackle enemies one at a time. Also, bosses have a predictable pattern and windows of opportunity. Sure, I could go in and dodge all Sean's staff madness or I could just wait for him to finish and sock him in his bandaged face.

Probably my game of the year.

So I don't remember my completion age, as I finished this a few months ago. I just want to say that if you're like me and you hit a skill ceiling with this game and progression became impossible, the easy mode that they patched in a few months ago is great. It makes you feel like a total badass, and you can basically brute force your way through the boss fights if you lack finesse. I played through the whole game twice and got both endings in one afternoon.

Honestly, the biggest hump is probably The Club. Contrary to what I thought earlier, Sean's boss pattern does change slightly. The window of opportunity after his combo strikes is shortened by a little back-step he does.

Enemy aggression is up, meaning you're more likely to get boxed in. Otherwise, the enemy compositions are the same on Disciple.

EDIT: Disciple done at 74. Did the last three areas back to back so it was done by the slimmest of margins. I had the club down to 27 and took it from there with most of my deaths coming to bosses.