From Travismc.substack.com
Sloclap has been busy since the release of Absolver. While Sifu shares some DNA, it manages to have it's own identity. The one thing that sticks out while seeing and playing Sifu is the combat. Building off the slow paced deliberate combat of absolver, Sifu speeds things up and focuses in on hand to hand combat. As well as a small assortment of melee weapons. In order to make true progression, the game teaches you to use the various tools you have to perfection or else. The only downside is that the combat is imperfect. That's not to say it's unresponsive or bad, more so the corners you can get trap in. Or the free look camera, you have full control for the most part, but while your trying to fight off a boss or 6+ enemies the camera is the last thing you want getting screwy. That being said I've felt like a badass 85% of the time in this game. Each run improving my reaction time and learning the enemies moves. Learning is half the battle in Sifu and the progression allows for it more importantly.
Speaking of the progression, the aging mechanic. When you die in Sifu your character progressed in age. The number of years you age goes up depending on how many previous deaths occured during that run. The game is split into levels and once new level is unlocked it's unlocked permanently at the age of your character when they beat the previous level. It can seem confusing at first, but the ability to go back and try for a better run is a nice safety cushion. Eventually, you can fall into a rhythm with Sifu if you can temper any frustration from the camera or some of those F'n parry times. As I said earlier, the camera can have a mind of it's own sometimes, you have full control so once you find that rhythm it makes panning the camera around for a better angle a little easier. You also earn traditional experience as well as an overall level score determined by how fluid you are in combat. Experience can be used to unlock various moves that are unlocked until you reach age 80. Throughout a full run (ages 20-80) you can unlock them multiple times, after 5 unlocks the move becomes unlocked permanently. These moves range from short combos to my favorite, the ability to kick things off the ground and into enemies with R1. These help you deal with the various styles of enemies and experiment with how you approach a situation.
Spread throughout the levels are totems were you can choose one of 9 abilities split into three categories. The first is free, but you have to be a certain age in order to select them. The second is based off of your level score, in order to pick something from this category you have to have a high enough level score. The third is experience, which does subtract from your experience so you'll have to decide whether it's worth it or not. These passive buffs are around until you reach age 80 and see a game over screen. The only time they’re locked in is when you start the next level, and you can continue to build off of them. You can restart the first level, get to the totems, make new selections, and as long as you beat the level they'll carry over to the next. Also strewn about the levels are objects. Some of these are story relevant (I'm assuming, there’s a reason I haven't mentioned that yet) and some are keys/items that allow you to skip parts of previous levels. This makes it a little easier to get to the next level and have a lower age then your previous run. To help you discover keys or progression items is a white board back in your base of operations. this fills out as long as you finish the level in which you grabbed the item. Eventually certain items will be linked to others in the same level or even a different one. Encouraging you to go back and explore previous levels, looking for doors or elevators.
I haven't brought up the story yet because there's not much to bring up. for those curious it's your basic revenge plot ala Kill Bill. It's not bad and the aging mechanic presents some interesting scenarios/interactions. There just aren't many personalities throughout. basic enemies spout the same lines of dialog, the player character has clear motivations but is basically silent, and the bosses your going after in each level are defined by their move set and phases. None of this is a turn off and I wouldn’t call it bad, just blasé. As a full package for 40$, this is an impressive game. if your willing to fail and learn how the game wants to be played it's a great time. If your quick to frustration and don't have the technical skill (some people don't and that's okay) then i would give this a pass. If they get to make a third game, they have potential to knock it out of the park.
4.6 Jackie Chan kicking an object at someone out of 6