Well, withSifu, my childhood dream is now a reality.
You dont need to be a kung fu film fanatic to appreciate this action game, though.
Its not a tired bundle of tropes packaged together with an ironic detachment.
Its a passionate celebration of what makes the genre so good.
When Sifu starts, though, something feels slightly off.
In fact, youre the main villain.
Eight years later, its time to hunt down the original five assailants and exact that revenge.
You technically have to complete all five levels without dying, but theres a massive asterisk attached to that.
Whenever you die, your aforementioned talisman brings you back to life.
The only catch is that every time you revive, your age increases.
The more you die in quick succession, the faster you age.
So, it helps that theyre all absolutely terrific.
Rooms are filled with tons of props and furniture just waiting for you to send enemies flying through them.
Youre also not just walking into a room and fighting random people.
It all feels authentic.
Similarly, there’ll sometimes be very small dialogue sections between fights that can be surprisingly impactful.
Sometimes you’re free to even avoid fights or engage in bonus ones.
The levels are a treat, but they’re also extremely long!
But as you progress through them, youll find shortcuts to speed you along.
It stood out in the nightclub level, where a DJ was performing the music I fought to.
But as I went deeper into the level, the music transitioned to a more traditional score.
It felt like reality was melting away the closer I got to the boss’s lair.
Rhythm is at the heart of Sifu’s combat.
Its unbelievable how fluid the game is in motion.
you might throw any attacks out and theyll all link together naturally.
Make no mistake, though, Sifu is not easy.
Combat uses a set of moves best viewed as a toolkit.
You have a light and heavy attack, a dodge, a block, a parry and two avoids.
This isnt even including all the weapons in the environments, either.
As complicated as it all sounds, Sifu is incredibly good at encouraging experimentation and balancing difficulty.
It always feels fair, fast and consistent with its rules.
I felt like all of my failures were because I wasnt proficient enough with my tools yet.
The unique death system especially goes a long way to prevent the feeling that youre stuck.
If you get good enough at Sifu, you could probably run through the entire game without dying once.
Sign me up for more.
Make a Matrix spinoff if youre feeling nuts!
