Sifu

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Remember the 1980s? I sure…don’t. Sorry, was pretty young back then. From what I’ve seen in my research, though, it was a fantastic era for movies and TV, particularly if you enjoyed a specific flavor of cheesy kung fu. Sifu draws a little from that era while introducing modern gameplay that really shakes up what you might expect from brawlers.

It’s all about time and what you do with it. Turns out that mostly involves beating people up. And dying. A lot.

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You’d lived a peaceful life with your father as a child, but that life was shattered when a villainous martial artist and his posse arrived in town seeking an ancient artifact. Your father was killed, you were left scarred by the experience and, years later, you’re consumed with a lust for revenge. You’re battling masters who have been around for decades, though. Is your desire to avenge your father enough? What if it’s not? How much longer will it take to do what’s necessary?

You’ll begin your search for your targets in the dojo where your father was killed. It’s possible to read clues on your foes, practice your martial arts or spend any experience points you’ve got lying around from previous attempts. When it comes down to it, though, Sifu is a game that’s all about fighting – Arkham this ain’t, so let’s get to work.

Well, let’s do our best to get to work, anyway. Sifu is no joke. Your character is quite capable, but so are the enemies he encounters, and there’s way, way more of them than you. This game is all about learning to control crowds, stick and move and ensure that your positioning is perfect so you don’t get the stuffing beaten out of you. Block, duck or hop over attacks, dodge about, parry incoming strikes…going back to Arkham, imagine that game but you’re controlling Batman’s defenses manually. Once you’ve gotten a grip on how Sifu wants you to play, it’s exhilarating. Until then, well, hope you enjoy knuckle sandwiches.

On the offensive side, you’ve got some easy-to-execute combos, the ability to push people around with many of your moves in order to slam them into walls, and a taste for weapon-based violence. Beating dudes up such that their Structure – basically a “break” meter – runs out allows you to instantly defeat them with a stylish finishing move. You’ve got Structure of your own, of course, so it behooves you to be careful while dishing out the pain.

Successful combat earns points and experience – two different things here – which are spent on upgrades at idols found throughout each stage. Upgrades tend to be fairly understated compared to many other games. The intention appears to be to allow the player to complete the game with skill alone rather than grinding forever. The upgrades available to you are based on your performance. If you’ve had a solid run through a stage, you can choose whatever you want, but if you’ve died a lot or have taken too many hits your options may be a bit more limited.

Interestingly, your starting kit is plenty good, with upgrades feeling like icing on the cake rather than something vital to make your character complete. Additionally, upgrades are a little hard to hang on to, since you’ll lose them unless you pay an exponentially larger amount of experience to make them permanent.

Unsuccessful combat, though? Well, that’s where Sifu’s most unique mechanic comes in. When your character dies, you gain a point to your Death Counter…and while you can come back, you’re going to pay for it with your life. Each resurrection makes your character a number of years older equal to your current death counter. In other words, in a given fight one death will result in one year, but if you continue to drop the ball you’re going to keep on gaining years.

Even the most powerful martial artist won’t live forever, and while your character becomes stronger as the ages, his maximum health also drops. Get too old and, well, it’s time to take it from the top. Even when you do complete a stage, you retain the stats from your best run, so doing poorly early on will leave you without any wiggle room for later.

Bottom line: Sifu’s a game that’s all about improving as a player. It’s about “gitting gud,” as the kids say. You’ll have to practice, practice, practice…and die, die, die before you really start to feel like you’re making progress. On the other hand, this kind of system doesn’t work if the game it’s attached to isn’t balanced for it, and Sifu really epitomizes this tough-but-fair concept. When you die, it’s your own fault. Next time you’ll do better.

Unique gameplay aside, Sifu’s presentation is also top-notch. It’s a sort of cel-shaded-ish aesthetic that really suits the gritty nature of your character’s quest for revenge. Boss battles, meanwhile, take on a surreal edge that looks fantastic and lends them a real sense of finality. As for the combat, characters don’t fling fireballs or do soaring dragon punches, but the realistic martial arts on offer here have their own bone-shattering impact that’s bound to make you wince.

Sifu is a tough game. I say this coming from a legacy of tormenting myself with tough games. It’s also one of the most rewarding experiences you’ll find in a beat-em-up. Nobody said getting revenge was going to be a cake walk. It’s a good thing you’re able to try and try again until you finally master kung fu. And trust me, you’ll be trying (and dying) a lot.

About the Author: Cory Galliher