Sifu is one of those games that I definitely like but I really wish I loved. It's got everything I look for in a game: a sublime combat system, a strong visual aesthetic, a fast-paced roguelike format, world-class animations, boss fights centred around learning patterns to succeed. But above all of that, it's about kicking the crap out of dudes like you're in a Gareth Evans movie, and honestly, that's the hottest elevator pitch anyone could throw me. I just think the problem with Sifu is that it's more frustrating than rewarding.
I'll admit, It's definitely satisfying at points. When it settles into its stride and it's moving you between these stunning set pieces where you're throwing down on vibrant dance floors or booting thugs through elaborate art exhibitions, It quickly finds this riveting action-movie momentum that kicks everything into another gear. It gets especially good when you get to grips with the excellent combat, which comes into its own after you unlearn your years of Sekiro reflexes, acknowledge the parry mechanic is crap and fully embrace the power of the dodge and weave.
But while Sifu should rely fully on teaching you hard-to-grasp skills and allowing the game to become easier as you master them, it's so scared of not being challenging enough that it dive bombs off the "firm but fair" difficulty tightrope and falls straight into bullshit town. It's far from unbeatable; the full thing probably took me around six hours to finish in its entirety. But when I look at games like Dark Souls, there are so many moments where I know why I failed. I dodge rolled too early; I fell into one of Miyazaki's patented stinky fart swamps without any healing items. Knowing me, I probably got over-aggressive and punished a stunned enemy for so long that I got slapped with an UGLY counterattack.
In Sifu, there were times where I was sat there like, uh, I'm not really sure how I was supposed to avoid that. Whether it's an enemy pulling an unreadable sweep attack out of their ass or the game shoving two mini-bosses with jarringly mismatched fighting speeds into one room, you're gonna get cooked no matter what you do. It's especially annoying considering some of the boss run-ups are mega tedious and the camera gets stuck in a corner at any given opportunity, obscuring your vision in a game fully focused on reading enemy attacks.
I don't wanna rag on Sifu too hard as there's definitely something great here. I could speak endlessly about how slick it feels to take down a corridor of enemies in one fluid motion, from the animations and controls to the punchy sound design. I'd argue Sloclap has devised one of the best hand-to-hand combat systems in a video game yet, and it'd be a shame to not see it used again. Plus the overall design, style and concept are smart; nothing outstays its welcome and there isn't a single level or idea that's forgettable. But I still reckon Sifu fails to make mastery feel rewarding, and in a game so focused on learning twitch reflexes and perfecting a ball-breaking control scheme, that's pretty crucial.
I'll admit, It's definitely satisfying at points. When it settles into its stride and it's moving you between these stunning set pieces where you're throwing down on vibrant dance floors or booting thugs through elaborate art exhibitions, It quickly finds this riveting action-movie momentum that kicks everything into another gear. It gets especially good when you get to grips with the excellent combat, which comes into its own after you unlearn your years of Sekiro reflexes, acknowledge the parry mechanic is crap and fully embrace the power of the dodge and weave.
But while Sifu should rely fully on teaching you hard-to-grasp skills and allowing the game to become easier as you master them, it's so scared of not being challenging enough that it dive bombs off the "firm but fair" difficulty tightrope and falls straight into bullshit town. It's far from unbeatable; the full thing probably took me around six hours to finish in its entirety. But when I look at games like Dark Souls, there are so many moments where I know why I failed. I dodge rolled too early; I fell into one of Miyazaki's patented stinky fart swamps without any healing items. Knowing me, I probably got over-aggressive and punished a stunned enemy for so long that I got slapped with an UGLY counterattack.
In Sifu, there were times where I was sat there like, uh, I'm not really sure how I was supposed to avoid that. Whether it's an enemy pulling an unreadable sweep attack out of their ass or the game shoving two mini-bosses with jarringly mismatched fighting speeds into one room, you're gonna get cooked no matter what you do. It's especially annoying considering some of the boss run-ups are mega tedious and the camera gets stuck in a corner at any given opportunity, obscuring your vision in a game fully focused on reading enemy attacks.
I don't wanna rag on Sifu too hard as there's definitely something great here. I could speak endlessly about how slick it feels to take down a corridor of enemies in one fluid motion, from the animations and controls to the punchy sound design. I'd argue Sloclap has devised one of the best hand-to-hand combat systems in a video game yet, and it'd be a shame to not see it used again. Plus the overall design, style and concept are smart; nothing outstays its welcome and there isn't a single level or idea that's forgettable. But I still reckon Sifu fails to make mastery feel rewarding, and in a game so focused on learning twitch reflexes and perfecting a ball-breaking control scheme, that's pretty crucial.