SIFU

Sifu is an action adventure game with third person view. The production deals with martial arts and it is closest to the subgenre of so-called walking brawlers. Sloclap studio (authors of the interesting Absolver from 2017) is responsible for the development and release of this title.

Plot

Sifu tells the story of a kung fu adept whose family was murdered when he was still a young man. The protagonist has trained for years to take revenge on the perpetrators of the crime and now sets out to finally eliminate them. He has to hurry, though, as he only has one day to complete his mission.

Mechanics

In Sifu we observe the action from different perspectives (while moving around the locations the camera is behind the protagonist's back, but its position changes when a fight takes place - then it shows us the events from different sides, and the shots are characterized by a certain degree of cinematography). The game consists of exploring the boards and fighting with encountered opponents.

The player fights both regular bandits (some of them are equipped with weapons such as knives) and bosses. The key role here is played by skillful fingers and positioning - we have to move in such a way as to avoid attacks and maximize damage to enemies using our surroundings. Sometimes we also take over the objects possessed by enemies for some time (we can inflict blows and throw them). It is worth noting that the boards in Sifu are partially destructible - blows can e.g. destroy barriers or tables.

An intriguing element of the gameplay is the aging mechanism. At the beginning of the game our hero is 20 years old. In his inventory there is a magical artifact, powered by life force, which has an unusual resurrection power. Every time the protagonist dies during a fight, we can use the ancient talisman to bring him back to life. However, this is connected with a certain cost. After each return from the afterlife the protagonist grows older. In addition, each subsequent death increases the number of years after the resurrection (the first time the character ages by one year, the next by two, etc.). We can not use this option indefinitely. After reaching a certain age, the hero will die.

Fortunately, aging does not affect the character's ability to fight. The older the hero is, the more the power of his blows increases. In addition, in the course of the game we discover new skills (mainly powerful Pak-Mei Kung Fu techniques). Purchase of new abilities is possible between death and rebirth, as well as between missions or at special shrines. A detective board is also a useful tool, illustrating our progress in the investigation and storing all the collected information.

The game was deprived of difficulty levels. The developers wanted every defeat to be a valuable lesson for us and every hour of gameplay to help us understand the combat system used in the game. It is possible to pass the game without losing a single life, but it requires focus and reflexes.

Game modes

In Sifu we can play only alone. The basis of the game is the story campaign.

Technical issues

Sifu has an interesting, three-dimensional graphic design, which in some respects may evoke associations with the studio's previous work - the game Absolver (I am talking mainly about the character models). However, this time the creators used a slightly different, more cartoonish style. Spectacular character animations also make a great impression.