Sifu was surprisingly great start to the year
The fast paced beat'em up is the perfectly level of challenge in video games.
I know I have been shotty with posting recently and I wanted to apologize. I have been searching for new jobs and it has been very stressful, and I did not have a lot of time for games.
I want to start picking up the routine of life again this week. So for that, I am going to write about a game that also requires you to get back up and keep trying until you grow old and die, Sifu.
Sifu is an action beat’em up game with intense hand-to-hand combat all based on Pak-Mei Kung-Fu. The story is one of vengeance and forgiveness all while playing out like famous Kung-Fu movies.
The unique mechanic in Sifu is the age counter that will increase with each death, starting at 20 years old and ending past the age of 70. Although it is a double-edged sword the older you get because your health bar is smaller but the damage you put out is increased every decade.
This game shines brightest in its gameplay. The dodging, combos and parrying feels so good and takes a bit of time to master.
The difficulty curve in this game is very steep. The first level I played I could not believe how bad I was at it. The enemies are not slouches and the amount of different mechanics to learn is vast.
Learning when to dodge instead of avoid, actuallying timing a parry, and attacking in a way that doesn’t just boil down to smashing buttons is crucial. This game will have you wanting to give up more than once, but for some reason, if it grabs you then you just keep trying.
The challenge always feels attainable so the carrot on the stick never feels that far away. Sifu ends up feeling like a rhythm game and if you can get into a flow state, the game just sings and it all looks and plays incredibly.
The story focuses strongly on vengeance at the beginning where you are hunting down five Kung-Fu students of your father that betrayed him and killed him and your family in cold blood.
As you play through the game, die and come back, and grow older, vengeance consumes you and you are still just hell-bent on getting to that point. After completing the game once, you will then gain another mechanic that will allow you to change the way the story plays out and the game becomes one of forgiveness.
It is a strong story that is carried with characters' emotions and less full of dialogue. It is very strong.
This is really just scratching the surface of what this game has to offer and I think it will be receiving the recognition it deserves when award season comes around. It was a pleasant surprise for a game that I expected to come out and be pretty good and ended up being phenomenal.
To me, this was a great start to the year of gaming. Sifu is a game I would recommend to any Souls fan or anyone who wants to be challenged deeply in their games.
Challenging games are good it's a lot better than something dull and easy. I haven't played Sifu yet though.