Sifu’s all about martial arts and vengeance – that much is evident from trailers released already – but after watching a hands-off demo of the game, it’s evident developer Sloclap has made more than just a beat ’em up brawler. People already expected Sloclap to be up to the task after seeing 2017’s Absolver, but Sifu is something different. The game appears to have all the markings of an epic action flick without the cheesy movie-to-game side effects that accompany those sorts of adaptations.
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These movie-like moments manifested themselves in different ways throughout the demo event ComicBook attended recently. Pierre Tarno, the executive producer at Sloclap, often referenced the general feel and themese of martial arts movies when talking about the game. Even if he hadn’t, those inspirations – or at least the influences – were evident in the demo. Hallway fight scenes reminiscent of Oldboy and nightclub tussles where the big bad descends from a stage for a dance floor fight give the game quite the cinematic flair.
But even if it was stripped of those movielike moments, Sifu just looks like a challenging, rewarding martial arts game. Combos and different abilities were shown off during the demo, too, to show some of the ways our vengeance-driven protagonist can take on groups of enemies. These combat chains and moves were a lot to take in without going hands-on with the game and extended far beyond heavy and light attack mix-ups, though they looked like they’ll feel much more intuitive once you actually have a controller in-hand.
That’s not to say there won’t be some memorization and button-mashing involved when the former fails you, but the combat system looked to be a deep and rich one. If nothing else, Sifu allows plenty of room for improvisation. The demo showed players were able to snag bottles and other weapons from the environment to gain a temporary weapon and could scramble up walls and ledges to put some space between them and enemies. Sometimes the player can surprise enemies by throwing the first punch before a fight begins, sometimes enemies surrender, and sometimes the last fighter standing gets a burst of rage and strength. Things like this removed some of the rails from the otherwise linear experience and gave a sense of verticality and flexibility during fights.
Perhaps more interesting than all of that was the aging system Sifu employs. Death in Sifu isn’t always permanent, but it will age the protagonist. Sloclap talked about this aging system and how it’s meant to mimic the pursuit of vengeance and the toll it takes on a person’s life, a philosophical topic that’s only occasionally touched on in movie experiences Sifu takes after. As far as gameplay is concerned, aging upon death results in the protagonist becoming more vulnerable to enemy strikes but more potent with their own hits, too, a reflection of their older age and its accompanying experience and combat mastery. Age too much, and you’ll die for good and will have to start over.
Aside from the weighty questions of vengeance, this stirs up all kinds of replayability possibilities. Do you go for a one-age run where you never “die” at all? Do you find a sweet spot somewhere in the middle of the aging process where you’re strong but not too squishy? These sorts of things should give Sifu the staying power it needs to support multiple playthroughs.
Sifu is scheduled to release on February 20th for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC platforms.
