REVIEW : SIFU (PS5)
The devil knows more because he is ancient than because he is a devil. I am sure you have heard this phrase more than once in your life. Although it may surprise you, this sentence might define Sifu, Sloclap’s latest and fantastic beat ’em up. This game is built on a path that breaks schemes and emanates ingenuity from the start.
Sifu begins with a 20-year-old girl (or boy) pursuing martial arts to exact complete vengeance on those who murdered his family when he was a child. Pay attention, because every time we are eliminated in Sifu, we gain years of age, which gives us greater strength but also lowers our energy. I mean, you’re 20, your life bar runs out, and you’re back where you started, but you’re now 21. We learn, progress, and grow as we die. This opens us up and closes us down in ways that have astonished me given that I haven’t produced a game in a long time.
To give you an example, if your character is above 30 years old after the first or second screen, completing the game may become impossible for you. You’ll have to go back and perfect your combat style, learn new combos, hunt for shortcuts to bypass some bouts, and then maybe you can continue forward without adding death or age. Remember how the devil knows more?
Yes, I’m getting more active in the game. Sifu appears to be playable, although he doesn’t reinvent the beat ’em up the wheel. It is a title that allows us to experience a very deep combo system that we must master to progress.
We vs the world, and our ability to manage the only partner. If you have any doubts, Sifu is not a simple game; it is a title that will demand hours and hours of practice to progress through its phases.
In my game, it looked impossible to get past the third level because that screen began at a little more than 50 years of age, causing me to immediately reach 70 years of age and my game to be regarded as finished. This compels you to go back and restart one of the earlier screens to play it better, locate better paths, new collectables that strengthen the character, and therefore, later, progress. I couldn’t see the fourth stage till I reached the third level at the age of 30.
Because the gameplay is so gratifying, the mechanisms at its core are extremely addictive. When you can organise unlimited combos that eliminate groups of gigantic foes without being harmed, you feel like a true god in your struggle against the world. The mechanics are straightforward: dodge, parry, weak attack, and strong attack, with all of the button combinations you’ve learned over the years.
The game rewards you for doing things correctly, and it’s also the only path forward because there’s no easy mode or anything like it; you either adapt to the game’s learning curve or modify it.
All of that growth and depth is painted by a degree of art and photography. They have done this well from Sloclap, because the artistic design, colour palette, and overall technological element reflect a job done with love and a lot of respect, knowing that this may be their most ambitious and strong game to date. Something I can tell you about directly.
Furthermore, the taste for making references to movies and other games of the genre is prevalent throughout the work, with many nods to renowned exponents of the genre.
In short, even though I’m not a great fan of the beat ’em up genre, I can’t help but suggest this game. Not merely for its outstanding staging and unique advancement mechanism. If not, it is a title in which you are your own worst opponent and where you may grow addicted to trying to improve and improve until you become a master with command.
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