Sifu Reviews
As a straight action game the core combat is elegant and original but the roguelite structure makes the already mountainous difficulty just too much to bear.
In summary I can tell you that without me being a big fan of the beat 'em up genre I can not stop recommending this game. Not only for its excellent staging and for its original progression system. If not for being a title where you yourself are your greatest enemy and where it is possible that you get hooked to want to improve and improve until you become a master with the command. As with souls, you feel good when you manage to eliminate a boss or complete an area without suffering damage as you had planned. The word is gratifying. The game is Sifu.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
“Sifu” is a no-nonsense arcade brawler that can be played in short bursts or long sprints, depending on the commitment to perfect each level run. Despite its high skill ceiling, it offers a rare treat in video game martial arts: a brutal balletic presentation — if played well enough. If anything, it’s worth playing just for the first level.
A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage.
If you are looking for simple and direct action, run away from this game. But if you are a persevering player who likes to be put to the test, here you will find one of the most exciting titles of recent times as hard and irresistible as the martial arts themselves.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
With Sifu, developer Sloclap is asking a lot from players. From the punishingly difficult combat that takes hours to learn and tens of hours to master, to the need to repeat and near-perfect levels to lower your starting age, this fighter can be an absolute slog. However, for those who can grit their teeth through the losses and frustration, you’ll come out smiling on the other side having played one of the best games of the year.
A rewarding experience from its start, Sifu delivers challenge after challenge, all of which are too exciting to turn down.
Sifu is a game that I wanted to love. I had high hopes for it being one of my game of the year contenders, but it left me feeling intensely deflated instead. It's a game that confuses the precise mechanical difficulty of Sekiro with a forced difficulty brought on by simply giving bosses armour. I find myself irrationally angry with Sifu. Sifu is a game that had exceptional potential, but squandered it on the wrong lessons.
I played the 2nd level of Sifu so many damn times trying to grind my way through unlocking more moves that I’m sick of it. I get that there’s a grind to it, but I think most games like this put a carrot on the end of the stick. Grinding through Sifu felt like just being beaten with a stick. I think it's also worth noting that Sifu was developed by an all-white European development team and some aspects of the game do come off as culturally tone-deaf. I suggest checking out this article by Khee Hoon Chan for more about that aspect of Sifu. There are so many games out there that do what Sifu does only better. Honestly, if you want a punishing grind where your efforts will actually pay off you’re probably better off just taking a Kung-Fu class in real life.
Sifu is an uncompromising and merciless fighting game, but for this very reason it manages to give great satisfaction.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Sifu is an incredible journey. Featuring top-notch animations, music tracks, and visuals that are hard to match by even a big-budget animation studio, you will find your jaw-dropping as you make your journey through this story of revenge.
Spectacular gain is preceded by drawn-out pain in this martial arts adventure where fighting prowess is the carrot and ageing is the stick
Sifu is a master of hand-to-hand combat, injecting its kung-fu showdowns with exhilarating fluidity, tactical depth and cinematic scale. Its structure is harder to fully embrace, though, as it demands a lot of repetitious dedication to even reach the final stages. At times that feels needlessly punishing, but the thrill of the fight should help pull you through.
While The Final Update doesn't necessarily break new ground for the kung-fu brawler, it certainly punctuates the completion of the game. While previous updates for Sifu may have felt more impactful, Sifu The Final Update provides hours of more difficult content for those skilled enough to take on the challenge.
Whew… I mean if you are a martial arts fan this game is – as cliché as this sounds it’s really made for you. A special shoutout to developer Sloclap who has certainly honed own their skills to the level of ‘Sifu’ since the already amazing Absolver. With this final update you all have sent this off into the world like Caine from ‘Kung Fu’ for all to experience and as we all hone our martial arts skills; I think I speak for all the fans when I say we can’t wait for the next fight.
Sifu remains a difficult game taken at its standard difficulties but with the addition of an easy mode it is vastly more approachable than it was at launch. I loved this game at launch in 2022 and the fact that it’s more accessible now in 2023 just makes me love it even more. If you were on the fence before due to the difficulty, I would encourage you to give it a try especially for those of us waiting on the Xbox release; if you are a fan of things like the Matrix or Kung Fu movies in general then don’t sleep on Sifu.
Sifu is a martial arts epic that prides itself on authenticity and realism yet without losing any of the fun and addictive gameplay. It's great to see the lengths that the developer Sloclap have to go to create a genuine experience. Although tough and gruelling at times Sifu can be seen as one of the best martial games on the market that will greatly impress purists of the genre.
A "must have" that, in addition to being original, is as beautiful as it is demanding and diabolical by its gameplay.
Review in French | Read full review