Sifu, from developer Sloclap, immediately caught our eye during The Game Awards in December. What looked like a fun yet generic brawler was immediately elevated by two things – the recreation of Daredevil’s now cliche corridor fight scene and the roguelike nature of the game that had you return as as an older, but more powerful version of yourself.
This last part promised that you would have to adapt your fighting style because as you age, you may have more experience but you would have less stamina and raw strength. Of course the opposite is also true as a younger fighter you can power through fights while your lack of technique would likely have you fall short as more enemies and powerful bosses stood in your way.
The latest trailer leans into the young version of your character and in it you see all the martial arts moves and some of the absolute brutality at your disposal. Being able to grab beer bottles and use bar tops against your foes is going to be fun. The gameplay itself is a bit generic though. I would have loved to see more of the ageing and experience mechanic but alas this isn’t the case here.
The setting reminds me of the nightclub fight in Sleeping Dogs. If you do not remember that level, shame on you and you are required to rectify that error in judgement by playing that game immediately.
Back to the topic at hand. The martial arts brawling looks good, though having played through Yakuza Zero recently the martial arts just didn’t look as kinetic, over the top or cinematic as that game’s fighting style. Be that as it may, the game is still on my list of games to play and I cannot wait for it to release later this year.
For now Sifu looks to be a PlayStation console exclusive and PC exclusive to the Epic Games Store and will be “releasing soon” on those platforms.