Sifu is cool. A martial arts revenge story where your character ages as they die is a dope idea on paper and, for the most part, Slocap is able to make a fun and interesting game.
At the same time, Sifu doesn't feel like a game that reaches its full potential. While Sifu is good for the most part, camera issues, a lack of enemy diversity, and difficulty that will turn many away leaves the experience a bit of a disappointment, despite some of the fun I had with it.
While luckily after some patches, the difficulty issues aren't as bad as they were at launch, it is still a game that is a chore to get through at times. For me, the enemies all felt like damage sponges. Even as you die and reach ages where you're supposed to be stronger, it never really feels like that much of a difference.
The camera also didn't help with this. I constantly found myself in a position where the camera was cutting off my full vision of whomever I was fighting, unable to fully see if they were attacking. For a game with difficulty like Sifu's, having these technical issues possibly be the thing that causes me to die or shift the fight to where I'm suddenly on the ropes or near death is super frustrating.
I also had some issues with the auto targeting from time to time where I'd go to attack someone, only for the game to try and attack someone nearby instead. Normally these would be smaller issues but since the game is asking for near flawlessness in order to survive, these things can shift your playthrough in seconds and turn a solid run into something where you're now having to restart completely.
Luckily, one of the things this game does provide is level shortcuts that you can unlock by exploring areas and finding keys to help unlock alternate paths. Once you find these keys, they stay with you forever, so if you've beaten a level but want to lower your age, you can restart with the items you've obtained and cut through some of the enemies. I wish some of these short cuts were more even though as some will push you right to the boss of a level while others will leave you having to push through a decent amount of enemies still before arriving to the boss.
The story, while really solid at first, tends to fade into the background pretty quickly. It makes sticking with it, through the constant trial and error, that much more difficult when the things you're learning and the story unfolding isn't all that interesting.
Despite all of my complaints though, when the gameplay lines up and you get a little luck on your side or you learn the trick to giving yourself the advantage against a boss or a stage area, the game play can get really satisfying and cool. It's those moments though that make the grind and frustrating parts that much more frustrating because they can flip in an instant.
If you enjoy a tough game, Sifu might be just for you. The game can be incredibly satisfying. For me though, those frustrations just held back the incredible potential this game possesses.
At the same time, Sifu doesn't feel like a game that reaches its full potential. While Sifu is good for the most part, camera issues, a lack of enemy diversity, and difficulty that will turn many away leaves the experience a bit of a disappointment, despite some of the fun I had with it.
While luckily after some patches, the difficulty issues aren't as bad as they were at launch, it is still a game that is a chore to get through at times. For me, the enemies all felt like damage sponges. Even as you die and reach ages where you're supposed to be stronger, it never really feels like that much of a difference.
The camera also didn't help with this. I constantly found myself in a position where the camera was cutting off my full vision of whomever I was fighting, unable to fully see if they were attacking. For a game with difficulty like Sifu's, having these technical issues possibly be the thing that causes me to die or shift the fight to where I'm suddenly on the ropes or near death is super frustrating.
I also had some issues with the auto targeting from time to time where I'd go to attack someone, only for the game to try and attack someone nearby instead. Normally these would be smaller issues but since the game is asking for near flawlessness in order to survive, these things can shift your playthrough in seconds and turn a solid run into something where you're now having to restart completely.
Luckily, one of the things this game does provide is level shortcuts that you can unlock by exploring areas and finding keys to help unlock alternate paths. Once you find these keys, they stay with you forever, so if you've beaten a level but want to lower your age, you can restart with the items you've obtained and cut through some of the enemies. I wish some of these short cuts were more even though as some will push you right to the boss of a level while others will leave you having to push through a decent amount of enemies still before arriving to the boss.
The story, while really solid at first, tends to fade into the background pretty quickly. It makes sticking with it, through the constant trial and error, that much more difficult when the things you're learning and the story unfolding isn't all that interesting.
Despite all of my complaints though, when the gameplay lines up and you get a little luck on your side or you learn the trick to giving yourself the advantage against a boss or a stage area, the game play can get really satisfying and cool. It's those moments though that make the grind and frustrating parts that much more frustrating because they can flip in an instant.
If you enjoy a tough game, Sifu might be just for you. The game can be incredibly satisfying. For me though, those frustrations just held back the incredible potential this game possesses.