Is the parry mechanic the most satisfying thing in gaming? It might be for me.
Sifu takes this and it's little brother the dodge mechanic and makes the kung fu game that us parry nerds have always wanted.
Tough enemies that are "learnable" makes the gameplay loop into visual storytelling process. I felt like a filmmaker trying to choreograph the most perfect and dramatic fight scenes. The "imma boss" factor goes through the roof after only a few playthroughs and my lizard brain was sparking!
Level design is smart and inventive. The shortcuts prevented the reruns getting boring without kneecapping the sense of scale.
There are some naughty bits though. Mrs Museum Boss's first phase: in the bin with you. The dodge window seemed miniscule and memorizing her patterns is almost impossible when they all look the same.
In general, a pet hate of mine is unblockable attacks having no indicators that they are unblockable. "Just learn the ones that are unblockable" you say? Well I just assume i'm "doing it wrong", missing the window or mistiming, so...no i won't learn them, dick.
Sure I should assume a huge roundhouse kick is unblockable but I want to believe my character does something awesome if I pull it off. The disappointment differential (TM me) becomes huge as I was expecting brilliance and literally got kicked in the teeth.

TLDR: more games should let you unlock a "punch in the balls" move.