Game review
Sifu
8 / 10
- Developer
- Sloclap
- Publisher
- Sloclap, Kepler Interactive
- Released
- 8 February 2022
- Platforms
- Windows
- Genre
- Action
- Monetisation
- One-time purchase; a small number of cosmetic and soundtrack DLC packs available
- Players
- Single-player only
The short version
Sifu is Sloclap's third-person kung fu brawler, sending a young martial artist on a vengeance-driven journey through five stylised, story-linked levels, with an ageing mechanic that punishes death by making the protagonist visibly older and weaker each time they revive. It sits at 92% positive ("Very Positive") across 10,303 English-language Steam reviews — small enough that this review read nearly the full negative sample (100 of 875 total) alongside the 100 most recent English reviews.
What comes through clearly across nearly every year sampled is that Sifu's difficulty, not any bug or business practice, is the single dominant reason reviewers mark it down — and it is a difficulty reviewers repeatedly describe as harder than genre benchmarks. "I played Dark Souls and Elden Ring and had no difficulty with them. Sifu is on a whole other level. Even Sekiro has a more generous [parry] window," reads one representative review. The game's own achievement data backs this up starkly: the platinum-equivalent completion achievement sits at just 1.5% of players, one of the lowest completion rates this outlet has recorded. A smaller, separate complaint concerns camera behaviour in tight spaces, appearing in roughly a quarter of the negative reviews read. Recent sentiment (90% positive) sits close to the strong lifetime figure, indicating the difficulty divide is a stable, ongoing matter of taste rather than a fading launch complaint.
Biggest strengths
- A stylish, cinematic combat system and visual presentation that reviewers on both sides of the score consistently praise, even while explaining why they couldn't get past the difficulty
- A distinctive ageing-on-death mechanic and narrative structure reviewers credit as genuinely original within the genre
- Recent sentiment (90% positive) sits close to the strong 92% lifetime figure, indicating consistent reception rather than declining goodwill
Biggest weaknesses
- The single dominant complaint across nearly every year sampled is difficulty, with reviewers repeatedly describing the parry and dodge timing windows as tighter than Dark Souls, Elden Ring or even Sekiro
- The game's own achievement data confirms how few players finish it at the highest tier: the platinum-equivalent completion sits at just 1.5%, among the lowest completion rates this outlet has recorded
- A recurring secondary complaint, in roughly a quarter of negative reviews read, concerns the camera behaving poorly in tight or cluttered spaces during combat
Who it's for: Action and martial-arts combat fans who want one of the most stylish, unforgiving brawlers available, and who are prepared to genuinely learn a demanding parry-and-dodge system rather than button-mash through it.
Our recommendation: A genuinely excellent, visually striking combat game — go in understanding this is one of the hardest brawlers on the market by design, not a flaw to be patched, and that finishing it fully is a real achievement very few players reach.
8 / 10
Introduction
Sifu is Sloclap's third-person kung fu brawler, published with Kepler Interactive and released on 8 February 2022, arriving on Steam on 28 March 2023 at NZ$54.00. It follows a young martial artist seeking revenge against the killers of their family, structured around five stylised, story-connected levels and a distinctive ageing mechanic: dying and reviving makes the protagonist visibly older, trading raw health for combat experience over the course of a run. It sits at 92% positive ("Very Positive") across 10,303 English-language Steam reviews — small enough that this review read nearly the entire English negative sample, 100 of 875 total, plus a sample of the 100 most recent English reviews.
Harder than the genre benchmarks, by design
The dominant theme in this review's negative sample, present across nearly every year, is difficulty — specifically, difficulty reviewers say exceeds even the games most commonly used as the genre's toughness benchmark. "I played Dark Souls and Elden Ring and had no difficulty with them. Sifu is on a whole other level. Even Sekiro has a more generous [parry] window," reads one review. Another frames it as a critique of a broader trend: "Sifu is, to me, a perfect example of a great game ruined by the obsession with difficulty that so many modern developers (and gamers) have fallen into. It's not that it's 'too hard' in an objective sense, because anyone who really puts their head down and grinds the systems will eventually be able to [beat it]." A third describes the arc many reviewers report: "almost every boss feels like it's my fault that I'm losing... but the game went from feeling like I'm a bad ass martial artist, to feeling like I'm tickling" an opponent who barely reacts. This review checked the claim against hard data: the game's platinum-equivalent completion achievement sits at just 1.5% of all players — among the lowest completion rates this outlet has recorded, and firm evidence that finishing everything the game asks is a genuinely rare feat, not reviewer exaggeration.
A smaller, recurring camera complaint
A secondary, less dominant but recurring issue concerns the camera specifically in tight or cluttered environments. "Possibly the worst camera I've ever experienced where it rather zoom in on your character's upper back or [get blocked by scenery]," reads one review. Roughly a quarter of the negative reviews this review read raise camera behaviour as a specific frustration layered on top of the difficulty, rather than as a standalone complaint.
Verdict
Sifu is a genuinely stylish, well-crafted combat game whose central obstacle is exactly what it sets out to be: one of the most demanding parry-and-dodge systems in the genre, harder by reviewers' own comparisons than Dark Souls, Elden Ring or Sekiro, and backed by a platinum completion rate of just 1.5%. That isn't a defect this review found evidence of the developer trying to fix, and recent sentiment holding close to the strong lifetime score suggests players largely accept it as the game's identity rather than a problem. Worth playing for genre fans ready to genuinely learn its systems — go in expecting real, sustained difficulty rather than a quick brawler, and be aware the camera can work against you in cramped spaces.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A stylish, cinematic combat system and visual presentation that reviewers on both sides of the score consistently praise, even while explaining why they couldn't get past the difficulty
- A distinctive ageing-on-death mechanic and narrative structure reviewers credit as genuinely original within the genre
- Recent sentiment (90% positive) sits close to the strong 92% lifetime figure, indicating consistent reception rather than declining goodwill
- A short, tightly focused five-level structure that respects players' time compared to longer, more padded action games in this outlet's library
Cons
- The single dominant complaint across nearly every year sampled is difficulty, with reviewers repeatedly describing the parry and dodge timing windows as tighter than Dark Souls, Elden Ring or even Sekiro
- The game's own achievement data confirms how few players finish it at the highest tier: the platinum-equivalent completion sits at just 1.5%, among the lowest completion rates this outlet has recorded
- A recurring secondary complaint, in roughly a quarter of negative reviews read, concerns the camera behaving poorly in tight or cluttered spaces during combat
- A smaller cluster finds the game's structure and combat repetitive once the initial appeal of its style wears off
Screenshots
-
SifuImage: Sloclap via Steam -
SifuImage: Sloclap via Steam -
SifuImage: Sloclap via Steam -
How the review scores each part of the gameWanderer Editorial -
The essentials at a glanceWanderer Editorial -
The short versionWanderer Editorial