SIFU

 PlayStation 5
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 79 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 66 out of 79
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 79
  3. Negative: 2 out of 79
  1. Shacknews
    Feb 6, 2022
    40
    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.
  2. Gfinity
    Feb 6, 2022
    40
    It all meshes together into a game that's far too difficult and without the satisfaction that comes from making progress in a difficult game. It's like bashing your head against the wall, and unlike other games with this approach, the wall isn't starting to crumble. The wall has grown a smug, laughing face as it prepares to take away one of your character's most important abilities, just in time for the final boss battle.
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  1. 3DJuegos
    Feb 11, 2022
    The next big thing in the beat em up. Delicious in his playability and fresh in his visuals. Needs more charisma for his characters, but his lack of great heroes and villains it's served with his fighting mechanics. Maybe the biggest step in the XXI century for the genre. [Recommended]
  2. Eurogamer
    Feb 7, 2022
    Where Sifu most earns its seriousness, for me, is in that largely unspoken marriage of combos and counters with questions of perception and synchronicity. This is a game about the punch-drunk unevenness of time, and the way that unevenness depends on the mind you bring to bear. [Eurogamer Recommended]
  3. Polygon
    Feb 6, 2022
    Sifu is incredibly frustrating because beneath all of its messy, clunky contrivances, there is a fantastic action game that I really, really want to play. But Sifu can’t get out of its own way, and its high-concept ambitions spoil its fundamental pleasures.
  5. The A.V. Club
    Feb 6, 2022
    Is it worth the effort? Like we said: The highs here are very high, the sense of potential mastery potent. (Game looks great, too, with a fluid, slightly cartoonish style.) But progress will take a certain bloody-minded persistence—and a willingness to overlook the game’s various crimes against authenticity. (To be clear: This is a team of French developers making a video game about what they think an Asian martial arts movie looks like; it’s so divorced from anything resembling a story about real people or cultures as to land somewhere at the intersection of stereotype and cliché.) With those caveats in mind, though, Sifu remains the kind of game it’s hard to stay away from for very long—for no other reason than a desire to take vengeance on it for what it did to you the last time you played.

Awards & Rankings

29
#29 Best PlayStation 5 Game of 2022
18
#18 Most Discussed PlayStation 5 Game of 2022

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 545 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 431 out of 545
  2. Mixed: 49 out of 545
  3. Negative: 65 out of 545
  1. Jamitboi
    Feb 10, 2022
    10
    One of the most challenging games I have ever played in my life. The more you practice the more you will succeed :)
  2. DaniloNovakovic
    Feb 9, 2022
    9
    Quality > Quantity at its finest.

    While it doesn't have much levels there is this intrinsic motivation to have perfect run and finish level    Quality > Quantity at its finest.

    While it doesn't have much levels there is this intrinsic motivation to have perfect run and finish level as young as possible, leading me to just replaying first level (by my own will - nobody is forcing me to) for 2 days straight already and I still having blast! :)    … Full Review »
  3. RexZor
    Feb 9, 2022
    9
    Fantastic - TL;DR - Super fun Kung fu game with great art, gameplay, music that is punishing and a must play for anyone who is a fan ofFantastic - TL;DR - Super fun Kung fu game with great art, gameplay, music that is punishing and a must play for anyone who is a fan of marital arts with very little cons. I give Sifu 9 Lightning Fast Strikes out of 10.

    Before I start let me say I have platinumed the game, so I have done everything in it so I know what I am talking about.

    Cons: Before we go to the pros lets talk about the cons which there are two. The camera in this game sometimes is more difficult than the boss. Only after hours of playing have I mastered the camera. But new players will definitely have an issue with it. It still gets me killed from time to time. The second Con is that the game does a really poor job of explaining its system and existing mechanics. At first the game is really hard because you don't know you can do certain things. This does not feel good when you are dying over and over. Also the age mechanic and the way skills work are not really that detailed in game. But luckily we are in the internet age and you can find this information.

    Pros: The music in this game is amazing going from one stage to the next and even the song changes within the same change is insane. It's a joy to listen to start to finish. The art direction in this game is next level. It seems like a basic game with what the trailers show you be each levels art gets better and better and you can't possibly guess what will happen next. With the 3rd stage being my favorite. Stability and polish are both great I have very few stutters are lag anywhere in the game. It does happen but I can count on 1 hand the amount of times it has happened. Gameplay is king here and everything in this game is structured around making you feel like the biggest badass possible. There are few Kung Fu games and even fewer with this level of complexity and fun. This game is very punishing but very rewarding. You go from feeling like a side character in an anime. To feeling like IP with the more time and effort you put into the game. There is no difficulty setting so if punishing games are not your speed just skip on this game entirely.

    All in all this is my current GOTY and I plan to continue playing this game for the foreseeable future.

    I give Sifu 9 Lightning Fast Strikes out of 10.    … Full Review »
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