Sifu

Finished my "old 75 age" run, which was fresh so also a NUR. Learned a few things, mostly how insanely powerful Shrine buffs actually are. With a fullymaxed "parry posture damage" you can parry-nuke Yang in like 10 seconds, it's insanely powerful. Really took me by surprise. Going to redo the run, this time without shrines, see how that sticks.

Started my Old-Age No Shrines NUR run, it's pretty solid so far. I like the game best against regular mooks where I emphasise high pressure and mobility in the enviroment. You can watch them here if you're interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9fxd2thA-A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34tgLvtEM_U

The bosses are still 'okay' to me. They've grown a bit on me since they offer more playstyle choice than I initially admitted, since you can choose to go for posture sparing, or just nuking them from orbit with optimized combos. It's still a bit too much "dodge+punish", but there's some wiggle room that you can base on your shrine-choices.

Sean is the best boss in this regard, since he really allows for a lot of creative play i.e. constantly pushing him to the wall for posture damage. Meanwhile Yang is the most boring, since he can only really be parried since he has very few openings if you dodge.

Finished a Fresh Age 75+No Shrines+No Upgrades+No shortcuts run. Pretty happy with my overal performance. I made a few mistakes here and there, but generally nice. The only stage I died on was Stage-3, made a few risky mistakes so had to replay that one a few times.

I'm attempting to do it single-segment now (means zero-death+no shrines+no upgrades yadayadayada), but in such a long run things tend to go wrong haha. But I'm sure I'll nail it at one point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9fxd2thA-A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34tgLvtEM_U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-6mYV57HZs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX9pmaM14sY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tsuDS1ZJWI


Generally surprised by how powerful you already are at base, you have all the tools you need for some decent combo potential and setups. I initially did this same run before but with Shrines and found them to be too powerful, but without them I kinda didn't miss them either.

The only upgrade I really miss are running-sweep and enviromental-mastery; they feel like moves you should just have, period.

New patch is out, biggest additions are selectable costumes and new difficulty modes. Namely Easy and Master. Easy is akin to Ninja Dog, doesn't play the game for you but does make things easier. Master though is a whole 'nother thing.

Early impressions are good. Enemies are FAR more agressive, barely slotting instead just attacking you 4-5 at a time. You really need to play more with positioning and use grabs to control fights as they can go sour fast. You also have (way) less health and (way) less posture.

The bosses have new movesets which are a bit meh so far for me. A lot of them are just "haha I used to sweep but now I do a high kick" gotcha-type of attacks, there's some 50/50 mixups on their part too. One thing I'm really not a fan of is that Fajar has a few fully safe strings, which basically just wastes your time. Could be that I'm missing something though.

For insight, I can reliably beat the game in a single sitting at NUR Age 22 now (I suck too hard to get age 20, always screw up at one point or another). On Master I was age 48 when I beat stage-1. It's rough. Third attempt I got stage 1 down to Age 22.

Super Saiyan enemies aren't more frequent though, and still are predetermined. There's a few "gotchas" from them too now though, there's a few enemies you'd always stealth-kill, that now go SSJ. They also have expanded movesets now.

The customes are...weak. Both are recolors, a black one for beating Yang and a white one for sparing Yang. The Black one is BARELY distinguisable from the regular, not worth it imo. They'll add more in the future but honestly this just looks meh.

Overall though, Master really added a lot of spice to the game. Just wish it remixed enemies (layouts are nearly identical).

Finished the game with the Wude ending at age 47. Master-difficulty really is a wacky mode, not too sure yet on where I stand. Regular fights are very demanding now and doing an entire stage without dying is pretty rough. Some fights will see a single slip up in positioning lead to you being busted in the ass from all angles from max hp to death since enemies will wombo-combo you.

It's very exciting to play, and at times a bit messy, but that's good.

The bosses, I wasn't that sold on them to begin with. They felt very 'you go I go' with most of the strategy coming down to getting super-dizzy and either learning parry timings or going for max damage-punishes.

Master difficulty ups this by making them able to cancel out of their combos into a new combo. It feels like fighting against a Fightinggame boss who is + on every hit and you're basically in blockstun the entire fight. You can't go on the offensive either, as they auto-dodge into a punish/grab (which, at least with Yang, can be exploited). So it really feels like "just stand still and perfect parry everything and dodge the occasional sweep", just upped to 11 since shit can feel so random at times with very similar looking moves.

Fajar for example has a mixup where he either does a sweep or high kick. Both start with the same 'turn' animation, have the same SFX and visual (orange limb). You really gotta predict it or find a dodge method that works for both, and his follow-ups are random too. After a sweep he can do a high combo, a low combo or dodge back and start another string.

I might warm up to them once I get some rounds in but so far I'm not that enthousiastic about the bosses.

Started labbing the bosses. They seem to opperate in a high 'you do X, then I will do Y' design, meaning they are extremly easy to manipulate. Some of you may have already seen my notes on Twitter, but I'm posting them here for future reference.

Fajar Phase 1
Vid: not yet

He's a very random boss, but you can just run away to trigger his ranged kick which is optimally punished.

Fajar Phase 2
Vid: not yet

Very random boss too, but can  be exploided. There's a ton of bamboo sticks lying around, which you can throw at him while he's in attack animations. This staggers him, allowing for a palm+followup. Repeat until dead.

Kuroki Phase 1
Vid: not yet

I tend to just parry her with the staff from the previous fight, kills her posture insanely fast. If you take the shortcut, use the bat to parry her.

Kuroki Phase 2:
Video: https://twitter.com/RoytaMustDie/status/1522670522265444353
So the idea of the strat is to abuse Kuroki's dodges. She has very determined reactions to all your actions, which we'll exploit.

She has three states. One is walking to you to attack, the other is backflip into kunai, the last is her dash-attack.
If she walks at you: do Gut Punch (>>S) to hit her, this will stop her offensive and reset her to walk.
Afterwards we do a sweep.

If we sweep, and she's not punishable, she'll do a backflip dodge into kunai, which we'll then grab.

Now she has two options, dash-attack, or walk again. If she dashes, dodge and punish accordingly. If she walks, wait until midrange to throw the kunai. Her walk-state counts as an attack, so hitting her with the kunai during this stuns her enough to allow Palm > Knockdownfollowup > groundpunish.

After the groundpunish, we do a sweep immediately, which she'll dodge into kunai, to reset the string.

Took a bit to figure this out. It's a bit cheesy and slow, but fullproof.

Jinfeng Phase 1 and 2
Vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX9pmaM14sY&t=789s

Easiest boss in the game. Above strat is from Normal, but works on Master too. Just stay mid range and laugh as she's unable to deal damage while you melt her posture with easy-to-time parries.

Yang Phase 1:
Vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp4OKuJjEJY

Very easy infinite. Yang has an automated 'counter' where, if you attack him when he's in a passive state, he'll immediately counter attack with a low two-handed slap. This attack is easily dodged and punished.
Now, the infinite is, that doing a sweep on him, at any point when he's not attacking, triggers this punish. So one you get the chain going, you can just sweep him, punish, sweep on wakeup, and repeat until dead.

Yang Phase 2:
Vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DQwTaCL9VA

A bit harder, the idea is that snakestrike(? the charged move) has high priority and charging it forces Yang to attack you. You have to start the infinite from a knockdown, so you have to punish him at least once regularly. You then do a sweep, and then another sweep. Sweeping him when grounded causes him to slowly get up, instead of the groundpound which gives him a quick-rise.During his get-up animation, you charge the attack, and let go when he's about to move.
Should note that the timing is incredibly tight here, and easy to mess up. Once you get into the flow though, he's pretty much dead.

Apparently this was already announced but I've only just heard of it today - Sifu is getting "Arenas Mode" in March via a free update:



Some kind of challenge mode I assume? The video description says you can unlock new cheats, costumes, modifiers and (most importantly) new moves!

Great to see some decent looking content for free, I think I'll jump back into this when it drops. It's also releasing on Steam and Xbox, if anybody was waiting for that.

The arena mode sounds interesting, just a set of challenge maps probably. Mostly excited for the Xbox release, one more reason to throw my PS4 into the pyre. Such a gem of a game.

This is finally on sale here but kind of hard to find a physical copy.

Had a quick jam and got up to the first boss who beat me silly.

How are you supposed to permanently learn moves? I know you upgrade them a certain amount of times but looking at how by the first boss I wasn't able to upgrade even 3 times before losing it all, does this mean you need to get good enough to beat like what? three stages straight without dying to make something out?

Love this move where you can kick objects at enemies.

You can beat enemies until you reach a point where you want to die. Then use the XP to buy stuff and restart the level as many times as you like. The upgrades you purchased are saved.

I thought it wiped my upgrades. I must have read the notification wrong.

Basically you have to look at it like this, you buy your moves and then you have them, but if you get a game-over you're set back to the last stage you beat, and all moves in between that stage and your death are lost. That's basically it.

You can permanently unlock skills by buying them multiple times.

>permanent unlocks
So you keep each upgrade if you die? Could I just keep repeating the stage to build up upgrades?

Basically, if you go 'back' a stage it's like loading a savepoint. So all your progress is generally speaking undone, including XP earned iirc. So best imo is to just keep playing forward, sometimes replaying a stage to get a better Age until you beat it. Most skills aren't needed and are more bonus anyway.

I'll start playing this properly tomorrow if I feel up to it. Got covid two days ago and feel like utter shit.

Ok I see how the upgrades work.

Each segment is permanent and when you get them all you keep it.

I can't remember the names but I have permanently unlocked kicking objects (love this ability), the 3 hit that ends with a spinning kick that hits multiple enemies, and the focus attack that is a sweep, and the front jumping kick.

Love how you can grab after a parry and push them away.

The first boss is kicking my ass. I never see his sweeps. Need more time but having to run through the whole level to practice on him sucks.

I did beat him once, only to find that was phase one.

Yeah the "Enviromental Mastery" is fantastic, allows for so much area control and makes the combat even more fluid. It's one of the most guaranteed "jup, buying that skill immediately" moves for me.
Glad to see you loving it so far!

Also recommend using throws to throw people over ledges. If you do a sneak-attack (so when they don't see you yet) you get an immediate stun and can throw them over ledges for that sweet, sweet OHKO. Palm is great to, to throw enemies against walls for bonus-stagger.

> first boss
General recommendation is to beat a stage, move on to the next, and on and off replay earlier stages to gain a better 'age'. Note that the game has two difficulties. Master is insanely hard when starting out, and really made for veterans which is nice.

>throw off ledges
Like these guys in the stairwell? I always run up there and get a free stun. Didn't know they could be thrown off. Delicious.

>get a better age
What does this mean?

> better age
Basically that you end a stage with a lower-age, i.e. 26 instead of 52. Just a good way to note personal progress.

> stairwell
For example. In stage-1 as you run up the stairs you can sneak attack a few that are leaning on the rails and send them flying, great stuff.

I watched your stage 1 video and saw that.

Never knew you could throw weapons.

Just found out you can throw in more situations than the regular stun. I'm getting it after dodges and regular punches it seems but not always. Still figuring it out.

The arena expansion revealed and it is out for March 28th (both xbox and Steam). I hope that switch version recieve massive updates at same time.

It is intersting that 'usual' arena mode, which means the survivor mode, is just one of arena modes. There would be time-attack mode, Must style mode, Capturing mode, Manhunt mode.

Capturing mode is quiet intersting tweak, because this game heavily rely on positioning. I`m excited on how limitation of space gonna work. I don`t have any clue what man hunter mode looks like,even after watching the trailer. Not look like boss rush, but what would be a condtion??


https://youtu.be/C4Sq7GJ22eQ

Hey Nepu! Cool that you joined up!

And update looks glorious, I'm a bit on a break with Sifu for now until the Xbox version hits and then I'll reset my experience in that one.

> hunter mode
I think you'll get a timer and have to kill that target? That was my take-away.

My first time playing this. The combat looks like Sekiro kung-fu but done right! I mean, I like Sekiro, but apparently in Sifu there are more nuances between your moves and parries/dodges, alongside the structure system. The enemies seems to be more agressive, arenas are actually interactive, etc. The first half hour was a blast and I hope the rest of the game doesn't disappoint me.


What's the overall take in this game? Any tip would be helpful and appreciated btw.

>Any tips

You can avoid enemies` high/low moves by using low/high moves.

For example, you can dodge high move by up+up+light attack(square or X). There are many videos on youtube, but you can see them or test manythings for yourself.

down+up+light attack movement is very important, You can "push" enemies so easily make a room for breathing. Plus, if you push them into a wall or a stair, their structure bar is massively damaged. And with some upgrades, you can do two follow-up attacks(both are good).

> their structure bar is massively damaged

yeah I'm getting used to it, wall damage, objects/weapons and the sweep attack does a lot of structure damage apparently

and i don't necessarily finish my enemies every time they are low structure because is cool to toy with stun states in this game

Loved how progression is essentially tied to your will to improve your skills and at the same time, the "permanent moves" system is a good thing to exist because it generously encourages even more the player to keep getting better

It's a "grind game", but flexible to fulfill player's demands according to his determination

My biggest advice is to get more into the flow, it's very tempting to optimize the fun out of this game by abusing enviromentals and special moves. You can nuke nearly the entire game with just palm-strike: don't.

One thing I feel makes the parry work here is that you're swarmed. You can technically parry everything, but with so many and such agressive foes, you won't get out on top. It's also very replayable with all the extra features present.

I would say that game went from a solid 7/10 to a 9/10 due to Master Difficulty, where the game really shines.

> You can avoid enemies` high/low moves by using low/high moves.


any good example of high move dodging a low move?

> a example of high move dodging a low move

You can do it by ↑+↑+Y(Strong attack). I assume that there is one more skill but I can`t remember.
And there are rare "middle" attacks performed by enemies(usually strong ones), so you have to learn and memory what doesn`t work.

just beat Kuroki for the 3rd time


first time I went age 27 and beat her age 38 iirc, second time was 23 to 32, but I wasn't satisfied so I tried again and beat her age 27, so

1st time = 5 ~ 8 deaths, idk
2nd time = 4 ~ 6 deaths
3rd time = 3 deaths

anyway, this boss is amazing, the best one so far


I could've finished the game already but replaying stages to play better and optimize runs is fun af, i swear this game has the best learning curve i've ever seen. fantastic

The biggest joy is, for sure, going for mastery and improvement. It's funny also how Master changes that, as on Normal I could generally get a pretty solid zero-death run in, especially against the bosses once you knew them. On the flip side on Master it's a crapshoot for me, a lot harder.

Fantastic game, definitely the best new action title in a long time and also taught me not to dismiss a developer after they made a shitty game.

Sneak peak at the new Arenas Mode, coming March 28th.

beat the game today, holy fuck


i'll probably keep playing ofc, but I think it became one of my favorites in a personal level... it's just that good.

anyway, excited for arena mode, thanks Sloclap

Glad to hear it! Did you tinker around with some of the bonus features like modifiers and MasterMode yet?

It's so good..

> Glad to hear it! Did you tinker around with some of the bonus features like modifiers and MasterMode yet?

Not yet, I replayed to get the "true ending" but that's it.

There's a lot to do tho, secrets, story files, different encounters, modifiers, master mode, then Arena Mode

this game is a complete package and I love it

ok, just started master mode, so, what does it change? i'm very sleepy rn so i didn't really noticed lol

Enemies do more damage? they're more agressive? have more HP/Structure? i'm weaker? what does it tweaks? what about bosses?

Roy... you hyped me to play this mode so I need answers now!!!

> Master mode

You have less HP than normal(discipline), Enemies are more aggressive and do low attacks more frequently, Bosses have more reckless patterns.

> Master Mode
Enemies are slightly remixed and also gain access to new moves / mixups. Bosses have their moveset completely redone too. Aside from that there's a few other changes like indeed HP values and agression%.

It will arrive at 2 PM UTC
And Iconoclast uploaded his play on arenas. + He mentioned that "Manhunt missions where you only have to kill specific enemies"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdsFL4wACZ8

Update is out. This new challenges are fun!

Going to be a while before I go in them, re-bought the game on xbox so going to spend time re-maxing my character there.

Royta/Raeng wrote:Going to be a while before I go in them, re-bought the game on xbox so going to spend time re-maxing my character there.

If you want to play just Arenas you dont have to:

https://www.reddit.com/r/XboxSeriesX/comments/124tf6w/sloclap_is_here_to_discuss_sifu_arenas_ask_them/je0s8g1/

Sloclap: "In the Arenas, each of the 45 challenges have very specific rules, modifiers and skills unlocked specifically for the challenge. So it is completely independent from the Story progression ! "

Played a bit of SIFU yesterday, apparently they also rebalanced some lackluster moves which is interesting to read. Playing on MASTER from the get go which is pretty brutal already.

> arenas
couldn't find them, where are they?

Royta/Raeng wrote:
> arenas
couldn't find them, where are they?

It should be on the main menu, unless the update have not dropped in Xbox yet(?).

Just a drivebypost: jesus this game is still so good

1.20 patch design changes
https://www.sifugame.com/news/patch-1-19-1-20-arenas-day-1-patch

Design Changes - Attacks/Moves
Duck Strike

Damage increased
Startup reduced
Follow-ups changed

Invert Throw

Player character is now invincible during the throw animation
Recovery time reduced (on successful throw AND on whiff)
Follow-ups changed

Hook Intercept

Structure damage increased
Player character takes reduced damage during the animation

Oh yeah invert-throw is more useful now

Lulcie shared the notes with me on twitter, you can read them:

Duck Strike

Damage increased
Startup reduced
Follow-ups changed

Chasing Strikes

Enemies will not block the rest of the attack after being struck by the initial hit
Sifu version 1.20 increased hitstun on the final hit
Recovery time reduced

Invert Throw

Player character is now invincible during the throw animation
Recovery time reduced (on successful throw AND on whiff)
Follow-ups changed

Hook Intercept

Structure damage increased
Player character takes reduced damage during the animation

Turnaround Duck Strike/Hook Intercept

Sifu update 1.020 added resilience during the animation
Main character takes damage during the animation

Push Kick Combo

Added Chasing Strikes and Chasing Trip Kick as follow-ups‍

Design Changes – Focus
All weapon Focus attacks

Cost reduced to 1 Focus bar

Double Palm Focus

Damage on wall splash increased
Damage on collateral targets increased

Strong Sweep Focus

Knockdown duration increased

Vertical Strikes Focus

Damage on the second hit increased

Design Changes – Bladed weapons

Chip damage increased on enemy block or deflect

Post-parry attack

Damage increased

Light Attack Chain’s last hit

Structure damage increased
Recovery time reduced

> Just a drivebypost: jesus this game is still so good

stop. i can't play this shit rn because of RE4Remake. my SSD is full, no space, no good

But thanks for the notes! Really useful, i don't know if this changes will make it better or worse but we'll see.

So far the update is pretty slick, I especially like that some moves now have more clear followups and some damage seems improved as notes. The arena's are fun, but some also a bit too gimmicky for my taste.