Martial arts action game Sifu by Absolver devs Sloclap got a slot on the July 2021 State Of Play broadcast. The slightly bad news is the game will be delayed from its late 2021 release to early 2022.
As the PlayStation Blog post revealed, the pandemic as expected had an effect with the development. This is normal considering the many games that have been delayed for the same reason.
However, the good news is, the new trailer shows a bit more gameplay and gives a glimpse of how ageing works. The reveal trailer for Sifu shows how your main character grows older as he continues his fight. And now we see it not just as a cinematic thing, it’s gameplay.
When you are defeated, you can instantly start back at the same spot, reviving on the spot essentially, but you will grow a bit older as a result. Like a kung-fu master, he gets stronger with age, so losing a fight won’t stop you dead or have you restart a run. The trailer shows how a bouncer’s grapple knocks the player down, but when aged up, that same attack is easily countered.
That said, there is a cap to how old you can go. When you grow too old you will have to start the journey again.
It’s interesting to see how Sloclap is bringing the core tenet of Absolver (learning and getting better) while shaking off that particular game’s souls-like influences. Instead of getting a penalty and making players go through a sequence again to punish each failure (making the triumph much sweeter when you prevail), Sifu is boosting your strength and let you continue exactly where you failed.
Now, if it still requires you to learn and avoid defeat or is it possible to just brute force your way as an old kung-fu master remains to be seen.
Sifu is now set for release in early 2022 for the PS4, PS5 and PC (Epic Games Store).