In encountering the key antagonists of Sifu, who serve as the boss characters of each stage, the environments morph into impossible, magical worlds. However, layered on top of your journey through those environments is a blanket of oriental mysticism that adds a fantastical layer to the game. Despite these being common video game locales, they feel like unique environments inspired by a different cultural context, thanks to minor details. To its credit, a few of Sifu’s five different stages offer refreshing looks at contemporary mainland China not often seen in Western media – a nightclub, a contemporary museum, and a corporate office.

It happens on a more macro level too, of course. In an attempt to imbue Sifu with foreign mystique, the game sacrifices consistency and has a much looser handle on the idea of being faithful.

In attempting to pair Chinese translations to every bit of text in the game – Loading, Skill Tree, XP, etc., as well as environmental text – Sifu seems to use differing Chinese character sets interchangeably. Similarly, Sifu refers to the game’s central hideout location as the ‘Wuguan’ rather than a ‘home’ or ‘training hall’ – the only other instance of a romanised Chinese word in the game. But the fact that the game uses the term ‘sifu’ at all, instead of ‘master’ or ‘teacher’ as an English localisation might do suggests a stronger desire to accentuate the exotic otherness of the setting. The game’s English voice actors pronounce the word ‘sifu’ in a way that’s in line with the Cantonese dialect more common in popular martial arts films, despite the game’s setting in mainland China, in a Mandarin-speaking region, as indicated by environmental audio. It makes a visible effort to try and tick off as many stylistic East Asian boxes as possible, twisting details to seem more exotic, and taking great liberties with cultural iconography for the purposes of aesthetic flashiness and nothing more. Shattered expectationsīut when it comes to conveying the mainland Chinese setting and its characters, Sifu is far more willing to play fast and loose with its inspirations. The game’s commitment to a practical real-world form of fighting makes your ability to maintain control of conflicts that much more fulfilling. With believability comes challenge and difficulty, but it’s finally overcoming high-stakes fights with determined grace that makes Sifu’s mechanical design and execution so satisfying. Each individual enemy has the capacity to defeat you in just a few clean blows, so the game’s focus on well-timed avoidance and parry techniques, along with its dedication to efficient, purposeful blows makes every encounter a thrilling do or die stand-off.įrameborder='0' allow='accelerometer autoplay clipboard-write encrypted-media gyroscope picture-in-picture' allowfullscreen>Įach hit looks and sounds plausible and meaty, and stringing together different techniques always looks and feels natural. Even as you learn more techniques and incorporate different kinds of weapons into their fighting, the character’s form rarely diverges.ĭivorced from the more exaggerated methods of fighting seen in martial arts films, this style of kung fu helps Sifu’s combat feel convincing and powerful when put into motion. The second is its depiction of Pak Mei kung fu, a form of martial arts focused on practicality, which the nameless protagonist uses consistently throughout the game. The first is its recreation of fight scenes as seen in popular martial arts movies – but not the storytelling and character work also present in those films. Which means Sifu suffers from many of the same issues. The approach is akin to that of an homage like Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill duology. Notable setpieces that recall pivotal scenes in films like the Korean Oldboy (2003) and the Japanese Lady Snowblood (1979) are also present, both distinct styles from different storytelling cultures in their own right, but present in Sifu regardless. The Shaw Brothers films of the 1970s and 80s, as well as the many works from China and Hong Kong influenced by them, are the main stylistic touchpoints, but not the only ones.

Telling an uncomplicated tale of a young kung fu practitioner who dedicates their life to avenging the death of their teacher, the gauntlet they face and the numerous foes they dispatch is the main drawcard. Wearing its influences on its sleeve, Sifu – a Chinese/Cantonese term commonly used to refer to teachers and other respected workers – aims to be an homage to the iconic martial arts movies of the 20th century.

Sifu in chinese