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Sifu trailer reveals new kung fu gameplay and aging mechanic

A legion of bad guys awaits players in Sifu, as the latest trailer reveals the long path to kung fu mastery.

Ozzie Mejia

March 25, 2021 5:30 PM

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Sifu is an action game that promises kung fu fighting. As Thursday's trailer from the Future Games Show proved, the game's characters will be fast as lightning. Developer SloClap's efforts promises to be filled with martial arts action, but there's more to it than straight punching and kicking, as CEO Pierre Tarno explained. You'll only have so much time to master the ancient martial arts, as indicated by a newly-revealed aging mechanic.

First revealed during the Sony February 25th State of Play presentation, Sifu's story sees the game's main character out to avenge the death of his family, which came at the hands of five ruthless kung fu masters. These assassins have all mastered the five different elements of kung fu, which are wood, fire, water, metal, and earth. They're also flanked by dozens of minions, who will all attack one-by-one, as is custom in a martial arts movie.

Unlike the great warriors of martial arts movies like Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, it's entirely possible to lose in Sifu. In fact, players will lose quite frequently. Upon death, players will respawn on the spot, though their character will age slightly. The idea is that experience comes with age, so the more characters die, the older they'll grow to reflect their mastery. Of course, nobody lives forever and Tarno hints that there are only so many times that a player can die before permadeath kicks in. Tarno doesn't go into further detail on that and notes that SloClap will have more information on how death works at a later date.

You won't have to grow too much older before Sifu releases. Look for it to come to PC (via the Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4 later this year. Those interested in learning more about the game's origins can go back to the PlayStation.Blog post that followed its February reveal.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?