That is my personal belief with sifu. It's not that the game is hard but it's just that sifu is old school when it comes to difficulty in games. The game requires you to pay attention and learn as you play through the game in each level. To me that is what makes sifu so good. Great video overall.
Fr fr I don't like sounding old and i'm mot even old (I was just given kinda old games and was hella late to the modern game era) but I found the way SIFU has such a Triple A feel but an old school way to progress without feeling very indie idk it was a very nice change of pace for me. No way of game is superior to one another but in a good long while I like this kind of thing
I found it super hard to begin with, even gave up for a few weeks. Then I returned and forced myself to rerun the first level over and over until I beat the boss. Now though after a bit of patience and actually slowing down my inputs and being more thoughtful rather than mashing I'm almost untouchable. Once it all clicks and you get the timing down and learn the attack patterns, game feels AMAZING.
I also thought the 2nd boss was really punishing but now I can beat him at 20 without getting hit, trust me guys. Just fight him 1000 times, eventually you'll learn and then master him, him moveset is actually very basic once you know it, mainly avoid high because he doesnt throw lows in phase 1, his phase one is just a bash or pole thrust which you can avoide to the side, then hell throw some highs then a vertical pole strike that you can avoid to the side, and he has his three high pole swings that you can avoid low, his 2nd phase is much the same except he'll occasionally throw out a naked low pole strike which I never mastered so I always just block or parry it. Dont underestimate just blocking attacks just to learn the timing or avoid windows. You dont have to perfect everything immediately.
I also think that it's a difference in culture and understanding. See, Sifu is made by an American team, yes, but it's made with hundreds of hours dissecting oriental and martial arts cultures, which both endorse patience and mastering things through hours and hours of practice, instead of brute forcing your way in. I've seen a lot of complaining about the game from European and American players, but very little from Kazakhstan (where I live, not Eastern Asia, but still) or Eastern Russia (where some of my friends reside). What I'm trying to say is that I like how Sifu teaches you some fundamental things by being hard and not giving you the right answer to everything the moment you lose and how this philosophy is rooted in such things as culture and history. Also the design of the game is fucking awesome.
The training mode was really helpful too. Granted, you had to beat an enemy or boss before you could train against them, but after barely winning against a boss, I would go into training mode and learn the flow of fighting against them. An easy thing to do in a mode where you have no life bar to worry about. This really helped me pick up on the high low patterns of Kokuri's attacks. In the real fight, I found myself dodging, even when her attacks were out of range, just to keep the motions fresh in my head.
That's why this game is popular amongst the Sekiro crowd. Every fight is a dance. Every enemy type has a specific moveset. If you take the time to learn those movesets and position yourself properly (even if it takes hours and hours of failure to do so) then you can obliterate every level like you're Donnie Yen. But if you treat every encounter like you would any other game, you won't make it very far. The game isn't necessarily hard; it punishes laziness and inattentiveness.
I had the same exact same experience as you. First I was really getting frustrated for dying but by the time I reached the sanctuary I knew I was gonna die anyway, so I just observed enemies where they are and their attacks and especially Yang's attacks. Since I wasn't familiar with these parry or avoid mechanics the game felt really hard at first. I mean after learning all that Yang is still fucking hard but now you know how to learn. And I am so proud that I actually beat him myself even though I died multiple times. The game teaches you to learn from your mistakes and have patience just as martial arts are supposed to. It also gets really fun after unlocking those skills. In conclusion one of the best games I have played in a while.
@@JustAutistic you really missed out man. But it’s fine; the game’s probably not for you. You need to be willing to be a bit patient and actually observe your enemies, their moveset, attack rhythm etc. Yeah sure, it’s a steep learning curve but once you “get it” the payoff is absolutely insane.
Great video. This is why I enjoy this game so much. Once you get good, it lets you style on every single enemy in different ways. In most other difficult games, you have to spot openings in the boss patterns, so you can get a couple of hits in here and there, but Sifu rewards you for being more observant, and you can really just clown on the bosses after a while. But even then, it requires focus and discipline. Once you get frustrated and start mashing like in most normal action games, it's game over for you. This ties in so well with the theme of the game.
I’d say that though this game is difficult, you can see yourself getting better as you progress through the story. I made it all the way to the museum and decided to go back to the squats and take on the Botanist again and was surprised to see that I had his moveset down and beat him without dying. It was such a crazy and satisfying feeling, kinda like rematching a FromSoft boss and destroying them. Overall this game is insane with its style, difficulty, and the satisfaction you get with learning your enemies moves!!
If people are complaining that the game is hard then it's doing a good job, it simply means people are too impatient and sh!t at playing. If they make it easier they'll start spouting on social media syaing it's easy... simply put it just get better.
Honestly even the strategies you mentioned aren't the only way to fight them. Staying close to nearly all the bosses work because it's a matter of mixing up parrying and dodging. Parrying whittles down their structure and dodging gives you it back so you can keep the pressure and it becomes almost like sekiro in terms of its rhythm
Sifu, in many ways, feels like, for example, Nioh Brutal, unforgiving, hard as nails and at times, even unfair, but, it is also rewarding, satisfying and overall a great learning experience from the beginning right up until the end You can't let your guard down, even as a pro, the slightest mistake and even the common canon fodder two shots your ass Gotta say, the first few hours of Sifu are brutal, no doubt about that, same with Nioh. You got two choices, quit and be done with the game for good, or actually learn the mechanics the game has to offer, understand how deep the combat can become and give yourself an advantage whenever you can. Play dirty, abuse shortcomings the devs overlooked All in all, for both Sifu and Nioh, I'm glad my stubborness refused to give up on the games. Like I mentiones before, after learning the combat, it felt so goddamn satisfying clearing a whole room full of dude, while beeing unharmed and looking as stylish as possible.
I wonder how much differently the difficulty would be perceived in this game if the aging mechanic were removed, and you played with just a normal checkpoint system.
I think it would be irritating, since usually you can get away with a death or two depending on the situation and your death counter already, but imagine trying to fight Kuroki, and rather instead of being able to resurrect because your death counter isn't high and your age is low you have to do it all over again.
Learning from your "mistake" and improve yourself using the the magical medallions to redo things isn't limited to just gameplay... but also the story/plot 😎
I like how The Talisman's tokens actually feel like actual Tokens in an Arcade. Arcade Beat 'em Ups, even the Up to date Modern ones still eat up tokens, lmao.
For me some of the enemies just kick high and low too fast for me to react. It almost seems like the game is just ignoring my inputs sometimes. The only way I can get through this game is by brute forcing my way through was just so unsatisfying. The fighting mechanics just suck.
This is why i love Sloclap, Instead of the game learning combat, you learn the combat. ive been searching for a game like this and this is the only game i have found.
"I don't feel Sifu is 'hard' as much as it just doesn't follow standard rules for difficulty progression" You say that once you learn the game's combat mechanics, level layouts, and enemy attacks, the game becomes easy. If only we had a word to describe games that require the player to put significant effort into learning all of these aspects. . . such as the word hard. You try to make a distinction between knowledge and skill, but I don't see an important distinction between these two. Skill isn't some unattainable gamer power that some people are born with and others aren't. It's attained through repetition and training just like learning the meta to a game.
I feel like the real reason people would think it’s hard is they’re conditioned to have a single designated option for everything (block commands that guard pretty much everything from whatever angle, a prearranged/pre optimized combo from mashing the attack button, etc)
I’ve never made it out of my 20’s and my final run I did it at 20, I used to LOVE Absolver and already knew to take my time and learn the moves and play to the environment. It was the main focus in the game, the only way to learn new moves were to fight either block/dodge/absorb the enemies hits then defeat them. And if you lost the fight you’d respawn but loose the progress you made on the moves
I mean... This is why you get better the longer you play; You learn to recognize patterns and movements through trail and error. Sifu doesn't do many things differently when compared to other beat'em ups or RPGs; It even gives you one of the things these games lack, which is the ability to get back up and continue the fight on the spot. There is good reason why so many people attempt to beat the game without any deaths; It is much more feasible than what many people think.
It's reminds me a phone game about my friend pedro where you have to beat the game with a 3 lives. Sadly they remove this feature and instead you now watch an ad to continue on this level. It was really cool and hardcore feature that force you to learn levels and find some tricks (like double time slow where if you triyng to jump while someone aiming at you, you will have more time to shoot)
Such a refreshing video. It isn't so much "Hard" as it just requires repetition to get better. You literally cannot progress UNTIL you get better at the game. And modern gamers aren't accustomed to that. This reminds me of an Arcade Beat'em up in some ways. I am on my third play through and its sad that none of my friends have made it past the 2nd level and eventually quit.
personally i found the first phase of the 3rd boss the hardest, harder than the last boss even, hell i got through the Yang's 1st phase in one go on my "spare" run but it took me a day to get passed the 3rd boss without dying more than once.
dodge his big overheads, or weave (right seems reliable), but know the window is TIGHT, and right at the end of the attack. Low attacks are infrequent enough that you can standing guard through them, so if that's a struggle, try that. Also, most combos start high, so you can duck, or if you have a move that dodges high, open with that as a safe engage. Good luck!
this game teached me a lot when I was trying to get the Master Hand outfit. It was torcher, especially when you have to get 22,000 or more "points" to finish one of many goals to get the outfit.
I think the thing you've misunderstood with Shaun is that, if you hold r1 when your press r2 to backstep/sidestep, you'll do it faster, but if you take your finger off r1, its slower. You can stay outside the reach of Shaun's staff quite easily, and the fight can be approached multiple ways. In fact, i think the reason your having trouble experimenting with different playstyles, was likely because you missed that holding r1 makes your r2 backstep much faster than the enemies, and you can strategically maneuver your way through them. Source: Beat the first 3 levels as a 20 year old, 2 to go.
One thing the game never tells you but is clear for many playing: The AI of EACH individual enemy gets used to your attack patterns. If you just do XXXX they will parry it on the second X every single time. However if you do YY, crotch punch, XX, switch position grab, throw beer bottle with foot and then run sweep into a punch face while on ground that actually works. The more you use the same combo on an enemy the more they can easily parry it and then raise your structure causing you to get your guard broken a lot. It's actually the same for bosses too. The final boss actually mixes up his attacks all the time. He's YOU but only after you've beaten the game multiple times. He actually shows you how to properly beat regular enemies but using optimized or near optimized combos.
Here's some basic advice if anyone is struggling. 1. Learn each opponent's patterns in practice mode. Parry the attacks bcos thats what builds lets u break their structure. When u parry too much u risk breaking ur own structure as well, if u see the bar almost full, start avoiding instead, reduce the bar then start parrying again. 2. Dont spam avoids on enemies that have sweeps. Sweeps are most often reactable and if u avoid it perfectly (not hard actually if u learn to do that in practice, use the flash kick girls to practice)u can punish them quite a bit. 3. Defense is ur best offense. Majority of moves in the game are punishable if u defend properly. Fpr some its avoiding them for some its parrying them. A punish isn't ur usual attacks that somehow manages to hit by luck. A punish is a series of moves that r garanteed to hit everytime u defend against a certain move properly. U can tell whats a punish and whats not by observing. An attack meant to be avoided if avoided and punished, if avoided perfectly slows down time for a little bit(sometimes u feel like enemies delayed their attacks actually its time slowed down bcos u avoided perfectly) and u can land a few hits until they block again, experiment and find the most optimal hits during this time. Same goes for parrying, certain moves when parried are garanteed to break opponent structure, it slows time for a bit. This is where ur supposed to get ur damage and offense from, not blind button mashing. 4. No one on utube actually show u a working combo that hits 100% time in this game bcos no combo is true for all enemies. Meaning certain moves of certain enemies are punished in one way, and others are punished in other ways. Not everyone has same punish window. For example on body guard big goons, if u parry the last hit of their 3 hit combos, u can do heavy, heavy, light, light, heavy knowck them down and do ground grab every time. Parries on other enemies wont let u do this whole combo. Example on flash kick girl u only get about 2/3 hits after avoiding her sweeps. I recommend heavy, light into push and chasing strikes or trip kick. This is what confuses most people they dont understand the mechanic of punish because its inconsistent across enemy types they think theyr getting lucky. Its actually there but specific for different enemy types and different moves. 5. Take advantage of dizzy states: especially on bosses after certain amount of parry/punishes opponents become dizzy and open to attack for a long time. How u recognize the state is when u punish or hit the enemy and then the slowmotion occurs, if u see the slow motion after hitting them, change ur punish/combo, do a longer version including the push, chasing strikes or trip. 6. Use the directional throw ALOT. Its the best tool u have against enemies with weapons and a fast structure break option. Dodge the two hit strikes from bat wielding enemies and then hit them once light/heavy and instantly input the directional throw perferably towarda a wall. Its garanteed to disarm them and stun them for a little while giving u breathing room if ur surrounded. On keyboard I advice to remap the throw from control to E, Q or F depending on preference since control maybe a bit awkward to reach fast enough sometime. U can do this throw in any punish on any boss. If u keep to these advices u will soon realize how easy it is. Even Kuroki seems too easy once u underatand her patterns, go to practice mode and understand what she tries to do, every single thing can be avoided and parried with ease. Just practice.
it took me an entire playthrough on student mode (alongside some mods cuz why not aha) to practice the timing for everyone. it was after that i was able to play on the standard difficulty and... barely make it through completion.
I wish I played it this way. I replayed the same levels over and over again until I beat it within my early 20's. Playing the game out is I'd imagine how it's intended but the give up button was way too tempting during runs I know I could have done better.
sean is really easy when u learn and realise most of his attacks are high/mid until his second phase when he adds a low, which he will spam if he lands like 2 on you
Another element that enforces the need to rerun is realizing there is a age limit to learning the skill groups. You end up needing to learn techniques well before you may actually ever need them.
why I never rage to SP games opposed to MP games is that I can easily figure out in SP games why I die. In multiplayer games when someone is better than me, he is just better. You can figure out why you died but it's a lot difficult and usually there are a lot more scenarios going on. Dark souls games are hard but once you know how everything works, it gets rewarding and easy. Same with Sifu.
People don’t realize all they have to do to progress is just stop and THINK. I’ve seen a lot of people who complain about this game dive in headfirst without thinking, button mash like crazy, and then get absolutely clapped. Then they go about blaming the game for being too hard. The reality is, you learn and get better by being patient, observing your enemies and through trial and error. You have to get a feel for the enemies attack pattern, their rhythm, become aware of how you can use certain techniques in which situations etc. Once you start going down that path, the game becomes progressively easier until it plateaus off and then it just becomes a matter of personal mastery, at which point you start attempting “no death” runs.
I keep hearing that sean was a hard boss. Yet i found him one of the easier ones when i got to fight him first time still in the age of 20. Although i must also add that when i actually did fight him first time in the age of 20 i replayed the squats atleast a total of 15 times. Also when i was on the club i would quit just before the boss fight and repeat it as everytime i finally got there i was at minimum age 50. The two fighters just before the boss really made my blood boil. At this point i was already proficient in avoiding attacks instead of dodging them. Though i did get mad at one point with him as during his second phase if you avoid the first few attacks of his combos he will cancel them and fall back. THE DUDE CAN LITERALLY ANIMATION CANCEL LIKE THE HELL?!?! Which made punishing him harder as he knew how to avoid being punished.
For me it's the optimisation. Sure, I'll get 60 FPS during the entirety of The Club and The Museum, despite all neon stuff and lightning effects, but Squats, Cave and Sanctuary are too much, of course
My problem with Sifu is i hate having to memorize high/low patterns. I love just being able to power through with my natural reaction time. The enemies and bosses through to Sean are a cakewalk but feel amazing to play through! Everything past that though... nah not for me.
Honestly I feel like a lot of the trouble might have come from you using mouse and keyboard! Lol controller feels much more intuitive for this type of game.
I think this is one of those things that is based on a person's preference. I also played Sifu, Yakuza and other fighting games using keyboard. I tried MK games on controller and I just can't. If you've played almost all of your time with mouse and keyboard, things will be the same as playing with a controller.
So from my time playing dragon ball Kakarot it has a easy mode but I kept it on normal that’s challenging itself I started to give up when I was fighting Vegeta but as soon as you fail 5 times like I did I failed a total 15 times on normal because I wasn’t used to the combos but I got it now and thanks to health boosters and higher levels as you progress though the I like a challenge kakarot gave that to me so I guess I’ll give Sufi a try
Gonna be honest dodging sean was really easy and i could keep hitting him and steadily damage him. Worst part for me is low dodging. Just bc theyre always fast sweeps when my muscle memory and reaction time has trouble switching from high to low dodge and doing it fast enough
Good analysis. I had a ton of fun until the «beat the game at/below 25.» Yang was brutal because the only way I could get any hits in, was to avoid all his attacks and punish him for one specific move (foot sweep). At 21 Sifu does almost no damage and it was a game of patience. I eventually beat him at 24 with two deaths. I should feel great but I just feel exhausted.
I just bumbled my way through the Easy Mode and I will admit this Game made me Rage quite a lot but watching other People play I realize how bad I actually am at the Game. when I got to Kuroki I had the Weapon Catch ability and you can actually Catch her knives and throw them back at Her.
The game, if you own it on play station, even gives players a very subtle hint towards the play style with its little tagline, if you will. “Is one life really enough to know Kung-Fu?” It asks.
I think the thing is people are so used to game is being like you punch pouch butt and if you counter the game will always get a fool you like sleeping dogs right it gives you a better chance of surviving this game is different because it's a game that we all wanted to try out never villas how difficult actually would be
I prefer games with user friendly mechanics where I can be comfortable with my playstyle I generally avoid playing these impossible games that lead to frustration
great game one of the best fighting games i played still not finished it i am 33 at museum but i dont care die begeus the levels are so mutch fun even to replay
Quite a few people in the comments seem to feel this way, and I'd have to concur: I found Sean the easiest: His attacks in the first phase come in threes with only two possible strings, all of which are high and can be evaded in one direction. He throws the occasional single poke and push, but otherwise, all strings come in threes In the second phase, he adds an additional low sweep and starts interrupting his string of three to throw you off, but once he does throw a complete string, they can be evaded easily. Fucking Kuroki on the other hand, jesus. In her first phase, she has like 5 or 6 different attacks strings, all of which alternate between high and low and are even syncopated sometimes i.e the time interval between one attack and the next is not even. It makes memorising the pattern infuriating. Her second phase is far, far easier, with only one long attack string that are all high. Her flash rush can be a pain sometimes, but not enough to cause more than one or two deaths at most (in my case anyway). Love the game tho. One of the few I genuinely feel like improving at.
1:08 ah yes, assassins creed syndrome. or better know as, "not only you aren't supposed to play it like this, but we're gonna be complete jerks if you do"
I love how the skill tree is literally a tree that gives you skills.
The tree also grew bigger the more skills you unlock too
@@hypernel1798 wait wh
@@techedbirb6663 lol yeah tree grows with every permanent unlock. Straight up have a full tree in my dojo.
@@madmalkavian3857 yea ik that now.. HOW THE FUCK DID I NOT SEE
@@techedbirb6663 you'll strat to truly notice thst when you'll have more permanent skills
That is my personal belief with sifu. It's not that the game is hard but it's just that sifu is old school when it comes to difficulty in games. The game requires you to pay attention and learn as you play through the game in each level. To me that is what makes sifu so good. Great video overall.
True
I mean I'd argue that this is a version of "hard" but like you said in a very old-school and method based way
Fr fr I don't like sounding old and i'm mot even old (I was just given kinda old games and was hella late to the modern game era) but I found the way SIFU has such a Triple A feel but an old school way to progress without feeling very indie idk it was a very nice change of pace for me. No way of game is superior to one another but in a good long while I like this kind of thing
That kind of player improvement I hate honestly.
i’d doesn’t respect your time
It’s very funny how Kuroki’s second phase is easier to beat than her first.
On master difficulty her second phase is for sure harder with all her mix-ups when she gets up close
it really isn't. during her first phase all you have to do is keep your distance and come in for yhe occasional strike
I found it super hard to begin with, even gave up for a few weeks. Then I returned and forced myself to rerun the first level over and over until I beat the boss. Now though after a bit of patience and actually slowing down my inputs and being more thoughtful rather than mashing I'm almost untouchable. Once it all clicks and you get the timing down and learn the attack patterns, game feels AMAZING.
I'm amazed people found Sean hard. The THIRD boss, I was wondering how I was gunna get through her without dying.
The 4th was actually the hardest for me besides first phase kuroki
@@techedbirb6663 bro how that’s the easiest boss in the game
@@carlo2038 idk, I wasn't getting the timings right
@@carlo2038 she wasnt the easiest but at that point she was underwhelming
Same, cleared Sean on first try but stuck for a long time in the Museum.
I also thought the 2nd boss was really punishing but now I can beat him at 20 without getting hit, trust me guys. Just fight him 1000 times, eventually you'll learn and then master him, him moveset is actually very basic once you know it, mainly avoid high because he doesnt throw lows in phase 1, his phase one is just a bash or pole thrust which you can avoide to the side, then hell throw some highs then a vertical pole strike that you can avoid to the side, and he has his three high pole swings that you can avoid low, his 2nd phase is much the same except he'll occasionally throw out a naked low pole strike which I never mastered so I always just block or parry it. Dont underestimate just blocking attacks just to learn the timing or avoid windows. You dont have to perfect everything immediately.
They patched him, he's a lot easier now.
@@TheN1ghtwalker I knew it
@@TheN1ghtwalker I knew it
@@TheN1ghtwalker he was easy before the patch
I also think that it's a difference in culture and understanding. See, Sifu is made by an American team, yes, but it's made with hundreds of hours dissecting oriental and martial arts cultures, which both endorse patience and mastering things through hours and hours of practice, instead of brute forcing your way in. I've seen a lot of complaining about the game from European and American players, but very little from Kazakhstan (where I live, not Eastern Asia, but still) or Eastern Russia (where some of my friends reside). What I'm trying to say is that I like how Sifu teaches you some fundamental things by being hard and not giving you the right answer to everything the moment you lose and how this philosophy is rooted in such things as culture and history.
Also the design of the game is fucking awesome.
HOLY FUCK IT DOES
Sifu is actually made by a French team
@@Shimapanacea Apologies for my ignorance, did not know about that. And still, it is west enough for me to be considered foreign
Heck, That french team even had an actual Martial Artist advise them and kinda direct the combat.
The training mode was really helpful too. Granted, you had to beat an enemy or boss before you could train against them, but after barely winning against a boss, I would go into training mode and learn the flow of fighting against them. An easy thing to do in a mode where you have no life bar to worry about. This really helped me pick up on the high low patterns of Kokuri's attacks. In the real fight, I found myself dodging, even when her attacks were out of range, just to keep the motions fresh in my head.
That's why this game is popular amongst the Sekiro crowd. Every fight is a dance. Every enemy type has a specific moveset. If you take the time to learn those movesets and position yourself properly (even if it takes hours and hours of failure to do so) then you can obliterate every level like you're Donnie Yen. But if you treat every encounter like you would any other game, you won't make it very far. The game isn't necessarily hard; it punishes laziness and inattentiveness.
It's not advertised, but Sifu really _IS_ a Souls game at its heart
Learning is the point lol
I had the same exact same experience as you. First I was really getting frustrated for dying but by the time I reached the sanctuary I knew I was gonna die anyway, so I just observed enemies where they are and their attacks and especially Yang's attacks.
Since I wasn't familiar with these parry or avoid mechanics the game felt really hard at first. I mean after learning all that Yang is still fucking hard but now you know how to learn. And I am so proud that I actually beat him myself even though I died multiple times. The game teaches you to learn from your mistakes and have patience just as martial arts are supposed to.
It also gets really fun after unlocking those skills.
In conclusion one of the best games I have played in a while.
I never got that. Just thought it’s too damn hard, due to my issues with paying attention and focusing
@@JustAutistic you really missed out man. But it’s fine; the game’s probably not for you. You need to be willing to be a bit patient and actually observe your enemies, their moveset, attack rhythm etc.
Yeah sure, it’s a steep learning curve but once you “get it” the payoff is absolutely insane.
Great video. This is why I enjoy this game so much. Once you get good, it lets you style on every single enemy in different ways. In most other difficult games, you have to spot openings in the boss patterns, so you can get a couple of hits in here and there, but Sifu rewards you for being more observant, and you can really just clown on the bosses after a while. But even then, it requires focus and discipline. Once you get frustrated and start mashing like in most normal action games, it's game over for you. This ties in so well with the theme of the game.
1:05 it's like doom eternal if you don't play the fun way you will fail, and if you play the fun way you get your dopamines
I’d say that though this game is difficult, you can see yourself getting better as you progress through the story. I made it all the way to the museum and decided to go back to the squats and take on the Botanist again and was surprised to see that I had his moveset down and beat him without dying. It was such a crazy and satisfying feeling, kinda like rematching a FromSoft boss and destroying them. Overall this game is insane with its style, difficulty, and the satisfaction you get with learning your enemies moves!!
The key word to describe Sifu is “discipline”.
This is the best analysis of the game I've seen on TH-cam
If people are complaining that the game is hard then it's doing a good job, it simply means people are too impatient and sh!t at playing.
If they make it easier they'll start spouting on social media syaing it's easy... simply put it just get better.
Honestly even the strategies you mentioned aren't the only way to fight them. Staying close to nearly all the bosses work because it's a matter of mixing up parrying and dodging. Parrying whittles down their structure and dodging gives you it back so you can keep the pressure and it becomes almost like sekiro in terms of its rhythm
Sifu, in many ways, feels like, for example, Nioh
Brutal, unforgiving, hard as nails and at times, even unfair, but, it is also rewarding, satisfying and overall a great learning experience from the beginning right up until the end
You can't let your guard down, even as a pro, the slightest mistake and even the common canon fodder two shots your ass
Gotta say, the first few hours of Sifu are brutal, no doubt about that, same with Nioh. You got two choices, quit and be done with the game for good, or actually learn the mechanics the game has to offer, understand how deep the combat can become and give yourself an advantage whenever you can. Play dirty, abuse shortcomings the devs overlooked
All in all, for both Sifu and Nioh, I'm glad my stubborness refused to give up on the games. Like I mentiones before, after learning the combat, it felt so goddamn satisfying clearing a whole room full of dude, while beeing unharmed and looking as stylish as possible.
great video man definitley subscribing, thought you were a huge youtube until I saw 107!
I wonder how much differently the difficulty would be perceived in this game if the aging mechanic were removed, and you played with just a normal checkpoint system.
If that were the case …then we would have different difficulty levels 🤔
I think it would be irritating, since usually you can get away with a death or two depending on the situation and your death counter already, but imagine trying to fight Kuroki, and rather instead of being able to resurrect because your death counter isn't high and your age is low you have to do it all over again.
This game is so hard I literally had to put it on easy I almost broke my controller and I broke my door
the game expects th4 player to replay a level over and over again. great game but may put off some people who get easily frustrated.
Learning from your "mistake" and improve yourself using the the magical medallions to redo things isn't limited to just gameplay...
but also the story/plot 😎
You kinda ruined it with the emoji at the end
Yeah fucked it right up with the emoji pal.
I like how The Talisman's tokens actually feel like actual Tokens in an Arcade. Arcade Beat 'em Ups, even the Up to date Modern ones still eat up tokens, lmao.
For me some of the enemies just kick high and low too fast for me to react. It almost seems like the game is just ignoring my inputs sometimes. The only way I can get through this game is by brute forcing my way through was just so unsatisfying. The fighting mechanics just suck.
Yep it doesn't feel like your always going to know when the inputs work or reading enemie attacks is so weird
This is why i love Sloclap,
Instead of the game learning combat, you learn the combat.
ive been searching for a game like this and this is the only game i have found.
"I don't feel Sifu is 'hard' as much as it just doesn't follow standard rules for difficulty progression"
You say that once you learn the game's combat mechanics, level layouts, and enemy attacks, the game becomes easy.
If only we had a word to describe games that require the player to put significant effort into learning all of these aspects. . . such as the word hard.
You try to make a distinction between knowledge and skill, but I don't see an important distinction between these two. Skill isn't some unattainable gamer power that some people are born with and others aren't. It's attained through repetition and training just like learning the meta to a game.
Am
Struggling with the third and fourth boss right now. It can be infuriating but the game is so good I’m hanging in there .
I feel like the real reason people would think it’s hard is they’re conditioned to have a single designated option for everything (block commands that guard pretty much everything from whatever angle, a prearranged/pre optimized combo from mashing the attack button, etc)
I’ve never made it out of my 20’s and my final run I did it at 20, I used to LOVE Absolver and already knew to take my time and learn the moves and play to the environment. It was the main focus in the game, the only way to learn new moves were to fight either block/dodge/absorb the enemies hits then defeat them. And if you lost the fight you’d respawn but loose the progress you made on the moves
I mean... This is why you get better the longer you play; You learn to recognize patterns and movements through trail and error. Sifu doesn't do many things differently when compared to other beat'em ups or RPGs; It even gives you one of the things these games lack, which is the ability to get back up and continue the fight on the spot. There is good reason why so many people attempt to beat the game without any deaths; It is much more feasible than what many people think.
It's reminds me a phone game about my friend pedro where you have to beat the game with a 3 lives. Sadly they remove this feature and instead you now watch an ad to continue on this level. It was really cool and hardcore feature that force you to learn levels and find some tricks (like double time slow where if you triyng to jump while someone aiming at you, you will have more time to shoot)
Such a refreshing video. It isn't so much "Hard" as it just requires repetition to get better. You literally cannot progress UNTIL you get better at the game. And modern gamers aren't accustomed to that. This reminds me of an Arcade Beat'em up in some ways. I am on my third play through and its sad that none of my friends have made it past the 2nd level and eventually quit.
Game isn't fun to play
Arcades that's it!
I just lost patience for the game lol but I will get back into tho
@@meraclechamlotte9291 Thats a subjective take. But it sold VERY well for a indie game. So alot of people disagree
@@incognitofool6516 it sold alot but only 14% of people who got the game actually completed the game.
I'm inclined to believe alot people agree.
Kuroki phase 1 gave me trouble.
1:13 always rough when a game makes Oou play its way
personally i found the first phase of the 3rd boss the hardest, harder than the last boss even, hell i got through the Yang's 1st phase in one go on my "spare" run but it took me a day to get passed the 3rd boss without dying more than once.
it would actually help to play on controller so that your camera isnt this janky all the time.
fun fact: my first fight against the botanist I just rage quit LOL!
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same with my second, and I haven't tried a third one yet :)
You will get the hang of it. He is the easiest of the bosses. He is a wild fighter, he telegraphs his moves too easily.
I’m either too dumb, stressed out, or a mix of both, but I worried too much about avoiding damage.
dodge his big overheads, or weave (right seems reliable), but know the window is TIGHT, and right at the end of the attack. Low attacks are infrequent enough that you can standing guard through them, so if that's a struggle, try that. Also, most combos start high, so you can duck, or if you have a move that dodges high, open with that as a safe engage.
Good luck!
This is the best articulated philosophy to this game I've seen so far. Thank you.
this game teached me a lot when I was trying to get the Master Hand outfit. It was torcher, especially when you have to get 22,000 or more "points" to finish one of many goals to get the outfit.
6:40 That’s some slick editing.
I think the thing you've misunderstood with Shaun is that, if you hold r1 when your press r2 to backstep/sidestep, you'll do it faster, but if you take your finger off r1, its slower. You can stay outside the reach of Shaun's staff quite easily, and the fight can be approached multiple ways.
In fact, i think the reason your having trouble experimenting with different playstyles, was likely because you missed that holding r1 makes your r2 backstep much faster than the enemies, and you can strategically maneuver your way through them. Source: Beat the first 3 levels as a 20 year old, 2 to go.
really interesting insights! it explains how much i improved between my first few runs and my later runs
One thing the game never tells you but is clear for many playing: The AI of EACH individual enemy gets used to your attack patterns. If you just do XXXX they will parry it on the second X every single time. However if you do YY, crotch punch, XX, switch position grab, throw beer bottle with foot and then run sweep into a punch face while on ground that actually works. The more you use the same combo on an enemy the more they can easily parry it and then raise your structure causing you to get your guard broken a lot.
It's actually the same for bosses too. The final boss actually mixes up his attacks all the time. He's YOU but only after you've beaten the game multiple times. He actually shows you how to properly beat regular enemies but using optimized or near optimized combos.
I found weapon mastery being much more useful than i thought, especially since staffs pop up more often
this is actually the most useful video about sifu ive watched yet
Here's some basic advice if anyone is struggling.
1. Learn each opponent's patterns in practice mode. Parry the attacks bcos thats what builds lets u break their structure. When u parry too much u risk breaking ur own structure as well, if u see the bar almost full, start avoiding instead, reduce the bar then start parrying again.
2. Dont spam avoids on enemies that have sweeps. Sweeps are most often reactable and if u avoid it perfectly (not hard actually if u learn to do that in practice, use the flash kick girls to practice)u can punish them quite a bit.
3. Defense is ur best offense. Majority of moves in the game are punishable if u defend properly. Fpr some its avoiding them for some its parrying them. A punish isn't ur usual attacks that somehow manages to hit by luck. A punish is a series of moves that r garanteed to hit everytime u defend against a certain move properly. U can tell whats a punish and whats not by observing. An attack meant to be avoided if avoided and punished, if avoided perfectly slows down time for a little bit(sometimes u feel like enemies delayed their attacks actually its time slowed down bcos u avoided perfectly) and u can land a few hits until they block again, experiment and find the most optimal hits during this time. Same goes for parrying, certain moves when parried are garanteed to break opponent structure, it slows time for a bit. This is where ur supposed to get ur damage and offense from, not blind button mashing.
4. No one on utube actually show u a working combo that hits 100% time in this game bcos no combo is true for all enemies. Meaning certain moves of certain enemies are punished in one way, and others are punished in other ways. Not everyone has same punish window. For example on body guard big goons, if u parry the last hit of their 3 hit combos, u can do heavy, heavy, light, light, heavy knowck them down and do ground grab every time. Parries on other enemies wont let u do this whole combo. Example on flash kick girl u only get about 2/3 hits after avoiding her sweeps. I recommend heavy, light into push and chasing strikes or trip kick.
This is what confuses most people they dont understand the mechanic of punish because its inconsistent across enemy types they think theyr getting lucky. Its actually there but specific for different enemy types and different moves.
5. Take advantage of dizzy states: especially on bosses after certain amount of parry/punishes opponents become dizzy and open to attack for a long time. How u recognize the state is when u punish or hit the enemy and then the slowmotion occurs, if u see the slow motion after hitting them, change ur punish/combo, do a longer version including the push, chasing strikes or trip.
6. Use the directional throw ALOT. Its the best tool u have against enemies with weapons and a fast structure break option. Dodge the two hit strikes from bat wielding enemies and then hit them once light/heavy and instantly input the directional throw perferably towarda a wall. Its garanteed to disarm them and stun them for a little while giving u breathing room if ur surrounded. On keyboard I advice to remap the throw from control to E, Q or F depending on preference since control maybe a bit awkward to reach fast enough sometime. U can do this throw in any punish on any boss.
If u keep to these advices u will soon realize how easy it is. Even Kuroki seems too easy once u underatand her patterns, go to practice mode and understand what she tries to do, every single thing can be avoided and parried with ease. Just practice.
Thanks man for your time
it took me an entire playthrough on student mode (alongside some mods cuz why not aha) to practice the timing for everyone. it was after that i was able to play on the standard difficulty and... barely make it through completion.
I wish I played it this way. I replayed the same levels over and over again until I beat it within my early 20's. Playing the game out is I'd imagine how it's intended but the give up button was way too tempting during runs I know I could have done better.
great underrated video
Pause on that title
I love this game because of everything you just mentioned. Great post!
Stage 2 kuroki was easy yet feeling really fun for some reason
I’m glad the shrine upgrades saves and actually carrie’s over now. At launch it didn’t do that. So that may make things a bit easier.
sean is really easy when u learn and realise most of his attacks are high/mid until his second phase when he adds a low, which he will spam if he lands like 2 on you
Another element that enforces the need to rerun is realizing there is a age limit to learning the skill groups. You end up needing to learn techniques well before you may actually ever need them.
well said,
and that's also the core idea of speedrun.
I found Sean easy the problem is I still can't spare him.
why I never rage to SP games opposed to MP games is that I can easily figure out in SP games why I die.
In multiplayer games when someone is better than me, he is just better. You can figure out why you died but it's a lot difficult and usually there are a lot more scenarios going on.
Dark souls games are hard but once you know how everything works, it gets rewarding and easy.
Same with Sifu.
People don’t realize all they have to do to progress is just stop and THINK. I’ve seen a lot of people who complain about this game dive in headfirst without thinking, button mash like crazy, and then get absolutely clapped. Then they go about blaming the game for being too hard.
The reality is, you learn and get better by being patient, observing your enemies and through trial and error. You have to get a feel for the enemies attack pattern, their rhythm, become aware of how you can use certain techniques in which situations etc.
Once you start going down that path, the game becomes progressively easier until it plateaus off and then it just becomes a matter of personal mastery, at which point you start attempting “no death” runs.
I keep hearing that sean was a hard boss. Yet i found him one of the easier ones when i got to fight him first time still in the age of 20.
Although i must also add that when i actually did fight him first time in the age of 20 i replayed the squats atleast a total of 15 times. Also when i was on the club i would quit just before the boss fight and repeat it as everytime i finally got there i was at minimum age 50. The two fighters just before the boss really made my blood boil.
At this point i was already proficient in avoiding attacks instead of dodging them. Though i did get mad at one point with him as during his second phase if you avoid the first few attacks of his combos he will cancel them and fall back. THE DUDE CAN LITERALLY ANIMATION CANCEL LIKE THE HELL?!?! Which made punishing him harder as he knew how to avoid being punished.
For me it's the optimisation. Sure, I'll get 60 FPS during the entirety of The Club and The Museum, despite all neon stuff and lightning effects, but Squats, Cave and Sanctuary are too much, of course
My problem with Sifu is i hate having to memorize high/low patterns. I love just being able to power through with my natural reaction time. The enemies and bosses through to Sean are a cakewalk but feel amazing to play through!
Everything past that though... nah not for me.
Honestly I feel like a lot of the trouble might have come from you using mouse and keyboard! Lol controller feels much more intuitive for this type of game.
yeah how can you play a fighting game without a controller? lol
I think this is one of those things that is based on a person's preference. I also played Sifu, Yakuza and other fighting games using keyboard. I tried MK games on controller and I just can't. If you've played almost all of your time with mouse and keyboard, things will be the same as playing with a controller.
Tbh i never doged i just did the timed evade matrix thing all the time so sean was a peace of cake
You’re very right. It’s a very dark souls style learning curve.
Awesome video man. New sub. 👍🏼
I plan on covering more Sifu on my channel 😬
Couldn't agree more, amazing video
I’m 12 and I just got the true ending while at age 20 all shrines if I can do it so can you
Sifu has a learning curve, you will have a Neo moment eventually and say “I know kungfu”. That happened to me and now I can beat Yang at age 20
I get the type of grind and I've done a bit, the problem is that I'm just not having fun
So from my time playing dragon ball Kakarot it has a easy mode but I kept it on normal that’s challenging itself I started to give up when I was fighting Vegeta but as soon as you fail 5 times like I did I failed a total 15 times on normal because I wasn’t used to the combos but I got it now and thanks to health boosters and higher levels as you progress though the I like a challenge kakarot gave that to me so I guess I’ll give Sufi a try
the title sounds so wrong tho
how so?
Gonna be honest dodging sean was really easy and i could keep hitting him and steadily damage him. Worst part for me is low dodging. Just bc theyre always fast sweeps when my muscle memory and reaction time has trouble switching from high to low dodge and doing it fast enough
Good analysis. I had a ton of fun until the «beat the game at/below 25.» Yang was brutal because the only way I could get any hits in, was to avoid all his attacks and punish him for one specific move (foot sweep). At 21 Sifu does almost no damage and it was a game of patience. I eventually beat him at 24 with two deaths. I should feel great but I just feel exhausted.
I just bumbled my way through the Easy Mode and I will admit this Game made me Rage quite a lot but watching other People play I realize how bad I actually am at the Game.
when I got to Kuroki I had the Weapon Catch ability and you can actually Catch her knives and throw them back at Her.
Something about the inputs in the game feels off. Also the way enemies block feels unfair.
You just gave me hope and a different perspective. I almost deleted the game.
bottom line is just memorizing animations and timings
Gotta love the 67 to 25 transition 👌
The game, if you own it on play station, even gives players a very subtle hint towards the play style with its little tagline, if you will. “Is one life really enough to know Kung-Fu?” It asks.
Should I get sifu digital or physical
"I dont think it's hard, it just feels hard because..." goes on to explain what makes a game hard. Literally the definition of video game difficulty.
This is an excellent quality video 👌
This sounds like a giant life lesson 🧘🏾♂️
I think the thing is people are so used to game is being like you punch pouch butt and if you counter the game will always get a fool you like sleeping dogs right it gives you a better chance of surviving this game is different because it's a game that we all wanted to try out never villas how difficult actually would be
because u reach 70s before entering 3rd level and once u do you need to restart the whole level again
For me, the Jinfeng was the hardest boss. I just don't know how to dodge her sweep...
You just have to pay attention, this game throws alot of that... Like the fact that all of Suen's students have the same style
its about repetition and repeating it isnt so bad due to how flawless the fights are
I found myself watching this video after only being able to beat the first boss at 70yrs 🤦🏾♂️
Ive played like 900 hours of tekken so i got quite good at reacting so it got quite easy for me, cant stop playing it tho
I prefer games with user friendly mechanics where I can be comfortable with my playstyle I generally avoid playing these impossible games that lead to frustration
great game one of the best fighting games i played still not finished it i am 33 at museum but i dont care die begeus the levels are so mutch fun even to replay
to me it doesnt as much. its the mindset. it did teach me somethings.
It’s best to take a deep breath while playing this game…trust me it’s about patience
Quite a few people in the comments seem to feel this way, and I'd have to concur: I found Sean the easiest:
His attacks in the first phase come in threes with only two possible strings, all of which are high and can be evaded in one direction. He throws the occasional single poke and push, but otherwise, all strings come in threes
In the second phase, he adds an additional low sweep and starts interrupting his string of three to throw you off, but once he does throw a complete string, they can be evaded easily.
Fucking Kuroki on the other hand, jesus.
In her first phase, she has like 5 or 6 different attacks strings, all of which alternate between high and low and are even syncopated sometimes i.e the time interval between one attack and the next is not even. It makes memorising the pattern infuriating.
Her second phase is far, far easier, with only one long attack string that are all high. Her flash rush can be a pain sometimes, but not enough to cause more than one or two deaths at most (in my case anyway).
Love the game tho. One of the few I genuinely feel like improving at.
1:08 ah yes, assassins creed syndrome. or better know as, "not only you aren't supposed to play it like this, but we're gonna be complete jerks if you do"
I don't think having to wittel away at bosses health sponge repetitively is fun.
Its the button mechanic make its hard
7:20 they absolutely butchered you😂
Using a keyboard and mouse is a handicap I can't deal with. But to each their own.
Beat everything at age 24. Plat trophyed the game wanting to beat the game without dying
Damn that's cool. I know how to get the secret trophy though, its called "Touch grass"
@@ian7897 ik a secret trophy called respect. U should try to learn it