Sifu Guide#
Sifu is a single-player kung fu beat ’em up from French studio Sloclap. Its signature design is the age mechanic: every time you die, you get back up on the spot a little older, and by the time you reach the final boss you may have gone from a 20-year-old fighter to a white-haired old man. Built around that core system, this hub lays out the five-level campaign, the five bosses, and the routes to both endings.
Game Information#
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Game | Sifu |
| Genre | Kung fu beat ’em up, single-player |
| Developer / Publisher | Sloclap (Steam and Epic store pages also list Kepler Interactive as publisher) |
| Director / Producer / Music | Jordan Layani / Pierre Tarno / Howie Lee |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
| Release Date | February 8, 2022 (PS4, PS5, Windows via Epic Games Store); November 8, 2022 (Switch); March 28, 2023 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Steam) |
| Platforms | Windows (Epic/Steam), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
| Price | US$39.99; Digital Deluxe Edition US$49.99 (US$9.99 upgrade, includes art book, soundtrack, outfits and photo mode pack) |
| Languages | Official Simplified and Traditional Chinese subtitles, Chinese voice acting (including Cantonese), plus English voice acting |
| Martial Art Basis | Pak Mei (White Eyebrow), with Pak Mei master Benjamin Colussi as movement consultant |
| Length | About 8 hours for the main story, about 15 hours with side content, about 22 hours for full completion (HowLongToBeat) |
| Media Score | Metacritic PS5 version: 81 |
One thing worth noting about the release dates: the game did not launch on every platform at once. It shipped in three waves — PlayStation and Epic in February 2022, Switch at the end of that year, and Xbox plus Steam in March 2023 alongside the free Arenas update.
Story Overview#
The protagonist is the only child of a kung fu school’s master. A five-person group calling itself the Dawn Group raids the school at night — its leader Yang was once the master’s own student, and he kills his teacher for the talismans and orders his subordinate Fajar to kill the master’s child. The child comes back to life through a magical talisman, at the cost of aging a little with every death. Eight years later, the grown protagonist sets out on a path of revenge with that talisman, fighting through the four subordinates before reaching Yang.
The Five Bosses and Five Levels#
The game consists of a prologue plus five levels. Each level is held by one of the bosses, and each of them carries a talisman taken from one of the five elemental guardians.
| Order | Boss | Title | Talisman | Stronghold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Fajar | The Botanist | Wood | The Squats |
| Level 2 | Sean | The Fighter | Fire | The Club |
| Level 3 | Kuroki | The Artist | Water | The Museum |
| Level 4 | Jinfeng | The CEO | Gold | The Tower |
| Level 5 | Yang | The Leader | Earth | The Sanctuary |
Core Gameplay Loop#
Sifu’s gameplay boils down to a loop of three things: strike, defend, and age.
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Posture and takedowns | Every enemy has a posture bar; once it is broken you can perform a takedown. Bosses need their posture broken twice in phase two, which is also when the “spare” option appears |
| Blocking and dodging | Blocking, dodging, pushbacks, knockdowns and stuns form the basic toolkit for defense and crowd control |
| Age mechanic | You rise where you fell, older than before; every 10 years gained raises your damage and lowers your maximum health, and any death after age 70 is permanent |
| Shrines | Roughly three per level, each offering a choice of 1 from 9 rewards (split into 3 categories); rewards carry across levels |
| Skill tree | Skills are bought with XP, and buying the same skill a cumulative 6 times unlocks it permanently across runs |
| Two endings | Executing Yang gives the revenge ending (the time loop); sparing all five bosses unlocks the true Wude ending |
Sales and Awards#
Sifu performed well after launch: it passed 500,000 copies sold within 48 hours, crossed 1 million in roughly three weeks, passed 3 million in February 2024, and passed 4 million in May 2025. On the awards side, it picked up three nominations at The Game Awards 2022 (Best Independent Game, Best Action Game, Best Fighting Game), won the Steam Award for “Best Game You Suck At”, and earned a Golden Joystick nomination for PlayStation Game of the Year. In December 2024, the animated anthology Secret Level premiered its Sifu episode, “Sifu: It Takes a Life”, on Amazon Prime Video.
Critically, Metacritic scores are 81 on PS5, 81 on Switch, 79 on PC and 71 on PS4; OpenCritic lists an average of 81 from top critics with 84% of critics recommending it. IGN, GameSpot and Destructoid all gave it 9/10, and Gamersky gave it 8.5/10.
Versions and Difficulty#
At launch there was no difficulty option — the age mechanic regulated difficulty entirely on its own. From the summer 2022 update onward, the game added difficulty modes (including an easy mode) plus gameplay modifiers; in easy mode, shrines also offer the “Rejuvenate” reward, which takes 5 years off at once. The March 2023 all-platform update added the free Arenas expansion: 9 new arenas, 45 challenges and 5 modes (Survival, Performance, Time Attack, Capture, Manhunt), roughly 10 hours of extra content. The final update in September 2023 added a custom mode and randomized modifiers.
Quick Navigation#
- Getting Started — controls, interface and what to know before your first run
- Combat System — posture, blocking, dodging and takedowns
- Boss Guides — the five bosses and how to spare them
- Skill Upgrades — XP and permanent unlocks
- Walkthrough — key points for all five levels
- Age Mechanic Explained — death counting and ways to lower your age
- Shrine System — reward choices and how they carry across levels
- Shortcuts — mini-bosses and keys
- Endings — the revenge ending and the true Wude ending
- Story — the truth about the Dawn Group and Yang
- Enemy Guide — enraged enemies and death counting
- Weapon System — durability and weapon mastery
- Achievements and Trophies — achievement lists across all platforms
- Hidden Content — the detective board collectibles
- Training Mode — practice in the kung fu school
- Scoring System — scoring added in the summer update
- Gallery — character and environment art
- FAQ — frequently asked questions
- Beginner Tips — practical advice
- Advanced Techniques — low-age clears and speedrunning
Common Terms#
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Posture | The stance bar above an enemy; breaking it allows a takedown |
| Takedown | The finishing attack performed after the posture bar is broken |
| Spare | The mercy option offered after breaking a boss’s posture a second time in phase two |
| Death counter | A count that increases by one per death and converts into age when you revive on the spot |
| Shrine | An in-level buff selection point whose rewards carry across levels |
| Shortcut | A shortcut unlocked with a key-type item dropped by a mini-boss |
| Wude | The true ending reached by sparing all five bosses |
| XP | The resource used to buy skills and some shrine rewards |
Related Games#
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — a deflect-driven action game built on posture and rhythm
- Dark Souls III — the closing chapter of the Souls trilogy
- Dark Souls: Remastered — the game that defined the Souls formula
- Lies of P — a dark fairy-tale take on Soulslike action RPGs
- Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty — a Three Kingdoms Soulslike action RPG
- Shadow of the Erdtree — the large-scale Elden Ring expansion
Related Rankings#
Best Soulslike Games · Hardest Bosses of All Time · Best Soulslike Games of H2 2026
Full Guides#
In-depth sub-guides — getting started, combat and posture, all five bosses and their spare conditions, skill unlocks, the age mechanic, shrines, shortcuts, both endings, story analysis, enemies, weapons, achievements, secrets, training, scoring, gallery, FAQ, beginner tips and advanced low-age routes — are available in Chinese on NTGame’s Sifu section.