When Sifu first launched in February, its steep difficulty curve wasn’t necessarily criticized, but it was enough to put off many potential players. In fact, even if you take a look at our review, which was posted before launch, the comments section is full of people wondering if they’d be willing to spend time on what can be such a demanding game.
As we all know, the conversation surrounding difficulty in video games breaks out regularly, usually sparked by the arrival of a particularly challenging title like Elden Ring. We’re not here trying to add to that debate, but we do want to highlight just how good Sifu’s latest update is. Patch 1009 (released May 3, 2022) adds two difficulty levels to the brawler: Student (easy) and Master (hard).
Some might argue that Sifu is falling short by including an easier difficulty level months after launch, but we think developer SloClap has done a fantastic job of implementing something that makes the game more accessible on a fundamental level, without really damage the title. ability to challenge the player.
In fact, Sifu’s Student mode is a fantastic way to learn the game. On his normal difficulty, Sifu is fair but very ruthless. The title’s aging mechanic means that multiple kills in quick succession can propel you to an ending very, very quickly. Obstacles in the form of especially tricky encounters or boss battles can be a common occurrence, and there isn’t much room for moment-to-moment adaptation. Most of the time, you’ll be forced to repeat the same levels over and over again until you get the hang of things – that’s how Sifu is designed.