During Gamescom’s Opening Night stream that aired yesterday, a number of release dates were revealed including ones for Halo Infinite and Horizon Forbidden West. If you love indie games as much as we do, you might have caught other release date information, including the official release date for Sloclap’s martial arts game Sifu!
Sifu Gets February 2022 Release Date
Developer Sloclap (Absolver) revealed the official release date for their upcoming martial arts game Sifu during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live. With this information, we now know that Sifu will be released on February 22, 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.
If you’re wondering what Sifu is all about, here’s the game’s official description as found on Sifu’s official Epic Games Store page.
“Sifu is the story of a young Kung Fu student on a path of revenge, hunting for the murderers of his family. One against all, he has no allies, and countless enemies. He has to rely on his unique mastery of Kung Fu as well as a mysterious pendant to prevail, and preserve his family’s legacy.
On the path of vengeance:
The hunt for your enemies will take you through the hidden corners of the city, from the gang-ridden suburbs to the cold hallways of the corporate towers. You have got one day, and countless enemies on your way. For every mistake, time will be the price to pay.
Adaptation is the way:
Careful positioning and clever use of the environment to your advantage are key to your survival. Use everything at your disposal: throwable objects, makeshift weapons, windows and ledges… The odds are stacked against you, and you will be offered no mercy.
Training never ends:
Kung Fu is mastery through practice, a path for both the body and the mind. Learn from your errors, unlock unique skills, and find the strength within yourself to master the devastating techniques of Pak-Mei Kung-Fu.”
Sifu was originally revealed back in February of this year and is being developed by Sloclap (who previously released another indie fighting game called Absolver).
While Absolver had a wide variety of combat styles and a fair amount of flexibility, Sifu will focus more on Pak-Mei Kung-Fu, an old martial arts technique that emerged during the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1911).
According to a website on Pak-Mei Kung-Fu, the style is described as “ferocious with fast and powerful punches.” It’s also focued on “the interception and deflection of the opponent’s movements.” Something else that helps set Sifu apart is its mechanic of aging the player when they die in the game.
On the PlayStation Blog, Community Manager of Sloclap, Felix Garczynski, stated:
“Kung Fu is the mastery that comes from a life of training and practice, and the aging mechanic and death are also central to this trailer. In Sifu, that concept inspires both the main character’s drive and philosophy, and we want to make it part of the gameplay experience itself.
Players can make mistakes, try again, and learn in the process. We want to make that experience smooth and fluid: players will be able to restart instantly where they died and keep going forward like an unstoppable force of revenge.
You cannot age eternally, however; eventually you will become too old and have to start your path again.”
With this, it sounds like Sifu is fairly forgiving should players perish in battle. However, there are consequences to death in the form of aging. Age too much and you’ll have to start over, which incentivizes players toavoid death at all costs.
It’s a really neat idea, and we’re looking forward to seeing more of it once Sifu is released on February 22, 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. After checking out the newest release date trailer for Sifu and reading a bit more about what the gameplay will consist of, we’re curious to hear your thoughts on the game.
Are you looking forward to playing Sifu? What do you think of the aging mechanic? Let us know on our social media channels including Facebook and Twitter.
Related: Absolver Developer Sloclap Reveals New Game Called Sifu
