Review || Sifu || PS5 - a podcast by Justin

from 2022-02-08T13:40:44

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Sometimes, a video game comes along that feels like it transcends the rules that most video games follow. Need to onboard your player? Pop up windows with one to two sentence descriptions of what buttons to press. Exposition needed? Maybe an NPC can deliver that, or a note found left on a nearby table. What about all those map markers? Video games spend a lot of time, usually in the first hour, teaching you how to play the game; what the controls are, how to track things or craft things or upgrade things; all the things. This type of onboarding can be useful and is often necessary to bring new audiences and players into that game world. Sometimes, a game takes a little bit of a different approach.

I knew from the first few moments of Sifu that this was one of those games. My gaming Spidey-sense can immediately tell me what kind of game I am getting into based simply on the HUD, or heads up display. This is all the visual information the game presents to you on the screen at any given time. Think mini-map and inventory quick access. Health Bar. Compass. Objective markers to follow. Some games have very busy HUDs. Others do not. From the moment Sifu begins, you are presented only with the stunning and beautifully crafted world around you. The camera sits close to the character you control; almost touching his shoulder. You hear the sound of rain all around you, the night sky glowing above and the you take your first Hud-less steps into the world of Sifu. Right away, this game tells the player what this experience is going to be like; a seamless, engaging kung-Fu action story that relies heavily on player skill and very little on pop ups, HUDs and the game ‘telling you how to do stuff’. If you have ever played Breath of the Wild, you know what I’m talking about. That game offers very little in terms of on screen display stuff, tutorial pop ups and direction; in a good way.