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Sifu, from the developers at Sloclap, proved to be a bit divisive when released earlier this year. The game follows a martial arts student fighting to avenge the death of his master. It features punishingly difficult combat mechanics, a unique aging system, and a rogue-like structure that all proved too much for some players. However, those connected with the game’s vision generally report overwhelmingly positive impressions. Sifu is undeniably a punishing experience, but it also offers a unique and rewarding experience that makes its platinum trophy well worth fighting for.
Key Info Up Front
- Genre:Â Beat ’em Up
- Difficulty:Â 6/10
- Playthroughs Required:Â 2
- Estimated Time to Complete:Â Approximately 40 hours
- Number of Trophies:Â 42
Sifu Walkthrough
Before diving into the individual trophies you will have to get during your time with Sifu, I think it is essential to go through the overall process and how it is best to approach it. This will ensure that you have the most enjoyment possible throughout the game and get the trophies as effectively as possible not to waste time. So, here is what you can expect when getting the platinum trophy in Sifu.
Step One: Killing Yang
The first part of your journey is simply playing through the game. This will likely be the longest part of your playthrough because of how long it can take to learn the game’s fighting mechanics. During this playthrough, I recommend taking your time to understand the game organically and just experiencing its story and world. You will die a lot, so stay patient with yourself as it is completely expected and intended for you to do so.
For this playthrough, I also highly recommend going for the game’s bad ending, as it is easier to get and will save you from worrying about getting the excellent ending alongside learning how to play the game. To ensure you get the bad ending all you have to do is make sure that you kill each of the game’s bosses, which is pretty straightforward. During this step, you’ll also get trophies for general story progression and some miscellaneous trophies that are simple to get by playing naturally. You also shouldn’t worry about getting collectibles too much during your first playthrough, as you won’t be able to get all of them this early on.
Trophies in this Step
- The Old Grandmaster
- The Assault
- the Hateful Pole Fighter
- A Lady’s Blood in the Snow
- Lady Wing Chun
- Furious Fists
- Life is your teacher
- State of constant learning
- I know Kung-Fu
- Ferocity, speed, strength, accuracy
- Old Child
- Come Snap With Me
Step Two: Sparing Yang
This step encompasses your entire second playthrough, during which you’ll be going for Sifu‘s good ending. To do this, you’ll have to beat the game again while sparing every boss you face instead of killing them. You can also start getting some of the other trophies out of the way during this playthrough unless you want to wait and save them for a third playthrough.
The hardest of the other trophies you can go for is for beating the game before reaching 25 years old. Sifu uses a unique mechanic for when you die, allowing you to return to your run but a bit older, with your run only ending once you get too old to continue. So, beating the game before your character turns 25 is difficult. I recommend using manual saves to make it easier, but it is possible if you take the time to become an absolute Sifu master.
During this playthrough, you should also try to hunt down all collectibles and get the trophies for completing Hideouts. However, if you want, you can just go through the playthrough as quickly as possible using shortcuts and then save all the other trophies for a third clean-up playthrough.
Trophies in this Step
- Muk Yan Master
- Tiger on Fire
- Source of Flying Daggers
- Iron Money
- Legendary Talismans of Wuxing
- Scareless
- Prodigal Child
- Kill Nil
- Rumble in the Hangar
- The Pit Protector
- Be like water, my friend
- Take damage to save time
- Warriors from the Mountain
Step Three: Clean-Up
The last stage of getting the Sifu platinum is grabbing the various trophies you haven’t gotten. For this stage, I recommend using level select as much as possible to cut down on the time you spend here unless you need to do a third playthrough to get the Prodigal Child trophy. Most of the trophies you should have left, however, are for finishing Detective Boards and some random miscellaneous trophies that have particular conditions you’ll have to strive for individually on levels.
Trophies
- Detective Story
- Drunken Fighter
- Martial Artist
- Knowledge Greed
- Healing Memory
- Path of the Prospect
- San Kok Ma Posture
- Dance of the Praying Mantis
- Street Fighting
- Qi Gong: Mind
- Qi Gong: Breath
- Qi Gong: Essence
- The 36th Chamber of Kung-Fu
- Master of the Phoenix Eye Fist
- Sword Stained With Blood
- Lightning hands
- Kung-Fu Tussle
Sifu Trophies
The Old Grandmaster
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This is a story trophy you will unlock playing naturally
The Assault
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for killing the boss Fajar.
Tips: Fajar is the game’s first real boss fight, so he tends to pose a real challenge to players. To make it easier, I recommend bringing a new weapon into the fight, such as the bat around the corner from the stairs leading to the boss room. To make fighting bosses easier, I recommend unlocking the Strong Sweep Focus skill before you get to this point, as it can knock bosses down.
I also recommend avoiding the boss’ attacks rather than evading them, as his attacks are so fast that parrying them requires a lot of practice. When the fight reaches the second stage, and the arena is filled with a bamboo forest, you can also go to the right side to find a bamboo stick that you can use as a weapon for the second half.
The Hateful Pole Fighter
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for killing the boss Sean.
Tips:Â Sean is the second boss in the game and is at the end of the Club level, which has a pretty severe difficulty spike. For this fight, you don’t need to worry about bringing a weapon in since the arena’s walls are lined with them. However, grab a fresh one before moving into the second phase, as the weapon racks will be gone after the transition.
You should also avoid this boss fight like you did for the previous one, as he uses a staff throughout the fight that will shred through your health with a single hit. Once you make it to the second phase, be aware that he mixes up his combos, making it much harder to punish him. For this stage, use Evade and keep your distance until he performs a regular combo you feel comfortable punishing.
A Lady’s Blood in the Snow
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for killing the boss Kuroki.
Tips:Â You can take a weapon in to the start of this fight by using the Elevator Key, grabbing either the bat or the blade in the Atrium, and keeping it with you. Once you’re in the fight, you should know that Kuroki’s attack patterns and comboes are entirely mixed up between her two phases. During the first phase, she’ll wield Nunchakus, giving her combos a lot of range that you’ll need to avoid. Luckily, she does not chase you across the arena, which you can use to your advantage. To punish her comboes, use Avoid not to take damage and then counterattack after one of the last attacks in the string, which usually leave her vulnerable.
Kuroki’s second phase then swaps out the Nunchakus for Kunais, which she can use in melee and for throwing them from a distance. For this boss fight stage, I recommend using Avoid for the thrown Kunais and Parries for her melee attacks. Timing the parries shouldn’t be difficult at this point in the game, but it will allow you to punish her with heavy attacks at the end of her comboes.
Lady Wing Chun
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for killing the boss Jinfeng.
Tips:Â Before going into the fight with Jinfeng, make sure to bring a weapon, as they are very effective against this boss. You can get a Staff or Blade while you fight Sun Mei earlier in the level, which you should be able to make last until you reach Jinfeng, especially if you’ve leveled up your weapon durability. She uses a unique weapon: a solid metal bell at the end of a rope, so you’ll have to learn its attack patterns. It deals a lot of damage on a successful hit, so I recommend using Avoid to dodge attacks unless you are confident in your ability to Parry it.
Jinfeng’s attacks also tend to attack at a medium range with wide swings, so rather than quickly approaching her directly, slowly make your way toward her to her sides as you dodge her comboes. Then, when it goes slow as you Avoid one of her final attacks from a combo, you will be able to punish with Heavy Attacks. Once you get her to her second phase, it will be similar comboes but faster with some melee attacks thrown in. You should be able to use a similar approach as you did in the first phase.
Furious Fists
- Rarity:Â Gold
- Description:Â This trophy is for killing Yang and claiming vengeance.
Tips:Â Like the previous boss fights, this one will be even easier if you bring a weapon in. Luckily, you can grab a Bat, Blade, or Staff just before you head into the boss arena, so take whichever one you prefer. Yang can be a tough fight and is a considerable difficulty spike even when compared to the other bosses you’ve faced. It is also important to note that Yang is invulnerable to Focus Attacks, so you must adapt a playstyle without them to beat him. To defeat him, you’ll have to act very quickly as he will follow up his lightning-quick comboes with more comboes almost immediately.
To do so, you should use Parry for all his punch attacks and Avoid for his kicks, which are more telegraphed. At the end of a string of attacks or when you Avoid a kick, he will have a brief window where he can be punished, which you will need to capitalize on with a quick attack or two. When you reach the second phase of the boss fight, he will begin to kick more frequently, so make sure to watch for his tells. In the second phase, also make sure to only punish with one attack rather than a combo, as he will attempt to punish even a single attack quickly after it lands.
Muk Yan Master
- Rarity: Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for sparing the boss Fajar.
Tips:Â Fajar can be spared during the second phase of his boss fight. To do so, you’ll have to deplete his Structure, let it recover, and then deplete it again. Then, a button prompt will appear for you to spare him, which you have to press. Note, however, that you should focus on using light attacks during this phase to avoid killing him before depleting his Structure twice.
Tiger on Fire
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for sparing the boss Sean.
Tips:Â Sparing Sean works just like it does when facing Fajar. It can only be done during the second phase of the fight and requires you to lower his Structure twice and then select to spare him. Just remember to use light attacks to avoid killing him first.
Source of Flying Daggers
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for sparing the boss Kuroki.
Tips:Â Sparing Kuroki works just like with the other bosses. Deplete her Structure twice in the second phase of her fight using light attacks, and you’ll get this trophy out of the way in no time.
Iron Money
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for sparing the boss Jinfeng.
Tips:Â Sparing Jinfeng works just like the other bosses. Deplete her Structure twice during the second phase using light attacks to get this trophy.
Legendary Talismans of Wuxing
- Rarity:Â Gold
- Description:Â This trophy is for sparing the final boss Yang.
Tips:Â To start sparing Yang, you first have to follow the similar process of sparing the other bosses by depleting his Structure twice during the second phase. Once you choose to spare him, you will get a cutscene that will transition you to a third phase of the fight. During this phase, you won’t be able to take any damage and have to deplete Yang’s minimal Structure bar one last time. Finally, perform a takedown to trigger two cutscenes and achieve the game’s good ending.
Scareless
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for beating the game before you reach 50 years old.
Tips:Â See the trophy Prodigal Child below.
Prodigal Child
- Rarity:Â Gold
- Description:Â This trophy is for beating the game before you reach 25 years old.
Tips:Â Beating the game with your character younger than 25 is a serious challenge. Each time you die, your Die Counter will increase by one and then be added to your age. Luckily, there are multiple ways to reset or decrease your Death Counter, including a skill unlock, defeating enraged enemies, or beating groups of enemies. While this won’t help you get back below age 25 if you reach it, it will help you get a few extra deaths before reaching that age.
When you attempt this playthrough, you should use every shortcut you have unlocked to cut down on the amount of combat and chances to fall in combat as possible. It is also likely that Yang will take a few attempts to beat even if you have faced him before, as his difficulty is so punishing. I also highly recommend making a Manual Save after every successful encounter so that you can load it if you die in the next meeting to avoid losing all of your progress.
Kill Nil
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for completing a boss fight without dying.
Tips:Â You will likely unlock this trophy during your Prodigal Child playthrough.
Detective Story
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for finishing the Squats Detective Board.
Tips:Â To help you find collectibles, I recommend using the guide by Fanbyte because it organizes them all in a clear order.
Drunken Fighter
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for finishing the Club Detective Board.
Tips: To help you find collectibles, I recommend using the guide by Fanbyte because it organizes them all in a clear order.
Martial Artist
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for finishing the Museum Detective Board.
Tips:Â To help you find collectibles, I recommend using the guide by Fanbyte because it organizes them all in a clear order.
Knowledge Greed
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for finishing the Tower Detective Board.
Tips:Â To help you find collectibles, I recommend using the guide by Fanbyte because it organizes them all in a clear order.
Healing Memory
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for finishing the Sanctuary Detective Board.
Tips:Â To help you find collectibles, I recommend using the guide by Fanbyte because it organizes them all in a clear order.
San Kok Ma Posture
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for jumping, climbing, or vaulting 25 times.
Dance of the Praying Mantis
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for throwing enemies 25 times.
Street Fighting
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for throwing environment objects 25 times.
Tips:Â Before doing this, you have to unlock the Environmental Mastery ability.
Life is Your Teacher
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for unlocking your first skill.
State of Constant Learning
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for permanently unlocking your first skill.
Tips:Â You can permanently unlock a skill by purchasing permanent unlock tokens for the skill five times across your multiple playthroughs.
Qi Gong: Mind
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for getting the maximum experience reward from a shrine.
Qi Gong: Breath
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for getting the maximum score reward from a shrine.
Qi Gong: Essence
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for getting the maximum age reward from a shrine.
The 36th Chamber of Kung-Fu
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for doing each type of takedown.
Tips: There are 41 takedowns in total, and you will likely get all of them throughout your playthroughs of Sifu as long as you use takedowns frequently.
Master of the Phoenix Eye Fist
Rarity:Â Silver
Description:Â This trophy is for using all eight focus attacks.
Tips:Â To get this trophy you first have to unlock each of the focus attacks in the skill tree and then use them on an enemy in fight.
I know Kung-Fu
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for getting a level score of at least 3,000.
Tips:Â See the Ferocity, speed, strength, and accuracy trophy below.
Ferocity, Speed, Strength, Accuracy
- Rarity:Â Silver
- Description:Â This trophy is for getting a level score of at least 5,000.
Tips:Â Reaching a score of 5,000 is easiest by avoiding getting hit and building your score multiplier by taking down enemies. You can also increase your multiplier by taunting enemies, which is an excellent way to boost it before entering combat and using vaulting to get away from groups if any fights get out of control.
Old Child
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for reaching an age of at least 70 years old.
Sword Stained With Blood
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for killing an enemy with one hit of a Blade weapon.
Tips:Â To do this, you have first to unlock the Charged Backfist skill from the skill tree. Once you have it unlocked, grab a Blade and use the Charged Backfist on a weapon you haven’t hit.
Lightning Hands
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for doing three takedowns within twelve seconds.
Kung-Fu Tussle
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for hitting three enemies with one attack.
Tips:Â This is easiest done with a Staff attack.
Path of the Prospect
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for unlocking the Calbot Focus skill.
Tips:Â To unlock this skill, you have to interact with the Strange Mask collectible at the Museum level. It is found on the third floor of the level, where an enemy with a Staff is looking at it.
Rumble in the Hangar
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for defeating all enemies in the hangar in the Squats level within 80 seconds.
The Pit Protector
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for defeating the juggernaut in the pit during the Club level before defeating any other enemies in the pit.
Be Like Water, my Friend
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for throwing an enemy into the fountain during the Museum level.
Take Damage to Save Time
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for jumping from a high ledge to your death during the Rift area of the Tower level.
Warriors from the Mountain
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for throwing an enemy into the mountains during the Sanctuary level.
Come Snap With Me
- Rarity:Â Bronze
- Description:Â This trophy is for using photo mode.
FAQs
Question: Does Sifu have difficulty settings?
Answer:Â Sifu did not launch with difficulty options, but they have been added in a post-launch update to allow all players to experience the game. Your chosen difficulty also does not have an impact on any trophies.
Question: What martial arts style is used in Sifu?
Answer: Sifu uses traditional Kung Fu moves based on the Pak Mei fighting style.
Question: Is Sifu a PlayStation exclusive?
Answer:Â Sifu has been confirmed to be a timed exclusive to the PlayStation 5, although the limit for that window has not been revealed.
Conclusion
Sifu can be a brutally punishing experience to play through, but if you find the perseverance and mettle to push through it, you will gain a unique gaming experience. Striving to receive its platinum trophy is equally difficult, but that makes earning it all the more rewarding. So, if you can persevere to get it, I recommend doing so, as you definitely won’t forget the journey it takes you on.