How does age work in Sifu?

Developer Sloclap has been open that Sifu only allows players to age to a certain point before the game is over but have not yet given an exact number. However, fans can find the number in the Death & Aging Preview and the Hands-On Preview from IGN.

Players will have a pendant with five medallions, and each medallion will break every 10 years. The medallion also only works up to a certain age, so players only have 50 years to finish the game. Your last medallion breaks upon hitting age 70 so you will not come back to life once you hit age 70.

Related: How long to beat Sifu

The game gives players a death counter and ages them based on how high it is, with one death giving one year, two deaths giving two years, and so on. Players can reset the death counter by defeating certain enemies, but this will not make the main character younger. The player's maximum health drops as he ages, but the experience of age makes them stronger.

Whenever players die, they can access the skill leveling menu, which helps with playthroughs. The skills are spread across the five medallions, and when one of them breaks, those skills are no longer available for that run.

Additionally, there is a Try Again option when Game Over is seen as well as a Give Up option on the death screen. In other words, death is not permanent, and the developers have already said that the detective board is a useful tool that will survive the player's death.

The developers expect that players will die multiple times during their playthroughs and may have a way to return with all the skills they've acquired. So there may be more to aging and coming back to life than meets the eye.

For more news, guides, and info on Sifu, check out What is the SIFU release date? and Is Sifu a roguelike? on Pro Game Guides.