Not even a week removed from the surprisingly pleasant release of Dying Light 2, another game is already causing waves in the community, this time one from a smaller studio named SloClap. The game, called Sifu, is an action-adventure beat-em-up style game that is building a reputation for itself as being difficult like Returnal but just as fun as well.

So far ahead of the full release date, the early reviewers (both professional and amateur) have nothing but praises for the PlayStation game, and some fans have even noticed where certain scenes in Sifu take inspiration from other media.

We need to take a moment and thank Shuhei Yoshida/ @yosp for discovering these titles. last year, Kena: Bridge of Spirits achieved incredible success and won many awards, now SIFU is going to follow the same path. PlayStation is the best at discovering indie gems!#PlayStation pic.twitter.com/cOo5aoWw6K

— Erfan Abolghasemi (@Erfan_gg1) February 6, 2022

Sifu is the perfect example of why I’m not worried about Sony or these acquisitions.

PlayStation will be just fine with incredible indie games like Sifu alongside must-play AAA bangers like God of War Ragnarok 🔥 #PS5 pic.twitter.com/pGpAtA7hjE

— Hunter 🎮 (@NextGenPlayer) February 6, 2022

Sekiro + Returnal = Sifu. It absolutely kicks ass.

— Colin Young (@ColinYovng) February 7, 2022

Sifu paying tribute to one of the best fight scenes from Old Boy pic.twitter.com/byIuogOm22

— I am Akira (@Akira092421) February 6, 2022

The game is apparently so good and popular already that such a massive spike of players who bought the early access digital download trying to get the game early has caused the download server to crash. While not something uncommon for games to experience during their public launch event, for the PlayStation Network to crash due to only early access-enabled traffic is itself a statement on how rabid gamers are for Sifu.

The lack of downloadability itself became intertwined in the mythos of the game's difficulty, with many calling the PlayStation network the first boss, and others who were able to download the game talking about how it relates to Returnal, a notoriously hard PlayStation 5 exclusive from 2021 that many argue should have won the game of the year.

SIFU is so difficult that I can't even download it. The first boss is the Playstation Store.

— 𝙈𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙎𝙄𝙁𝙐 𝘽𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 ⬅️ ➡️ ➕ 👊 (@ThaCrazyBuffalo) February 6, 2022

We are aware that there are issues preventing the download of Sifu through the early access on the PlayStation store, and are very sorry for the inconvenience. We're looking into it with PlayStation to fix it asap, and will update you on the situation very soon!

— SifuGame (@SifuGame) February 6, 2022

How much did I enjoy Sifu? I know I gave it a 9. but pic.twitter.com/EcvYO46lWl

— Mitchell Saltzman (@JurassicRabbit) February 6, 2022

Games like Sifu and Returnal shows who is a gamer and who is just a casual.

— Pharaoh Jones (@BklynBreedGC) February 7, 2022

Returnal completers will be the true judge of Sifu difficulty, thank you very much enjoy your Sunday

— Whitney (@whitneysvision) February 6, 2022

I’m telling y’all right now … SIFU will have the Returnal affect on this gaming community … Once this game officially releases, we’re going to see a wave of people complaining about the difficulty.

— Persona (@PersonaSpeaks) February 7, 2022