In Sifu, players may reach the conclusion of the game after defeating the final boss and discover there is a true ending to unlock. As players progress through the game, they will face five martial arts masters in battle in an attempt to avenge the death of their father. During this journey, the protagonist will eventually realize they should strive to follow the principles of "Wude" or morality. This gives a clue as to how to unlock the game's true ending.
The only way to achieve the true ending is to spare all five martial arts masters from death in Sifu, which may involve replaying the entire game. When players successfully spare each boss, they will be rewarded with the Wood Talisman, Fire Talisman, Water Talisman, Metal Talisman, and Earth Talisman. The protagonist will realize after defeating the fifth and final boss, Yang, that a true martial artist can defeat their opponent without killing them. To spare the boss but win the fight, players will need to focus on structure damage instead of normal damage. Once the boss's structure has been dismantled, players will need to resist the temptation to finish the fight with a killing blow and instead wait for the boss to slightly increase his structure meter.
Once the boss has re-upped his structure meter, players should again take down the structure without killing the boss. Once the structure meter has been reduced to zero for a second time, players will be given the option to spare the boss in extra Sifu content. Players will see a short cutscene to indicate they have successfully spared the boss and are on track for the true ending. Players will need to repeat these steps for the first four bosses in the game. Once the first four bosses are defeated, players should travel to the Sanctuary and confront the final boss, Yang.
Sifu: Spare Yang and Get the True Ending
When players first approach this fight, the pillars for the elements will light up indicating players have already earned the Wood Talisman, Fire Talisman, Water Talisman, and Metal Talisman from the previous four in-game bosses. While these four can be earned in any order, the Earth Talisman must be earned last from defeating Yang and has the highest difficulty in Sifu. Players will not be able to unlock the true ending if they begin the battle with Yang without these four Talismans.
To begin the final boss fight, players will want to follow the same pattern of breaking his structure, not killing him, and then breaking the structure again. Unlike the previous four boss fights, Yang will enter a new third phase, and he will throw everything he has at the player. Additionally, Yang's health bar will be removed, making him invincible. Players will need to break his structure yet again while he is invincible, finally taking him down when they have the chance during this third phase and parry in Sifu as many of his attacks as they can. Once completed, players will see the true ending and the credits will roll.
Sifu is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.