When do you actually die in Sifu?

Part of what makes Sifu unique is its resurrection mechanic. Using a magical pendant, you can resurrect yourself upon death at the cost of your own age. For every death you suffer, you’ll age up a certain amount of years. However, once you get old enough, you won’t be able to revive yourself further.

If your character dies while aged 70 years or more, their next death will trigger a game over, forcing you to restart the level from the beginning. The pendant that blesses (or curses) the protagonist with the power of resurrection has five talismans on it, each embued with a certain amount of resurrective power. Each talisman will break for every 10 years the protagonist — who starts as a 20-year-old — ages by. At age 70, the final magic talisman will break, meaning the hero’s ressurective power has run out.

When you die, you lose all skills you had previously bought, but not permanently unlocked. You also lose any Shrine bonuses acquired, and any XP earned. Luckily, you won’t lose any progress made on your Detective Board, nor will you lose previously acquired keys that can be used to unlock shortcuts in levels. After your character dies for good, you’ll be able to restart the level you died on from the beginning, but you might have to put in some legwork to get all of your abilities back.