Mortal Shell Reviews
Mortal Shell is full of interesting ideas and awful execution; it’s certainly a unique attempt at a souls-like, and fittingly, it’s heavily flawed. It may be one of the nicest-looking games I’ve ever played when talking purely about the graphics and usage of shadows, but it’s also uninteresting to look at due to its drab locations.
The Soulslike genre has become particularly popular in the West, thanks to games like Bloodborne and the critically acclaimed Elden Ring. As a fan of the genre, Mortal Shell’s arrival to the hybrid console was a pleasant surprise, especially after learning that it was developed by an indie studio.
While undeniably ambitious and packed with content, this Souls-like delivers challenges, but not all are intended
Mortal Shell is a truly great Souls game that deserves its place alongside world-famous titles such as Dark Souls, Demon's Souls and Bloodborne. Mortal Shell builds on the fundamentals of the genre, but adapts them to its own form. Battles are much slower than usual, but bring a new level of frustration. The bosses are all difficult and scary, while their fights are accompanied by great background music (especially for Hadern). As for the price of €24.99, I'm not sure if it's justified or not, but I'll leave that up to each of you to judge. For my part, I can highly recommend the game.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Although as of this writing it is no longer a free download, The Virtuous Cycle is probably an easy to recommend purchase for fans of the base game. The new roguelike game mode is punishing fun (if that’s your thing) and the new Shell and weapon are a welcome addition to the arsenal. If you bounced off Mortal Shell due to its difficulty, this new DLC won’t change your mind, but it’s good news for most everyone who enjoys Cold Symmetry’s homage to Dark Souls.
I’ll tell you from playing The Virtuous Cycle I haven’t played Mortal Shell in many many months as we know it came out a year ago at this point, I forgot how good this game is, it’s such a great game. There’s a little bit of jank in it because it’s made by you know a handful of people, but honestly it’s just so much fun and I highly recommend checking out the DLC if you have a minute.
Each swing of my blade, each enemy I put to death, was elating. Each second was a battle between life and demise, and when that made you a winner, nothing could be more satisfying than this. On the off chance that you need a new and remarkable Soulslike experience at that point, look no further than Cold Symmetry’s Mortal Shell.
This is a game made by a relative handful of people, and viewing it from that perspective, the whole package is more impressive, and shows plenty of room for growth in any future project. It certainly explains the limitations and faults found in certain areas. It doesn’t excuse them, but that knowledge does soften their impact.
All in all, Mortal Shell provides the perfect amount of challenge for someone like me. I often felt inclined to press on; just one more fight, or one more save-point. That drive kept the game flowing quite nicely, ensuring that there was never a dull moment. It is a very streamlined experience, and that shows in its runtime. The title took me about 14 hours to complete the game, including a bit of light exploration. It might be a bit straightforward or easy for the veterans of the genre, but definitely has enough merits to justify a purchase. For more casual fans of Action or RPG titles, it also presents a great way to dip your toes into this more challenging breed of game. Give it a try and don’t be intimidated by a few deaths at first.
Mortal Shell is an enjoyable title for those who are already fans of the SoulsBorne sub-genre, and it has more positives than it has flaws. The swamp hub world is bland and confusing, but the different biomes you eventually reach are gorgeous, even if they're relatively familiar. The lack of a deep leveling system has a very good replacement in the shell system, which ends up providing more versatility in your character build and the attack system. The relatively shorter length makes it great for newcomers, while genre veterans will find it to be a great debut effort from a small development team.
Mortal Shell is more than a simple Dark Souls clone.
Mortal Shell‘s origins may be steeped in an echo but the final product has more than enough soul.
In conclusion, this is a game whose creators were aware of the limitations and based on the ideas they had, they tried to create the best result possible.
Review in Greek | Read full review
There’s no better way to wrap this up than to say a big thank you to Cold Symmetry for giving us a great soulslike that that hits the spot.
Despite the fact that Mortal Shell is a game full of mistakes, therefore it isn't one of the best souls-like experiences, it still remains a decent hardcore title.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Mortal Shell follows the Souls/Borne genre to a tee. Lacks any accessibility, combat feels sluggish and cumbersome. Considering the game will only appeal to a limited niche of gamers, I cannot recommend Mortal Shell. The clunky combat, the dated visuals, lack of accessibility features, this feels like a cheap Dark Souls clone.
The lack of depth isn’t too much of a detriment as the game is short enough to ever feel tired. Better yet, what is there is good, a foundation with easy room to be expanded upon and a strong demonstration of Cold Symmetry’s understanding of core concepts that are the strength of the genre. Mortal Shell is a exemplary use of limited resources to make a tight, fun game, even if it only takes a weekend to beat.
Mortal Shell is built around a solid foundation with a fun and responsive combat engine propped up by strong visuals. While some obtuse design choices and an uninteresting world holds it back from escaping the moniker of being, “just yet another souls-like”, it’s guaranteed to scratch that itch, at least a little.
Kudos to the team at Cold Symmetry. I hope more people pick up this game so that we can get a sequel somewhere down the road.
An engrossing combat system and numerous novel gameplay mechanics save what would have otherwise been merely a passable Dark Souls tribute from total mediocrity. Sadly, there's still too much harming the experience to justify a wholehearted recommendation. It ain't Souls and it certainly ain't polished, but it's not terrible either.