Mortal Shell Reviews
Mortal Shell has left me fuming at times but the game’s impressive visuals, combat, and atmosphere will keep pulling me back for quite some time yet.
Ultimately, Mortal Shell will make you want to headbutt your monitor out of sheer frustration. The puzzling nature of the map, the repetitive placement of enemies, the lack of options all coalesce into a big arm that holds the game back from being really good, to just good.
In conclusion, Cold Symmetry has achieved greatness with Mortal Shell. The game is by no means perfect and it is fairly brief. But for such a small team and a new IP, the result is impressive. This is strongly recommended for all fans of the Souls genre and it shows that innovation still exists within the cluttered space.
We can easily say that Mortal Shell has nothing to be ashamed of From Software's games as it has a solid basis which bring some new exciting features. And it's a AA title. More accessible than most of the Souls-like games for all the gamers, it has his own codes. Mortal Shell is not a Dark Souls copycat and even if he doesn't have the same aura, it will easily make his path to your video-games library. And if you're still affraid of the Soulsborne, Mortal Shell seems to be the perfect choice to take a look at this very specific style, especially at a very kind price (29.99€)
Review in French | Read full review
While I wouldn't call Mortal Shell a bad game, it doesn't know what it wants to be and that makes it worse. It's to the point where I could legitimate see this being developed as an action RPG set in a fantasy world that needed a hook, so a bunch of punishing mechanics were just thrown in haphazardly. Let's have you drop tar on death but also make it a useless resource or create an extremely difficult mode that can largely be negated by abusing dodge roll. I mean, it's so bad I quite possibly overcame literally every encounter by using the hallowed sword (initial weapon) and used either a running heavy attack or a normal heavy attack, harden, dodge roll back, wait for resources to replenish and repeat. It's simply not going to appeal to those looking for a challenge, nor is it going to appeal to anyone who doesn't care for the tedious elements of this genre. It's just a shallow experience with some neat gimmicks tossed in a small world. If that is enough you might enjoy it but otherwise, it's hard to recommend.
Many of the mechanics here could lead to an incredible sequel, but more often than not, Mortal Shell feels as lifeless and hollow as the corpses your playable character inhabits.
Mortal Shell might be the best Dark Souls game ever, despite not having any official affiliation with the franchise. What this small team does with a short playtime is nothing short of astounding.
A great stepping stone into a difficult genre.
Closest thing to Dark Souls you didn't know you want...
Review in Greek | Read full review
Mortal Shell is bleak, twisted, and poses a challenge from start to finish. It will leave you wanting more, and while some mechanics weren't as fleshed out and diverse as I’d hoped, this game from Cold Symmetry is a commendable adventure that deserves the attention of those who love the subgenre.
Mortal Shell's incredibly strong start peters out as you learn more and more about the limitations of the gameplay and the world Cold Symmetry try to establish.
Mortal Shell isn’t shy in showing off its Souls-like inspirations, but it offers enough fresh ideas of its own to stand out as an entertainingly brutal adventure. Swapping Shells remained neat throughout and added an extra element of strategy to different encounters, whilst the intricate combat mechanics and mesmerising world will keep you engaged all the way through to the game’s conclusion. Sure, it could be frustrating in places thanks to the occasional glitch or overwhelming group of enemies, but there weren’t any stand out issues that make Mortal Shell difficult to recommend. It’s definitely one of the better Souls-likes out there and fans of the genre will have a good time trudging through its desolate world.
While not nearly as sprawling or complex system-wise like the Souls games, Mortal Shell is an elegant and contained game that benefits from the more limited scope set by its developers and succeeds in providing a substantially shorter but incredibly tight and rewarding experience that does justice to its inspirations.
If you have a Dark Souls-shaped hole in your heart, I promise Mortal Shell will climb inside and fill that void quite nicely.
The best Dark Souls clone so far features a number of interesting new ideas and also offers an experience that is easier to acclimatise to for new players.
Mortal Shell is a great debut for Cold Symmetry, but it's not a perfect game. It has awesome ideas with the shells, but it is also an opaque world with no clear story.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Cold Symmetry have nailed it. Mortal Shell is an amazing, brutally hard, rewarding, frustrating, thrill ride that the genre has needed from development teams outside of From Software. With a genre that everyone has been gravitating to, it’s not an easy one to pull off especially on the first try and that’s what was done here. Out of the box and having made the style work in a different manner may just change the game moving forward while having also brought back the thrill of exploration and the fear of what’s behind the next corner.
Mortal Shell takes what you’d expect from Souls-clones and adds heaps of creativity along with unique systems and features that make it a whole new experience. Each moment of gameplay is an adrenaline rush as you progress further in the nightmare. There may be a few moments of confusion, but this one’s for the masochists out there who are looking for something to really immerse themselves in and discover for themselves.
As a soulslike vetran Mortal Shell offered me great combat and a solid art direction, it even puts fresh mechanics on the table, it may lack in enviroments variation, but that’s forgotten with the solid gameplay
Review in Spanish | Read full review