Mortal Shell

 PC
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 44 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 44
  3. Negative: 0 out of 44
  1. Polygon
    Aug 17, 2020
    Mortal Shell becomes great by not being afraid to offer less. It’s refined and elegant in its simplicity, without sacrificing quality, mechanics, or challenge. And that makes Mortal Shell incredible. [Polygon Recommends]
  2. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Aug 17, 2020
    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. No matter times I try and swat it away with thoughts of the meaty combat, that arm simply won’t budge.

Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Most Discussed PC Game of 2020

User Reviews

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User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 428 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 191 out of 428
  2. Mixed: 121 out of 428
  3. Negative: 116 out of 428
  1. knald
    Aug 23, 2020
    5
    A promising game ruined by horrible gameplay decisions.
    1. healing is absurd! It has been mentioned countless times during the beta but devs    A promising game ruined by horrible gameplay decisions.
    1. healing is absurd! It has been mentioned countless times during the beta but devs didn't improve it! Mushrooms not only are rare, but they don't heal you instantly, relaying on resolve and parry+riposte to heal is not just hard but simply unfair !
    2. parry and riposte doesn't have Iframes! Many times my ripostes got canceled because an enemy attacked during the animation! Also getting out of holes triggers an animation which doesn't have iframes either (enemies can kill you while your character is locked and you have to wait for the animation to end in order to move)
    3. consuming items to switch between various weapons is another idiotic decision! Should've been a simple inventory. (and if you don't have the specific item for the specific weapon, you have to run back to Sester in order to use your weapon of choice)
    4. lack of checkpoints and no fast travel until endgame when you upgrade your shell to 100%!
    5. items familiarity is a good concept but not fully implemented! Many items have the same effect whether you have 0 or full familiarity !
    6. too many short and repetitive cinematics! Entering inventory triggers an animation, switching from inventory to shells menu triggers another animation, getting out of cave also has animation... it's just a waste of time, there should've been no useless transitions like that.
    7. some animations are hilariously bad! Like the one of the unchained when he jumps and start swinging his arms like a chicken, or when the little twin of Crucix die and the camera jumps from place to place weirdly.
    8. the music is atrocious! The constant humming or ringing sound drove me insane! It belongs in a sci-fi horror game of a desolate planet, definetly not in a dark medieval game + no music for the bosses or NPCs.
    9. Combat is way too stiff and slow, you'll easily get bored from it.
    10. lore, here we can really feel the consequence of a game without a game director! Mortal shell feels like a collage of different ideas that do not relate to each other (the spirit which possess corps, consuming memories or glimpses to know stories of others, the glands, the divine nektar, the ascendance to different world...) there's too much stuff going on and there's no clear foundation and timeline to the story! The scriptures do not tell you anything useful, actually they make things worse.    … Full Review »
  2. Chumpie
    Aug 19, 2020
    10
    I found out about this game a few months ago and joined the community instantly, it has been an amazing experience watching this game grow toI found out about this game a few months ago and joined the community instantly, it has been an amazing experience watching this game grow to what it is now. The combat hooked me when i saw it, a sword with actual weight to it . The voice acting paired with the atmosphere of the game is truly and experience… Full Review »
  3. Gabe7494
    Aug 19, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. While I'll probably give a higher review as the game updates in the future, I'm closer to uninstalling until then rather than play any further. I've only got about 7 hours in, I feel like I've seen what's going on enough.

    It's insanely clunky. Having played just about every souls-like game out there, the input delay in this one is atrocious. Did you want to dodge? That sucks cause you're gonna swing from a second ago when you wanted to. And now you're dead. Parry? That's a laugh. It either needs more precise timing than any other game that has the same feature, or it doesn't exist at all.

    The starfish design of the entire map is also frustrating. Start from the middle, travel as far out as you can, fight a boss and travel all the way back to repeat the process. There is a fast-travel system, but the game fails to advertise it at all. Thank goodness YouTube exists. Also, this may be an issue on just MY digital copy, but there is an entire section called Eternal Narthex that I literally can't advance in. Every time I climb the stairs to enter, I lose the shell I'm in, my weapon and any items I picked up along the way. There's also a mini-boss immediately after you "recite" from a book on the left that, upon defeating, teleports me to an entirely different part of the map and gives me nothing. I've fought him three times just to see if something would change and so far, nothing.

    The entire concept of "use the item to find out what it does" is okay, but frustrating when the item just poisons you. The poisonous items also can't be used against your enemies (unless the game left out how to do that too) and it makes me wonder why they're even in the game.

    What is the story? Idk what's going on, I just know I must kill. It feels like this should be tied in with souls lore but forgot to tell us how. The things and NPCs you find give cryptic messages that give you no insight into what's happening. I don't need it to be right in my face, but even a small hint here and there would make some of frustrations the game presents a bit worth it.

    Atmosphere and graphics are pretty great, credit where it's due.

    Enemy variety seems extremely limited so far. Again, only 7 hours in, but I've seen maybe 4 different kinds of enemies with 7 different skins. I guess it levels out the challenge of dealing with the clunky controls, but it's also demotivating to try and learn any new methods of combat other than hit this guy three times or hit this guy, back up, repeat.

    Animations are also way too common. I crawled through a tunnel and was forced to watch an enemy pummel half of my health bar away while the crawl-out-in-5-seconds animation played through.

    Weapon variety would also be nice. The few that are present are cool, but they're way too limited in their abilities for something this difficult. Also, what's with the lute? Does it have a real purpose later or am I just supposed to jam out for the heck of it on occasion? If it were taken out of the game, I can't say I'd care.

    Lastly, we don't need a map, we never had one in any other souls game and it worked, but why is every area a maze? Even the "main hub" of the game is a bunch of paths that MAY lead into the tower and then don't. It's especially frustrating when you've come back from venturing out into one of the starfish legs and you need to get in to restore health and your "extra life" and some random enemy shoots an arrow/rock (what are they even shooting?) at your head and kills you, sending you all the way back to the last sester; the game's only method of a "checkpoint".

    I'm not saying don't play this game by any means, I would say watch and wait though. There needs to be some sort of overhaul to fix many of these issues other players are experiencing before it can be a true contender. I will say that the price is definitely fair; if I'd paid $60 for this, I would've had it refunded long before now and given up.    … Full Review »
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