Mortal Shell

 PC
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

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  1. PenetratorGod
    Aug 20, 2023
    5
    Mortal Shell's fantasy universe is not a land of colorful elves or dwarves, but a dark world filled with fear, where only remnants of human civilization and fragile memories remain. Mortal Shell uses the classic Dark Souls-like system. Gameplay is from a third-person perspective. Every enemy is a threat and we often have to face multiple opponents at once. Reflexes are not enough to emergeMortal Shell's fantasy universe is not a land of colorful elves or dwarves, but a dark world filled with fear, where only remnants of human civilization and fragile memories remain. Mortal Shell uses the classic Dark Souls-like system. Gameplay is from a third-person perspective. Every enemy is a threat and we often have to face multiple opponents at once. Reflexes are not enough to emerge victorious from these challenges. You need to be careful in the battles. What makes Mortal Shell different from other games is an unusual development system. The character we control has no body, and instead we take control of the dead warriors we encounter. Each body is unique in terms of the abilities and specializations we can use once we have possession of it. As the hero progresses through a particular body, more abilities and upgrades are unlocked, making him even more dangerous in battle. We have both a huge arsenal of weapons and a large number of attack spells. Mortal Shell is designed for single player adventure. There is no multiplayer support. The story is non-linear and gives us the freedom to choose our next objective. Mortal Shell graphics are similar to other Dark Souls-like games. The graphic design is kept in a dark tone, emphasizing the gloomy and scary character of the game world. The visual effects of the various attacks and spells in the fights are quite detailed. It has an average gameplay of 10-13 hours.… Expand
  2. ZackH25
    Jun 20, 2023
    6
    It is nowhere near as good as any of the souls game but it is a bit fun at times. The open world is quite bland as most of it looks the same as it is the forest. There is not many weapons to use. The weapons that are there are satisfying and the combat is goodish. The turning into stone part is interesting but makes the game so much easier. The bosses were okay and still somewhat fun. TheIt is nowhere near as good as any of the souls game but it is a bit fun at times. The open world is quite bland as most of it looks the same as it is the forest. There is not many weapons to use. The weapons that are there are satisfying and the combat is goodish. The turning into stone part is interesting but makes the game so much easier. The bosses were okay and still somewhat fun. The dungeons were also nothing special but still somewhat fun. The best one by far was the snow area as it was somewhat mazelike and had more of a natural level design. Overall a medieocre soulslike that is a bit fun- wouldn't replay it though.… Expand
  3. Danazoid
    Apr 25, 2023
    7
    The Scorn of Dark Souls clones. It's a 7 from me but a high 7 (green rather than the default yellow colour). The aesthetics are oppressive and beautiful. The slow methodical exploration and figuring out what to do is way more obtuse than Dark Souls but has a similar feeling of reward. I'd argue that the mechanics are a little too obtuse and that as a result I didn't commit to any otherThe Scorn of Dark Souls clones. It's a 7 from me but a high 7 (green rather than the default yellow colour). The aesthetics are oppressive and beautiful. The slow methodical exploration and figuring out what to do is way more obtuse than Dark Souls but has a similar feeling of reward. I'd argue that the mechanics are a little too obtuse and that as a result I didn't commit to any other playstyle rather than my starting one, but the sense of being lost in an aggressive dream-like world is very strong. The combat for me was repetitive and sluggish and the bosses aren't the best I've seen. For me the game shines in it's 3 main 'dungeons', and the genuinely scary 'run-backs' to base camp after killing the bosses. As others have said the long animations and clunkyness are what hold it back, despite it clearly being intended to give the impression of heft - it does but at a cost.… Expand
  4. Naked_Snakee
    Apr 7, 2023
    5
    Just text (crutch) to save the game to the list. Such things. Maybe I'll do a review later.
  5. saplign
    Feb 2, 2023
    5
    boring‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
  6. Pmstz
    Jan 30, 2023
    5
    Average/ok game.
    Dark Souls clone.

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  7. Asdor677
    Jan 22, 2023
    5
    Блять, как же я ненавижу. Игра по визуально у стилю отменная, но блять ебучие драки. Их главная проблема, что игра не честна с тобой. Отсутствует нормальный засчёт пападаний, было не однократно, что ты вроде убежал или уклониться, но игра считает, что урон прошёл. Это бред, полный. Смог пройти только на секретую концу так как на другую не хватило сил, поиграл где-то 5 часовБлять, как же я ненавижу. Игра по визуально у стилю отменная, но блять ебучие драки. Их главная проблема, что игра не честна с тобой. Отсутствует нормальный засчёт пападаний, было не однократно, что ты вроде убежал или уклониться, но игра считает, что урон прошёл. Это бред, полный. Смог пройти только на секретую концу так как на другую не хватило сил, поиграл где-то 5 часов
  8. Lorran2k
    Jan 5, 2023
    7
    É um bom jogo para iniciar em jogos estilo souls, as batalhas contra chefes não são tão desafiadoras...
  9. ErayTellezi
    Dec 31, 2022
    7
    Soulslike oyunlara getirdiği bazı yenilikler olsa da combat'taki tekrar eden yapısı, düşman çeşitliliğindeki eksiklik, boss'ların çok az hareketinin olması, combat keskinliğinin düşük olması gibi nedenlerle o kadar da beğenmedim. Dar alanlarda üzerine çok sayıda gönderilen düşmanlar bence oyunun ritmine ve hızına uygun olmamış.

    Sertleşme muhabbeti ilginç. Kalkan gibi ama tekrar    Soulslike oyunlara getirdiği bazı yenilikler olsa da combat'taki tekrar eden yapısı, düşman çeşitliliğindeki eksiklik, boss'ların çok az hareketinin olması, combat keskinliğinin düşük olması gibi nedenlerle o kadar da beğenmedim. Dar alanlarda üzerine çok sayıda gönderilen düşmanlar bence oyunun ritmine ve hızına uygun olmamış.

    Sertleşme muhabbeti ilginç. Kalkan gibi ama tekrar kullanmak için bir kaç saniye beklemek gerekiyor. Kabuk denilen cesetleri bulup artık o karakter olarak oynama fikri de ilginç olmuş. İstediğiniz zaman oyun stiliniz tamamen değiştirebiliyorsunuz. Ama bir ritim tutturduktan sonra her düşmanı ve hatta her boss'u aynı taktikle kesiyorsun zaten. Başta alışması zor oldu ama sonunda oynadığım en kolay soulslike oyundu.

    Item'ları bir kez kullanmadan ne işe yaradığını bilemiyorsunuz. İlk kullanış genelde boşa gidiyor yani, beğenmedim. Bir de item'lıar belli bir sayıda kullanınca aşinalık kazanıp daha çok verim alıyorsunuz, iyi bir özellik.

    Haritası bu kadar karmaşık bir oyun görmedim. Bir de ana boss'ları kesip bir item alınca aynı yolu siste ve karanlıkta dönme fikri çok saçma olmuş.

    Neticede iyi veya kötü olmayan ortalama bir iş. Souls açlığı çekenler faydasını görür ama beklenti düşük olmalı.    … Expand
  10. Bsbbe
    Nov 17, 2022
    6
    Alright game to be honest as the combat is fair, gameplay is mostly okay and have enough content
  11. ZionEM
    Oct 11, 2022
    7
    Desde la perspectiva de un SoulsLike, es excelente su gameplay y ambientacion, tanto como sus mecanicas originales y unicas, tambien es un juego muy versatil a la hora de tu poder cambier de estrategia para un boss o alguna zona en concreto. Pero donde pierde es en la variedad de sus Bosses y enemigos, algo aceptable teniendo en cuenta que no es un juego triple A, pero donde NO me gustoDesde la perspectiva de un SoulsLike, es excelente su gameplay y ambientacion, tanto como sus mecanicas originales y unicas, tambien es un juego muy versatil a la hora de tu poder cambier de estrategia para un boss o alguna zona en concreto. Pero donde pierde es en la variedad de sus Bosses y enemigos, algo aceptable teniendo en cuenta que no es un juego triple A, pero donde NO me gusto para nada y por lo cual no le doy mas punto es en su Jefe final, es realmente decepcionante.… Expand
  12. Docent1995
    Aug 28, 2022
    5
    Game is pretty bad besides pretty cool atmosphere and decent graphics I cant really find any positives. Mechanic of harden is too OP and it makes little to no sense to play skillfully if you are better to just wait for harden attack enemy and then run, repeat. Very inconsistent poise system, if there is any at all, which once again takes away skill aspect, sometimes enemy gets staggered byGame is pretty bad besides pretty cool atmosphere and decent graphics I cant really find any positives. Mechanic of harden is too OP and it makes little to no sense to play skillfully if you are better to just wait for harden attack enemy and then run, repeat. Very inconsistent poise system, if there is any at all, which once again takes away skill aspect, sometimes enemy gets staggered by heavy attack then you use 2x heavy and 2x light on same enemy and they wont budge one bit. Also optimization is really sh1t and your PC is burning.… Expand
  13. S3XU4LH34L1NG
    Jul 9, 2022
    7
    A decent souls like with a very mysterious convoluted world. I liked my experience and the lack of handholding but the combat just isnt that snappy and the balance and playcement of the enemies is questionable at best. Also the endboss is bs.
  14. Zeneko90
    Jun 2, 2022
    7
    Nettes. Spiel es hat echt viel Spaß gemacht. Mehr davon! Nicht zu lang, nicht zu kurz. Genau richtig.
  15. joel_tdl
    Mar 30, 2022
    5
    Ni buen souls Ni buen juego

    JUGABILIDAD: La movilidad del personaje y la fluidez del combate son bastante malas. Es intencional ,claro, para darle el sentido a la armadura que portamos. Pero, siendo que en la mayoría del resto de los ARPG esto es fácilmente manipulable con un simple cambio de equipo, aquí resulta pesadumbroso. Y no es por exagerar, es que de verdad la fluidez de juego    Ni buen souls Ni buen juego

    JUGABILIDAD:
    La movilidad del personaje y la fluidez del combate son bastante malas. Es intencional ,claro, para darle el sentido a la armadura que portamos. Pero, siendo que en la mayoría del resto de los ARPG esto es fácilmente manipulable con un simple cambio de equipo, aquí resulta pesadumbroso.
    Y no es por exagerar, es que de verdad la fluidez de juego es horrible. Es una tortura de jugabilidad y arruina todo el concepto que pudieron tener los desarrolladores.

    Escenarios feos, enemigos repetitivos y "mal" ubicados, jefes cero interesantes. Un sistema de combate mal realizado (el supuesto contra ataque funciona solo cuando quiere, esto debido al "mal" calculo que el jugador hace debido a la pésima fluidez).

    Un concepto interesante es la familiaridad de los ítem, y la obligación de usarlos un determinado número de veces para descubrir su funcionalidad. Nos hará desperdiciar muchos, tratando de descubrir su función, pero le da una buena inmersión y hace un match con la idea de que nuestro personaje jugable tampoco tiene idea de para qué son. Es lo único rescatable que se me ocurre.

    GRÁFICOS:
    Por debajo de la media, lo cual es particular puesto que no es precisamente un juego "abundante". Como ya dije, los escenarios son decepcionantes y los diseños de enemigos y Bosses fueron muy poco trabajados.
    En conjunto es una experiencia muy poco redituable.

    SONIDO:
    Extremadamente molesto. No puedo describirlo de otra forma. La música es nula y la ambientación es fastidiosa al punto de desesperante, los sonidos que podemos escuchar son reciclados una y otra vez, al cansancio. De verdad que es el primer juego en que planteo ponerle mute a la TV con tal de dejar de escuchar la misma mala ambientación de un bosque en loop.

    INNOVACIÓN:
    Me gustó lo de los items, y el concepto de la armadura. Lastima que el propio juego los vuelva cero disfrutables.

    Sin duda le daría una oportunidad a alguna secuela mejor realizada, y con un presupuesto y trabajo mejor.    … Expand
  16. DarkwingSchmuck
    Mar 14, 2022
    6
    Mortal Shell is another in a slew of indie games to borrow heavily from Dark Souls, though it manages to be one of the better imitators. It's not quite as challenging, which also makes Mortal Shell a fairly solid entry point for newcomers into Souls-like games.
  17. Felozity
    Dec 19, 2021
    5
    One of the same. Got bored after 10 minutes. Control are bad and unresponsive. Takes ages to register what i press. I like the graphics and the atmosphere but thats all
  18. Game0fLife
    Dec 15, 2021
    7
    Full of texture glitch, random crash, and FPS drops in the snow area. (I use RTX 2070 and i7-9700k, playing at 1440p)

    While I play many so-called "Souls-like" video games, many try to at least offer something unique to distance themselves from being called unoriginal or uncreative. Unfortunately, not this game and not in a good way, from the weird dialogue, nonsensical lore, slow    Full of texture glitch, random crash, and FPS drops in the snow area. (I use RTX 2070 and i7-9700k, playing at 1440p)

    While I play many so-called "Souls-like" video games, many try to at least offer something unique to distance themselves from being called unoriginal or uncreative. Unfortunately, not this game and not in a good way, from the weird dialogue, nonsensical lore, slow combat, to literally copying the parry & ripostes mechanic, this game tries so hard to be a dark souls game and it just feels weird.

    For instance, I can't pause the game to read something, but it literally makes no sense, at least in dark souls, you can't pause the game because co-op (summon) and PvP (invasion and duel) exist and can happen any second. This game just wants to say "Hey, we are challenging, just like Dark souls!"

    Edit: Alright, I bump up a score a little bit, because the third-person ranged weapon "Ballistazooka" is super fun    … Expand
  19. bxrxsxtx
    Dec 15, 2021
    7
    This is a pretty good Souls like but a lot of things keep it from greatness:

    -Lack of ambition and vision - the creators couldn't seem to imagine anything different than DS tropes, lore, and playstyle. -Abilities upgrades and items felt meaningless - partly because you can play things in different orders there's no level system, just earnable perks and weapon upgrades. That's OK but    This is a pretty good Souls like but a lot of things keep it from greatness:

    -Lack of ambition and vision - the creators couldn't seem to imagine anything different than DS tropes, lore, and playstyle.

    -Abilities upgrades and items felt meaningless - partly because you can play things in different orders there's no level system, just earnable perks and weapon upgrades. That's OK but they felt disappointing, like gain damage for 10 seconds on kill, who cares.

    -Weapon special moves - I never felt like using them, too much trouble.

    -Parry - like the other things, why bother, parrys usually miss so you might as well dodge and harden.

    -Crazy difficult early but easy later - partly from upgrades but mostly from just learning the game. Take the spearmen(halberd or whatever) at the beginning, they seemed impossible, no real pause in their attack to strike them tons of damage on the base shell. The fire boss on the other hand was the easiest enemy in the game.

    -Just run through - like I said, early on things are very hard and fights aren't worth the effort. Also in general enemies take so long to fight they aren't worth the time and you end up running past everything which is too easy. Eventually upgrades help with damage and you need to farm some points but still...

    -Vague - the lore and objectives are so steeped in mystery they might as well not exist.

    Anyway, it's a fun game lasting roughly 10 hours and has a new game plus after that. It's generally hard enough, and the graphics, sound, and so on are pretty good. I recommend it, just keep your expectations modest.
    Also you could always experiment with speedrunning or no damage runs to make it harder. They often use the shellless form to make it faster. Ciao gamers.    … Expand
  20. xForbiddenOne
    Apr 4, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I just finished this game, and I found this to be quite an enjoyable game overall. Is it a Souls clone? Yes. Does it hide the fact that it is? No. This game is different from souls games because you're unable to use a shield or "block" in a traditional fashion. This game has a unique mechanic known as harden, where you become stone. This is how you'll end up creating openings and resisting damage. It's a fairly refreshing take to just holding up a shield constantly and has a pretty balanced cooldown. Your other method of attack will be a parry. You get an item early on that allows you to parry and then follow up with a health leech, which is a great way to get back health however it requires a bar of resolve to use.

    There's not a whole hell of a lot story wise, and I'm only able to tell a very brief explanation of the story... But in short your game will be going to three different temples, clearing them, and then a boss at the end to pick up an item. You then have to fight your way out of the temple in a fog state. After you've done the three temples, the final boss is revealed and after that you've completed your game. It's a relatively short game, but I did enjoy it once I finally forced myself to sit and actually try to learn the game. After that, I didn't put it down until I finished it. I'd say the game is roughly 10 to 12 hours for the average user. Significantly shorter if you follow a guide for the whole thing but that's boring and lame.

    I did enjoy exploring the areas, wandering around aimlessly and even finding an alternative ending to the game where you drink booze with a friend, play a lute and watch the world go by. I couldn't stop laughing after seeing that. Anyways, if you enjoy things like Dark Souls, Lords of the Fallen and other similar games... There's a good chance you'll enjoy this one too. Pick it up on sale and I doubt you'll complain much. The game is visually gorgeous, and I experienced no issues running it off of a Ryzen 2600X and RX 580 8GB for 1080p. I also had no issues running it on a Ryzen 5800X paired with an RTX 3070 at 4K. I didn't have a single crash, even on days where I had to alt tab endlessly to respond to messages. I don't understand the huge amount of bad reviews, it's far from as bad as most of the reviews make it out to be.    … Expand
  21. I3ordo
    Feb 28, 2021
    6
    You will have to come up with a much deeper, versatile combat system if you are asking players to overcome such steep initial difficulty curve.

    I generally play games to explore their systems and their world, soak in all the atmosphere and move on. I dont play games more than once and in this game the difficulty and the vagueness was so high that i felt it was not worth the effort.    You will have to come up with a much deeper, versatile combat system if you are asking players to overcome such steep initial difficulty curve.

    I generally play games to explore their systems and their world, soak in all the atmosphere and move on. I dont play games more than once and in this game the difficulty and the vagueness was so high that i felt it was not worth the effort.

    It could be a much better experience if the harden system was not so limited. That is the only new thing that this game brings and the only thing that might have saved the unresponsive attack animations where you can not cancel out of attack animations yet you would not know if it would work on that occasion.

    I launched a good trainer for this game, made everything less lethal and more fragile while boosting the harden skills to unlimited. Than it was much less of a chore to learn the ins and outs

    Turns out not much to see.    … Expand
  22. Cyber_Angel
    Dec 28, 2020
    6
    The game is interesting and captivating at first, then becomes repetitive, boring and the enemies are easily dispatched using the strongest weapon with a cheesy combo. The last area is repetitive, hard as hell and the enemies there are copypasted and the levels are extremely boring and unimaginative. What a letdown.
  23. Jenne
    Dec 10, 2020
    7
    I like indie Souls. I liked Lords of the Fallen, Ashen, Surge and this. It's a bit more basic than Surge, let alone proper Souls games by FromSoft but it's fun. Kindda short, finished in 13 hours, but there's a solid build variety, with different shells and weapons you'll get very different playstyles. Can't expect too much enemy or world variety, the main world is kindda drab andI like indie Souls. I liked Lords of the Fallen, Ashen, Surge and this. It's a bit more basic than Surge, let alone proper Souls games by FromSoft but it's fun. Kindda short, finished in 13 hours, but there's a solid build variety, with different shells and weapons you'll get very different playstyles. Can't expect too much enemy or world variety, the main world is kindda drab and confusing and almost all enemies are humanoids. Despite all that Mortal Shell is a solid game to scratch that Souls itch.… Expand
  24. alexandru_ale26
    Nov 1, 2020
    6
    This game has some good and unique ideas behind him but it falls shortly after 3 hours of playing it. I love the hardening mechanic, the parry/regain health mechanic and the design of the shells. I'm so glad I paid for it only 14 $ (a 20% off sale and a 10$ coupon from Epic). It doesn't worth more than 14-15$. I'm too disappointed by this game to tell you everything here, but I canThis game has some good and unique ideas behind him but it falls shortly after 3 hours of playing it. I love the hardening mechanic, the parry/regain health mechanic and the design of the shells. I'm so glad I paid for it only 14 $ (a 20% off sale and a 10$ coupon from Epic). It doesn't worth more than 14-15$. I'm too disappointed by this game to tell you everything here, but I can resume that: easy to beat bosses, repetitive dungeons, uninspired dungeons, too easy to upgrade, and I finalized the game with the first shell upgraded at maximum. I beat the game in just 10.5 hours, and I think it could be finished in just 7 hours if you don't waste your time exploring. It is not a bad game, it's just dissappointing. And the biggest issue for me was at the final boss where it always crushed the game before beating it. But somehow it finally worked after it made me very very angry.… Expand
  25. Buttcheeks69
    Sep 18, 2020
    7
    For 30 dollars, you get a good game. It's not dark souls, but I take it as the creators wanted to pay homage to it.
  26. Hexen-Slayer
    Sep 15, 2020
    6
    The good first: the dark setting and the atmosphere are really good! It is even darker than DARK SOULS.
    Unfortunately that's about it. The rest is a blatant copy all the way down to the controls and explaining lore by item descriptions. Unlike DARK SOULS, MORTAL SHELL hasn't mastered this technique yet.
    They did manage to add a little twist to the hole class system: shells. You literally    The good first: the dark setting and the atmosphere are really good! It is even darker than DARK SOULS.
    Unfortunately that's about it. The rest is a blatant copy all the way down to the controls and explaining lore by item descriptions. Unlike DARK SOULS, MORTAL SHELL hasn't mastered this technique yet.
    They did manage to add a little twist to the hole class system: shells. You literally wear classes like skin (or shells) and you can switch these during the game. Enemies yield "glimpses" which unlock some lore about the shell and serve as level ups. So far so good. Another addition is the "hardening" mechanic, which briefly turns the player into stone - this game's version of blocking. Otherwise the game offers nothing new. Tar serves as MORTAL SHELL's version of souls.
    Now I'm not really a fan of the "SOULS" game mechanics of respawning enemies and repetitious dying. Unfortunately for me there are very few "dark fantasy" games outside the "SOULS" games that nail the atmosphere. If you're a fan of this "new" genre you might hold MORTAL SHELL in a much higher regard.
    Enemy variety unfortunately is also lacking - as are the 7 bosses. Yes, MORTAL SHELL is a rather short game. Stone me, but I liked LORDS OF THE FALLEN better.
    6 out of 9.    … Expand
  27. LunarBeamOfSun
    Sep 15, 2020
    5
    Лоск, стиль, пустота.
    К сожалению, это о самой игре, а не о происходящем в ней.
    Слишком. Мало. Контента.
  28. ShadowXyo
    Sep 13, 2020
    5
    A clunky mess, filled with poor game design, clunky combat and a sad excuse of a music composition. It is an absolute insult that people are comparing this to Dark Souls, if Dark Souls is a 100, this game is a 10. I've played 7 hours so far and it doesn't seem to be getting better. To add more insult, the game drops you into a point of no return after a certain boss and you are forced toA clunky mess, filled with poor game design, clunky combat and a sad excuse of a music composition. It is an absolute insult that people are comparing this to Dark Souls, if Dark Souls is a 100, this game is a 10. I've played 7 hours so far and it doesn't seem to be getting better. To add more insult, the game drops you into a point of no return after a certain boss and you are forced to defeat multiple bosses before you are able to go back. There was absolutely no reason to make it a point of no return, many of the enemies have non-telegraphed attacks that create artificial difficulty, similar to the issues with Dark Souls 2, along with hyper-armor to add to that difficulty. The game doesn't let you heal with a potion but you have to scavenge mushrooms that spawn once in a blue moon. After the point of no return, the game also doesn't let you upgrade your weapon at all. I've seen people compare this to other souls-likes, but this game is the worst so far. The Surge 2 was way more polished, and so was Lords of the Fallen. What a joke.… Expand
  29. pongkrit03
    Sep 10, 2020
    7
    Soul veteran here I enjoyed the game quite well. Gameplay clearly took a lot of inspirations from Dark Souls but it has its own unique style. This game has 4 classes that are different from each other. Graphic is good too. For a small indy team, I have say they did very amazing job here. Anyway, while the game is cheap, it is also short (I beat it in 13 hrs) and the areas are like maze,Soul veteran here I enjoyed the game quite well. Gameplay clearly took a lot of inspirations from Dark Souls but it has its own unique style. This game has 4 classes that are different from each other. Graphic is good too. For a small indy team, I have say they did very amazing job here. Anyway, while the game is cheap, it is also short (I beat it in 13 hrs) and the areas are like maze, too hard to navigate . Enemies are not variety enough (mostly 90% are humaniod, same for bosses) and there are only 4 weapons in the game which are far from enough. Healing by parrying seems interesting at first but it could make the game too hard for someone who is not good at parrying.

    In sum, it is good game if you like dark souls and don't have anything to play at this moment, but don't expect too much of it. I hope devs could continue to make better game in the future. For those who want to try, I strongly recommend looking for a map online for the first area, otherwise you might miss out weapons and classes. (It is a bad design, devs should just let you choose them from the start)    … Expand
  30. scarymanplays
    Sep 9, 2020
    5
    This is a great example of interesting ideas executed poorly. I like the concept of quickly recovering your shell to give life another shot, but it doesn't make up for a nearly non existent healing system. Some of the boss fights are interesting, one of the levels has a memorable design and the combat system is pretty good. The combat system is the reason for the average score. I like theThis is a great example of interesting ideas executed poorly. I like the concept of quickly recovering your shell to give life another shot, but it doesn't make up for a nearly non existent healing system. Some of the boss fights are interesting, one of the levels has a memorable design and the combat system is pretty good. The combat system is the reason for the average score. I like the combat.

    Pros:

    + Combat is responsive and engaging. I have seen others on here say otherwise, but I didn't experience bad hitboxes.

    + Shell recovery system is interesting. Being able to use the shell as a free heal when you return to where you died was fun, and made me pick it up more strategically than just making a quick "soul run."

    + 2-3 good boss designs and 1-2 good level designs.

    Cons:

    -TERRIBLE FINAL BOSS - There is a "water/wave" mechanic that just simply does not work. It is borderline unavoidable, and can leave you skating around the map, unable to escape, attack or defend yourself. Boss is easy AF otherwise.

    -Extremely lazy padding to make the game longer than it actually is. Where Dark Souls excels most is world design. When you beat a boss in Dark Souls, there is a quick way out or a path to a new world. There is NONE of that here. NONE. In Mortal Shell, the world turns pitch black after you beat a boss, you get a small red light around you, and now you have to find your way BACK OUT OF THE LEVEL in the DARK, because they didn't design shortcuts back to the main hub. Not only is it dark, but now all of the enemies have turned into the most annoying enemies in the game who seem to only know how to do grab attacks. Some of the worst world design choices I have ever seen.

    - No healing system. Sure, yes, you can buy these really sh*tty healing items, but they are so slow, and they heal so little that they really aren't relevant. I HATE ONLY HAVING CONSUMABLE HEALING ITEMS. If you're going to copy Dark Souls, why abandon such a great healing system?

    I cannot really recommend this game, unless available for about $10. Maybe they can turn it around if they decide to make a second game. Not the worst game I have ever played, but if you want a "souls-like," look elsewhere.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Most Discussed PC Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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. Worth Playing
    Jan 8, 2021
    80
    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.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Oct 7, 2020
    80
    If Dark Souls wasn’t sufficiently dark and difficult, this is just the thing for you. Taking the souls-like genre a step further, Mortal Shell provides a satisfying combat system enveloped in a creatively unique narrative. Well worth the suffering. [Issue#305]
  3. RPGamer
    Sep 18, 2020
    70
    Mortal Shell may be a modest product, but it surprised at nearly every turn with regularity. The lack of variety in the environments, weapons, and classes are more than made up by never overstaying its welcome. Whenever it feels as though its about to become stale, players will stumble across something new to try out. 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.
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