Mortal Shell

While there were many aspects of Mortal Shell that I didn’t care for, the bits that worked for me really worked. The final product is far from perfect and I’m not sure that I’d even recommend it to anyone except the hardest of soulslike hardcores, but beneath the underdeveloped ideas and questionable design choices is a pool of talent bound for bigger and better things — Cold Symmetry’s work shined brightest when it veered away from standard Souls, and I’m interested to see them take it further.

While Mortal Shell’s story, volume of content and RPG elements all disappoint, it’s Dark Souls-like close-combat battle system is of great quality.

Mortal Shell is another Dark Souls clone with nice graphics, interesting ideas and good combat mechanics. On the other hand, there's a problems with hitboxes, enemies are too slow, and it lacks epic bosses and spectacular battles. However, among other Dark Souls clones this game looks really unusual and worthy.

Mortal Shell brings some new ideas to the Souls' formula. The Harden mechanic is excellent in its versatility and item familiarity gives you a reason to use your items. The exploration can be a struggle thanks to the convoluted layouts and reliance on stacking enemies but the boss encounters, where it's just you and the combat mechanics, are the highlight.

Mortal Shell has a bunch a great ideas, stellar gameplay and a truly interesting universe, but ends up feeling more akin to a short and easy prologue than anything else.

The combat system in Mortal Shell will test the skills of those who have conquered Dark Souls and Bloodborne, and the experience of these new battles might be worth the price of admission alone. That brilliance is weighed down by other issues, though, as the rest of the game tends to make things a bit dull for the player. Mortal Shell has seeds of greatness, but it struggles to live up to its potential, resulting in a mixed yet worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.

You can’t help but feel that Mortal Shell is a fan-made mod for Dark Souls – however, it has accordingly low price. It also shows promise: a few more tries, and Cold Symmetry could make something really good. [Issue#248, p.34]

Despite tweaks to the formula and some interesting ideas, Mortal Shell is tired and familiar while also much less than its inspiration. This Dark-Souls-like should stay dead. [Issue#180, p.77]

Mortal Shell is a enjoyable Dark Souls-like, with a few good ideas and a charming dark fantasy world but the execution is clearly not perfect.