Mortal Shell

Whether by choice or due to the small size of the development team, Mortal Shell is highly concentrated action, focused on giving players that uniquely Souls-like experience of challenge, mystery and eventual mastery.

Mortal Shell does a lot of things right when it comes to being a “Souls-like” game. It nails its environmental and character designs, its combat feels satisfying, especially when I found the build that worked for my playstyle, and it’s difficult and unrelenting. I found a lot to chew on with Mortal Shell, even if it wasn’t necessarily apparent in the first few hours. Though not quite as polished as I would have hoped, for a game developed by such a small team, it’s quite an achievement.

Mortal Shell’s scope ends up being a more significant net gain as it offers a brisk Soulslike experience without trying to overwhelm players with content for content’s sake. Satisfying, versatile melee combat doesn’t hide behind a tedious grind yet it still has a fulfilling progression system. Areas aren’t gigantic, but have a distinct look and meaningfully change around after you kill the boss. All of its inventive ideas may not be immediately apparent and mean it could easily be mistaken for yet another hackneyed Dark Souls clone destined to die in the digital bargain bin. But Mortal Shell‘s innovation is there once you dig just beneath its hardened exterior.

Mortal Shell offers a souls-like with a dark story, innovative gameplay, and great graphics quality that will overwhelm fans of this genre. Its short duration and its limited variety in some aspects leave you wanting to see a second chapter.

Mortal Shell is a true love letter to Dark Souls and feels like a distilled version of the From Software masterpiece. Unique mechanics serve to separate it a bit and enhance the experience, but there is nothing here that will sell a person that just downright dislikes Souls games. Available for a modest $30, though, I strongly recommend it to any Souls fans or anyone who has ever been interested but hesitant to pull the trigger.

You miss Dark Souls? You yearn for Bloodborne 2? Then give Mortal Shell a try. It is not as brilliant, but delivers more than solid entertainment for Souls fans.

Mortal Shell is a small-scope Soulslike that serves as a tight, lean, but short experience.

Mortal Shell is a true love letter to the Dark Souls franchise. A game that takes the playable core from the FromSoftware's titles and, rather than changing it, builds around it to keep an experience that really feels true to the Dark Souls origin.

Mortal Shell is the first soulslike to understand the true essence of the genre and, therefore, deserves a place above any other exponent not developed by From Software. Despite its weaknesses, it's one of the most exciting, well executed and beautiful soulslikes I have played in the last decade.

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.

While Mortal Shell does nothing to reinvent the Soulslike wheel, it still manages to bring many of its own ideas to the table while invoking the feeling, mood, and brutality of previous Dark Souls games.

It may seem daunting and punishing, and it is. But its visual beauty and aesthetic has me compelled to explore more of this world and the Shells that inhabit it.

With beautiful environments and plenty to discover, Mortal Shell is a compelling world to explore. After a steep learning curve, its combat is challenging but fascinating, and with a great sense of reward once you master it. It might be a little too similar to Dark Souls in terms of overall tone and style, but it brings enough new ideas functionally to make it stand out from the crowd. Ultimately, this is a great entry into a demanding sub-genre that fans won't want to miss.

More in line with From Software's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice than a traditional Soulslike, Mortal Shell offers a short and sweet take on the hardcore action RPG formula by focusing the player to harden up and push the offensive in order to create the perfect defense.

Mortal Shell is more than a husk of tired Souls-like tropes - it tries to do something different and does so with ardor for its source material.

An intriguing world and challenging, varied gameplay make for a worthwhile experience. If you're a fan of the Soulsborne games, you'll most definitely like this. There are, however, some annoyances, chief among which the low number of savepoints and slow walking speed of your character.

Mortal Shell is a reimagining of what a Souls-like game can be. Although it's not a near-perfect game, it pushed the boundaries of what a smaller studio can do. Through all of its hiccups, this dark RPG brings unique mechanics and heavy combat to a different level, but leaves behind some important features that would've improved the experience altogether.

Mortal Shell is a soulslike that knows how to create the right atmosphere. The combat system is interesting, innovative in some ways, but the game still suffers from some technical problems that can arbitrarily vary the difficulty of the game, from time to time.

Souls-like fans have an interesting indie approach to the formula. It has some obvious shortcomings, but it also adds some original features that work well.