Mortal Shell Review | Living up to the Souls Hype?.

Hi guys, Welcome back to the channel, my name is Onos. In this Mortal Shell Review I’ll be sharing my experience with the full game and hopefully answer some of the most obvious questions for you. Should I be excited for Mortal Shell? Should I wait for it to be on sale? Does it live up to the hype? What does the gameplay feel like in the final game? Is it hard? and inevitably, how does it compare to Dark Souls.

Before we start let me first say that this is an independent review, I’m not paid or sponsored for any comments I make, and there is no real limit to what I can and can’t say aside from sticking to the embargo rules. So any opinions are all my own. Thank you to Playstack for helping me on the road to getting early access, and thank you to Evolve PR and the Mortal Shell team for opening the door early to make this review possible.

OK, enough intro Let’s get into it. STORY: The story and setting of Mortal Shell is shrouded in mystery. You rise from a mysterious pool with no explanation of your mission or intent, and very quickly find yourself able to inhabit the Shell - the body - of its previous owner.

As you progress you will meet NPCs along the way who will give you hints about the world and your purpose. Without spoiling anything, let me say that there IS lore in the game, and a story which can be uncovered if you make sure to read the items you find and pay attention to the NPCs you meet along the way.

In this way the game does remind me of Dark Souls - you start with no clue about your role in the world, but for those that want to know - the answers are available. GAMEPLAY: One thing to mention is that there is no character creation in this game. You start the same way that everyone else does and you have the choice of four Mortal Shells to inhabit.

If you want to get all four, then you will need to find them yourself, only one of the Shells will be made available to you as a starting point. Each of the Shells has its own set of skills which can be unlocked as you progress through the game by collecting 2x types of resources.

You will need Tar, which is the equivalent of Souls or Amrita depending on if you're a Souls or Nioh main. Tar can be lost on death as you might expect, and then collected again if you make it back to where you died. There is a second resource you will need called “glimpses” which is a view into the life of your Shell.

In essence you need to learn about who they were in life, and then spend the Tar in order to unlock their abilities. You do not lose the glimpses on death Weapons are also found during your playthrough, but these can’t be just picked up from random enemies you encounter - you will find the weapons in very specific places which you will need to find throughout the world - often attached to a specific fight in the game.

In terms of build crafting, this, at first, seems very limited. With only 4x Shells to choose from, and a few weapons you’ll find along your journey, you may think, as I did, that the builds will be very limited - but as you begin to unlock the different skills with your Shells, and find the different weapons, you will find yourself with a number of very viable play styles you can adopt - while there may not be build crafting in the traditional sense, the variation does expand as you get deeper in to the game.

The combat, again, at first, feels fairly simple. You have a heavy and a light attack. Attacks feel relatively slow paced, very deliberate and hard hitting. You can stagger enemies with your attacks and also be interrupted while attacking - so timing is key.

You can dodge and roll to avoid attacks, and you have your standard health bar and stamina consumption - all of this is fairly basic stuff. However, the team have also added a mechanic called “hardening” which basically puts a shell around your character for a few seconds.

The beauty of this is that it can be done any moment, even mid-swing. This takes what starts as a pretty basic combat system and turns it on its head - the ability to time your hardening perfectly, mid-attack so that you can tank the enemies damage and then continue on with your combination as if nothing happened is very satisfying.

As you progress through the game you will unlock a parry ability with a riposte, and also special moves you can do with each of the weapons which will use another resource called Resolve. The parries can also synergise with in-game consumable items which can augment your parry and riposte to add additional effects or buffs to your character.

So what begins with a fairly basic combat system if you’re used to Souls-like games, becomes a much more intricate dance between attack and defence - when done correctly is very satisfying to use and gives you all the tools you need to survive in the world.

The enemies are varied and interesting, with a host of different abilities to take you down. The game will set you up with ambushes, which, if you’re anything like me, might just make you shout some obscenities as your heart tries to jump out of your mouth.

There are plenty of mini bosses scattered around to challenge you, and major boss encounters to pit yourself against. One thing I would say, from my own experience so far in the game, I haven’t struggled too badly with the boss fights. I have died once or twice, to them as I learned the mechanics, but have returned to beat them without too many deaths.

That is not to say I’m an expert by any means - there are certain set pieces in the game, or room-encounters which are seriously challenging. I have found , that making progress through the different areas in the game is sometimes much more challenging than the boss itself.

There is one set of circumstances in the game after a particular boss fight which was harrowing and genuinely tested my skill and endurance to get through - and scared the life out of me at the same time. SETTING: The setting of the game is dark and foreboding.

The areas are intricate and very easy to get lost in, or to lose your bearings. There is no map available, which is not a criticism, I personally feel that the game is better without the map as you struggle to remember which direction to go in when you’re backtracking to find an area you spotted in the distance on your first pass.

The different areas in the game are very distinct from one another and very striking. You will not find yourself feeling that the game is repetitive at all, and even when you need to return to an area after completing certain parts of the story, you may find that things have changed in an area you have previously mastered, which adds a further level of challenge.

QUESTIONS: So, going back to some of the questions mentioned at the beginning of the video: Should I be excited for Mortal Shell? If you’re a souls fan, then I would say a definite yes. The game does not have the level of depth that Dark Souls or Nioh has in terms of the character builds, but the gameplay experience, combat, world and challenge of the game are fantastic.

Should I wait for it to be on sale? I don’t feel that you need to sleep on this game. The price point is around $30 - for that price, and from my own point of view - I would definitely be happy with the goods. Does it live up to the hype? I’d say it does.

Honestly, when I first tried the beta out, I didn’t enjoy the game that much, and wasn’t too excited - but I had some problems with a PC and was unable to play the beta longer than a couple of hours as a result - having spent a long time in the game now and seen how it has progressed - I love it and I’m seriously impressed that the Mortal Shell team only has 15 core members! What does the gameplay feel like in the final game? Is it hard? Yes it's tough.

The boss fights haven’t been as challenging from my own experience as I thought they would be, but I haven’t managed to fight them all yet so there’s no guarantee that I won’t suddenly meet an Artorias or Shibata Katsuie in the future. Aside from the bosses, I am happy to say that I have maxed out on at least one of the Shells in the game, and despite being as tough as I can be - the game is still very challenging - there is no easy mode despite the abilities I now have access to.

How does it compare to Dark Souls. I’d definitely say it has a similar feel in terms of the world and lore. The gameplay and combat is heavy hitting, deliberate and more advanced than that of dark souls, but again, the build customisation is more limited - which I feel may limit the replayability of the game - you’re very unlikely to get the same amount of hours out of this game - the estimated time to complete the game is around 20 hours - honestly I’ll think you’ll get more out of it than that unless you’re a real Souls pro and you decide not to investigate every area fully.

I have scored this game at 8.8 out of 10 based on the criteria on screen now. I would say that if you’re not a souls-like fan, then the score would most likely be different for you, but for the price point of this game, I’d personally say it's a bargain and something you might want to consider.