Screenshot: Mortal Shell
It’s been a few weeks since the
Mortal Shell open beta ended. I had meant to get in an article about my hands-on impressions, but I never found the time. But the thing is: I haven’t stopped thinking about my time with
Mortal Shell.
I’ve always been a fan of the
Souls series—but there have been only a few clones that have sated my thirst for the third person action mixed with risk vs. reward mechanics that the
Souls series provides.
The Surge series does it well, and games like
Hollow Knight and
Salt and Sanctuary bring the genre to the 2D perspective. Each of these games brings a unique twist on the mechanics, but the appeal is usually in the execution.
Mortal Shell brings its own unique mechanics, and it tries very hard to be
Dark Souls—and executed well, that’s not a bad thing.
Screenshot: Mortal Shell
When
Mortal Shell went into open beta on the Epic Games Store I was skeptical of what it could bring to the sub-genre. While it doesn’t feel exactly like a bonafide
Souls game,
Mortal Shell has its own flavor of soulslike that is extremely satisfying. Attacks with the heavy sword feel hefty, and land with appropriate
oomph while the smaller hammer and chisel feel fast, but still damaging.
In
Mortal Shell you play as a being that hops between different mortal shells to fight. Each shell has its own characteristics, and even skill tree to put points into. Since this is a beta, not all of the skills were available, but the ones that were there were interesting enough—and hint at certain shells being better for certain areas or enemy types, which I’m basing from my memory of the open beta’s enemies.
Screenshot: Mortal Shell
Speaking of which, I found many horrifying things in my
Souls series playthrough, and I’d argue that
Bloodborne is borderline survival horror—but nothing in any of those games is as gruesomely horrifying as what is in
Mortal Shell. I’m specifically thinking of that one enemy type that would attack you by pulling long knives out of its own body to toss at you, finally throwing its end in a poison gas explosion when it's near death.
Harden is an interesting mechanic that is one of the other unique points to
Mortal Shell. It’s like a shield, but you can do it mid-swing, and therefore mid-combo. If you midjudge an attack, you aren’t stuck taking a hit if you can hit harden fast enough.
Screenshot: Mortal Shell
Another quirk to
Mortal Shell were the items. You don’t automatically know what everything that you pick up is , and you have to use it to get some information. Detailed information doesn’t show up until you’ve used the item a number of times. This adds a bit more “risk” to a sub-genre already full of risk vs reward scenarios, but it’s an amusing sort of risk. Of course, I’ll have to see how amused I am with it during a full playthrough.
If you hadn’t noticed, I’m pretty psyched for
Mortal Shell. I won’t have to wait that much longer to get a hold of it, though, as it releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows in September.
If you like the video game, tabletop, or other technology content that Third Coast Review has to offer, consider donating to our Patreon. We are the only publication in Chicago that regularly reviews video games, and we cover lots of local Chicago-based events and more. If you want to contribute to our coverage of Chicago’s video game scene (and more) please consider becoming a patron. Your support enables us to continue to provide this type of content and more. Patreon.com/3CR
You can also catch us streaming games we’re reviewing and staff favorites at twitch.tv/bokor