Ever dabbled in a genre but can’t decide if you like it or not? Soulslike games are that way with me. I first played Demon’s Souls at E3 2009 or whatever it was when From Software first debuted it. It was interesting — the aura of mystery and darkness surrounding the story, characters, all the lore really, and even the gameplay. It created a whole new genre of third person action adventure games, and that’s right where developer Cold Symmetry was aiming for when it released Mortal Shell just six months ago. Our own Alex Tudor wrote a review when the game first launched, but now, developer Cold Symmetry has released the game on PS5, sporting some nice updates to the experience but leaving the core game intact.
Alex’s review covers the bases nicely, and I’d recommend you read it, but I’ll add some redundant information here as well. In Mortal Shell, you play as a faceless and voiceless character, who is just about nameless, too. Known as The Foundling, you are a special, fragile creature who is tasked with fighting an undead army. Your own form is too weak to do this effectively, so you must inhabit fallen warriors (mortal shells), that give you a chance in combat. There are four distinct shells, each with their own character-class skill set, ranging from tank to lighter builds. These shells can be upgraded, and as you do, you unlock more lore tidbits as you go, though they’re plenty cryptic and mysterious, fitting for the genre and the Souls series that Mortal Shell is paying tribute to.
The story is serviceable for sure, as The Foundling, via these shells, you’re exploring a dark and dying land and must traverse a large nexus area called Fulgrim that interconnects three distinct temples. Plenty of enemies await, and indeed the challenge is stout. Though the main appeal of the game is the combat, the story and its mysterious aura are fun and more interesting than eye-roll-inducing, if that makes sense. It’s a fine line to walk for developers, though, as when a story is too vague it seems intentionally edgy and annoying, perhaps lazy even, but if it’s too informative it also leaves little to think about and imagine. Anyway, Mortal Shell strikes a fine balance in that regard.
I think Mortal Shell also strikes a good balance between giving players a strong Soulslike experience but without busting their chops too badly. For these kinds of games, of the ones I have played, my favorite so far has been Lords of the Fallen, and I eagerly anticipate its sequel. One thing I really liked about it that I also found with Mortal Shell was that it is not as frustratingly hard as other games in the genre. Don’t get me wrong, it is a hard game — and it took me several hours across multiple play sessions (as it did with Lords of the Fallen), to find my groove and not die too often to the point I just couldn’t justify the time spent. You know a lot of games anymore you just don’t die a whole lot. That’s the antithesis of the genre Mortal Shells is in though, so expect to die a lot, but probably not as much as other games in this niche, almost-self-abusing genre.
What makes Mortal Shell a bit easier and not as painful as most other similar games? Well, one vital thing that helped me a lot as I got into it was parrying. Yes, it’s tough to nail the timing — but if you can land a successful parry it leaves the enemy wide open, and better yet, you get a burst of instant health. The hardening ability that you have from the get-go is really helpful as well. It basically lets you take a single blunt force attack and your timing doesn’t have to be all that great. Plus, you can harden in the middle of an attack, so you can actually begin an attack motion, harden, which freezes you in place for a couple of seconds, and then continue your attack. It’s a really neat gameplay mechanic that has a learning curve, but its one that really helps out players like me — i.e. the ones that do not have the time nor the interest to spend hours learning enemy patterns and who are prone to mistiming blocks.
Speaking of blocks, dodge and dodge roll, which do eat up some of your stamina meter, are quite nice. Cold Symmetry was pretty kind with the window for doing these evasions and the space it creates. Anyway, at the end of the day, I would rather play a Souls game that is a little on the easier/more forgiving side like Mortal Shell is, than one that has me wasting time grinding through it and barely enjoying it. Then again, I did lose some time in Mortal Shell just trying to figure out where to go sometimes, because the nexus area between the temples is like a dark forestry, hazy maze of a thing. It’s not bad, you might just have to pay extra attention to not accidentally backtrack too much.
The time lost back-tracking is a little chaffing, but not too bad. Other faults of the game for me included sparse save points and the feeling of treading almost too-familiar territory in its setting and the lore. Basically, everything this game sets out to do has been done, and done better, and you can say that for almost any game out there, but it’s more pronounced with some games than others. If you’re “eyes wide open” to the genre and not looking for something (especially at a $30 price point, more on that later) that is on par with the best games, than I think you will take Mortal Shell at face value better than others that want to compare it to the AAA experiences by From Software.
Game thoughts aside, Mortal Shell on PS5, known as the Enhanced Edition, brings with it several expected updates in graphic fidelity and performance that make a notable, if not huge, difference from the original release. And I feel confident saying that even not having played the original release because numbers are numbers. By that I mean Mortal Shell on PS5 plays in 4K at 60fps, while also sporting better lighting and textures. Running silky smooth is important to the timing-based combat that is such a crucial part of the Mortal Shell experience. Load times are purported to be faster as well, but from what I have read, the difference isn’t much at all — on the order of several seconds rather than tens of seconds of time savings. The differences with the Enhanced Edition experience continue with creative use of the new DualSense controllers. From the very early moments of the game, crawling through a long tunnel or as you near that first shell, you can see Cold Symmetry’s application of the haptic feedback. I actually hadn’t experienced any game use the DualSense controller this much yet, and it’s pretty nice. It helps give the experience a little more immersion, nothing critical, but still, it’s a nice touch.
I’d like to give a tip of the hat to publisher Playstack and Cold Symmetry for making the Enhanced Edition a free update to owners of the PS4 version, and, for newcomers, making the MSRP of the game only $30, less than half of the going rate for some other next-gen games. Certainly at that price point you can’t hardly find a PS5 tailored experience that’s as good as Mortal Shell. In sum, if you’re like me and like the Souls games for their lore and gameplay, but don’t want to spend hours in frustration with asinine difficulty, give Mortal Shell a sincere chance. Like any game in this genre, it can take several hours to get really comfortable with and in the groove, but when you do, it will hold on tight and you won’t want to put it down.
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