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OVERVIEW ↴
Mortal Shell is a ruthless, third-person action role-playing game that's heavily inspired by Dark Souls, BUT saying just that is massively underselling since it manages to make it's own unique and interesting spin on the 'souls-like' genre making it at the same time very 'unlike-souls' entry where players get to take on a role of a Foundling who's got an uncanny ability to control different defeated warriors aka "Mortal Shells" and use their unique combat masteries to help us do the bidding of mysterious "Dark Father" who sets us on arduous journey through this shattered world we now inhabit and which is constantly testing not only our awareness and will to survive but also our crumbling sanity.
GRAPHICS AND AUDIO ↴
An Indie budget title with art design that's truly excellent, developed by a coalition of seasoned veterans who made such beautiful graphics with attention to details in such high fidelity is with no doubt worth all the praise it can get.. From Falgrim with it's dense and ominous fog covering the tattered forest landscape to each one of the hidden sanctums of devout followers, starting with Crypt of Matryr's caught in winter's snare and her bitter currents whispering between the holy chamber; to the Seat of Infinity with it's indestructible geometry wrought from stark yet pleasantly alien obsidianite. Each and every location we get to discover is a sight to behold. The same can be said about the sound design which truly compliments the whole game and is simply phenomenal. It sets the atmosphere of this crumbling land oozing with murk and filled with rotten brigands, croaking wildlife and all kind of monsters barely clinging to life, quite well. Not a single thing is out of place. Starting with proper enemy audio queues, sounds of surrounding us environment to the sounds of your own armored boots stepping in the mud. Good voice acting isn't something normally expected either from such a small studio but I was pleasantly surprised to have it anyway. Also there's nothing as enjoyable as the magnificently crafted notes of a lute especially the impervious one which in on itself is bloody awesome. Watching life pass on by while you play on a lute.. *chef's kiss*

GAMEPLAY ↴
We start the game in our Foundling form, the most vulnerable one, and through process of exploring the world the game doesn't not hold your hand, do not come with assumption it will we get to obtain and inhabit shells, corpses of lost warriors, about which we'll be able to learn more through Sester Genessa and spending Tar obtained from certain objects or simply by killing enemies. That will lead us to learning various abilities they're in possession of, to hone in their unique skill trees. Each shell has her own pros and cons, and it's for the player to decide what kind of playstyle they want to pursue. Furthermore you can easily swap between the shells whenever you want, and no I don't mean running back to Sester Genessa every single bloody time. The game has this items, effigies that can be used to change shells but also weapons. Which comes to my next point. We can choose between five different melee weapons, offering different special skills, and one long range one including DLC's Axkatana that we can use to fight the enemies and the only catch is... yes, we got to find their location first. The game also introduces us to a new type of defensive mechanic, The Hardening. It allows us to turn into stone, preventing enemies from dealing any kind of damage. Weaving this tactic into attacks can sometimes be a bit of a challenge since you can't just spam this ability, it has a cooldown but you can bet your rotting arse you will hear when it's replenished. And when it's active, it might take a second to actually go into effect so you can't use it right as enemy is about to attack you either. You have to be strategic with it's use since this opens a lot of tactical possibilities that are very not 'souls-like'. Yet when Hardening is finally mastered, the combat will just instantly 'click'. At least it did for me. This mechanic takes a turn from a weird substitute of a shield to an interesting tool which skilled players can use to prevent the interruption of a flow of combat and getting their stamina back, whatever to dodge or successfully parry the next attack, which can only be done if you obtain Tarnished Seal and it needs one bar of resolve but the reward for it is extremely valuable since not only you can stun and injure the enemy but also it allows you to regain certain amount of health so you don't have to 'farm' healing items or buy +99 of them to survive. It's all about constantly learning, using and adapting to what you're equipped with in the game instead of rushing straight in while swishing your weapon without no strategy and complaining it didn't work. Take your time to master it all instead of crying about how you're already the master... Combat here is very strategic and deliberate! You must commit your weapon only when an opportunity opens. Last but not least it's worth to mention that essentially we as Foundling inhabiting a Shell, have two lives. If we lose the first one, we're knocked out of our chosen Shell but if we manage to get back to our body and basically put it back on, we come back to life with full health while Foundling form with no shell can be killed in just, one. hit.
STORY ↴
It's all very mysterious and a bit convoluted, and like with any game like this it's really down to the players own interpretation. Without spoiling too much, I can only say that there's two stories slowly but simultaneously revealed to the player. There's the backstory of the wider world which somewhat explains it's disgusting and decaying state, the histories of the characters we meet and the meaning behind the places we visit and the things we see but at the same time, then there's the story of our main character, The Foundling, who we play as and what drives us to find the three sacred glands. Much like Fromsoftware's games actually working this stuff out is a pretty tall order requiring a combination of item descriptions, quite cryptic npc dialogue and interpretation of the environment including hidden around the world inscriptions and etchings.
PERFORMANCE, BUGS AND GLITCHES ↴
There was absolutely nothing that impacted my performance or caused glitches. The game run smooth as butter for me. Bugs? I didn't even know there where any until I looked at other people reviews about the game. In my humble opinion, if there where any bugs/glitches they surely had been fixed and when it comes to performance issues, well.. check your system requirements first ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
CONCLUSION ↴
Mortal Shell is a pretty good entry into 'souls-like' genre. I just can't say it's gonna be a game for everyone because a lot of people will not be able to let go of their surface level criticisms that it's just a DS poor copy instead of judging it as it's own beast. This is a genuinely great game. Yes, it can have it's quirks, a dark twisted world with decent amount of surprises to explore and very enjoyable combat, lute for life™ while also being quite short and pretty hard at times. It's a game that takes us into new and innovative places with a polish that it has absolutely no business having and will do all of that without trying to hold your hand no matter how much you want it. And yet while being all of that it's exciting and more friendly to players than DS, making it a great entry to start of your journey into that particular genre. I had my fun and the game didn't overstay it's welcome, so it's super easy for me to recommend this game. Whatever you want to buy it on a good sale or with it's full price, this is a title worth trying out.
Mortal Shell | September 23, 2022 |