Mortal Shell Critic Reviews

Mortal Shell is one of the year’s biggest gaming surprises, offering a deep, fascinating journey into a melancholic world that’s well worth taking. It takes blatant inspiration from Dark Souls and Bloodborne, yet builds upon the combat and progression of such classics that it more than stands on its own two feet. As Cold Symmetry’s debut title, Mortal Shell ensures they are a studio to walk as we dive into the coming generation.

Mortal Shell takes what you’d expect from Souls-clones and adds heaps of creativity along with unique systems and features that make it a whole new experience. Each moment of gameplay is an adrenaline rush as you progress further in the nightmare. There may be a few moments of confusion, but this one’s for the masochists out there who are looking for something to really immerse themselves in and discover for themselves.

As a diehard Dark Souls fan I’ve played nearly every soulslike, and none have done it as well as Mortal Shell. Not only has Cold Symmetry nailed the fundamentals, but they’ve added their own spin to the formula without being coy about their influences. Mortal Shell is the only copycat that can stand toe-to-toe with FromSoft’s own work, and although it’s considerably shorter than their offerings, it’s no less beautiful, haunting and rewarding.

Mortal Shell shines brightly as an example of the Souls formula done well. Anyone who is a fan of the challenging gameplay the genre is known for will be happy with this title.

Mortal Shell boasts refreshing mechanics that eschew the Souls-like subgenre's tried-and-tested methods. Though a bit on the short side, it oozes bone-crunching, stylish combat, and its performance is superbly optimized. Simply put, Mortal Shell manages to exceed all expectations.

With a haunting and beautiful world as a backdrop to a solid “Souls-like” RPG, Mortal Shell is a much better game than it has any right to be. The magnificent presentation, mixed with the unique take on character progression, steals the show here and despite dying dozens upon dozens of times, I was hooked from the moment that combat started making sense to me.

Mortal Shell succeeds more often than not at capturing the specific feelings intrinsic to Souls-like games. The twists it adds to From-inspired mechanics do well to help this sort of game become more approachable than most, while maintaining the same air of mystery and foreboding that makes the genre itself so intriguing. Mortal Shell makes for a strong introduction to Souls-likes, a demonstration for new players of what so many have found so interesting about From Software's games and those like them. But Mortal Shell is also a lovingly crafted, weird, and deceptively deep game in its own right that rewards you for wandering its twisted paths and challenging its deadliest foes.

Mortal Shell is just an incredibly satisfying experience. It’ll punish you constantly, but if you can master the mechanics it lays out in front of you then you’ll have an incredible time of things. The lore is a little more obvious that in other soulslikes, and the story it tells and the world it puts you in are both rather enthralling. This is definitely a game that fans of dying a lot will enjoy, but it’s probably not for everyone.

For those who long for another Souls-like game, Mortal Shell will scratch an itch for sure. It has core gameplay and concepts that hearken to their inspiration and do well in living up to expectations on that basis. At a surprisingly low release price of £25, those tempted by the visuals and promise of an experience to fill the gap until FROM returns to take another swing at the genre they created would do well to give Mortal Shell their time and money.

Far from being a pretender, Mortal Shell is a sometimes exceptional entry to the genre. Its stumbles are noticeable only because there is so much to enjoy.

Enjoyably tough and esoteric, if a little uneven, Mortal Shell is a decent debut from Cold Symmetry.

Wrapping up, as a big fan of the Dark Souls series, I have to say I am impressed with Mortal Shell. It may not be the most original game of it’s kind but I don’t think it matters when everything is executed so well. I never found myself frustrated with game mechanics feeling wonky and as a fan of the Dark Souls art style I felt right at home during my time with Mortal Shell. If you’re looking for a beautifully crafted, dark and twisted world that quite literally feels like it was made by the team at FromSoftware you need not look further. Mortal Shell has earned a place in my games list as a title I will continue to play and replay, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing speed run and no-hit attempts in the future.

Mortal Shell is an extremely loyal Dark Souls homage with just enough clever new ideas to make fighting through its gorgeous world feel like something more than a rehash.

With graphics that have almost nothing to envy from bigger budget productions, a sufficiently deep and vindictively compelling gameplay that keeps the interest high even for more than one New Game +, Mortal Shell is a great example of a qualitative souls-like game that does not come from the hands of From Software.

Mortal Shell’s gameplay style is what makes it so accessible, as new combat mechanics like shell abilities and harden give players breathing room until they learn. The title is a harsh teacher, however, as death will likely occur. Enemy designs are intriguing and telegraph beautifully. AI reacts beautifully during combat for fluid play. It’s a title that streamlines a lot of the souls experience down to the bare essentials while being refreshing. Veterans of the genre may find the title too short, but may like the unique combat. Whether you’ve played these kinds of titles before or not, Mortal Shell solidifies itself as a serious contender

While it's not perfect, Mortal Shell is nevertheless an impressive snack-sized Soulslike that's fun, polished, and unique, providing an experience that Souls fans will love.

A successful heir to Dark Souls who improves the original concept, but knows its own limitations.

If Dark Souls wasn’t sufficiently dark and difficult, this is just the thing for you. Taking the souls-like genre a step further, Mortal Shell provides a satisfying combat system enveloped in a creatively unique narrative. Well worth the suffering.

Mortal Shell is an enjoyable title for those who are already fans of the SoulsBorne sub-genre, and it has more positives than it has flaws. The swamp hub world is bland and confusing, but the different biomes you eventually reach are gorgeous, even if they're relatively familiar. The lack of a deep leveling system has a very good replacement in the shell system, which ends up providing more versatility in your character build and the attack system. The relatively shorter length makes it great for newcomers, while genre veterans will find it to be a great debut effort from a small development team.

Mortal Shell is an interesting soulslike, affected by some not perfectly developed background ideas, combined with an extremely derivative final product. Certainly intended for lovers of the genre.