Mortal Shell Review

Since Dark Souls was released in 2011, there has been a legion of imitator games. Indeed, the popularity of this genre has led to the creation of a new name for them. Similar titles are now known as Soulslike and have several consistent elements. These include incredibly difficult gameplay, a mysterious story that players discover for themselves, along with slow and careful gameplay. Mortal Shell is the latest example of this trend.

Developer Cold Symmetry hasn’t even tried to hide the fact that Mortal Shell is heavily inspired by Dark Souls. But that means the title has a lot to live up to. You cannot make such remarks without inviting comparisons from critics and players. Fortunately, Mortal Shell is more right than wrong. But that doesn’t mean it’s quite up to FromSoftware’s game standards.

History

What players will immediately discover when playing Mortal Shell is that there isn’t much of a story. At least, there is no story in the traditional sense. You simply step out of what looks like a swamp and emerge into the world. From the opening moments, you won’t have a real idea of ​​who you are and what your purpose is. Instead, Mortal Shell throws you into the action immediately and wastes no time explaining these kinds of details. The few clues that are revealed come from NPC observations or item descriptions.

The general idea, however, is that you are a ghost being known as a foundling. To interact with the word, this foundling must possess the bodies of fallen warriors. These corpses become the shells of your spirit, allowing you to advance. But the narrative isn’t going anywhere exciting. The tradition is largely left unexplored with just a few curiosities to discover. While Dark Souls and other Soulslike games take a similar approach, Mortal Shell goes a little too far. There simply isn’t enough in the story to keep you interested in the plot.