These four Shells will protect you in various ways, and even take a mortal hit for you when you receive a fatal blow, giving you a few precious seconds to scramble back inside the Shell for one more attempt before you die and end up back at your most recently held checkpoint, lacking the Tar you’ve collected along the way. The upgrades do help in the grand scheme of things, boosting the main traits of each Shell, but these characters never truly feel like they are yours. Builds are a big part of the Dark Souls series, so there isn’t as much of a character investment here when it comes to what you want from your Shell and what you can build towards. This essentially means that you’ll take encounters on via the terms set by those Shells, rather than making builds that favor a variety of different stats working alongside one another. Lastly is Solomon, who is built more around resolve, a meter that is crucial to pulling off some of your more impactful special attacks you get for upgrading your weapons. Eredrim, however is the exact opposite, lacking stamina, but is overfilling with health reserves. Then there is Tiel, a much faster Shell that is heavy on stamina, but weaker when it comes to taking hits. Harros, for example, is your starting shell, a knight who comes to the table with a general balance of health and stamina. They each have their own stats and variables on health, stamina, or resolve. These Shells, who have their own name and history are lifeless bodies you’ll discover as you find them scattered across the opening area. You start the game off as a foundling, a weak, and frail body that while it has the ability and will to fight, will come to rely on Shells that you’ll discover for its survival. The biggest difference between Mortal Shell and most Dark Souls experiences is that there is no character creation or ability to make your character permanently stronger. You’ll do this all while trekking around dark and moody environments, encountering a few but intriguing NPC’s, and deciphering its intentionally vague narrative, reading every piece of lore you come in contact with as you attempt to put together the clues surrounding this mysterious land and the history of the Shells you’ll inhabit. The overall gameplay is almost identical to that of a Souls game as you’ll kill hard-hitting enemies to collect Tar and Glimpses, instead of Souls, to then use those currencies to upgrade your character. That said, it still does have a few issues that do hold it back.Ĭlocking in around 12-15 hours, Mortal Shell does not outstay its welcome. While that may come across as an insult, it’s actually a well-earned compliment, considering the size of the studio and just how polished and fluid this game can be at times. In fact, if you were simply to show most people even just a few seconds of Mortal Shell’s gameplay, you’d be hard-pressed to not have everyone walk away claiming you’ve just shown them footage from one of the few Dark Souls games. While there have been several games across the past few years to emulate Dark Souls, Mortal Shell feels the most similar to Hidetaka Miyazaki's beloved franchise. For a game developed by a small team of just 15 people, it certainly has the promise to be considered one of the better takes on the Souls formula. The dozen or so hours you’ll invest into the game across its gorgeous but few areas are teaming with weighted combat, fierce encounters, and an unforgiving lust for your demise. Mortal Shell, despite being a pretty shameless Dark Souls clone, shouldn’t be overlooked.
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