Cold Symmetry is all in on Mortal Shell.
The developer, with no fixed address, made up of veterans from across the globe, has spent close to 10 years building Mortal Shell and its new sequel into the ultimate love letter to the soulslike.
I remember appreciating Mortal Shell for what it was back exactly six years ago, but felt it was a little too close to trying for the full, punishing experience without the polish.
I am happy to report that Mortal Shell 2 offers a sophomore study in exactly how you take feedback and make your second outing everything you need it to be.
Mortal Shell 2 Is More Of What You Love
It is important to note, first off, that Mortal Shell 2 tells a standalone story, so you don’t have to come to this experience having beaten —or having tried to beat the first game.
Instead, the game leans into the idea of putting you into the body of a humanoid species that has an innate ability to control shells of dead warriors by taking on their stats and abilities.
From there, the story is pretty standard soulslike fare—with enough personality to make it feel unique.
Simply put, a celestial being called Undermether crashes down from the heavens and becomes worshiped as a goddess.
She provides prosperity to this race of beings by giving freely of her body as resources, which is totally weird, but it’s such a video game trope, isn’t it? (looking at you, Xenoblade.)
Oh, and she has given up some of her ova, which you will need to return to the faithful.
You play as The Harbinger, who the Mether has tasked with returning as many of the missing ova as you can.
For those who don’t have a dictionary near them, Ova is the plural form of female reproductive eggs. Yeah, Soulslike games are always so intense when it comes to stories, aren’t they?
It’s a story that is weird, wicked and wonderfully soulslike.
Oh, and move over, Owl from The Legend of Zelda, because you also have a guide bird here — in the form of a massive skeletal creature hiding in the Halloween costume of a raven.
Meanwhile, there are still several really interesting personality and lore bits to each of the game’s shells that will hopefully let you vibe with different shells’ stories and their skills.
The fantastic part of shells now is that you can collect them as you see fit.
You’ll get a couple of them shown on the map with each major milestone you surpass.
And while you won’t exactly know who they are or what they bestow upon you, finding them will give you a new shell outfitted with a fantastic weapon and a new ability.
Proxima hooks enemies in to pull at a distance, while Tiel gets close and stabs with stealth.
All of these things are suitably strange and vaguely religious, but the story is there for those who want it.
A Mortal Trade-Off
Unlike the original — and a lot of other soulslike games — there’s an easy mode here that is selected early by equipping an item called the “Slayer’s Seal.” Likewise, there is an early extreme difficulty mode.
If you choose to make things a lot easier, it comes at the trade-off cost of locking achievements. This inherently isn’t a brand-new concept for players looking for less punishment; however, it is still controversial.
Mortal Shell 2 also grants several quality-of-life upgrades and difficulty balances that aren’t reductive, such as aim assist for firearms, target snapping for nearby enemies, off-screen enemy location highlighting and a toggle for aiming, as well as for parrying.
Mortal Shell 2 seems much more content to meet you where you are, though it still punishes by quickly upping the difficulty for those who opt for the “untarnished experience.”
A snappier combat shell
One of the main problems I personally had with Mortal Shell is that it felt like it demanded perfection in its combat, while also having a fair amount of the first game’s jank.
I am happy to say there appears to be much more balance in combat here.
The ability to turn on assists makes combat feel more fair.
Meanwhile, shells and items — which you can stack both actively and passively now — make challenges feel more personal to approach.
Gloom is the new Tar, and those who want to lessen the challenge will find it much easier to farm the new currency now.
I, for one, really appreciate it as an upgraded resource—it lets me feel more in control of my situation, focusing on the shells I like while forgoing those I don’t.
Purists may find there is too much Gloom up for grabs here, and to them, I say there is a perfectly good cliff to fall off of and lose it all.
The world is bigger than just a shell.
One thing that Editor-in-Chief Bobby Pashalidis felt when reviewing the first game is that it was a small world that didn’t really feel dissimilar.
And with a bigger budget and team this time around, Cold Symmetry really wanted to change that by making a world that feels just as macabre as the first game, but with more depth to keep you invested.
Still, a lot of it is grey and beige Lovecraftian locales with jagged, exaggerated elements that feel forgettable.
Though I will say now and then, the world invites you to slow down and take a look out at its vastness, or to feel closed in upon and cold in a dark cave where you are surrounded by things you need to kill before they kill you.
In terms of audio, NPCs are mainly voiced now, and there is a much larger mix of sound and music now that benefits from being binaural.
This is a game that’s all the richer for hearing a warm torch crackle in the ear it’s closest to, or for hearing danger to either side of you.
Verdict
Mortal Shell 2 is really the perfect example of what a studio can do when given another opportunity to do so. Cold Symmetry has spent nearly a decade growing around one game, and now its sequel, and the result is a much larger, more polished experience that turns good into great.
Some will say not enough is different here, since it is still a single soulslike that leans heavily into its defining feature: Shells. Time has been spent balancing fairness and challenge—making for a game that is fairer and more punishing. This dedication to being playable by more people is what makes Mortal Shell 2 stand out.
Mortal Shell 2 is really just the same shell with a new body of work inside it, and I have a feeling that is going to be just fine.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PC
