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Mortal Shell: not bad. Developer Cold Symmetry's debut Soulslike had real style and interesting ideas, plus it was pleasantly short, but some clunkiness and dull levels held it back. Luckily, Cold Symmetry was able to make Mortal Shell 2, an expanded sequel which just dropped an open beta in time for Steam Next Fest, Valve's big demo blowout. At the time of writing, it's the most popular true-blue Soulslike in the event, and based on my limited time with it, Mortal Shell 2 has made some solid upgrades. (Mortal Shell 2 beta rewards and progress transfer explained in depth here.)
Mortal Shell 2 will feel fairly familiar if you played the original. If you're coming to it from other Soulslike action RPGs, such as Lies of P or Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, it may feel incredibly different. The titular shells frame an interesting class system: each comes with its own abilities and bonuses, though there's further room for customization in weapons and upgrades. Combat just has a different heft to it that's hard to compare – somewhere between the original Dark Souls and the modern Lords of the Fallen, perhaps. It's profoundly heavy, but not in a bad way since the game feels adequately built around it. For example: there's no stamina bar, so swing away.
From the jump, the starter knight shell commands weight and crunch, and even as a heavier shell, doesn't have the same clunk that was discussed with the first game. I was still a little iffy on the feel of melee combat until my parry reflexes returned. That first, perfectly timed flash of gold was enough to jolt me right up. I'm also a big fan of the greatsword attack where you club dudes with the hilt.
There's a thick sense of forward aggression here, cleaving through crowds with the expected light and heavy attacks, but weaving in a petrify spell to make enemies vulnerable to stun damage and finisher attacks that fit seamlessly into combos.
Also: a gun! Ranged attacks seem heavily pushed in Mortal Shell 2, and the satisfying chonk of the first gun, a sort of ballista shottie, is a good sign. Maybe the modders were right and Dark Souls really did need a shotgun.
It's pretty impressive to pull off third-person shooting and slashing in a way that flows naturally. Enemy design has a rock-paper-scissors thing going on that encourages you to use whatever attacks certain enemies are weak to, and while this could theoretically limit variety, so far it feels great to chew through enemies while rotating through my arsenal and conserving specific resources.
The main appeal of Mortal Shell 2, for me, was something I can't possibly experience in this limited demo: "more than 60 dungeons," as Cold Symmetry promises. If this game can actually serve up a world worth exploring, I figured I'd be all over it. But after messing around with the combat for a little bit, I kind of just want to hit more dudes, and moreish definitely wasn't a word I busted out for the first Mortal Shell. For a free sample, this is about as good as I could ask.
Years ago, we spoke to the makers of Mortal Shell as part of our develop-led explainer on what defines a Soulslike.
