Six years ago, Cold Symmetry and Playstack released Mortal Shell, a decent but rather sluggish Souls-like game set in an impressive world. With Mortal Shell II, they have now launched a sequel that shows what a true sequel should look like.
In Mortal Shell II, players take on the role of the Harbinger, a character tasked with reclaiming the Undermether's stolen eggs from the clutches of grotesque and dangerous creatures. This Souls-like game is set in a dark and atmospheric world. Compared to its predecessor, which had many promising elements, it has improved significantly. The most notable change is the removal of the stamina bar. Attacks and dodges can now be performed indefinitely, resulting in more aggressive, fluid and action-packed gameplay. This makes the combat system feel much more agile than in the first game, which was often criticised for being “sluggish”. Consequently, the combat pace is fast and fierce, bearing a closer resemblance to character-based action games. However, the focus has shifted to Resolve: melee hits build up this resource. Resolve can then be used for powerful Shell abilities and shots from the ranged weapon. Thus, the game rewards aggressive combat rather than passive waiting.
Mortal Shell II (Cold Symmetry and Playstack)
In the first game, the central defensive mechanic was Hardening: players could harden at the right moment to deflect an attack. Mortal Shell II builds on this to create a more versatile system. Depending on their shell and equipment, players can now adopt different defensive strategies, such as classic blocking, powerful parrying or simply continuing to use Hardening. The idea is to make the defensive system better suited to each player's personal build and play style. Incidentally: There are now eight playable Shells available to discover as players explore, compared to four in the previous game. Once discovered, each Shell can be awakened and possessed, unlocking its innate strengths and unique abilities, which function as classes with their own skills. Players can develop their own combat style.
Each shell has fixed attributes and its own skill trees. Players can easily switch 'classes' by swapping shells (not everywhere, but at the Beacons or in the Hub), which also allows for much greater flexibility in combat. When the health bar is depleted for the first time, the player is ejected from the shell, time briefly freezes and they end up in a vulnerable state. If they manage to get back into the shell, they are fully healed. However, if players die outside the shell or are ejected a second time, they die. This mechanic already existed in the first game, but in this one there are fairer invincibility phases after the first knockout.
Yes, the game is challenging, but players have more options for combining defensive and offensive abilities, as well as using additional equipment systems, such as modular and special seals. These provide in-game options to increase or decrease the difficulty level in Mortal Shell 2. One such item is the Slayer Seal. Obtained early on in the Marrow Keep, this item allows players to power up and significantly ease the challenge, but this reduces playtime and disables achievements. The opposite is Night Mode, which is unlocked after finding the Gloombound Flame. Night Mode increases the difficulty and rewards, and unlocks unique content that isn't available during the day. Last but not least is the New Game Plus mode. This mode is available after completing the game and scales enemy damage and HP while allowing players to keep their Shells and equipment.
Mortal Shell II (Cold Symmetry and Playstack)
This standalone sequel features a handcrafted, interconnected open world. "Expansive yet deliberately compact, it's designed to respect the player's time," the developers promise. The game is expected to offer 30–40 hours of gameplay. While the first game relied on linear levels, the second instalment places greater emphasis on free exploration of an interconnected, compact open world featuring over 80 dungeons that serve as challenging trials. On top of this, the world and enemy designs are impressive, creative and bizarre.
Mortal Shell II was developed by Cold Symmetry, an independent game studio founded in 2017 by four developers who left AAA game development to pursue their own creative vision. Their debut title, Mortal Shell, was released in August 2020 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, and in March 2021 as an enhanced edition. It has sold more than two million copies worldwide. The studio now has 30 members of staff.
The publisher is Playstack, which is based in the United Kingdom. This premium indie game publisher is behind hits such as Balatro, Abiotic Factor, and Unbeatable.
Mortal Shell II (Cold Symmetry and Playstack)
Mortal Shell II is available digitally for $49.99 in the US, €49.99 in Europe and £39.99 in the UK. The Devout Edition is available for $59.99 (£47.99/€59.99) digitally. This digital deluxe version comes with eight Obsidian Shell skins and provides access up to 72 hours before the general release via the Advanced Access programme on Steam, PS5 and Xbox. The game also launched on 20 August in physical disc format on PS5.
Mortal Shell II is a significant improvement on its predecessor, particularly with regard to its aggressive combat system and variety of character builds, as well as its consistently cohesive art style.
