A Solid Souls-Like Game

Introduction

Some video games have funding that can rival the combined monthly income of an entire country’s population. Then there are those games developed with a more modest budget that spring out of nowhere and still manage to deliver a pleasant surprise.

For 2020, I was impressed to find Mortal Shell, an indie Souls-like game developed by Cold Symmetry, which managed to grab my attention.

Setting and Plot

You are a Foundling, a newly born fellow who, unluckily enough, came into the world during its end. For the most part, you will be traversing the ruins of Fallgrim, a decrepit land littered with grand temples and undead lute players, while trying to piece together the mystery of what led this place to ruin.

Taking a cue from Dark Souls, Mortal Shell decides to keep quiet over the narrative, hoping we happen to stumble across it by sheer accident. However, unlike Dark Souls, Mortal Shell does not like to divulge any information outside collecting glands for the giant bondage chicken called the Old Prisoner.

Most of the lore can be uncovered by leveling up shells, dead bodies that you can jump into, and by discovering journal entries that happen to be scattered across the game. While I commend Cold Symmetry for using this mechanic, I just wish they made the font a bit bigger to read.

Gameplay and Performance

I always considered Soul-like games to be the gaming equivalent of getting decked in the face repeatedly and loving every second of it. That tough love level of challenge expressed by these games is hard to pull off, filled with checks and balances to give players a feeling of flow and satisfaction when they get something right. Thankfully, for the most part, Cold-Symmetry mostly nails the experience with Mortal Shell.

The Souls-Like Checkpoint System

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last ten years or have only recently dived into the world of video games, then you are probably familiar with Souls-Like video games. Mortal Shell follows a similar template to the FromSoftware’s flagship series, Dark Souls but still manages to differentiate itself nicely from its counterparts.

Mortal Shell still utilises the same checkpoint and experience system, which requires one to collect experience points in the form of tar by defeating enemies. The more tar you have, the more benefits you earn when you want to level up.

The checkpoints in this game are in the form of masked women called sesters, who level your character up and allow you to purchase items with your tar. If you die, you lose all of your tar unless you return to where you kicked it and retrieve what you have lost.

Although this game is a lot smaller than most other games in its genre, the checkpoints require a bit more effort than usual to reach, as Mortal Shell is not afraid to pull its punches and have enemies gang up on you. This results in a lot of heavy maneuvering and careful planning beforehand.

There are many features that distinguish Mortal Shell from its peers. The two most prominent ones being the mechanics.

Shells

Your character is a squishy skeleton-like being who is instantly killed with one attack, yet there is a way to survive this outcome and that is with the use of shells.

The Foundling’s body is as durable as a wet toilet paper roll, so almost any enemy can. To counter this quick and embarrassing faith, you can enter shells, dead bodies of fallen warriors, who each have their own playstyle and different attributes. Your shells also grant you extra health points and the opportunity to flee once they are destroyed, turning them into the perfect personal meatshields.

My personal favourite Shell is Tiel the Acolyte. Despite finding him very early on in the game, he quickly became my go-to character to use, thanks to his high speed, invincibility frames, and poison absorption.

Defense mechanics

The progression system is different from most Souls-like games; you don’t have to level up your character per se, but the shells you inhabit. The more you upgrade your shell, the more abilities you earn, and the more background you learn about the body you are possessing.

Outside of shells, Mortal Shell also has another unique mechanic called harden, which allows the player to turn to stone as a means of defense against enemy attacks and high falls.

I often used it to break my opponent’s momentum, leaving them confused before going in for the kill. However, I have to admit there were some moments where they would stare at me from a distance while I remained frozen in place like an idiot.

Harden is not the only defensive technique, as one can also parry enemy attacks before getting in a powerful strike. Parrying opens up many different doors in battles, depending on what equipment you have selected at the time.

One can use it to heal one’s self after attacking an enemy, for crowd control by blasting aside multiple adversaries, or by dealing an acceptable amount of damage on a single target. Parrying is one of the hardest mechanics to master, but it is probably the most versatile ability at your disposal, especially during boss fights.

Boss Fights

Speaking of the big bad bosses, Mortal Shell has quite the modest gallery with 11 of these adversaries to handle. There are four main areas, and each of them has its own unique boss waiting at the end for the player. These bosses really push you to think outside the box and force you to hone your skills before taking them on.

Graphics and Presentation

At a glance, one could easily mistake Mortal Shell for one of FromSoftware’s older Souls entries in terms of presentation. However, the levels look empty and don’t quite lend themselves to environmental storytelling as much as the Souls franchise does.

In terms of accessibility, Mortal Shell’s tiny font size makes it impossible for us shortsighted folks to read anything without sitting ridiculously close to the screen.

Conclusion

Outside of a few problems regarding text, I did not find anything inherently wrong with this game. Mortal Shell’s gameplay is like a love letter to FromSoftware’s Dark Souls franchise but does enough with the mechanics to keep the game distinct from its contemporaries.

Mortal Shell is a lot shorter of an experience than other Soul-Like games, as it only clocks in at around 20 hours at most. If you are a fan of this genre but don’t have a lot of time on your hands to play, then I would suggest giving this game a try.