Mortal Shell

One of the projects that aroused our interest in its world and its idea at the beginning of the year is Mortal Shell from the Cold Symmetry development team. This game is an action and RPG game similar to the Souls series that was bold enough to present its own ideas. After our experience with the beta was encouraging, it’s time for us to share it with you… The experience of the game in its full version through this test.

The Story and World Design

The story takes us to a broken and desolate world and puts you in the role of a being capable of carrying the bodies of warriors, hence the name of the game. It’s no wonder that story isn’t an integral part of the experience, which is common in games of this genre. The worlds in Mortal Shell are interesting in their designs and ideas, and we admired the artistic direction and innovation of the development team. The technical level of designing some enemies was inconsistent. Some areas look good and polished, while other areas appear with somewhat blurry graphics and details, which can be annoying at times, especially in the game’s main area, Fallgrim. On the audio level, the game, like many of its similar games, makes do with some custom tunes. There is nothing special about this for boss encounters.

Gameplay and Combat

Speaking of gameplay, Mortal Shell offers the usual control system of moving, running or rolling to avoid attacks, in addition to a button for light and heavy attacks and a button for blocking attacks at the appropriate moments, but the difference is ability to “petrify.” “, since you don’t have the ability to defend yourself with shields, but you transform. Into a stone statue that prevents you from taking damage from enemies’ attacks and paralyzes their movements for a few seconds, giving you a window of opportunity to launch a counterattack. You can also petrify yourself during your attack when the opponent is about to counterattack, which will ruin their attempt, but you must be careful not to use this ability without planning everything. It only takes a few seconds, and If you use it hastily, you may be exposed to fatal blows, as many of the enemies in this game feature speed or long-range attacks that will get you into trouble.

Character Progression and Upgrades

Losing the health bar does not directly mean death, as your character will be eliminated by the warrior you are carrying, and you will then have to return to the warrior’s body before being eliminated, since the main character dies with one hit from the weakest enemy, and You only have one chance to return to your warrior’s body and lose the health bar. The second time means death. If you parry attacks at the last minute, you can perform a special attack that deals additional damage while filling part of your health bar. The game features 4 different warriors, each differing from each other in terms of health bar, stamina or “determination” to perform some special attacks with the weapon used. It is also used for blocking in the final moments. The variety of characters is good and caters to different playstyles, however we see that the game needs some balance in terms of stamina meters as it fills up slowly and also… Some warriors consume them at an irrational rate, which makes playing with them makes annoying.

Weapons and Upgrade System

The game offers 4 weapons that differ in the duration they cover and each weapon offers two different types of special attacks and the variety of weapons is excellent. The upgrade system in the game is somewhat different from similar games as upgrading weapons involves not only increasing their power but also activating their special abilities as you need to find a specific purpose to use these abilities activate. As for warriors, each warrior is distinguished by his skills, as we have already mentioned. To upgrade the Warrior, you must first learn the Warrior’s name by visiting Sester Genessa, who will be your guide on this journey and to whom you pay the currency “Tar” to learn the Warrior’s name, and then begin that Upgrade depends not only on tar, but also on a second currency called Glimpses, a currency that you usually get from defeating strong enemies and can also be obtained through some tools.

Resource Management and Exploration

Unlike other games, you have no specific purpose to replenish the health bar and you have to use the resources that the game world or the merchant Vlas provide you with. The game encourages you to use whatever you find in its world. Each new purpose you receive. You won’t know what its function is unless you use it and whenever you use a particular item you will become more familiar with it and after a certain number of uses that item will become more efficient. Mushrooms, for example, fill the health bar faster, while tar springs give you more of that currency when you use them. This system completely changes your focus on resource usage and keeps you focused on the long run. Be aware of what you have instead of focusing on the number.

Difficulty and Exploration

Speaking of difficulty, Mortal Shell is generally a balanced experience and it can be said that it has a medium difficulty level compared to other games in the genre. The abilities the game offers you, such as petrification and special attacks, will make you ready to face any challenge that stands in your way. Most enemies and even bosses follow a simple attack pattern, and after a confrontation or two with any enemy, you become familiar with the danger the enemy poses and its special attacks. We found the boss confrontations a bit frustrating as they are on The ending didn’t provide the challenge we wanted, but it will be a very fair experience, especially for newbies.

Conclusion

The game does not offer any side areas, but the areas you will visit are complex enough that you will have to spend some time exploring them and looking for secrets. There are also some optional boss encounters that might catch your attention. 14 hours was enough to complete the experience, and the development team has previously stated that it is not due to the length of the games. The other guy who explains why it’s selling at half full price, Mortal Shell offers a new and familiar experience at the same time. It remains It is based on the foundations of games similar to the Souls series, but at the same time presents many of its own ideas that distinguish it from other games of this type. It’s a fun and balanced experience suitable for newbies. You can say that it is a good experience for fans of genre games, but it is not the most challenging or tests your skills.