Mortal Shell
IGDB
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About Mortal Shell
Mortal Shell is a punishing action-RPG that leans heavily into the soulslike formula. Released in 2020 by Cold Symmetry, it drops you into a bleak, decaying world where you play an empty vessel tasked with finding sanctums and defeating bosses. Borrowing from Dark Souls, the game forces you to master precise combat, parries, and positioning. You inherit abilities from fallen warriors’ “Shells,” swapping bodies to access new weapons and playstyles. The non-linear world spans swampy lowlands, a massive obsidian cathedral, and a frozen mountain crypt. With a focus on tactical combat and permadeath stakes, it’s a brutal but rewarding experience for players who relish high difficulty and deep upgrades.
Gameplay
Combat in Mortal Shell is methodical and unforgiving. Each fight demands patience: enemies hit hard, and mistakes can cost you. You’ll spam light attacks, watch for tells, and time parries to land counterstrikes. Possessing Shells adds layers, each grants unique weapon mastery, stat bonuses, and combat styles. The world is open but structured, with interconnected areas that reward backtracking. You’ll spend hours grinding for resources to upgrade weapons, craft acid coatings, or unlock dark magic. Boss battles are the core, requiring memorization of patterns and adaptability. Controls are tight but unpolished, with occasional glitches. Sessions often end with death, but each failure teaches you how to exploit weaknesses in subsequent attempts.
What Players Think
Mortal Shell holds a 73.3/100 on IGDB, with 99 reviews. Community moods lean “Challenging” (82%) and “Atmospheric” (65%), though “Gritty” (48%) and “Frustrating” (33%) also appear. Players average 20, 25 hours, with 62% completing the main story and 38% earning all 36 achievements. Review snippets praise the “harsh but fair difficulty” and “rich upgrade trees” but criticize “slow early-game progression.” A 4-star review on Reddit calls it “a Soulsclone that carves its own niche,” while a 3-star PC Gamer review notes “excellent design buried under repetitive combat loops.” Completionists report 100% requires 60+ hours, with some players abandoning the game after 10 hours due to its steep learning curve.
PlayPile's Take
Mortal Shell is a niche hit for soulslike purists who thrive on punishment and precision. Priced at $29.99, it offers 36 achievements (38% completion rate) and a completionist roadmap stretching 60+ hours. If you enjoy Dark Souls or Senua’s Sacrifice, its relentless difficulty and deep upgrades will satisfy. However, its slow pacing and lack of handholding could frustrate newcomers. Skip if you’re looking for accessibility or fast action. For fans of methodical combat and bleak worlds, it’s worth the grind, but be ready to die often.
Game Modes
Single player
IGDB Rating
73.3
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