Mortal Shell

"A great Souls-like with personality, new ideas, amazing battles but with problems in scenario design and world building."

"While it may not stand at the upper echelon of the genre, Mortal Shell is still an enjoyable action-RPG thanks to distinct mechanics and a strong foundation."

"Mortal Shell is an excellent entry in the Souls-like space with some fantastic ideas around character progression and combat, but is unfortunately let down by a health system that discourages exploration and an element of tedium that unnecessarily pads out …"

"Mortal Shell isn&s;t merely "like Dark Souls"; it&s;s a love-letter to From Software&s;s juggernaut series that successfully captures what makes those games special while carving out an identity all its own. It isn&s;t without fault, yet as a freshman effort …"

"While it&s;s not perfect, Mortal Shell is nevertheless an impressive snack-sized Soulslike that&s;s fun, polished, and unique, providing an experience that Souls fans will love."

"Mortal Shell embraces the Souls-like moniker with open arms. They welcomed comparisons, and, for the most part, delivered. What&s;s more impressive is that a team of only 15 people created it. Mortal Shell will make you to rethink your ideas …"

"Mortal Shell might be the best Dark Souls game ever, despite not having any official affiliation with the franchise. What this small team does with a short playtime is nothing short of astounding."

"Mortal Shell is an interesting soulslike, affected by some not perfectly developed background ideas, combined with an extremely derivative final product. Certainly intended for lovers of the genre."

"Wonderfully captures the atmosphere and combat of Souls games, but without enough tools to experiment with and an AI that&s;s easy to abuse, Mortal Shell lacks meat on its bones."

"Mortal Shell is a soulslike that knows how to create the right atmosphere. The combat system is interesting, innovative in some ways, but the game still suffers from some technical problems that can arbitrarily vary the difficulty of the game, …"

"Mortal Shell is a faithful homage to the games that came before it."

"Mortal Shell doesn’t just replicate what other games in the genre have done before. Instead, it takes that formula, sharpens it and adds enough to make it a completely different feeling, but equally satisfying blade. Fallgrim is a world I’d …"

"With beautiful environments and plenty to discover, Mortal Shell is a compelling world to explore. After a steep learning curve, its combat is challenging but fascinating, and with a great sense of reward once you master it. It might be …"

"Mortal Shell is one of the year&s;s biggest gaming surprises, offering a deep, fascinating journey into a melancholic world. It takes blatant inspiration from Dark Souls and Bloodborne,. But innovative tweaks to its combat and progression mechanics let it easily …"

"Mortal Shell is built around a solid foundation with a fun and responsive combat engine propped up by strong visuals. While some obtuse design choices and an uninteresting world holds it back from escaping the moniker of being, “just yet …"

"For the hardcore crowd that’s made it this far, congratulations! You will love this game, no two ways about it. For everyone else, heed my warning: Mortal Shell is just as brutal and beautiful as you’re imagining."

"Mortal Shell is just an incredibly satisfying experience. It&s;ll punish you constantly, but if you can master the mechanics it lays out in front of you then you&s;ll have an incredible time of things. The lore is a little more …"

"Mortal Shell boasts refreshing mechanics that eschew the Souls-like subgenre&s;s tried-and-tested methods. Though a bit on the short side, it oozes bone-crunching, stylish combat, and its performance is superbly optimized. Simply put, Mortal Shell manages to exceed all expectations."

""A lean Dead Souls like title with some very fresh ideas, some old problems but very fun gameplay""

"Mortal Shell is a enjoyable Dark Souls-like, with a few good ideas and a charming dark fantasy world but the execution is clearly not perfect."

"Mortal Shell is a great debut for Cold Symmetry, but it&s;s not a perfect game. It has awesome ideas with the shells, but it is also an opaque world with no clear story."

"Mortal Shell boasts responsive combat and gorgeous visuals, but it&s;s let down by rote level design, poor storytelling, and a general unfinished feel."

"More in line with From Software&s;s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice than a traditional Soulslike, Mortal Shell offers a short and sweet take on the hardcore action RPG formula by focusing the player to harden up and push the offensive in …"

"Mortal Shell is an extremely loyal Dark Souls homage with just enough clever new ideas to make fighting through its gorgeous world feel like something more than a rehash."

"Although as of this writing it is no longer a free download, The Virtuous Cycle is probably an easy to recommend purchase for fans of the base game. The new roguelike game mode is punishing fun (if that’s your thing) …"

"Mortal Shell’s scope ends up being a more significant net gain as it offers a brisk Soulslike experience without trying to overwhelm players with content for content’s sake."

"More attention to the story would have gone a long way, but Mortal Shell is an intriguing adventure, and an accomplished addition to the Soulslike genre."

"Mortal Shell wants you to know that if you like Dark Souls, you don&s;t always have to resort to From Software. A brutal ARPG with good ideas."

"Developer Cold Symmetry&s;s budget action-RPG is a love letter to From Software&s;s work, but Mortal Shell&s;s take on similar ideas feels aimed at those who struggle to get through Soulsborne games."

"Both its world and story are entertaining to investigate, with glimpses of brilliance hidden amidst its gloomy environments and obscure characters. Ultimately, Mortal Shell is not a Souls game, but it is the best not-Souls game I&s;ve played so far."

"Unfortunately, while Mortal Shell has a heart of gold, there are mechanics and core decisions that prevent it from being a truly great entry into these hallowed halls."

"Unfortunately Mortal Shell just feels like a bad Dark Souls game, while I enjoyed it initially, the more I played the more it wore away my enjoyment. The few unique features it has do make the game feel slightly unique …"

"Mortal Shell is an action RPG that uses the sleeve of the soulslike genre to create something unique enough to stand on its own two feet. Though its campaign is short and predictable, the beautiful world, interesting body-swapping mechanics, and …"