Weapons in Mortal Shell have that distinct Dark Souls feel to them, with each having their own unique attack animations and heft that make each feel unique to use in combat. The combat in Mortal Shell should be very familiar to Dark Souls aficionados, balancing a mixture of attacks, blocks, parries and dodges to defeat the enemies found throughout the game. Combat In Mortal Shell Adheres Close To Dark Souls With Some Unique Changes These different shells in Mortal Shell don’t make any of the enemies in the game any less difficult in terms of threat, but they do equip players with their desired character build to take on the challenges ahead.
There’s a shell with an increased health pool (Eredrim, the Venerable) to tank through enemy attacks, one with increased stamina and lower base health (Tiel, the Acolyte) for those confident in their dodges and fast strikes, and more balanced options (Solomon, the Scholar) that find a good middle ground for combat encounters. To help players deal with Mortal Shell’s difficulty, Cold Symmetry has included a number of different “shells” that the Foundling can inhabit with different stats that fit specific playstyles and can be leveled up using the Tar dropped from defeated enemies in Dark Souls fashion. Dwindling health supplies combined with the game’s sparse save points creates another level of difficulty to Mortal Shell all too familiar to Dark Souls fans. While Dark Souls’ Estus Flasks can be refilled at any bonfire, Mortal Shell players have to collect mushrooms and different food items like baguettes and roasted rats to be consumed that don’t refill at save points. Boss fights in particular maintain the high levels of toughness Dark Souls is known for, asking players to put all of their skills to the test to defeat the imposing enemy before them.Ĭombat encounters are made even more difficult because of the rarity of health items scattered around Mortal Shell’s world. Standard foes can destroy the Foundling’s health bar within a couple hits, meaning players have to tactically assess every combat situation carefully or risk restarting at the nearest checkpoint. A game isn’t truly considered a Soulslike if the difficulty isn’t ramped up, and Mortal Shell checks that box easily when it comes to all types of enemies.
Mortal Shell adheres fairly close to the Dark Souls formula with slight deviations to keep things fresh, starting with the general difficulty of the title. Mortal Shell & Dark Souls: Difficulty & Shells Help Face Enemies With all of the newfound attention on the title, it might be helpful for some to know just how alike Mortal Shell is to the Dark Souls franchise.
It’s also heavily rumored that Mortal Shell will be one of the PlayStation Plus games for December, meaning that even more players will be getting their hands on the Soulslike and playing it for themselves. Many Xbox Game Pass subscribers are likely to be trying out Mortal Shell in the coming days, as the Enhanced Edition of the game was added to the service on November 23. Related: Dark Souls & Mortal Shell: All Similarities (& Differences) Explained Cold Symmetry itself admitted that the core team of 4 developers working on Mortal Shell drew heavy inspiration from FromSoftware’s popular series, and reviews following the game’s release confirmed that the title was a trimmed-down Dark Souls-esque experience. When Mortal Shell was first announced in April 2020, many were quick to point out the similarities between the title and the Dark Souls series. Outside of FromSoftware’s stand-alone titles Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, no game has come as close to replicating the Dark Souls experience like Mortal Shell. Both Nioh and The Surge stand out as popular Soulslike titles released in recent years, and even this year’s Kena: Bridge of Spirits hides some Soulslike difficulty under its Pixar-animated aesthetic.
The popularity of the Dark Souls franchise has spawned a sub-genre of games called "Soulslikes," with many developers attempting to pay homage to FromSoftware’s games by replicating the challenge of the series in new trappings.
Mortal Shell was released last year as the inaugural game from developer Cold Symmetry, and some players are wondering how similar the game is to Dark Souls.