I wasnāt aware of this game (or the first one), but a friend kept telling me Iād like it and that was accurate. Itās kind of a stripped-down version of the Dark Souls formula, focused mostly on exploration of a well-realized grimdark world.
Bosses that arenāt too hard, or if they are too hard you can run past or away from them and come back when they are no longer too hard.
No stamina meter. You can run and attack all you want.
Various weapons and āshellsā (basically classes that you can switch out like clothes), though so far I havenāt found anything I like better than the starting weapon (Iconoclast, which resembles the Dark Souls Claymore) and the first shell I came across (Proxima).
Occasional reminders that thereās a story.
Occasional surprising gimmicks that are fun to encounter.
The option to choose blocking, parrying, āhardeningā (turning to stone for a second), or a fourth thing that apparently makes the game very easy. (I havenāt tried that one.) I keep the blocking one equipped but I never really use it, relying on dodging when needed instead.
Difficulty sliders such as the ability to switch on a ānight modeā that makes everything a little harder and adds a few more secrets, and an āadaptive difficultyā setting that makes enemies stronger or weaker depending on how often you die. (I havenāt tried this.)
A structure where you never know when a dungeon is going to be like two small rooms or the ruins of a sprawling underground city.
Some rooms that are too dark to see properly, which can be a pain but I refuse to turn up the gamma and make things look washed-out.
No co-op. There are NPC summons, I guess like in Lies of P but simpler, but so far I havenāt used any because they require a resource Iād rather use on other things.
I played the beginning of Mortal Shell 1 at some pointā¦ Maybe it was on PS+ or something. I didnāt get far but I did have more fun with it than I expected to. Store-Brand Dark Souls is exactly what it is, but they did a good enough job with the gameplay feel that itās fun in a similar kind of way. Itās a bit too relentlessly grey for me though.
From what Iāve read, the second game is an improvement over the first one in almost every way. But I canāt say anything about that from experience.
The color palette is drab, kind of like MudRunner (whereas Elden Ring is more along the lines of SnowRunner). Most of the color you get is from fields of (single-hue) flowers when you come across those. But the environments are nice and detailed and I find the depressing slog aesthetic appealing (in both this game and in MudRunner).
A friend bought this for me, and I really canāt see what he loves about it. It is just too derivative for me. Everything about the two hours I played was so boring.
For me I think this is the Dark Souls equivalent to how every so often I play another game along the lines of Super Metroid or Symphony of the Night. Even though thereās no way the clone is going to measure up, I like the variety and sometimes unique character shines through despite blatantly borrowing the framework (as with Lies of P).
This game has grown on me the more Iāve played it. If the opposite happened to you after a couple hours itās probably not going to do anything later to change your mind.
Last night I got a new weapon that I might actually use. Itās called the Axatana and itās basically a Bloodborne trick weapon. But I have the starting weapon fully upgraded now and not enough materials for both so I donāt know when I will make the switch.
The Starved Harridan miniboss is tough. The first time I tried it, it knocked me off a cliff onto a ledge thatās really not supposed to be accessible. Or maybe that exact situation is intentional. I had no choice but to jump off and die, losing a large number of gloom (souls). In this game, you can shoot your lost souls to retrieve them; otherwise it would have been impossible because they were on the little ledge. However, I couldnāt get a shot at them from high above so I had to jump down there again and die in just the right spot so I could shoot them the next time.
I managed to beat this one but two others are stopping me in my tracks (snow and sewer). Fortunately, Elden Ring-style, there are still other places I can go for now.
I got a trophy for discovering all the map pieces, so I must be getting close to the end of the game.
That said, Iāve barely touched night mode and I donāt know how much actual extra content that includes. The one time I tried it I discovered a night-only ādungeonā that was first-person with no fighting, only puzzles.
I finally beat the snow boss after finding a couple new tarstones and getting them to level 3, but then I came across another boss that I found even more difficult (scholar-prince).
Since I was running out of areas to explore and knew Iād probably quit the game if all I had left were difficult bosses (I absolutely do not play Dark Souls-type games for the challenging boss fights), I decided to try the āadaptive difficultyā setting that I guess changes some numbers if you die a lot.
I did die a lot, and I assume it was more that setting than my skill improving that allowed me to eventually get through that fight. Now I have two gate bosses left to go, and whatever comes after that.
I guess I see why some of the negative reviews for this game say that they wanted to give it a good rating but their opinion plummeted when they reached the last few bosses. They particularly say that about the final boss, so I guess thereās that to look forward to.
Reached the final area. I like it, except for the bosses. Those really bring the experience down, just as Iād heard.
Especially the final boss. I donāt know that Iāll be able to beat that one even with the adaptive difficulty setting turned on. I guess thereās one more tool I havenāt used, the āSlayer Sealā (which is supposed to be the gameās easy mode but Iāve never resorted to it).
Thereās a hidden dungeon that has the exact layout of the first level in Doom.
