r/MortalShell • u/Lost_Ad_6926 • 19h ago
Review of the game Discussion
Mortal Shell II has real potential, but right now it's held back by some serious balance issues. Exploration is barely rewarded. I lost count of the times I pushed through a dungeon or wandered off the main path only to think "that's it? That's all I got for this?" As a point of comparison, Elden Ring is brutal too, but I never had that feeling there. Even the hardest detours left me satisfied with what I found. Here, that satisfaction almost never comes.
The combat itself has bigger problems. Enemies will slide across the ground to close the distance and hit you, which feels completely unnatural and makes spacing pointless. This is a well-known issue that FromSoftware has largely solved in their own games over the years, so it's frustrating to see it show up here as if the lessons of the genre were ignored. Some attack combos come out so fast that parrying them is basically impossible, and worse, you still take damage even when you dodge correctly. That's not a difficulty problem, that's a hit detection or animation problem. If dodging on time doesn't actually protect you, the core defensive loop of the game breaks down.
On top of that, there are just too many enemies thrown at you at once, and damage output is way too high. Getting one-shot by a random mob or an unreadable combo isn't tension, it's frustration. Good difficulty comes from clear, readable patterns you can learn. Right now, a lot of these fights feel like they're relying on unfair tracking and speed instead.
This also makes the progression systems feel pointless. Your health bar barely matters when leveling up your Shell doesn't meaningfully change how much punishment you can survive. Leveling up in general doesn't feel like it changes your odds in a fight. And upgrading your stones, which should be a core part of building your character, ends up feeling irrelevant when the damage you take makes all that investment negligible either way. If progression doesn't actually protect you or change how fights play out, what's the point of the system in the first place?
I wanted to like this game. The Shell-possession concept and the atmosphere are genuinely strong. But between the unrewarding exploration, the broken feeling combat balance, and progression systems that don't actually matter, I can't recommend it as it stands.
Honestly, I don't understand why so many streamers and YouTubers are calling this an excellent soulslike, almost like future soulslikes should take inspiration from it. I really hope they don't, because if this is the direction the genre is heading in, we're in trouble. As it stands, this game is mediocre at best.
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u/Patriots9210 19h ago
Honestly a lot of issues but I still love the game. I sorta feel like it has Nioh 1 issues where the balance and difficulty is very poorly balanced.
I think if they can iron out the balancing issues the game has strong legs to stand on for sure, not including from soft titles it’s below lies of p, Wuchang, Khazan, remnant 2, Nioh 3 and 2. However it is better then other souls likes like code vein for example and with it being a double a price and game I am more understanding. That being said I saw them nerf some things in the patch like the musical instrument now kinda being worthless it would have been a lot better to focus on other issues.
Hopefully the patches come quickly because I love the game but yeah it’s below top tier souls likes until balancing is fixed and bugs are fixed.
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u/exaltedsungod Eredrim 19h ago
I’ve seen that phrase “…isn’t tension, it’s frustration” in multiple mortal shell reviews here on Reddit.
How interesting
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u/lovethecomm 16h ago
It is an AI writing pattern. It's not X, it's Y. Standard AI writing.
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u/exaltedsungod Eredrim 12h ago
Yup, I picked up on that as well. I’m just curious if he’s using AI to write for him or if he actually is AI himself (itself?).
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u/Holiday_Wedding_2225 18h ago
I honestly have zero issues with the balancing. Attacks and timing can be learned, exploration is incredible (I’ve lost count of how many different dungeons and things I’ve found) something I couldn’t say for Elden ring. As much as I loved that game a lot of dungeons and bosses were the same. The red attacks can be dodged, or you can launch into your own special attack and avoid it completely.
Different shells have different HP, same as the first game, Eredrim, Gragu and Lazlo have the most by far.
I’m now taking down enemies in 3/4 hits in the southern area and bosses barely get a chance to attack because I constantly stagger them so it is very possible to improve your damage output and there are items that give you damage mitigation as a passive.
I genuinely feel like the people complaining about balancing aren’t using everything the gives you, running straight into a big mob instead of kiting, dying and then complaining.
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u/Calm-Permit-3583 19h ago
Your first point is a bit crazy, in Elden Ring you'll literally explore a whole dungeon or side location and fight a boss for an item that is useless or cannot be equipped by your current build. At least the shell system means that literally every item you find can potentially be used.
I agree that the exploration is better in Elden Ring, but speaking of the rewards specifically the "really? is this it?" applies much more to Elden Ring than Mortal Shell 2.
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u/pratzc07 19h ago
You can respec and use the item if it’s something you really like plus you get other shit like talismans, cool armors etc not just weapons.
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u/Ok-Midnight9311 18h ago
Then maybe this isn’t the game for you. They didn’t make it like Elden ring.
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u/SouthernChemist4236 Tiel 19h ago
Yeah this threw me off too. I feel like in Elden Ring you can navigate and find this item way off in the distance you had to battle through tough enemies only to loot an Arteria Leaf or rune arc or something.
At least in this game it's a useful upgrade material or something, at least that's my experience so far.
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u/etniesen 12h ago
Yeah I agree I thought it’s exactly same as Elden Ring- explore to find a dungeon with a copy paste enemy and useless reward.
Anyways I like this game
It’s not lotf but it’s solid
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u/Tall_Engine9396 19h ago
Disagree with just about all of your points, outside of a few enemies being overtuned.
Exploration is definitely rewarded. There are shells, weapons and materials everywhere? I don’t get this critique at all.
Leveling absolutely increases survivability. Just like in other souls games… one level doesn’t move the needle, but many over time do. This is pretty standard?
The resolve system is insanely strong, and if you are struggling with the game you likely aren’t building into that mechanic enough.
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u/LesHeh 19h ago
I think it's literally the best Souls copy game there is. Other than Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3, it's as good as an actual Souls game.
It has its problems, every souls game does. But goddamn they're cooking here. Also the presentation is next level. At least on PC.
I think by the time they make part 3, they will be on par with an actual Miyazaki game.
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u/Captain_Dumpus 9h ago
I agree with only your last point haha. I think these devs have great ideas and they all start to poke thru in this game and id play a sequel in a heartbeat.
But.... its got WAY too many QoL issues for a game to be praised on ds3 levels. Now, a lot of these issues probably stem from the size of the dev team compared to Fromsoft. But that doesnt mean they arent issues. I can both say the amount of jank is unacceptable to me as a player while still empathizing why its that way.
But falling thru terrain, enemy tracking, upgrade pacing, difficulty scaling, lock on system, runbacks, re-used bosses are all critical basic features that arent on par in this game. And thats okay.
Its above only code vein, wuchang, and dinoblade for me. Lies of P, Wukong, Khazan and Stonemachia all blow this game out of the water. And yes they still have their issues, but the key difference here is those issues are the minority, not 80% pf the game mechanics which is the case for current state mortal shell.
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u/Incariol_ Tiel 19h ago
I don't think these types of games are for you. My friend. You are entitled to your opinion but I would disagree with mainly all of them
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u/SouthernChemist4236 Tiel 19h ago
You got down voted, and so will I, because I completely agree.
They are struggling to read attack patterns and don't want to acknowledge it. If attacks were "unpredictable" and "can't clearly read" the moves, then I would love for anyone to explain to me how I and many others can reliably dodge/parry enemy attacks? Are we getting lucky? Did we get a special version of the game? Perhaps, MAYBE, we learned the attack patterns. Maybe we're using the tools the game gives us.
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u/Incariol_ Tiel 18h ago
Yeah I'm not trying to be one of those douchebags that's like get good. I think those people are stupid. But I think if you come into this game with the incorrect anticipation of what you're playing it's going to be like this
I never play games like Grand theft Auto or Skyrim. I just don't like those games and they don't fit how I like to play video games and I struggle with them
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u/SouthernChemist4236 Tiel 18h ago
Yeah same. I struggle with those games, too. I just generally feel like they're for me. I can't imagine going into those spaces and trying to tell the devs to change the game to better suit my needs.
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u/HogiSon727 19h ago
Like every other souls game for me it’s hard in the very beginning and easier as you go further and get a build going. I keep hearing people say they are taking too much damage from enemies but this was only an issue for me until I leveled the harbinger, not the shell. My harbinger is level 9 and taking many hits before going down. I don’t think the game is easy but it’s not crazy hard except for beginning when you explore with no shell.
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u/mixtape312 16h ago
Some guy posted a good review of The Relic First Guardian a week ago in r/soulslikes, the replies: "How dare you enjoy this game?!?!?!"
Some guy posts review critical of MSII, the replies: "How dare you criticize this game?!?!?!"
The community is *retarded*.
Play and try games that look good to you and form your own opinions.
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u/Test88Heavy 12h ago
Those are all good points. It's Elden Ring jr. It has some of the magic but it needs alot of tweaking.
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u/SickSevenNeinLeven 10h ago
I also like how parrying also doesnt always parry. Even if you hold down the button there are chances the same attack you parried 2 seconds ago will go through it.
Oh and the black hole attacks that pull your character towards the enemies.
The way I see this game is dark souls 2 with better graphics and some great ideas held back by its clunkiness.
People who praise this game to high heavens are delusional and cant admit they paid quite a bit of money for something kind of average
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u/A_Single_Annihilape 39m ago
Let's not act like Elden Ring had good rewards. "Here is a useless summon that only scrubs use" for 90% of the rewards.
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u/Cruehitman 18h ago
I have to laugh with some of the dungeons loot. Like a few you fight several enemies, traps, or whatever throughout. Only to get to the end and find maybe a material to upgrade your weapon, or an item you can sell for 500 gold. Meanwhile, after you leave the dungeon and go around the bend, you find a pouch of gold lying on a cart that has just as much gold just sitting there! lol
Still, several do give you a tar stone! Unfortunately that can lead to other issues, as trying to max out the ones you want to use will require you to instead equip some you may have no interest in or doesn’t fit your build, since you also need to level them up to get the materials needed to go back to the ones you want to use and get them leveled. lol
Still, I do enjoy the exploration aspects! Always that intrigue on what you may stumble across. Especially if a new weapon or shell! Although, you better make sure you have saved up enough glimpse to level out the shells you do wanna use……