![]() ![]() Hardening in Mortal Shell doesn’t mean you’re going to grow a majestic beard and play for the Houston Rockets. Still, Cold Symmetry decided to put a refreshing spin on things via the “Hardening” mechanic. You’ve got hard-hitting, bone-crunching melee combat, unbelievably deadly foes, perfectly-timed dodge rolls for those sweet iFrames, and high-risk, high-reward parrying. Mortal Shell does follow a combat system that many Souls veterans would be familiar with. In a way, it makes this subgenre, known for egregious difficulty, more accessible to newcomers. It’s streamlined which means less room for error (i.e., poor stat allocations) and you simply need to focus on the action at hand. It’s a refreshing take on the usual Souls-like progression system. The resources you earn let you acquire new perks for your favorite shell, turning it into a powerhouse. The third shell specializes in the “Hardening” mechanic and the last one focuses on resolve abilities (more on these concepts later). ![]() Conversely, Eredrim the Venerable (an armor set that makes you look like a Bretonnian knight from Warhammer Fantasy Battles), provides a huge health pool, though the Foundling will probably be exhausted after you do a single dodge roll. Each shell, named after its previous owner, has unique abilities, perks, stat lines, and specializations.Ī shell called Tiel the Acolyte (which looks like an assassin’s attire) has ridiculously high stamina for dodging and sprinting, but it has very low HP. They’re the titular “shells” or empty armor pieces left behind by fallen champions. Instead, it gives you pre-determined “classes.” Now, these classes aren’t just menu selections. Mortal Shell eschews the traditional RPG progression of stats and builds. Where it succeeds, however, is the action. The story, simply put, isn’t the game’s core strength. Developer Cold Symmetry didn’t change how the narrative is presented in a subgenre that’s known for smatterings of clues and inscriptions that vaguely resemble a plot.īasically, your character, the Foundling, is (probably) stuck in limbo and he wishes to “ascend.” There’s an air of mystery surrounding this land, and you’ll need to survive to uncover its secrets. If you’ve played the Dark Souls titles or any other Souls-like, you’ll know that every NPC is bizarre, strange, or talking in cryptic riddles. ![]() Mortal Shell‘s story is something that did make me zone out. Yes, I think I just saw Mortal Shell‘s “joke ending.” Within that first hour, I was already hooked. Then, I was suddenly jolted when the end credits popped up. The character told me about living the bandit’s life, and I was treated to a cutscene showing the desolate Fallgrim region and some brigands (those aggressive campers) being surrounded by fiendish creatures. Within the first hour of playing Mortal Shell, I battled some aggressive campers, spoke with a giant frog, met a strange “sester,” got caught in a bear trap, saw a scary-looking, plague doctor-esque bird monster, and I ended up becoming “best friends forever” with an NPC who plays the lute.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |