Mortal Shell II

Mortal Shell 2’s expansion into a large scale action-RPG is mostly successful, and all of its new ideas are great ones.

Mortal Shell 2 constantly surprised me, whether it was the mechanics behind a newly discovered Shell, the layered improvements to combat, a bulbous monstrosity of a boss fight that was more mouth than anything else, or the ways you can tinker with a build and make it wholly your own.

Mortal Shell 2 grows in stature and self-assurance from the first game, establishing itself as an excellent Soulslike with a rhythm of its own.

Mortal Shell 2 is one of the best follow-up sequels to a game in a long time. It expands upon every single aspect of the first game, twists deeper into its metal roots, and hammers out the dents of the original title while retaining the same brutal, unforgiving gameplay Soulslike fanatics have come to masochistically enjoy. Mortal Shell 2 slays.

Both frustrating and intriguing all the same, Mortal Shell II vastly improves on the original title with a world filled with secret dungeons about while routinely kicking the player's teeth in without mercy.

Mortal Shell II tries some new things while looking and running beautiful.

Mortal Shell 2 is an impressive Soulslike that improves on its predecessor in nearly every way, even with a few rough edges to work around.

Mortal Shell II is a fun and action-packed Souls-like RPG, and in terms of gameplay and battles it's a delight. It's just a shame that the style, visuals, and overall aesthetic aren't nearly as impressive.

I genuinely didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I have. It’s still a Soulslike, which means it is still going to make me angry, still going to kill me repeatedly and still going to make me question why I’m voluntarily doing this to myself. But unlike some Soulslikes, I actually want to keep going. It takes the formula, removes some of the things that make it unnecessarily frustrating, adds its own ideas and delivers one hell of a sequel. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a boss waiting to kick my arse again.

Mortal Shell II is everything fans of the soulslike genre should be looking for. Its world is a beautifully depressing homage to a bygone era of fairy tales and medieval fantasies, while its brutal combat will have you scrambling for a moment of peace between fights. I truly believe they have accomplished something great here, and I can’t wait to see what Cold Symmetry has up their sleeve in the next installment of the series.