Mortal Shell Review | An Extremely Comprehensive Critique and Analysis 

The difference to me between something like Mortal Shell and Lords of the Fallen is that Lords feels like something a room of executives came up with to capitalize on the popularity of a genre, while Mortal Shell feels like a love letter to Dark Souls made by people that play, love, and understand the games. It has those little nuances that feels like its paying homage.

Mortal shell is a perfect example of the benefits of limiting the scope of a game. The game may only have like 4-5 weapons. But that limit allows them to have some of the best weapon animations out of any game I've ever played. Due to the small scope, they were able to polish the absolute fuck of the systems and visuals that are there.

One of my favorite things is to listen to massive retrospectives like these while playing games to unwind. Hope you grow more in the coming years.

I added this game to my library a while back, honestly don't even remember how long ago it was. A few months ago I was randomly looking through my library and the image caught my eye. Then seeing you could download Rotting Christ as music in game REALLY caught my eye. Downloaded it and played it for about 3 hours. Which is a lot for me these days. Wound up finishing it over the next few days, paid for the DLC since I liked it so much. It's a really cool game, obviously it'll appeal to Souls fans, like me. The hardening stuff is awesome, that it decreases viability through subsequent playthroughs, making you rely less on it as a be-all end-all savior is really cool. Just really, really like the game and hope the team makes more stuff, they really outdid themselves and need some serious praise.

Finding another channel full of detailed game analysis is always a joy. Thank you for what you do. It’ll be amazing to binge your stuff. Hope you’ll get the attention you deserve soon.

34:10 I honestly quite liked the back tracking after defeating one of the three main bosses. Not only the ambient became more dark and sinister, but there were alot of sections where I would get jumpscared by ghosts or desfigured humanoid creatures, and it was quite a scary experience.

Perfect timing - Just finished Dark Souils 1 for the first time and have absolutely no idea what any of the other games like it are like. Cheers for the upload!

The game's mechanics are impressive for such a small team, they have talented people. However when it comes to level design, it's hard to love the game. Levels go on for far too long with few checkpoints between them, it becomes a real slog.

You are straight up my new favorite channel. The way you can hold my attention on games that I've never played or even heard of and do it repeatedly is just fantastic! I'm a big big fan of long-form content on RU-vid and I feel like not enough people make that style, so its also super cool that youve decided to! best of luck in the future :)

Saw your Bethesda video in my recommend, loved the video and checked out your channel. You've earned a new sub! Will definitely be looking forward to your videos more as I love your commentary and editing

Blessing us this Sunday with another banger video!

I really hope this dev team keeps making games with this dark fantasy style, because they captured a kind of uncanny eerieness that I don't actually get from Fromsoft. Also they won me over with their silly secret ending where you can just give up the quest and play the lute. 🤭 Oh, and you can pet the merchant's cat. 1000 outta 10, best game ever.

Amazing as always! Was so happy to see this as I sat down for dinner. Thank you for the great content dude

Man, before I knew it, I've Watched All Your Videos! You and This Channel is Really Great! I find myself really compelled to watch hour-long videos lately because of this. These Retrospectives are so full of detail and awesome facts! Happy Holidays to You and Thanks for the Amazing Content! Cheers to another year!

Mate your channel is bloody awesome! I've listened to your videos during night shifts and they're a god send , keep up the good work 👏

brilliant vids mate, you're attention to details screams an actual passion for the products you review as opposed to an attempt at financial success. all the best!

Amazing video, well thought out and up there with the best critiques in the biz...I never tried out the dlc, so will most definitely be jumping back in, I have you to thank for that...🙌

Very, very pleased to have discovered you! I reflexively searched for you on Patreon, but alas! Still, top-notch work. I will be binging your videos in the coming days.

Amazing content as always. The sheer amount of research/knowledge that goes into these videos deserves praise alone! As someone who has never fallen into the souls world (I am trying to, but the sheer commitment is nuts!) - I have to say I am intrigued by this one. The pro's to the game look like they outweigh the cons by far. Excited to give it a go and see what the next lengthy video will be.

Ok, I can only imagine the amount of time it takes to research and write a script to make these videos but you have me hooked now and I need more since I watched all the videos you have available already

I've got this and have hardly played it. But the camera work on the last boss fights with the old prisoner is astounding. Love the movement from the camera haha. It makes the fight seem more visceral.

My god man ever since playing this game i've looked for a good analysis and you are THE first to accomplish this. On top of great analysis you also cover parts of the story i never even thought of, as story analysis on this game is criminally absent. Amazing content, cant wait to watch your other videos

I agree. Sometimes it's best to stick to what works well. Thanks for the in-depth look into Mortal Shell. I'm just starting my exciting journey through and hearing your enthusiasm, makes me look forward to continuing my experience! 👊✌️

Really nice work on this. I haven't played Mortal Shell but this made me actually want to. I had no idea about the roguelike DLC either but that sounds fun.

Mortal Shell is a weird one for me. I've played DS1, 2, and 3 nearly religiously (and a good amount of Bloodborne) thus I picked it up to try and expand my options in this department. After having played it for a while on multiple occasions I'm torn on aspects of it. While I can certainly see why people like major aspects of it (and the level of polish for such a small studio is honestly a triumph in it's own right) this is one of those games where I felt like most aspects either fell short or were very much designed for other people. The game's big commitment to the parry for sustenance basically turned the game into a mushroom farming simulator for most of my playtime as I didn't ever gel with this game's parry in the same way I didn't ever do much gun parry in Bloodborne. The extremely same-y and mazelike opening area also was basically a shot in the knee on trying to progress with the sporadic and slow lore not being enough to really motivate beyond that. The main gameplay gimmick is novel but also very centralizing for a lot of builds I tried which make combat sometimes feel like a glorified game of redlight-greenlight especially when my opponent also could harden. The obvious counter to that, I think, is that blocking and shield turtling is the same in Souls but, honestly I don't really agree. There's nuance in the positioning and movement and you're always doing something even if it isn't super reflex demanding. Because of the big focus on parries and the hardening in this game it feels almost like a double dose of the same mechanic and not as fun or as novel to me as it might have been if hardening was a side feature or if parrying was less important. To round it out, I found the way character designs conflicted with builds (Eredrim's low stamina vs his typically pictured large sword's high stamina cost and his additive damage skill being often better with fast weapons) to be kind of frustrating as when I tried to gravitate to things which the game seemed to suggest and which I thought I might like, they felt like unconsidered non-bos which further reinforced the redlight-greenlight gameplay loop I kept finding myself in. (Even the wiki page for Eredrim rags on using the blade with him as does the only comment.) I will say, the ice upgrade for said sword did make that more fun though as hyper aggressive enemies and strong foes could just take turns with me being unable to move. lol I haven't yet played the Rogue-like aspects of the game so hopefully that will make me like it more, but, despite the obvious charm and polish to aspects of the game, it really feels currently like a game aimed squarely at people who want to play a particular build in a particular game and unfortunately that isn't me for the most part. Apologies for the poorly structured rambling.

A great video my man, super informative for those like myself that have never seen much or any of this game. Can't wait for the next one!

first time on your channel and this feels like a very fair critue of the game, and I love that. there's no many soul-like games out there that it's hard to stand out, and I was a bit hesistant about this one, but everything you've said and shown has really made me interested in it. Thank you!

Great job man. I hope your channel takes off. You speak of polish many times with regards to games, and I feel that I must commend the level of polish you yourself put into your in depth commentaries. I immensely enjoyed your video on Jade Empire as well. Your audio and editing are fantastic, especially for a small channel with only 11 videos. I am subbed and looking forward to your next production, sir.

Another quality video with great storytelling and superb production 🤩

never played mortal shell but have to appreciate the amount of time and effort that clearly goes into making this FREE content, love what you're doing matt, keep at it dude

I found your channel yesterday with the eternal darkness video. Mortal Shell is one of my all time favorites, and you got me clicking on this one immediately.

My initial impression of this game was clouded by the media attention it received, just like you said. It's a reminder to continue to be open minded and curious about games. Thank you and I can't wait to give it a shot! ❤️

super quality videos dude, been listening to them at work and they're great. just bought Jade Empire cause your video, gonna try this one out too I think

Had to stop the video so I could go and play it for myself, the first twenty minutes of your presentation gripped me!

That's an amazing vídeo. I was curious about this game.

I knew the game was good and that it could catch my interest but it wasn't until you mentioned that the DLC adds a roguelike campaign that I had full interest. I'm totally grabbing this for Christmas, roguelikes are literally my one and only drug.

Yet another great video. I just recently finished Dark Souls 3 and got pretty far into Code Vein. Mortal Shell looks like a very interesting change up in the genre that I might give a go in the future. I also completely agree with your philosophy and reasoning for making such a comprehensive video on this game. Small dev teams making something as grand and epic as this game is truly inspiring and something I too hope to see more of in general in the industry.

Loved playing this game on Xbox Game Pass. Rock solid visuals, performance and gameplay! Had so much fun!

Man I really enjoyed this video. Very informative and enlightening, as always! I downloaded Mortal shell about 2 months ago to fill the time until Elden Ring, which I'm sure a lot of other people are trying to do. I started it with absolutely no insight into the differences between it and the Dark souls series, or other Soul likes, and as you accurately mentioned in this video, I found myself struggling with the mechanics in the early game area, and a bit lost in general. This video has completely opened my mind to what the game has to offer, and helped me to understand what makes it tick. I'm now very tempted to jump back into it and give it the time it deserves. The developer really do owe you for this video as I would say by looking at just a few of the other comments, you're helping to sway opinions like mine.

Well written, and a channel to look forward to seeing grow. Cheers.

Great video really liked this type of content

Playing mortal shell is what got me back into souls like games. The only souls game I played before this was the original demon souls which I never finished because of it’s difficultly. Then I got elden ring and I fell back in love with mortal shell even more. This is a game that any souls borne fan shouldn’t miss

I can never forget how they animated the reload animation for the ballista. It was so fucking over the top it was AMAZING

What a masterful review, my man. 👏

You know about The Legend of Dragoon! That makes us kin! Kindred get a sub! I can't enjoy these grim games in these dark times, but I sure admire the artistry. I appreciate the chance to learn from them via videos like this. It's heartening to see fellow first-timers turn out such a strong title. Curious to hear my name in a game. Not sure that's happened before xD. 'Nother banger, bruv. Looking forward to more!

Just found your channel better late then never lol. I absolutely love this game and upon release I beat it 4x, 100% completion with a insane no shell one hit run that was so satisfying after finishing it that way. The DLC introduced later which added Hadern and his amazing axe-katana weapon and the robust rogue like mode introduced were great imo. After watching this & listening to your Alpha Protocol lengthy critique(which I'm currently playing after all these years and is quite enjoyable). I have to say you do fantastic work on this videos & I'll definitely be returning to watch your worthwhile content. Consider me subbed & thanks.

Loved that you showed the clip of Legend of Dragoon next to ff7, Dragoon was a masterpiece building off of the final fantasy formula. There is definitely nothing wrong with sticking to a successful formula as long as you can make a properly good experience for the player that is just unique enough to not be a direct copy paste

Amazing video, I had never even heard of Mortal Shell before this and now I feel like an expert lmao

Wow I watched this video and listened to the last half hour while driving and when I got home and checked my phone I see it only has 22k views! With this content I have no idea how you only have 11k subs but you definitely got another one.

“Fresh as a frozen pizza” ....slow clap. That is damn witty! I’m so happy I subscribed and going through all your vids

Well done mate. Thank you kindly for your work! It's an interesting looking game. Kind of missing something I can not wrap my mind about...

Great content man

Have to thank the algorithm gods for finding you. Great video, great channel. Can't wait to see you get the attention you deserve.

This was free on PS Plus and I was on the wall on if I should play it. Thank you for your review!

It is I, random commenter extraordinaire, Brody DeLarge! Remember me when you reach hundreds of thousands of subscribers. I was here when you only had 2,4 thousand. Your content is professionally made and quite enjoyble. Carry on and may you reach a sizable following!

Vitali Bulgarov is a 3D industry icon. He inspires many artists worldwide. There is a great interview by another industry icon Raphael Grasetti. The both of them are giants. The interview highly recommended. Look up both their names together to find it.

I like your take on how a short game can be alot of fun and have alot of ups that some people don't get. It's the same reason I really enjoyed the re3 remake being shorter cause it really helped me platinum the game and enjoy replaying the game over and over again even if I wouldn't have minded having the un carried over parts of the original re3 game remade.

Gr8 vid bro! U earned urself a new sub. 🤘🏼

I love Mortal Shell cause of the aesthetic and gothic feel of it all. The ambience always fit the mood too.

I always love these reviews, they're such an interesting insight into games and series I've never heard of. Can't wait for the next one!

You are building a great channel. Looking forward to what's next 👍

I’m one of those freaks that discovered the Obsidian form early on and restarted my playthrough to do the rest of the game blind in that mode. Was the first time I ever had to sit down and actually *learn* a boss’ patterns for a few hours. The final boss is what broke me though… his head can damage you while he’s in his falling ‘stun’ animation, and since you only can take one hit in Obsidan mode… Yeah. I got a lot of cheap deaths thrown at me. Punished. …being *too good* at the fight. Eventually I found a speedrun where I was able to loop his animations, and I beat him. But my God… I hated that fight. You might ask, “Why did I subject myself to this on a blind playthrough?” I wanted the two trophies for beating the game in Obsidian mode and going Shell-less at the same time. That’s it. Nothing more. Well… that… and I wanted the perspective.

I “grew out” of Souls-likes. Not because they are immature, I just don’t have the time anymore. Work, kids, wife, etc. doesn’t allow for hours spent on making very little progress. Nioh 2, which I dumped a ton of time into during lockdown, is the soul exception. I could do that one with my eyes closed while my wife’s eyes roll.

when you harden, you can hear the Foundlings gland pulse like a heartbeat, and their are stone men outside the place the foundling emerges

I hadn't even heard of this before clicking, but you've certainly sold me in it, as a fan of Souls who also thinks most AAA games are too long.

50:05 I actually thought that sequence was genuinely effective. Just, fucking imagine having your Siamese twin die, and there's this dead flesh now hanging from your flesh...

Damn! Another insanely good video! And what a game. By far one of, if not THE, most impressive games I've ever played! I did not however, realise that they had released dlc for it, and boy does it look good. Thanks again for another amazing video. I love learning about the people that make these games, especially the sound techs as I feel they don't get the recognition they deserve usually. Doesn't matter how nice your game looks or plays, take away the sound and you've got another boring, soulless game. It's the sound that adds all the atmosphere and without it you can only kinda get what the atmosphere is suppose to be, but bring the music back in and you FEEL the atmosphere. The sound is the final piece of any game that turns it from just another generic title, into a triple A masterpiece. Defo gunna give that DLC a try. I also noticed a shot of Anthem in this video and maybe that's a good idea for another video if you've ever played it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that game, good or bad, as I played it a year after release and was quite impressed with what I got tbh, especially after all the bad press it received. It left me feeling like Anthem just received all the backlash created by Battlefield. I just remember everyone being pissed with Battlefield that year and then overly criticising Anthem for it. I may be wrong and would love to hear how it all really went down from someone who clearly does his research (damn! I'm so lazy! I should probably do this myself but honestly, I'm confident you will do a far better job of it). Anyway, thanks again for these incredible videos! You are a legend!

Nioh and Nioh 2's combat system is so transcendant it breaks free from feeling like dark souls in my opinion.

Nice video matt!

I binged this, the Prince of Persia, and the Lord of the Rings videos in the span of 3 days. Just wanna say I love your stuff!

Your journey towards Souls games was exactly like mine, right down to the Jedi Fallen Order moment of opening up to the genre

Bro your videos should have way more views these are such good reviews. Hard to disagree with your points!

As luck would have it, I found your channel a few weeks ago and been watching your Long forms retrospectives. Just as I get to your first (last on the playlist) game becomes free on Epic. Guess I'll have to play the game now

It's really brilliant that some mechanics naturally become less bothersome over time, in Dark Souls it's a nice challenge in the first half that you have a limited amount of homeward bones and buying them makes a hole in your budget, but past O&S them being finite is just an annoyance, it'd be so cool if the dark sign gradually morphed into an infinite homeward bone.

fully was not expecting to hear atrium carceri. i love his tracks, so cool to see what else he’s doing

If you're after more lengthy retrospectives about the golden age of videos games - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-feCqT1S5pxI.html - it's a full exploration about the history of PARASITE EVE - the most chaotic survival horror franchise ever made. The video covers everything from the novel to the film to the crazed way it burned out. Hope you enjoy!

Wow, what a fantastic video👍

Tiel was my favorite shell. With hammer and chisel as the weapon. It was high risk high reward and I loved it.

I started playing Demons Souls way back when it came out. A friend bought it and showed me the case and a few screenshots and I was already hyped. No map. Medieval dark fantasy. My kinda shit as I'm a huge Berserk fan. The same day I went to his house and we pushed the game thru the night. I remember I forgot to eat, and having to go piss was not good cause I didn't want to loose any moment. We only finished the game on the second day, and what an amazing experience it was. I imediately bought a PS3 and a brand new copy for me, so we could play coop online. I'll never forget how exciting it was. The thing I enjoyed that atmosphere. I remember having feelings of nostalgia, comparing the game with other gems like ICO and Shadow of the colossus. Very aestheticly pleasing. The Lore that felt missing. The atmosphere. It just hitted right on the spot for me. I only had the same feeling again with Bloodborne... and then Mortal Shell. I just felt like I was sad for the bleak decaying world and felt like hopeless and unease all the time. Needless to say I played it endlessly, and fully upgraded all the shells. But I don't say it's as good as the best Fromsoft games: There's still some polishing to be done on the mechanics and movement of the character that i feel need a little more working, some snapping that occurs... but the atmosphere is just so fucking awesome. Way above it "deserves" to be from a indie develper. Now I'm pretty hyped about "Bleak Faith Forsaken". Hope you can do a review on that too when it's time. Happy to find yout channel. Just subscribed. Sorry about the bad english, i'm brazilian. Kudos.

Nice work. I've heard a lot of people write this game off at first glance as a souls wannabe but it's so not the case as this review articulately explains. If only every game review these days was a comprehensive analysis!

It's available on the Switch as well--not sure what's compromised, but it exists for those that only have that option.

honestly, if i wanted to make something like a % or x resource kept mechanic i would make it increase based on something like your number of runs, so its a passive boon that at worst makes the game easier over time, and maby a way to choose to bring some (or all) of said resource with you for a boost, in exchange for the risk of loosing it, or store it up for later to spend it all at once in away that may be better (or just a lesser risk) for you

@23:40 "..you can blow your load on all your heavy attacks, then quickly harden..." First of all: phrasing. Are we not doing phrasing anymore? Secondly: Lmaoool 😂

I was burnt by Lords of the Fallen and convinced that I'd only stick to anything by FromSoft but some of these levels really remind me of dark souls 2 (my personal favourite) so I'll have to keep an eye out for when this is on sale

This is one of those games I've only known the name and nothing else... I NEVER knew it was a "souls-like" and one that's as interesting as it is! Found the new game I'll watch during the weekend, I've never played any of the Souls games but I'm a big fan, listening to their music almost as much as my favorite franchise being Monster Hunter. This is gonna be a great new experience to absorb

If you play the lute next to the merchant, his cat starts head bobbing! Best soulslike!

Good stuff! Checking the video out now and will update with my review later! 3:00 we think the same. I constantly stayed away and my first souls like was mortal shell

I absolutely love this game. Completed it many times and got sucked in lore later on. I always wanted more of it... My top 3 souls likes ever.

I really wasn't expecting an Oasis\Beatles comparison. very fun. ☺

I know this is an older video. But since I haven't seen anyone else mention it. Remnant from the Ashes Swamps Of Corsus DLC adds a survival mode which is a roguelike gamemode.

I enjoy listening to these analysis vids, you definitely have alot of options such as star wars games, Dark souls games. Etc

Nice video my dude

First Souls game I finished was DS3. I remember fighting Nameless King for 2 days straight during covid lockdown. I was on top of the world when I finally beat him. Still the best drugs money can buy.

PSA: you can adjust the volume of the controller speaker and even mute it in the actual PlayStation menus when you hit the ps button. There doesn’t need to be a setting in the game, you can do it globally. Took me a bit to figure this out.

My friend practically forced me to try a dark souls game on her 360 some years back. Unfortunately for her (and maybe even more so for me!) I didn’t really enjoy it and brushed off all souls-likes as being too frustrating and boring for me and never played one again. This video really made me reconsider! Indeed shockingly polished and well done for a studio of a handful of people! I really hope that it inspires more small studios to tackle on projects that historically seem exclusively in the realm of AAA studios as you said. On a personal level, I think I might just try Mortal Shell and let go of the ban I’ve cultivated on these games into adulthood haha! Awesome stuff as always!

Glad to have found you!

got reccomended the panzer dragoon video and binging the channel rn. this shit good

You'd have to turn down your controller speaker to lower the sound of the bell coming from the controller, honestly sucks there's not a way to turn it off in the game settings

What's this? An above hor long video game retrospective? Sheeeeesh sign me up brother.

Dark Souls (at least the first game) is technically a 3D metroid-like. Up until you beat OnS and get the ability to bonfire warp, you're legging across the entire world and the levels connect well with one another with elevators and locked doors