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As expected from Epic timed exclusive, even a year after release it's still an unfinished garbage with lousy hitboxes (in a Souls clone...) and enemies popping out of thin air. One day after steam release and it already has mixed reviews despite being dirt cheap. Fucking Swine-ey and his bullshit shitshow are a blight upon PC gaming.
It's extremely disappointing, because it could've been great if there was about four times the content (but then it would also need to be higher quality). If you don't mind that it's a shallow, gimmicky cashgrab, it can be an enjoyable day or three.
I have very mixed feelings about this game after playing for 10h or so, but I think it may be worth playing for the reasons below:
- atmosphere is fantastic
- sound effects are great if you play on headphones (although sometimes the timing is off)
- it's difficult
- it gives you the first Dark Souls feeling: you feel lost, hopeless, frustrated. You don't want to come close to this cave with scary sounds. You don't have enough healing. You have no idea what all those items do. Your weapon doesn't do enough damage, and you don't have any other one, etc.
Go totally blind of you want to experience all of that of course.
- it gives you the first Dark Souls feeling: you feel lost, hopeless, frustrated. You don't want to come close to this cave with scary sounds. You don't have enough healing. You have no idea what all those items do. Your weapon doesn't do enough damage, and you don't have any other one, etc.
Well, yes, initially.
But in Dark Souls, that got better and better over the course of a 40, 50 hour playthrough, and even after that, when you started to try different playstyles, whereas here in Mortal Shell it starts to get worse after just a couple of hours as you begin to notice the shallowness and mediocrity of everything.
That's true, low budget clearly shows: low enemy variety, similar environments, limited weapon and class variety, etc. Still, bought on a discount and with proper expectations (not expecting Dark Souls quality level), I don't regret trying it.
OK, I finished the game. Played slowly, took my time, died a lot in the beginning (mainly in flame temple), but overall game took me 25 hours to finish. This includes some time spent on experimenting with different weapons, shells, etc.
Overall, I liked it - with expectations set properly: taking into account small studio, limited budget and not expecting a game with Dark Souls quality. There are few things game does very well:
+ 'Dark Souls' feeling is stronger in this one than DS2 or DS3. You feel lonely, lost, weak, confused. Nothing is clear. Environment is dangerous and enemies are stronger than you are. Even items have no description. Hope almost lost. Think Valley of Defilement in Demon Souls or Blighttown in first Dark Souls (if you play blind / without any guides, the only proper way)
+ atmosphere and sound design is great
+ combat, while limited to 5 weapons, feels 'heavy' and has nice impact
+ very creative enemy design, both in how they look, and how they behave (mainly in Undead Crypt)
+ shells play differently and have different strengths
+ bosses were pretty distinct from each other, last boss was very satisfying
+ some unexpected surprises here and there
Cons:
- retarded healing system; you need to collect mushrooms that respawn on a timer, if you suck at the game, this creates big problem in the beginning
- main 'hub' area has very little enemy variety
- sometimes hitboxes are strange
- few areas look a little bit empty / unfinished
- weapon upgrades are limited; you need to commit to one for most of the game
- sometimes the game is a big 'fuck you' in terms of difficulty (environments, not bosses)
Overall, I would rate it around 7/10. I liked it more than first Lords of the Fallen (no comparison here), first Surge or Hellpoint. I would give the guys some money for a sequel, assuming they will create a bigger game this time and fix some design decisions (like healing).
OK, I finished the game. Played slowly, took my time, died a lot in the beginning (mainly in flame temple), but overall game took me 25 hours to finish. This includes some time spent on experimenting with different weapons, shells, etc.
Overall, I liked it - with expectations set properly: taking into account small studio, limited budged and not expecting a game with Dark Souls quality. There are few things game does very well:
+ 'Dark Souls' feeling is stronger in this one than DS2 or DS3. You feel lonely, lost, weak, confused. Nothing is clear. Environment is dangerous and enemies are stronger than you are. Even items have no description. Hope almost lost. Think Valley of Defilement in Demon Souls or Blighttown in first Dark Souls (if you play blind / without any guides, the only proper way)
+ atmosphere and sound design is great
+ combat, while limited to 5 weapons, feels 'heavy' and has nice impact
+ very creative enemy design, both in how they look, and how they behave (mainly in Undead Crypt)
+ shells play differently and have different strengths
+ bosses were pretty distinct from each other, last boss was very satisfying
+ some unexpected surprises here and there
Cons:
- retarded healing system; you need to collect mushrooms that respawn on a timer, if you suck at the game, this creates big problem in the beginning
- main 'hub' area has very little enemy variety
- sometimes hitboxes are strange
- few areas look a little bit empty / unfinished
- weapon upgrades are limited; you need to commit to one for most of the game
- sometimes the game is a big 'fuck you' in terms of difficulty (environments, not bosses)
Overall, I would rate it around 7/10. I liked it more than first Lords of the Fallen (no comparison here), first Surge or Hellpoint. I would give the guys some money for a sequel, assuming they will create a bigger game this time and fix some design decisions (like healing).
The healing system by itself isn't a problem, it's just how they decided to disburse the mushrooms. The timer itself is fine. Problem is that there's no alternative besides buying the rats on a stick, but you barely get enough Tar to fully upgrade 1-2 Shells per playthrough that it isn't worth spending Tar on that. I think they could've easily fixed it by increasing the amount of health it recovers at full familiarity or having certain locations spawn more than just 1. They kind of did that by having very few locations spawn 2, but it becomes a hassle later on in the game, especially if you're experimenting with the new shells/weapons or learning enemy attacks.
It's worth getting if you're trying to see an interesting take on a Souls game. But much like how Demon's Souls feels like a rough first draft for what the series became later on, MS itself also feels like that, and I hope these guys get to take another crack at it. I'm a bit mixed with parrying, but I'm all for how the Harden mechanic works in this game if they could learn to make interesting situations where you could use in a really good way if you're skilled enough.
ENCOUNTERS AT SOME POINTS PAINFULLYB REPETIVE YES ENEMY VARIABILITY NO GOOD
YOU COULD EXPLORE QUUTW A BIT AND ACTUALLY HAVE A SENSE OF DANGER AND DICOVERY
THE MAP WAS ACTUALLY DECENT DARK SOULS I RATE AS PERFECT THERE ARE MEMORVBLE LINKS AND OBSTACLES
THIS GAMES MAP WAS JUST HARDER TO LEARB BUT MAYBE IT MADE IT MORE FUN LOLLLLLOL ANYWAYS BETTER THAN THE SURGE TWO WHERE SHORTCUTS SEEMED CONTRIVED AND DIFFICULT TO MEMORIZE IN MAPS THAT LOOKED THE SAME QUITE A BIT
UPGRADE SYSTEM IS OK IT IS OK
YOU START WEAK AND HOPELESS AND CAN MAX POWER A TLEAST ONE BUILD AND WEAPON HALF WAY THROUGH THE GAME OR A LITTLE MORE
I just found out there is a Roguelike expansion to the game, does anyone have any experience with it?
It is going for $10, how much does it extend the game, and how does it compare with the base game?
I just found out there is a Roguelike expansion to the game, does anyone have any experience with it?
It is going for $10, how much does it extend the game, and how does it compare with the base game?
I liked it, played it a lot, have about the same playtime in it as the base game. If you liked vanilla it's worth it imo.
If you go for it read up on the rules first to save some clueless stumbling around. It's also harder than the vanilla so be ready to have your cheeks pulled apart, and least in the first few hours.
This is that game I keep telling myself I'm gonna buy but I never do. Fucker doesn't go on sale at the correct times. It looks like something I'd have a lot of fun with.
Yeah it looks. Problem is that it only looks like that. Game doesn't have almost any content compared to something like DS1 without expansion.
Thing is that this is by far the closest someone got to DS formula. I actually very much like combat system which reminds me of my favorite heavy slower DS1 one. Thing is that i hate their stone mechanic, equipment/classes is pure retardation and game like i said doesn't have almost any content.
I finally bought it. The base game + expansion was only $14 so I said fuck it. I'll probably never play it but atleast I don't have to think about it anymore, lol.
I enjoyed this game's atmosphere and the weighty feel of combat. Game is very non-lineral, which can actually lead to you missing the main hub for a while and therefore not really grasping what your overall goal is. Whether that's a type of design you'll enjoy or not depends on your preference.
The game really is fairly short and could have used a few more areas, enemy types and shells/weapons. But what is there works well and is pretty enjoyable. The game starts off quite challenging, but once you get a feel for the combat animations and the game's harden mechanic it does get way easier. Bosses weren't that challenging to me. Getting to them while combing the area for all items is more of a challenge. I'd say the overall challenge is less than Souls games.
One aspect of the game I really liked is how you don't know what any consumable does until you've consumed it once, and in order to maximize any consumable's effectiveness you have to max out its 'familiarity' by continuing to consume it. You also get extra lore about the item once its maxed out. Would like to see this feature implented in other similar games.
PS: Overall, I'd say that the game is worth getting if you can get it on the cheap. Also, I did not play the rogue-like expansion, so can't comment on that.
Yeah, game's actually great, unless you hate slow/weighty soulslikes like DS2 or LotF.
It's not the most difficult soulslike either so if you find the Nioh or Bloodborne DLCs too easy you won't be pleased. But I found the roguelike DLC p. challenging so at least there's that.
For those of you who would like certain things about the game explained after you've played it, here's a video trying to explain the game's story/lore. And yes, some of these types of lore videos can get pretty damn cringe, but this one is free of any sentimental horseshit.
I could not into this one. Only played for about an hour and seen enough. Everything felt off, combat, movement, etc. Basically the same exact experience I had with Lords of the Fallen and various other soulslikes. MFers just can't get it right. Nioh games are the only ones I can kind of get into and even with those my interest falls off pretty quick and I never finish. From Software just does their thing too well.
I could not into this one. Only played for about an hour and seen enough. Everything felt off, combat, movement, etc. Basically the same exact experience I had with Lords of the Fallen and various other soulslikes. MFers just can't get it right.
I could not into this one. Only played for about an hour and seen enough. Everything felt off, combat, movement, etc. Basically the same exact experience I had with Lords of the Fallen and various other soulslikes. MFers just can't get it right.
It all comes down to the expectations you got going into stuff.
If he's going into double-A western action RPGs thinking it's going to be anything like what makes a Soulsborne game good, it's bound to be a frustrating experience.
What I feel the issue is with most of the "souls-like" is not understanding what hard/challenging mean. Restricting gameplay with clunky animations with no cancel ("you gotta commit to things! learn by getting punished!"); bloated enemy health values for the sake of needing to do insane amounts of damage serves no purpose , same with a gank squad of mobs on a corner - it works when it fits the world (Undead Parish in Dark Souls is a good example), but having enemies blindsiding the player just for the fuck of it is just frustrating.
Hard for the sake of hard/artificially difficult is the excuse new Soulsborne players spew at the game while refusing to gitgud, and those clones all seem to be stuck in that game view.
Hard for the sake of hard/artificially difficult is the excuse new Soulsborne players spew at the game while refusing to gitgud, and those clones all seem to be stuck in that game view.
Second, all Souls-likes sport heavy, "committing" animations with no cancel, including the ones by FromSoft. It's one of their trademarks. Also all force players to learn by punishment and all of them feature gang squads and ambushes.
Second, dude doesn't say anything about difficulty, talks about the feel of movement, combat.
Now I'll be the first to say FromSoft games remain unsurpassed in what they do (Nioh's combat is just as good but everything else is inferior.) But I pity the fool who can only play FromSofts's souls-likes, just because they're the best. He's missing out on a good half-dozen games that aren't as good but are still a lot of fun.
It's like insisting on playing a handful of 10/10 games and never touching a bunch of 9/10s and 8/10s. I mean, 9/10 is still a fantastic experience.
