Review | Mortal Shell 2

A second mortal review

Mortal Shell II is an action role-playing video game developed by Cold Symmetry (the same studio behind the first title) and published by Playstack. The game was released on August 20, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, and serves as a standalone sequel to Mortal Shell. I've never expected a sequel to improve on almost all the mechanics the game has to offer, even when changing the design (to open-world) and introducing some changes... But here we are, playing one of the best games of the genre, made by a team of more than 4 people this time (40 this time)... Good job, great job!

• Review | Mortal Shell

When it comes to the technical side, the game has some minor bugs and glitches, but nothing that really degraded my experience. Performance-wise, it's solid, although there is constant stuttering in some areas, but all of that will probably be fixed in the upcoming months. Too bad there isn't any PS Pro mode, but I believe it will be in the future. I believe there are a couple of bugs where some shells you collect get lost, so you may want to check that out (I had no issues with that). I had a bug where a challenge simply wouldn't start. It just fenced me in, but the enemies never appeared. Exiting and continuing the game fixed the issue.

The game hooks you up from the start, and what a visual delight that was!

Story and the characters

The story is weird. I don't think I fully understand it, but personally, I don't really care when everything else is top-notch. You are an empty shell, a vessel, called the Harbinger, who travels through a ravaged world in search of the stolen eggs of the Undermether. There are more than 150 eggs (don't worry, it's not overwhelming), and as you travel, you find the eggs and bring them back so the vessels like you can hatch and survive the next circle.

It's a cool premise, but there is not much in terms of lore and story that can hook you up, nor are there side quests or characters that could probably raise the bar here. It's a placeholder segment of the experience, and while the art direction is really where the game shines, I can't say more in terms of the story, villains, or anything for that matter. I really love the overall vibe, the hub, and the design of everything and everyone, but that is where this stops. Think of it as a weird-ass-looking game that is, at the same time, beautiful and grotesque, and the story kind of just happens here and there.

I cannot emphasise enough how vast and stunning the world and the art are - something I cherish the most of all things here.

Game design, exploration

Lately, I've been re-experiencing the open-world genre all over again. Nioh 3 and now this—I'm getting hopes that this genre is finally doing something meaningful and fun for the player, not just offering bigger and bigger worlds with no content and sense.

Of course, you start by reaching the hub and bringing the first of many eggs. After learning about, well, nothing (because the story is really weird), the world opens. At first, it looks and feels so confusing and overwhelming (which was also the impression the first game had on me), but very soon you start to notice that every inch of the world looks next-gen, and the art is just... stunning. I salute games where you have 38 different dungeons, over 30 enemy types, a lot of boss fights... Where the world is fun to explore, while beautiful and full of secrets at the same time. Every tree feels like art, and when you get over the fact that you will be lost every 2 minutes, it will click. I honestly love getting lost in Mortal Shell 2. For a game of this scale, that's honestly impressive. I don't expect 120 hours of content, nor do I need it. Even Elden Ring has started to lose me with that approach.

I love stunning visuals with many unique assets, not just the same mountains and horizons directly from the engine. This feels so unique, it captures the overall vibe more than the story for sure, and the real experience is exploring every nook and cranny you can see, and defeating everything that moves.

The world is filled with beacons (teleport/rest points) that you can cleanse—cleansing the beacon gives you egg/s while cleaning the corruption outside. It's sort of like a mini-dungeon that you need to beat, mostly short, but some can last longer. And the dungeons are just the right length for me. Not a single one feels the same, and even in the south, most of them are relatively short. Because every location is unique, I can only say the best of the best for this segment, as not often can I say that a 40-hour game has almost no redundancy. 40 people? You all deserve credit, and the art is simply stunning.

My biggest issue is that this progress kind of stops around when you start to explore the second big region, and you already have a maxed-out shell, weapon, and a sidearm weapon. I miss something, just something to evolve the game even further apart from just exploring, killing, and repeating.

Do you like grotesque and discusting enemies, and sceneries? This game is full of them, and they will make you feel unease.

Combat

My first impression was the lack of combos/moves. There are like 3 light and 3 heavy combos with each of 8 weapons. Mostly, you use them to attack enemies, so this kind of feels like too little. Still, there are 70+ Tarstones that serve as buffs and weapon imbues, and they offer special moves related to certain weapons... It gets enough, plus, you can have 6 shells as well, and 8 sidearms, and all of that is combined with Tarstones. I remember telling a colleague how impressed I was with the variety of enemies and how every finisher is different. Honestly, if there were no new enemies from that point until the end of the game, I'd still be satisfied. After Beast of Reincarnation, where you fight the same three enemies over and over, having more than 30 different enemies to beat here is a huge step up.

All of that levels up, which unlocks more perks, so the progress is actually great, but due to the lack of Glimpses (that raise your shell levels and unlock shell skills), you get stuck with up to 3 shells per playthrough, meaning you will probably main only 1, as you cannot respec that part. Everything else (shell points) can be respecced, so you can experiment, but Glimpses are different.

I simply love the combat. It has that "weight," the killing blows are awesome, and active/passive item skills again enhance the experience—for example, if you get a "grizzly" item and you put it to passive, occasionally you will summon a beast that will crush enemies and bosses so you can attack while they're down (not every encounter, but most). You can do this with every item, and by collecting more, you level them up. There are not many items to be found (of different types), so this feels fresh and fun.

My only downside is the difficulty spike in the south region, and easy/frustrating boss fights. I can maybe think of 2 great boss fights, which is a bummer, as the game really shines when it comes to variety. The other downside is the Harden mechanic that you can now equip, or you can equip parry—as the finishing moves when you stagger an enemy are so good (and unique to almost every enemy and boss), I just had to stagger everyone, and I've used Harden only a few times. This is a total and unnecessary change that could've been different (like having parry and Harden always).

Oh yeah, and playing with immersive camera (like GoW games) was good for me, although lock-on and the camera in general are what gets you killed most of the time, alongside getting stuck on wall corners.

If more quest were like the one with the secret ending... That would raise the bar much more, and we would be in 9/10 area maybe.

Side Content

If you find an NPC in the world, you've found a quest. These are, in my opinion, really apart from the main story, and I don't see their meaning, other than for fun and getting certain rewards.

The rest is collecting upgrades and finding all you can use to make your life easier, plus the day-night mode that can bump the difficulty and open up more quests/events. Not much, but there are like 3 events during the night that are really important, and you can find more items and difficult enemies (although, sponges of the same ones you've already beaten).

There is a secret ending to be found—if you ask me, the original one, and the one I really love due to the message it presents.

I really advise you to explore everything. That is the real side content of this game, just to see and feel everything this game has to offer.

I just don't get it how big companies create so much redudant and copy/paste content, and this small developer offered us unique 40h experience with visually best-looking soulslike areas you can find and enjoy.

Conclusion

Generally, though, I'm really satisfied with the game. It's excellent and genuinely impressive considering the scale of the developer. At around level 23, I honestly didn't have any major complaints, and even the issues I did have felt completely acceptable for a team of 40 people. I'm having fun as if 400 people made this game.

If it had better progress around the last third, and some respec shell mechanic, plus maybe incorporating Harden mechanics more into all movesets, this could've been a 9/10 game. It lacks in small segments, and most of it can be fixed with patches; but the story and shell/Harden mechanics probably can't.

I would advise you to wait for more patches, although I had a stable experience on day 1 and the rest of my days, but if you're not in a hurry, wait for them to deliver more because this game deserves it. It's probably my favorite Soulslike sequel to date, with one of the best-designed open worlds and visuals in an AA game you can find.

Good job, and keep up doing what you do. This was a big improvement for sure!