Mortal Shell - Soulslike action-RPG

[21Baron]

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.

What a weird post.

First, all difficulty is artificial.

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.

(1) I think that challenge is artificial - it and can be made harder or easier by design, which in my opinion is where a lot of "souls-like" fail;

(2) Again, hate to suck on FromSoft feet here, their games feature the poise mechanic as a balancing feature towards those animations. - let me exemplify by using The Surge 1. Even the fast-hitting weapons take a long, long time to return to a base state, and if you trade blows with enemies, you'll stagger and get stun-locked. In Mortal Shell, even cladded in the first husk, fully armored, you get staggered by some hobos with daggers;

(3) I know the dude didn't say anything about difficulty, that's why I quoted you directly and not his post - but the reply touches some of his complaints anyway, because I think the "feel" of the game is an issue specifically because devs try to emulate the Soulsborne without recognizing that only making shit difficult isn't what it is about;

I do agree, however, that a lot of good games are left behind a wall of preconceptions. Honestly, anything above 6/10 gets a pass - there's oughta be something there, and some trash games can be fun sometimes.

 

[KIss My Ass]

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.

What a weird post.

First, all difficulty is artificial.

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.

I agree with alot of what you say, especially about Nioh, but you're overrating the fuck out of the other Soulsborne clones. Other than the Nioh games and I guess Salt and Sanctuary there has not been a single decent Souls clone. You bring up the ratings of 9 and 8. Just what Souls clone are you describing? This game sure as shit doesn't even pass as a 6. Nioh 2 is the best Souls clone I've played and that is about a 7. You're getting crazy throwing around this 8 and 9 shit. The only ones worthy of 8s, 9s, and 10s are the real deals. From Soft's own masterworks. Nothing else compares.

 

[Jinn]

Only thing that has kept me from trying this one out is what sounds like the abysmal length. Something like 8 hours?

 

[SpoonFULL]

Mortal Shell is one of the few action-adventure (you can call it soul-like) games that I enjoyed. I enjoyed the gameplay mechanics, the different weight and attributes for each shell, the hardening and riposte mechanic, the different weapons, the world design and atmosphere, and the different enemies. Easier than a typical Dark Souls game but enjoyable enough. My first play-through was 19 hours and enjoyed every second of it. Not all games need to be considered a Souls clone to be enjoyed!

At the current sale price, I think its a steal.

 

[cvv]

Only thing that has kept me from trying this one out is what sounds like the abysmal length. Something like 8 hours?

Yeah it's short, 13 hours for me (plus another 10 in the excellent roguelike DLC).