Mortal Shell II opens with a murderous cult, ritualistic imagery and the promise that something even more disturbing lurks beyond its followers. It is an immediate signal to fans of grim, demanding Soulslikes: this is a world built around obsession, violence and supernatural dread.
After around 40 hours with the game, including the main campaign and several dozen dungeons, one thought kept returning: Mortal Shell II may be the most thoroughly metal game I have played.
A world committed to its own darkness
This is not simply a dark fantasy game with skeletons and dramatic executions. Every animation and environment appears designed around a particular vision of decay: abandoned mansions, ruined churches, oppressive skies and landscapes that feel borrowed from a nightmare.
The presentation is so committed to its mood that Mortal Shell II seems best suited to a dark room, a storm outside and absolutely no interruption. Its visual language recalls the kind of hellscape found in a Wayne Barlowe painting.
The sequel follows Cold Symmetry’s 2020 game, Mortal Shell, but expands its predecessor’s compact design into a much larger open environment. Weapons, smaller dungeons and Tarstones are scattered across the world, while shells act as character classes with distinctive abilities. You can change shells at rest locations, creating room for very different builds.
Exploration is the real reward
The broad objective is to collect a series of MacGuffins that unlock endgame activities. In practice, that is not what makes the journey compelling. The pleasure comes from choosing whether to investigate a hillside guarded by a bell-backed snail or follow an unusual warp to a black-robed woman wielding two knives.
Mortal Shell II gives you few clear answers about what each location contains. That uncertainty makes the world unusually inviting. Questions about the knife-wielding stranger, the snail and the secrets behind each encounter provide plenty of reason to return.
Most checkpoints have a small dungeon nearby, and additional ones are hidden throughout the landscape. The strongest examples are more than combat tests. They are compact puzzles that reward careful searching with forging materials, experience and other useful discoveries.
Combat without a stamina bar
Cold Symmetry offers a thoughtful option for players who dislike especially punishing or parry-focused combat. The early-game Slayer Seal improves stagger damage, strengthens special attacks and can heal the player. Because those advantages belong to that particular defensive item, the game still asks you to learn and respect its combat systems rather than simply switching on an effortless mode.
The more divisive decision is the removal of the traditional Soulslike stamina meter. Attacks, running and dodging are not limited by stamina, allowing early encounters to become a matter of placing attacks before an enemy can respond.
At first, removing such a familiar genre rule felt misguided. After hundreds of encounters and plenty of experimentation with builds, however, the system began to make sense. For this slow, weighty protagonist, positioning and distance matter more than watching another resource bar. It would not suit every game in the genre, but it suits this one.
Shell abilities, weapons and augmentation items also give the combat more flexibility than its heavy presentation might suggest. With the right combination near the endgame, it is possible to move through groups of enemies with almost musou-like momentum. That contrast between deliberate Soulslike spacing and bursts of action is particularly satisfying.
Build variety comes with a cost
Each shell has its own skill tree, and upgrades arrive alongside story moments that range from rewarding to less memorable. The overall build system is more substantial than a straightforward sequence of statistical increases, giving experimentation a meaningful role.
The campaign felt less difficult than some other games in the genre, although balance may change through patches. A harder Night mode is available, adding extra content for players who want a greater challenge. The main campaign was played on normal conditions, while Night mode was sampled rather than completed.
Progression is not always generous. By the middle of the game, money and materials for Tarstone upgrades felt scarce enough to encourage deliberate enemy grinding. That shortage can make character development feel restrictive, particularly when several possible builds compete for limited resources.
Verdict
Mortal Shell II is a third-person doom-metal Soulslike developed by Cold Symmetry for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Pre-order early access begins on 17 August. The PC version was the one played for this review.
- Best features: An entertainingly eerie tone, measured combat spacing and rewarding exploration.
- Main drawbacks: Scarce currency and upgrade materials, plus occasional situations where the player can become stuck in the environment.
- Completion: The main campaign and several dozen dungeons were completed. All shells were found, although a couple of weapons were missed.
Fans of arcade and gaming news may appreciate how confidently this game commits to its identity. It does not need to be the most difficult or technically refined Soulslike to stand out. Its real strength is its sense of place: the oppressive architecture, the grotesque encounters and the constant feeling that the next discovery may be stranger than the last.
You should play Mortal Shell II for the atmosphere as much as the combat: it conjures a hostile netherworld that is difficult to forget.
The cults, monsters, shells and dungeons all serve that larger achievement. Even when progression becomes grindy, the world remains compelling enough to keep exploring. For players considering how to build a dedicated gaming space, the game’s theatrical darkness would also suit a carefully planned arcade machine setup or a compact bartop arcade.
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