Mortal Shell 2 Earns Strong Reviews With Brutal New Twists

The dark action RPG sequel has impressed critics with smarter level design, deeper builds, improved combat, and a surprisingly personal Steam-based joke.

Mortal Shell 2 debuted fairly well, scoring an average of 83 out of 100 among critics. While the first game drew attention for its Soulslike gameplay and unique shell mechanic, the sequel seems to have ironed out many of its key issues. Critics especially praise its expanded setting, deeper RPG features, and improved combat.

One of the biggest improvements is its level design. One of the biggest complaints about the original Mortal Shell was its repetitive environments and unclear areas. The swamp-heavy locations made exploration feel more stressful than rewarding. Mortal Shell 2 goes in a whole different direction, with bigger, multi-layered areas and much more visual variety.

Players can now explore magnificent snow-covered ruins, unsettling blood-soaked catacombs, and more.

The environments are wider than just size. Their more complex layouts encourage exploration while also giving the world a more distinct sense of atmosphere and character. The result is a place that is far more interesting—and disturbing—to travel through.

Mortal Shell II also greatly expands the series' characteristic shell mechanic. Instead of seeming like a handful of pre-determined classes, players can now find roughly a dozen unique bodies that belong to dead fighters. Each shell has its own combat combos and passive skill tree, allowing players more freedom to design characters around diverse playstyles.

Combat has been upgraded just as importantly. The game’s petrification feature, which allows players to harden their bodies mid-attack, feels more responsive than ever. And there are some of the most exciting battles in the game when you manage to use it on huge bosses right at the last second and quickly counterattack.

The higher production values also make those battles pack more of a punch. Animations are more fluid, big weapons pack a punch,h and bosses aren't as reliant on cheap one-hit attacks anymore. Instead, major clashes rely on reading attack patterns, reacting quickly, and knowing the rhythm of combat.

Another thing to admire here is the game’s comparatively concentrated campaign. Instead of stretching the game into dozens of hours of repetitive content, Mortal Shell 2 is described as offering about 20 hours of focused adventure. That more compact form might appeal to players who want well-crafted experiences rather than massive open environments stuffed with content.

But the most shocking thing about the sequel is done right before the final boss.

The game may look at a player's Steam library and use it to deliver jokes tailored to their gaming history. The final region features ancient stone monuments that deliver scathing remarks about the player's favorite games and how much time they have spent playing them.

One viral example included a guy with something like 16,000 hours played in Destiny 2 on their Steam account. Mortal Shell 2 asked what the player had been doing there all this time, joking that maybe they were stuck. Apparently, players that spend their time in games like Elden Ring, Counter-Strike 2, or Baldur's Gate 3 might receive similarly customized insults.

The idea is not without precedent. Psycho Mantis, from the first Metal Gear Solid, was a popular character that could look into a player's memory card and comment on other games they had played. Later, Undertale experimented with similar fourth-wall-breaking tactics affecting the player’s system.

It’s still a weird thing to add to a Soulslike, though, and Mortal Shell 2’s adaptation has already given players another excuse to share images online. Instead of just bitching about yet another hard boss, players can actually find out how the game plans to parody their specific gaming patterns.