These days it is very difficult to find an action and role-playing game that does not base its play style on the FromSoftware formula. And it is that how not to do it, if the formula works well and unfolds in a good way. Demon’s Souls laid the foundation, Dark Souls polished and popularized it, and separate games like Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice endowed it with differences in gameplay or theme. The Souls-like "genre" has many representatives who adopt the formula to their theme and add certain mechanics that give a certain air of difference, some of the examples are: Nioh, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, The Surge and Code Vein. None is capable of matching the mastery that FromSoftware achieved, but neither can we deny that over time we have had better “imitators” of the souls formula.
In this case we have Mortal Shell, which I would dare to call a direct son of the souls saga, with a study of just 15 people Mortal Shell managed to position itself as the maximum and worthy successor to the souls formula, at least in my opinion. Now, taking FromSoftware's formula and putting it in a game is not worth it if it comes with good intentions, it must have a feature that sets it apart in its implementation and that is something that Cold Symmetry understood perfectly.
THE SHELL IS NOT SO EMPTY.
Something very important to highlight about Mortal Shell is its visual section, it cannot be denied that it is at the height of a triple A game. The decaying medieval world may remember other stories of this style, but Cold Symmetry has done a good I work because Mortal Shell can distance itself from the stereotypes of this model. Of course, the story is told a bit in pieces, Souls style, but this still adds a plus because we have to discover the background that surrounds us. In Mortal Shell we have various types of scenarios, ruins, forests that seem mazes and dark swamps, also counting with the most harmless enemies to monsters unable to fit into a classification.
Another aspect that I saw outstanding is its theme. Our main character, a white and skinless body, will be able to possess the body of different fallen warriors with different characteristics that adapt to a play style for each person and with unique abilities for each warrior. This idea deploys a system that as we move forward becomes interesting, with each shell (or warrior) we will establish links, mechanics that work in a subtle way to unlock the abilities of each character and that will make us change bodies depending on our interest in the skills of each warrior.
The combat does not change much from all Souls-like: a fast attack, a slow but strong one, blocking and an evasion move. The movement will be mechanical, for those who come from a Souls it will not be difficult to adapt to Mortal Shell, the mechanics are heavier compared to Dark Souls 3 so we will require a little notice before making a movement. Combat can become tactical, as we control four different characters, each one has more life or less resistance than the other and vice versa; so we cannot abuse the movements because we will run the risk of being vulnerable, and that in a game of this style is very dangerous.
In Mortal Shell we have an interesting, fun and important mechanic, and that is that our character has a petrification, (regardless of the warrior you have, you can use this movement) that lasts a few seconds. Logically, due to the custom of Souls-like games, our intuition will force us to evade the attacks of the enemies, hardening ourselves does not waste resistance and we can use it in any situation; but we cannot abuse it either since it has a recharge time, which is fine, because otherwise its use would be exaggerated and boring over time. To regain health we will have different paths to choose from, we have the classic healing provided by certain objects and we also have a talisman, which will be our most common method, it works as a counterattack to recover life.
The bodies of the warriors that we will possess function as a second chance when we lose all life. At that moment our character will leave the warrior's body and we will have the opportunity to recover it, but it will not be so easy because if they hit us a single hit we lose and return to the last control point. Ultimately we will die many times, but that is not something that surprises in a Souls-like; Mortal Shell takes FromSoftware's formula and gives it a unique twist that changes the usual battles and adds a different rhythm to the battles.
AMAZING ENVIRONMENTS WITHOUT MORE.
The genius of the Souls saga is not only based on its combat, it also owes its fame to exploration. FromSoftware knew how to endow its games with labyrinthine scenarios that somewhere give you a reward or you manage to discover a shortcut to get to a point on the map faster, endowing the Souls with a metroidvania air.
Here in Mortal Shell the tours are not at the level of a FromSoftware game, (neither can you demand much from a study of 15 people) the scenarios are mere corridors that give rise to our confrontations with the enemies, we dodge the traps and we collect some other object of help. Yes, some areas stand out from the rest but nothing beyond a technical section. Artificial intelligence is a bit basic and can be used to our advantage if we cheat a bit. The music does not stand out as much either, but the sound effects that accompany the atmosphere of the game make up for it, although giving the music a bit of prominence would not have been bad.
CONCLUSION
Despite being an indie, Mortal Shell earns the position for best exponent of imitators of the Souls saga, in my opinion. In a way it is a bit ugly to compare this game with a Souls, since they play in very different leagues, Cold Symmetry managed to create an action and role-playing game looking sideways at the Souls saga, he was able to transmit each scenario that he captures in the game, its gloomy setting, the evil that can be breathed from the other side of the screen and the misery of its story that is appreciated with each step of the character. Being a "small" game, it manages to position itself as a giant of its kind.