It is always a great feeling when, within thirty minutes of starting a game, you know it’s going to be not only a great palate cleanser, but a great game in the genre. With Mortal Shell II, there was a little worry that it would be much like the first one and be more something I kind of just tolerated, but very early on that was not the case, and I started thinking of it as one of the better soulslikes I’ve played in years. That’s not a small thing to say.
The original Mortal Shell had a neat hook and not much else holding it up; it was a game that felt like such a letdown with this great promise. Mortal Shell II is such a better sequel, and it’s not even close.
Mortal Shell II has so much more confidence in everything, and I felt it the moment I picked up the controller. The original Mortal Shell always had a slight stiffness to it, an unwillingness to fully commit to the aggression the genre usually rewards, and Cold Symmetry has clearly spent the years since honing their
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