Bonfireside Chat 170: Mortal Shell (Part 2)
Added 2020-12-06 21:50:42 +0000 UTCIn our second episode on Mortal Shell, we talk about the body of the game. This means all three spokes, their bosses, and the endgame. Where do we come down? This game is super neat, and we really think it's worth your attention.
Please comment on this post with your responses for the Mortal Shell appendix episode, preferably by Wednesday, December 9.
Comments
I wanted to chime in with some thoughts about the shell-less option. There's a shrine near the giant toad that lets you renounce your shell(s). In return, you get the "common" skills for free. I tried it out for my second run, expecting to give up pretty quickly. Instead, I went through everything. Getting one-shot was challenging, but knowing the areas and being familiar with the hardening tempo really balanced it out. I recommend trying it if you're the kind of person who would normally try a shield-less (or similar mild challenge) run of a Souls game.
Steven E Southall
2020-12-09 22:20:52 +0000 UTCHarden is a great mechanic, if a little exploitative. You can stunlock any enemy, including bosses, with the mace if you know what you're doing. I agree that the main hub is samey and lacks landmarks. I finished the fire level before I found the main hub. It's my favourite Souls-like and it would be even greater with a little more polish in the combat department,
R Lou
2020-12-08 18:15:41 +0000 UTCI'm so glad you guys covered this game! I really enjoyed it overall. I thought it had a lot of cool ideas even though, as you mentioned, some of them were flawed or incomplete...but for a short game from a small developer I thought it was beautiful and felt good to play. I had a hard time at first getting used to the harden mechanic. I also ran Solomon, I tried all the other shells but due to his big resolve gains and balance I just felt right with him. I used the sword and the mace pretty equally, their special attacks with the longer I- frames got me through every boss because I continue to be super inconsistent with parries as I am in every souls game. Gotta shout-out the lute and lute songs which are absolute jams (once you get a little familiarity) and I smiled ear to ear when I got the secret ending from old baghead... you share some food and grog and just jam as the world turns. It would be really cool to see a mortal shell two with the lore and concepts more fleshed out and definitely some fun new shells and weapons.
Kristina
2020-12-07 19:30:17 +0000 UTCI did my first branch as Solomon but switched back to Harros the Vassal as his advantages became more apparent. Two of his abilities - the reduced hardening cooldown and the increased duration of invincibility after hardening - more than made up for his inferior base stats, To Me. There was something about the attack timing of most enemies that made these two abilities extremely powerful in concert. I had a great time diving in with the hammer and chisel, knowing harden would always come off cooldown at the exact moment I needed it. I think this could be another case of the Mario option benefiting from the game being more designed around it.
tundacct
2020-12-07 17:14:48 +0000 UTCI played through the ENTIRE game without unlocking the skill trees. There is a lot to like about Mortal Shell and some of the imagery and vistas captivated me. But eventually the combat got totally monotonous. I found that I could beat the entire game with the Hollowed Sword running attack, back away, harden if I must. Wash, rinse, repeat. Left me with a bit of a bad taste from a game I was really into for two weeks. But I will certainly check out this team's next effort!
Bob Witz
2020-12-07 15:57:32 +0000 UTC
