In this article, we’ll be taking a look at a very welcome surprise:Mortal Shell 2. Cold Symmetry created and developedthe Mortal Shell series, and they truly surprised and impressed us with what their small team achieved with the first game.
Cold Symmetry perfectly captured the aesthetics and feel of a dark fantasy world, much like the classicDark Soulsseries. While the combat in the original felt a little clunky and wasn’t its strongest suit,as we noted in our firstMortal Shellreview,we felt they could improve significantly. The reveal trailer forMortal Shell 2has us excited that Cold Symmetry has indeed elevated their combat system.
What is Mortal Shell 2?
So, what exactly is theMortal Shellseries?Mortal Shellis a dark fantasy action RPG, a Souls-like game that offers challenging combat and a bleak, dark setting akin toDark Souls, but with Cold Symmetry’s unique twist on the formula.
InMortal Shell, you play as “the Foundling,” an ethereal being capable of controlling the remains of fallen warriors. The first game was a very solid Souls-like title that filled a void for many Souls players betweenDark Souls 3 and Elden Ring, delivering a similar experience.
From the look of the trailer, it appears we’ll be getting a bigger experience this time around. The official website states that the sequel will be a standalone experience that greatly expands on the original, inviting you to “Explore a dense, open world filled with dark secrets, strange companions, and loathsome foes.”
Story and Setting
The story forMortal Shell 2is stated to be a standalone sequel, meaning it’s perfectly fine to jump into the game even if you haven’t played the first.
However, in true Souls-like fashion, the firstMortal Shelldelivered its narrative through cryptic dialogue and obscure lore, which is one of the enjoyable aspects of these games, where the community comes together to piece together what’s happening.
The first game was set in the faraway, forgotten kingdom of Fallgrim, which eventually became corrupted. While not officially stated, I believe the sequel is still set in the same kingdom and will follow the events after what transpired in the first game with the “Dark Father” and the “Unborn.”
The trailer concluded with an ominous “command” of sorts, saying “Bring the Eggs back to me!” If the first game’s story is any indication, I dare say something is after our Foundling and the Twin-sister, and we must fight against the coming threat.
Without going into too much detail, the first game’s story explored undertones and themes such as the corruption of faith and the thin line between devotion and madness.
Judging from the trailer and the few lines of dialogue we got, I’m expecting similarly themed stories in the sequel. I’m all for another dark fantasy with a ruined kingdom and crazed fanatics trying to bring about the end of the world in the name of the gods. We’ve been promised even greater exploration through more shells and more stories, so expect to dig through much more lore than in the first game.
Gameplay and Thoughts
The firstMortal Shellgame delivered a satisfying Souls-like experience, primarily carried by its aesthetics and theme, accompanied by an “okay” combat system. While the combat wasn’t terrible by any means, it wasn’t the game’s strongest aspect.
Saying that, the trailer for the sequel shows a lot of promise with the combat, as it genuinely looks like they’ve improved upon it. We saw some pretty amazing-looking finishers, with the shells violently bashing, stabbing, and punching monsters, strangely reminiscent ofGod of Warfinishers.
The combat looks brutal and weighty and didn’t appear floaty at all during the trailer, though we won’t be able to say for sure until we get our hands on it. One interesting aspect that stood out was the absence of the “hardening” mechanic in the trailer. We saw parrying using a parry dagger of sorts, but there was curiously no hardening of the shells.
I wonder if they’ve reworked it or just removed it altogether, which would be a shame, as it was one ofMortal Shell’s unique features.
The lack of weapon variety was one of the weaker points of the firstMortal Shellfor us, but I’m excited to see at least six weapon types in the shown trailer, ranging from one-handed axes to two-handed hammers.
Plus, there are at least three types of ranged weapons: a rapid-firing crossbow that shoots out monsters, a shotgun-esque gun, and something that looks akin to a handheld ballista. This is a good sign that we’re getting more weapon types, and I sincerely hope there are many more we haven’t seen in the trailer yet.
Moving on from weapons to another cool aspect of the game: the different shells. It’s quite clear that we’ll still have the same “shell” system as the first game, where we’ll inhabit the remains of a fallen warrior and be thrown out of the shell before we go down. It will be interesting to see this mechanic return with the addition of new shells.
In the trailer, we were shown quite a few shells, and I’m confident enough to say that there will be returning shells from the first game, if not all of them. We saw shells that looked very close to the Vassal and the Venerable from the first game in action.
While all the hooded characters can look similar in a fast-paced trailer, I think it’s safe to say the Acolyte and the Deliverer are also making a return. We also got to see two new female shells, and I can’t wait to find out what types of playstyles they’ll offer.
All these new shells and weapons are great, but they wouldn’t be perfect without good opponents to face, and there were some pretty nasty-looking enemies in the trailer.
Of course, we have the regular armored knights with big swords to go up against, but we also caught glimpses of some more grotesque and deformed enemy designs, ranging from a creature with tree branches growing out of a corpse’s head to mutated cultists that give me flashbacks to the Ouroboros virus-infected villagers fromResident Evil 4.
This range of enemy variety is very exciting to see, and I’m always eager to go up against weird and strange foes as I play across forgotten, dilapidated villages and kingdoms in my Souls-likes.
Exploration has always been a central part of Souls-likes, and judging from the footage we’ve seen in the trailer, we’ll be getting a handful of different regions to explore. I cannot wait to see what Cold Symmetry has in store for us this time around with the sequel. Another interesting point is that they described the sequel as an open-world game. At this point, we’re not sure if this will be a truly open world or if we’ll travel to different areas from a central hub, but I’m sure we’ll get more information as we get closer to launch.
Visuals and Thoughts
The firstMortal Shellgame was built on Unreal Engine 4 and looked amazing. The sequel will be using Unreal Engine 5, which is known for its visual fidelity. If the visuals we saw in the trailer are any indication,Mortal Shell 2will look incredible, perfectly capturing the aesthetic of the first game and delivering a compelling dark fantasy world to experience.
Although the trailer wasn’t purely gameplay, but rather directed and presented in a certain way, it’s evident that all of these are in-game captured footage and not cinematics. The gameplay looked smooth, and I didn’t see anything out of place.
The visual feedback of hitting enemies with finishers and attacks looked amazing, and the details of blood and goo spraying as you stab and maim enemies are spectacular. Also, it looks like they’re not trying to shy away from the gory effects, as we saw a zombie get completely blown apart, with its whole shoulder severed by a shotgun blast.
In addition to the characters and combat animations, the locales and environments look amazing as well, starting with the fog-covered swamp with ruins that just scream danger, to what looks like snowy landscapes, abandoned castles, and tarry oil pits.
The effects look amazing, with reflections on liquid surfaces and light rays coming through tree leaves. While it hasn’t been stated whether this game will be using all the latest bells and whistles of Unreal Engine 5, such as Nanite and Lumen, you’ll undoubtedly need a powerful PC to run this game at maximum settings.
Final Thoughts
Cold Symmetry earned their place in the Souls-like world with the firstMortal Shellby not just successfully recreating a solid Souls experience, but also by putting their own fresh, unique take on the Souls formula. I’m even more excited to see that we’re getting more from the studio, especially moreMortal Shellwith a full-blown sequel, as I’m confident they can improve upon what they already achieved with the first game.
My biggest worry with this game is Unreal Engine 5, because of its notorious issues. However, improvements are constantly being made to the engine, and while it’s a double-edged sword that can deliver mind-blowing visuals, the overall experience will suffer if performance can’t keep up, as reactive and smooth combat can and will make or break a Souls-like game.
As we said in our review of the firstMortal Shell, Cold Symmetry laid a solid foundation for theMortal Shellfranchise with an interesting setting and a very suitable art style that will fulfill the desire to explore a dark fantasy world. If they did indeed manage to improve upon their combat system, which was arguably the weakest part of the first game,Mortal Shell 2will reach even greater heights than the original.
Mortal Shell 2is definitely on our radar, and we’ll keep a close eye on it as we are fans of the first one, and the sequel certainly looks promising. If Cold Symmetry manages to deliver a bigger and betterMortal Shellexperience with the sequel, Souls-like fans will be eating well in 2026.
This concludes this preview article. I hope it gave you an idea of whatMortal Shellis and what you may expect from the sequel,Mortal Shell 2. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or things you’d like to see improved from the first game or added to the sequel, please share them in the comments below!
