I’m afraid any ‘soul-like’ game will make it to my inbox, as it usually means having to make a video based on the first fight shot from different angles, as I couldn’t move on. So it speaks to the appeal of Cold Symmetry’s Mortal Shell that I will persevere enough to put together a full video preview and find a delightful lute to play in the middle of a swamp. Less loot, more lutes – the campaign starts here.
Mortal Shell is a blatant attempt to imitate the Dark Souls formula, albeit on a slightly more condensed scale due to its 15-person design team. On the surface, it’s another excursion through a gloomy fantasy world, battling shocking monsters with attack animations that take several years to complete. Its secret sauce is the titular shells: the bodies of fallen warriors that you possess, to protect your much more fragile skeleton from damage. All this and much more in the next video preview. Apologies for the confusing double act.
On paper, this sounded like Shiny’s crazy Messiah, but he’s a little more conservative than that. Shells act more like classes. In this demo, I tested a beefy cat of all trades and a deceased poisoner who trades health for resistance, but can upgrade to turn toxic damage into a healing balm. Very useful. There will be two others in the final game; Based on the current couple, I am eager to see how they turn out.
If you fancy the idea of walking a mile in another man’s shoes (er, with another man’s feet) you can apply to try the demo yourself as it is the basis for a beta version of Cold Symmetry that will be released tomorrow . They suggest joining your Discord server for a chance to play. I recommend it.
