Mortal Shell Revealed as Incredibly Promising Soulslike from Small Studio

Soulslike games almost always give me excitement because of the deep joy I have for games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne; they are full of some of the most memorable moments in gaming for me. I am constantly chasing that dragon which leads me to play a lot of spins on the genre but few things even come close. When new soulslike games are announced, I almost always pay attention but I recently saw an incredibly impressive trailer for a brand new title that’s slated for release later this year and it stole every fiber of my attention. Like a gunshot, Mortal Shell has been revealed to the world. 

Previously known as Dungeonhaven, Mortal Shell has been revealed following a two-year silence that has been thunderously broken. This gothic action game is being developed by the small team at Cold Symmetry and published by London-based Playstack. A press release on the matter confirmed that the small studio of around 15 people features, with many being AAA veterans, with a love of the soulslike genre. The press release also named three co-founders Andrew McLennan-Murray, Anton Gonzalez, and Vitaly Bulgarov who put out this joint statement,

“For a small team like ours, developing this title in many ways felt like crossing an ocean on a paddle board. To finally announce Mortal Shell is one of the most exciting and terrifying experiences we’ve had in our lifetimes. The last two years have been a time of non-stop growth, full of shocking revelations of sheer complexity that goes into creating a video game that you, yourself, would really enjoy playing.”

The reveal centered around an impressive new trailer, detailed website, new social handles, and a Discord which is already seeing over five thousand members. A meme latching onto a line in the trailer about glands was in full swing when I was researching and time will tell if that sticks for these players. Regardless, a community is already building and a beta is being teased for some time before launch. 

Much of the research I could find about this project comes from the devs talking about their approaches to game design found in Dungeonhaven, which also looked rather impressive. Dungeonhaven would have put players against living dungeons as a warrior that can turn to stone, much like Kirby’s signature move to block incoming attacks. It looks like it would have been an interesting way to force stop animations to trick foes or defend against surprises. Maybe that ability will appear in Mortal Shell as a nod to the project’s beginnings.

Dungeonhaven’s themes looked similar in foundation but Mortal Shell feels stronger overall on a lot of levels. 

In Mortal Shell, players become a sort of spirit that possesses and animates fallen knights, rogues, and the like. Each Shell seems more like an equipable character class that can be upgraded as the connection to that Shell strengthens. It also looks like that there are moments when the player can hop out of their shell, even mid-combo, though I imagine this would be the most vulnerable state. I like how this mechanic seems to connect well with the artistic and narrative themes and it will be interesting to see how it all plays together as an experience. I also can’t help but draw comparisons to the mecha genre because players in Mortal Shell will kind of be pilots in knight bots. There’s potential for layered psychology too that could lead to some truly mind-altering moments. 

Features noted so far for Mortal Shell include a non-linear campaign, deep upgrade paths, haunting creatures both pitiable and grotesque, and combat that focuses on strategic and deliberate actions. 

I think what most excites me about Mortal Shell is the presentation. It looks gorgeous and the animations look crisp. It reminds me, in tone and presentation, of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice but of course the creature design screams Bloodborne and Dark Souls. My big worry here is how all of these systems play together and the stability of the experience. Sure we’ve all put up with the nonsense of Blighttown because Dark Souls is so good but performance is still important in this sort of action title. 

I cannot wait to see how this goes and I also want to know the history behind this title and these developers. 

More information about Mortal Shell can be found on the official website. It is currently slated for a Q3 2020 release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.