However, these end up forming the identity of the title as much as the shells and the combat mechanics. So much freedom, added to the labyrinthine passages of the initial forest and the complete uncertainty we get from having no idea where we’re going, may be disconcerting for some and probably discouraging for those who aren’t diehard followers of the genre. Progress is not linear and all the zones are accessible from the start. How we explore depends on the shell we find first. The first we find is the most basic and the other three play the roles of Tank (high health, low stamina and head-on attack skills), Rogue (low health, high stamina and debuff skills) and Scholar (balanced in stats, focused on parrying and weapon skills.) Each shell has a skills set to be unlocked, which also tells us a little about the character’s background and adds another piece to the puzzle of the narrative. Mortal Shell doesn’t let us move up a level the traditional way but instead forces us to adjust to the fixed stats of the four shells which are like pre-made characters. As we explore we find monoliths that give us a glimpse of some issue in particular, maybe the route to a new level, the location of a character or clues to find new weapons or shells.Īs the title suggests, the gameplay is constructed around the shells, which are the bodies of fallen warriors, which Foundling can inhabit to use their unique qualities. How do you open the chests? How do you get to the new zones? All the answers come as we advance, which is why the beginning is so tortuous, because even those of us who are used to the genre are taken out of our comfort zone, and we become beginners again, even if it’s just for a few hours. Everything that happens in Mortal Shell is a mystery and, at least in the first hours, every step we take raises more and more questions. This doesn’t mean that the scenarios are small, but rather that the whole adventure takes place in four large areas, full of details and with dangers lurking round every corner. Instead of planning a vast world, full of bosses and enemies, they decided to create a compact, carefully-made experience. Mortal Shell is an independent game and Cold Symmetry use this to their advantage. Is this toadstool poisonous or healing? What’s this golden bell for? Should I spend this mysterious item to satisfy my curiosity or should I keep it? The decision is always ours, and although it’s true that eventually it will be a question of googling it, part of the charm lies in accepting the consequences.
Foundling is learning to live, and we have to use classic trial and error until we understand how this world works. But Mortal Shell ups the ante and, to add a shocking level of difficulty to the first hours, it doesn’t tell us what the items we find are for. The artistic side is somber and oppressive, and the violence of the enemies ultimately generates the sensation of fragility that characterizes this genre. We crawl through the fish’s skeletal remains and climb up its stinking throat until we come out into a swampy forest that forms the central area of the adventure.
We start the quest as Foundling, a faceless creature with no personal traits whatsoever, who advances through a dreamlike setting that doubles up as a tutorial, and is then swallowed by a giant worm fish.
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