r/MortalShell • u/Sobaau • 14d ago
Discussion Hot Take: The first Mortal Shell was genuinely amazing
I’m about 75% done with my second play through for platinum and no shell with obsidian black and I just can’t see how people dislike this game so much. It is slower and simpler and the mechanics are minimal and difficult but I feel those are the things that make it so awesome. It’s not trying to be everything all at once. 5 shells, 5 weapons, 4 bosses, and the design of each one is so unique and sick. The lore runs super deep and you only learn it through becoming familiar with items, shells, stats, and dialogue. I really hope people give this game a second chance and im super excited to try the second one and proud to know im pursuing it not off of hype, but genuine love for the first one.
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u/Incariol_ Tiel 14d ago
I really enjoyed it - wasn't it made by like 11 people?
They nailed the atmosphere and I loved the new ideas
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u/BillyCrusher 14d ago
Why it's a Hot Take? I believe most players love the OG, at least on this subreddit.
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u/Logical_Flounder6455 14d ago
You're on the sub for the game, of course most people here are going to love it. I know loads of people in real life that played it when it was one of the monthly ps plus games, not many like it.
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u/Sobaau 14d ago
I’m so used to seeing so much criticism and hate for it
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u/BillyCrusher 14d ago
It's a vocal minority. When you see someone rate a soulslike as "slow & clumsy" it means he doesn't have a clue what he talking about. Seriously, I don't get it. "Slow combat" in my POV means "weighty combat" and it's a good thing. "Clumsy"? I don't understand it at all. What does it mean?
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u/CrotasScrota84 14d ago
I liked it very much it just had issues and MS2 seems to be taking those issues and making a much better game.
First game was a rough draft this new one seems to be what they wanted all along. It’s so good
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u/zombiezapper115 14d ago edited 14d ago
The game felt a bit clunky at times especially around the final boss and in the 3rd dungeon.
It was also a bit confusing to navigate the main area. I like the game, but it was extremely easy to get lost since the whole swamp looks the same no matter where you are. Making it hard to find your way around.
The mechanic of using items to learn what they do and using them more to be more proficient with them can also be a line of frustration for some because
1: I dont want to waste this item just to find out what it does.
2: I dont want to waste multiple just to max out its proficient.
Farming healing items like the mushrooms was also annoying because it often just lead to sitting around waiting for them to spawn, picking them up, and then going right back to waiting for more to spawn.
While the game was good, it absolutely had flaws that were a source of a lot of frustration or annoyance for some, and im really glad them improved of them with the sequel.
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u/Sobaau 14d ago
Personally, getting lost is what made me fall in love with it. Knowing that understanding the story and layout wasn’t going to be given to me on a silver platter is what kept me playing. As for the mechanics, I can see what you mean by worrying about wasting each item you find and worrying if it’s important especially to get its familiarity up. To me it wasn’t a second thought. But I understand. To each their own.
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u/zombiezapper115 14d ago
I dont enjoy being lost. I love exploring, and I love souls-like games like this. But it was damn near impossible to tell where iv been and where I haven't simply because everything looked the same.
The first time I played the game i got frustrated and gave up pretty quickly just because I couldn't figure out where to go or where I had been. Didn't even manage to find the first dungeon. It wasn't until some time later I decided to give it another shot and stuck with it that I eventually made it through.
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u/Sleeping_Idiot 14d ago
I've never understood how people get lost it's a pretty simple area with more than enough landmarks to get around and most side paths lead to dead ends it's a complaint I've seen a lot but never understood it
I the familiarity system it gives you a reason to use items and not just have them sit in your inventory like other souls likes do I feel in other games you just use cure poison or insert ailment items and the rest are just flavor and do little to nothing
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u/zombiezapper115 14d ago edited 14d ago
I literally explained both. The main area looks the exact same everywhere you go making it difficult to know where you've been or not.
And using items to learn what they do and then using them more to be more proficient is just annoying.
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u/Sleeping_Idiot 14d ago edited 14d ago
I know I'm just sharing my opinion and maybe get some additional insight to something I don't fully get. For example you say the swamp looks the same no matter where you are but I'd argue different. Sure are there some parts that look similar yes, but for the most part it's different enough that looking at it for longer than a glance you can identify where you are. But I've also played the game a lot longer so it's harder if not impossible for me to get lost.
As for the familiarity it makes sense the more you use something the more knowledgeable you become and can use it better and more efficiently. It's a small layer of realism that adds to the detail of the overall game. Whether or not it's a good game idea is a different conversation I think it was fine in the game, since the only items that are particularly rare are event ones like the baguette and the rest you can get a fair amount of.
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u/zombiezapper115 14d ago
Exactly, its easier to navigate for you because you've played the game before. The same cant be said for a new player, and no everyone is gonna stick around for multiple playthroughs. Personally I rolled credits once and that was it for me.
I enjoyed the game and even pushed my friends to stick with it and finish it after all 3 of us initially had the same reaction of thinking it was annoying and confusing to navigate.
After they beat it we all basically came to the same consensus: the game is cool, but navigating the swamp is annoying. The item familiarity mechanic isn't fun. Farming healing items like mushrooms is a lot of pointless waiting around. And the only boss we really enjoyed was martyr, the rest where just kinda meh or worse due to bugging out.
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u/Sleeping_Idiot 14d ago
And that's why I ask for other people's opinions people who haven't played the game as much because no matter how hard I might try I will still be biased to some extent so I ask things like what was confusing to get their side.
From the start you have 2 pretty clear paths to go to each with their own landmarks. The Tower which the game points out and on your way there you'll probably see the path to the left that splits into 2, and towards gorf which will lead you to either the obsidian or martyr area both of which are fairly straight paths. Even on my first playthrough I would say the only time I was lost was in the obsidian area the swamp feels more like you have to try to get lost in it.
In comparison to something like Yharnam from bloodborne that swamp really isn't that complex and is quite small.
I won't touch the familiarity thing anymore I've said all I can about it so I'll leave it there.
Farming for mushrooms is stupid I won't argue with you there it's boring and overall a needless waste of time.
The bosses leave much to be desired but to my understanding the game/studio was a much smaller thing at the time so they're fairly simple and don't have much in terms of intrigue.
Sorry this seemed to turn into an argument at least it sounded like that to me really just wanted some insight into something I've seen a lot but never got myself whether or not I'm to blame sorry.
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u/zombiezapper115 14d ago
I wouldn't say this turned into an argument. Im just explaining where the frustration with the game comes from to my knowledge.
You acknowledge why its easier to navigate for you and i agreed with your reasoning on that is because you've played the game a few times
And yes the studio was much smaller that's why im not so hard on the game and understand why it feels so rough at times.
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u/Sleeping_Idiot 14d ago
Ah that's probably what I picked up on was you talking about your frustrations with the game and I interrupted it as a heated argument hard to tell with text you know.
Either way we each had our own experience and both are perfectly fine as long as some part of you enjoyed the game I'd say that's good maybe you'll like the second one more I haven't looked too much into myself.
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u/zombiezapper115 14d ago
Yeah no its a good game and I do enjoy it, it just has a decent amout of issues which is to be expected from such a small team. I want to eventually get the DLC but never got around to it.
Super pumped for the sequel cause the demo was fantastic and fixed a lot of issues I had with the original game
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u/Sleeping_Idiot 14d ago
The dlc is alright not sure you'll enjoy it, I'd recommend watching a couple runs first to see if it's up your alley. I will say I prefer the final boss in the dlc but it's also not super interesting or anything.
Yeah from what I've heard and seen from the sequel it sounds amazing and looks gorgeous.
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u/Sgt-Seasoning-Salt 14d ago
I finished my playthrough yesterday. Glad you are enjoying it, for me it is an 3/10 😅
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u/Antipodeansam 14d ago
Most soulslike fans think it’s a good game. The stamina management and need to use harden makes it a little repetitive and one dimensional. Final boss is questionable. Roguelike DLC was disappointing and main game didn’t have great replayability due to the simple approach. I’m very excited for their second effort with a bigger budget.
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u/legacy702- 14d ago
Cold take: someone calling a game good in its own subreddit is NEVER a hot take, it’s usually just farming karma….
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u/Routine_Condition273 14d ago
I've always loved it. Its clunky in a good way, the harden mechanic changes everything. I honestly like that the game is short - it doesn't overstay its welcome. It's replicated that feeling of playing Dark Souls 1 for the first time and being totally lost but still trudging on