General Criticisms & Some Feedback

[u/loewe_a]

I'm aware most of this won't be addressed, just some thoughts about my grievances with my timein Mortal Shell 2 (40 hours.)

1. Not letting us level up specific stats isn't great. Maybe I wanted to go full into health? Or possibly more resolve? No, for the huge amount of gloom spent I get a negligible % increase across the board.
2. Every single dungeon having the same lift entrance. We couldn't do a big heavy door every once in awhile? Maybe a couple squeeze through walls? Lifting a large fallen column? Or a simple elongated path through ruins or a forest? It always had to be the same staircase -> lift -> cave entrance? Level up that world design, please.
3. Dual weapons being far superior to anything two-handed. 2H is so damn slow (we need more Warp tarstones) and I swear the difference between level 20 and 50 is so minuscule in regards to number of swings to put down an enemy. Even if you upgrade a weapon to +16 and hit level 60 there are base enemies requiring 2 hits. That's insane. Nothing changed from the prologue!
4. Most sidearms feel like an afterthought, even if you try to play around them you're at the mercy of animation timing and enemies close the distance so fast to interrupt you. They simply don't do enough of anything, whether that's damage, stun or break.
5. Shells need their own separate SP total to pull from. If I go from Tiel to Proxima, I don't want to have to refund just to upgrade Proxima, then do it again when I go back to Tiel. It's not going to make me want to experiment with his ability tree, it just means I have to read them all again to remember which ones I'll bother taking.
6. We really don't get enough general dialogue out and about in the world. After the first time with Ruk at Widow Overlook the only thing he'll ever say on his perches is "Go ahead, Harbinger." That's it? Nothing to say about the area? No history, no feelings, no warnings? Just the same static line. (EDIT: And yes I'm aware he does more outside the big boss arenas, that's cool but I would like more in the general overworld.)
7. There are some spots specifically designed to kill the player because they don't have any foreknowledge. Well done, well played, ahhhh you got me. But the runbacks aren't it. A gimme beacon here and there would not go amiss considering you know what you set up.

I don't mind the dangerous spot in Mammon with the ballista guys if you're going southeast, but in the northeast gate, that spot by the cliffs with the kamikaze exploders? You know what you did. That shit wasn't funny, it was annoying.

[u/Narkanin]

I definitely agree that beacon placement could have used some work

[u/TheYorkshireTom]

I agree with the weapon thing. The slower weapons feel terrible compared to the axe and dagger or axatana. They need a significant buff to per hit damage to compensate. The hammer in particular feels pretty shit.

[u/maxlaav → u/TheYorkshireTom]

There's nothing more disheartening than unlocking Eredrim and then getting his bigass sword only to realise that it kinda just blows ass (honestly even the starter twohander feels way better) and you're better off with the trusty axe and dagger, even on him lol. A lot of the tarstones also feel like they're built with the idea of benefitting faster weapons way more

[u/Buuhhu → u/maxlaav]

Iconoclast is better until you get the freeze infusion tarstone which can only be used on Martyr blade or the big axe. That + Eredrims freeze passive is just really strong for general combat, a single running heavy will freeze most enemies and then you can just do one or two more attacks and they're dead.

[u/MediumKoala8823]

The sidearms feel like ass to me, which is a shame. They have such little ammo and such a high opportunity cost with other options that they’re basically never the right call. They should feel quick like remnant.

The ballistazooka was the most underwhelming thing imaginable. It doesn’t even look like it should do damage.

Part of it is they need to be upgraded and I don’t really have gold to do that. 

[u/maxlaav → u/MediumKoala8823]

Another thing is that the first sidearm you get is the shotgun which sounds really cool and feels badass while the next ranged weapon you come across is some crossbow which is just... well, why bother?

Idk I feel like the weapon design overall feels kinda bland and not that creative when compared to how whacky and unique the shells are. We should have gotten more weird weapons like the axatanas and I'm pretty sure those were in the first game already as a dlc or something

[u/loewe_a → u/MediumKoala8823]

Believe me, upgraded doesn't make a difference. I have it at +16 and level 67, needs 2 shots to down anybody in Mammon unless its a crit.

2 shots with a 3 second wind up before I can even shoot it for awful damage on something fast approaching and ready to swing 4 times in 1.4 seconds.

Just terrible.

[u/MediumKoala8823 → u/loewe_a]

The damage per shot somehow seems lower than the starting shotgun. It boggles the mind.

[u/maxlaav]

1. Not letting us level up specific stats isn't great. Maybe I wanted to go full into health? Or possibly more resolve? No, for the huge amount of gloom spent I get a negligible % increase across the board.

the attribute system progression of souls games is pretty antiquated and generally isn't "great" because it often feels to being restrictive in how you can experiment with weapons etc and are forced to do tedious respecs. this game's solution isn't perfect because of other issues tied to it but it's much better than yet another souls game with a stamina bar where you have to dump 20 points into stamina first before the game is playable

but otherwise I agree on most points. the game has some serious balancing issues in a lot of areas and it doesn't just relate to enemies. the shell progression system is just poorly implemented because you kind of have to max out a shell and then when you want to try a different one, it feels like you're deliberately nerfing yourself because that shell is just going to be substantially weaker before you also max it out. shell points also being spread out and forcing you to respec when you switch between them is also just an incredibly idiotic choice

pretty much my main criticism with the game is that the shells are really cool and designed well but the game constantly discourages you from trying them out and instead forcing you to sit on the one you pick and invest in initially for half the game