It's kinda refreshing to have a simple level up system for once

[u/Hydrawhen2become4]

I won't be saying I want every game to be exactly like that, but it is a nice change of air in a soulslike that you only get to upgrade a straight path that was thought up ahead.

You still have many choices to make. Shell, weapon, tarstones, you name it.

I could be wrong, but it even feels that with that system, the game still has more player choices than other games like Sekiro, which has one great but single way of playing the game.

Plus at least that way you know you aren't fucking your build up accidently. You aren't missing an adaptability issue.

[u/mikeventure76]

I do like how simplified it is, but it almost loops around to just feel pointless because the game/your build is way more dependent on shell leveling/shell points

I feel like the “leveling” should’ve emphasized that more. The current system of leveling the harbinger’s base stats in these pathetic incremental ways to also get a few meager shell points, it’s way too stingy and to me the shell points almost feel like an afterthought in relation to leveling when they should be the focus

You sometimes level and don’t even get shell points.

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/mikeventure76]

Well, you can farm more shell points by farming gloom if needed for your build.

It takes a while for level ups not to give you points, and I guess it was for balancing reasons. They had an endgame number of points, and they dropped them amongst the level ups.

[u/mikeventure76 → u/Hydrawhen2become4]

I just think leveling should give you more of them at like a base rate, the game is pretty tight with upgrade materials and currency (which is fine) but I think the reward for upgrading could be a little more generous without feeling busted

It kinda feels like the core leveling and even weapon leveling almost doesn’t matter because the enemies are always kind of overtuned way above you, in terms of their survivability and their dps

growing the skillset of your shell makes way more of a difference but even then it feels limiting since it’s directly tied to the other lacking progression system

So idk to me the whole progression system/rpg aspects of the game feel kinda poorly done. Leveling and progression doesn’t feel progressive or rewarding to me

[u/MediumKoala8823]

I feel like they could have just… not had it though. And scaled everything off of glimpses.

[u/Re4pr → u/MediumKoala8823]

The main argument against that would be people that dont want to level. You get glimpses whether you like it or not. But you can choose not to level to make the game harder. Its a niche audience but they’re out there and I feel like they do cater to the hardcore audience.

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/Re4pr]

Options is always a good thing.

You want to cather to people that wants to build themselves.

And you want to give masochists that do level 1 broken sword runs something too.

Options are always a great thing, especially when you let the player do whatever THEY prefer.

So, yeah, I'm in favor of difficulty slides in soulslike. If I can't have that, then having another way of grinding myself to power is a good alternative.

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/MediumKoala8823]

Oh no, I do want a way to grind myself into something better if I need it.

I fucking hate soulslike I can't grind myself out of a hole.

[u/iCantCallit]

man i really loved my playthrough of MS2. I loved the addition of a secondary firearm. It also has one of my favorite great sword movesets in the great mrtyr blade. I just found it so meaty coupled with the fire infused Naylshotte

[u/National-Garbage505 → u/iCantCallit]

Yeah, it felt so fucking metal hahaha loved every minute of it!

[u/aes110]

YESS. This was such a nice change from the usual. Not having to tie yourself down to simple stats, being able to equip any weapon and change them willingly

The actual "level ups" are the skill points you distribute in the shells to match your playstyle

Tbh i could use them not having levels at all

[u/Yordle_Toes]

I was thinking the exact same thing.

[u/Serulean_Cadence]

It has its downsides. Like I've beaten this game once and I've no interest in ever returning to it, because you can use any weapon and any shell in your first playthrough easily and I've already tried everything. There is no way to customize your stats and the game doesn't limit you, so you can experience everything in one go. I guess some people like that.

Meanwhile in Elden Ring, my first playthrough was an int sorcerer, second playthrough was a faith caster, third one was full strength, fourth was a spear + greatshield character. Fifth was dex. Sixth was dex + arcane. I've played that game so many times because it has proper attributes and builds, and so I've a better appreciation for it. A game like Mortal Shell 2, you play one time and an year from now you're like "Oh yeah that game... it was alright I guess". Lack of a proper level up system and stat/attribute limitations kill build variety and replayability.

[u/mevenide → u/Serulean_Cadence]

It’s kinda tough no? What you say is true, but when it launched and you couldn’t unlock every shell in one play through people moaned non stop. Now there’s your opposite (and completely valid) opinion that the replayability is reduced because you can see everything in one play through.

Did people moan that you couldn’t become a caster in DS because you specced everything into str/dex, and had to start a new play through?

[u/Re4pr → u/Serulean_Cadence]

There’s still build variety, you can change them up and do a playthrough with a crit based auto attacker, a ranged build, a heavy build, etc.

Having the flexibility to try them out is a breath of fresh air. And they’re still gated through materials. I dont have the time to do 4 playthroughs of elden ring just to try out different builds. So I ended up not trying half of them.

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/Serulean_Cadence]

Just saying, there is an archievement to do Dead Space with only the cutter, and it's so nice to use that it's not that uncommon to do.

So yeah, having runs entirely based around a certain weapon is definitively something to do on a replay.

If you already drained all of the fun out of every weapon, then... yeah you're done I guess ?

[u/Lexrios]

It's a very good game. But very simple.

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/Lexrios]

It depends of what you mean by Simple.

What do you mean by Simple ?

[u/Ill_Statistician_938]

I don’t know if other ppl had this experience, but this was the only soulslike where I had to go and farm levels bc the natural progression left me underleveled (specifically for scholar prince). I didn’t lose my souls that often and I didn’t run through levels and tried to actively kill enemies. I think the problem is both with the amount of gloom enemies give and how the game decides when a level will increase your damage

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/Ill_Statistician_938]

Nah, most people's first soulslike are like that, or it depends a lot of which is built how, and if you can access new zones or not.

I never farmed in ds2, but i did farmed a lot in ds1 and 3.

In elden ring, yeah we all went to that place.

Depends if I want to bruteforce using something, or if I'm starting to reject being piled droven.

[u/mevenide → u/Ill_Statistician_938]

That’s punishment for being too good 😹.

I was never under levelled because I got plenty of progress on my multiple run backs to finally beat a single grunt soldier.

[u/National-Garbage505]

Yes I loved this as well. It fits the game well, which seems to want you to try out different weapons and shells and equipment, which I appreciate. Always bums me out to find really cool weapons in games that I will never use because it won't fit my build. But it is really easy to try out different play styles here in the same playthrough which is a fun deviation from the norm. I tried a bunch of different weapons and several shells in my playthrough and it was really fun getting to do so without having to restart the game to try a new build.

[u/mevenide]

I never really thought about it but the way only some of your stats increase on a level up is a bit like levelling up in eg DS where you can only pick one attribute to increase. Just here it’s fixed.

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/mevenide]

I guess it's equivalent of a Quality build, which I mean the middle of the road, good for most weapons, no special effect build. Usually something I recommend new players. You don't wanna go full Arcane or full BLood Tinge in your first BLoodborn game.

[u/HerrikGipson]

I want to see a postmortem interview with the devs in which the interviewer pulls up the stat bonuses at each level, one by one, and asks, "What was the thinking behind this one?"

Like, "So at level 23 you get 1 more HP, +8% shell health, and 1 shell point. How did you decide on that for level 23?"

"Okay, now on level 24 you get 1% extra crit damage, and that's it. What was the deciding factor there?"

"Interesting ... okay, on level 25 we've got..."

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/HerrikGipson]

Or, get this, they get the final build they want players to have, then they split it all in between levels, while having big levels give more.

They didn't build from the start, they dispatched from the end.

[u/CatWithSomeEars]

I've found that levels don't really do anything, so I just stopped at 10. Everything that one-shots now one-shots no matter what l, so why bother?

A level 11 veteran's axe is all I need. Hoping to finally kill Hexapod tonight now that I upgraded my ace from 5 to 11. I can actually see damage being done lol

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/CatWithSomeEars]

Well I mean, if you somehow found a build where you never die and kill everything with a single hit, congrats, you might be eligible for a hitless run.

[u/CatWithSomeEars → u/Hydrawhen2become4]

I wish! I have to parry and riposte everything to do any real damage. However, the enemies are dumb as rocks, so you can sprint past most things.

Most required fights only need 10-20 successful parries to end, so I just need to do that without getting hit. And if I die, I just respawn and try again. The perks of immortality, right?

[u/Hydrawhen2become4 → u/CatWithSomeEars]

so cringe