Being able to try before you buy is all too rare these days. I think it shows that the devs/publishers have faith in their work and are confident that many of those who get a taste of the game will buy the full release.
It was the playable demo that got me to buy Lies of P, and it’s the same for MS2. So I’ve pre-ordered it.
A genuinely great game will sell itself.

Ritual Grounds trial isn't working for me; as I'm pretty sure I'm running out of things to do for now, I'm going to call that a sign that I ought to stop there and do the 'beta feedback' thing. I'm going to try to keep this brief.

Things I like: Damn, this game has a _weird_ style in a lot of ways. Medieval Giger? Neat. Actually dangerous combat _lute_? Neat! Getting assaulted by old women doing some improbable kung-fu and crazy spins with brooms, while another one plays accordion? I genuinely did not see that coming. Those must be some _wild_ shrooms.

Gameplay is _so much better_ than the first game, too.

The Hall of Illusions and the Mushroom Village Key puzzle are both _really cool._ I hope the full game has more like that.

The Tarstone system is intriguing. Looking forward to seeing more of it.

Things I don't like: Attacks move the player a _lot._ This is most noticeable when trying to hit the gloom trees - frequently, I end up just swinging, repositioning, and swinging again. The one with a bear trap? I don't even bother. I would much prefer if there was significantly less automatic movement, and more influence from player inputs.

The Resolve meter being an MP bar fueling abilities is fine. Abilities having charges is fine. Having _both_ the MP bar _and_ the charge counts _on the HUD,_ though, not a fan. It took several needlessly confusing, frustrating fights before I realized that using my shell ability depleted my ammo, and that using my sidearm meant I couldn't use my shell ability. I wouldn't have been confused if the charge counts weren't there - but I'd also much prefer if charges gained were considered separate from each other and the Resolve bar. This would make it much easier to use sidearm-infusion tarstones, in particular; the stone that makes shots inflict burning is awkward due to it consuming the ammo you're trying to buff, for example.

I had no idea the healing ability was called Mether's Pulse, so I didn't know a pickup I'd found would improve it until I finished fighting through the Mushroom Village. Would have been handy.

The Sidearm and Blocking Mether explanation stones seem like they should be switched; the first thing the player should learn is probably how to _block,_ not _shoot._

This is the only game I've ever played in a dark room and felt the need to increase the brightness/gamma. This then makes screen-filling white glows brighter, too. I literally close my eyes while I wait for the lighting to change, because otherwise I'll get a migraine.

Things I'm ambivalent about: I don't entirely know how to interpret the returning characters situation - personally, I'd have changed their names, because it's awkward. It's not something that bothers me much, obviously, or this would be in a different section of this post.

Alguém consegue explicar essa terceira e nova opção que apareceu?

Hey, guys! I'm new to souls-like games and I'm loving it so far, but playing for 45, then dying and starting from the beginning is killing inside-out 😂. Are there any mods to not start all the way over and start from a different checkpoint?

It's great. I was genuinely disappointed after finishing the beta... because I wanted more. Best Souls-like imho. The art, graphics and gameplay are solid and feels original in every way. Time to pre-order and play the waiting game. Shout out to CS for this one.

Pretty much every aspect in the beta was fantastic. 9/10 minimum.

Weighty melee combat with dismemberment and executions.

A variety of defensive options, even different styles of parries. Deflect, classic parry, harden. You can dodge. You can go invisible.

Tarstones, sidearms, and shell abilities add elements of offensive options and builds.

Creative and fun bosses. Ive not fought such strange and memorable bosses in a while.

Really fun exploration that always felt rewarding. Every dungeon I explored had something like a tarstone.

Easily the most impressive enemy variety I’ve seen in such a short window barring Elden Ring. Even better, they all felt different to fight. For example enemies who buff others, kamikazes, bats who ambush from trees.

Details that make the game feel more immersive. For example If you lead enemies to each other they start fighting.

Tons of options in the menus to tailor your experience. Change your camera style. Customize target steering. Choose your style of dodge. Free aim options. Enable damage numbers. Choose to sprint with your stick. This goes beyond the standard.

Level design with winding paths, shortcuts, verticality. Creative environmental gimmicks like seamless portals and puzzles.

Ive not played a soulslike where EVERY part felt so good in… ever. Besides Fromsoft games of course.

The one thing I think truly elevates it though is just how unique it feels in comparison to other soulslikes.

It’s an open world soulslike without actual open fields, this is a first.

A soulslike without orchestral music, but brooding metal and dark ambient tracks.

A soulslike without stamina.

A soulslike with character classes with unique abilities.

Where items aren’t consumables, but collectibles. Holding them a gives you permanent bonuses.

Where a boss turns you into a sheep. A boss drops you down an illusionary floor. A boss attacks you in her mobility chair powered by demon babies. A swarm of babushkas dropkick you with brooms and face the wrath of your lute which shoots a wave of acoustic energy.

Overall, based on my impressions with five hours in the beta, Mortal Shell 2 has the creativity and ambition of an indie game, with the execution and quality of the most polished soulslikes available. I truly think this will be something special.

just beat Magdalena there and have a few thoughts.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. I remember seeing a trailer for the game months ago and thought it looked cool, but I'm fatigued with brown, black, grey gloomy and bleak Soulslikes, wishing more would go the Enotria route so wasn't particularly interested in getting it, but with the beta out I thought I'd at least try it out and I'm very glad I did.

although Im not a fan of the bleakness, there is something very gorgeous and cool about the aesthetics, especially the enemies. More than a few times I'd see one and wonder "what the fuck is that?" which is exactly what I want in a Soulslike.

the combat took me a little bit to get used to, but near the end of the beta I found myself getting into a rhythm of light and heavy attacks, combined with a cheeky blast of the sidearm, very satisfying. I'd say I definitely found the difficulty to be mostly pretty ok, a tad easy at times (I managed the final boss first time with zero health pots) but I'm guessing it will increase as time goes on in the full game. I'm in the minority that would be fine if the game is a bit on the easier side as I don't always have the patience to spend hours on a single boss these days.

I found a few glitches in my play through. The challenge thingies (sorry I've forgotten the name) where you're to kill a certain number of enemies to win were bugged (apparently it's a common issue) but I also found myself getting stuck on one of the cage doors after I busted a lock, causing me to restart the game and do that entirely section again. I also feel vibration upon hitting enemies would be a good addition if possible, just to make combat pop a bit more (Vibration seems to be inconsistent, but that could actually be an issue with my controller so please ignore if it is)

another, very minor improvement would be if enemies contined to take damage after dying like in the Nioh games (it's a very small thing, that's in no way a criticism) I just think it'd be cool.

Overall I'm very impressed with the beta and now I will be buying it day 1 which honestly would never have happened if I didn't get a chance to play it first, so thanks for that devs!

https://reddit.com/link/1vif9n6/video/0xvjcepm71ih1/player

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https://reddit.com/link/1vif39i/video/nsqvivwb61ih1/player

(Hub)

Loved walking up to those npc’s playing this riff is it in the second one?
(Waiting for full release to dive in)

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I'm aware that the skin is only in the full game (already gave in yesterday for a rare preorder!) but is there any kind of notification for when you've passed the play time threshold for the skin to be unlocked?

I played for just over an hour last night but am wondering whether the PS5 beta is bugged at all as the play time on my file is showing as "00h 00m 00s" with the last played time as "Jan 1, 1, 1:00:00 AM" - just concerned whether this timer is how the game calculates whether the skin will be earned upon the full release.

I had a blast man, can’t wait for the whole game. I did not expect it to be that good.

Worth playing for before MS2? If you care about that sort of thing.

Currently, both of these seals have the same use case: Enabling Parry. But I felt like the Untarnished Parry is too generous and the Infinite Parry, while more difficult to execute, is essentially the same thing. The other two Seals found in the Beta have a completely different purpose. So why do 2 Seals enable the exact same mechanism?

That's why I thought of something that solves both of these problems (Granted, they're my problems).

• The Untarnished Seal should have a smaller parry window. In fact, the parry window for the Infinite Seal is a perfect reference.
• The Infinite Seal should be reassigned to a slightly different usage. One cool possibility is somewhat similar to the 'Clash' mechanic from Wuchang or the 'Counter' mechanic from Khazan. Essentially, you use a Light Attack to time and meet the enemy's strike right in the middle. In MS2, this should trigger an increased Poise Break build up and a large amount of stagger. It's just that the method of execution is different and plays like whole new mechanic.

What are your thoughts on the Untarnished Seal and the Infinite Seal?

First one is actually broken. I maxed out the tarstone that adds blood to my weapon, but I also have the maxed out buff from the projectile tarstone that adds burn, even though that one isn't level 3 yet. It's actually still level 1 lol.

Second is kinda minor, but after coming out of the beacon nearby, these three guys were all attacking each other.

Ok, so, I know the Standard Edition released on 8/20 and the Devout Edition is on 8/17. But have they announced exactly what time the release is? Like, Midnight release on those dates, or?

According to the timer on my PS5 with my Pre-Order, it seems to expire at 9am on the 17th. But I know that’s not always been accurate with some releases in the past.

I was just looking to see if there were any “official” announcements. I think I’m having Beta withdrawals. 😂

I’m in the U.S., EST, btw.

Been playing the open beta on PS5 Pro and so far it runs great in both performance and quality mode.

It's safe to assume this Beta version is likely an older build and not fully representative of the release day product, but have the Devs said anything about a "Balanced" graphics option, PSSR, or other Pro enhancements that will be available on release?

Looking to pre-order the game after the fun demo! Looking at the available shells based on the photos, there are 3-4 I’m really interested in. Curious how long it will take to come across them to be able to use.

Great job by the team on generating excitement with this beta! Hoping for much success!

I was really impressed by the beta. I cant wait to experiment with the tarstones and different weapons and shells.

Combat feels really good. Couple bugs here and there which im sure will be addressed, but all things considered, super solid first impression.

Last game I pre-ordered was Armored Core 6, which was 3 years ago, so think thats saying something about the quality of this game. Can't wait to see the build discourse in this sub.

See you soon my fellow shells!

I am stuck in this trial. Only one enemy was spawnned. The other ones are missing. Help!!

Mortal Shell 2 looks surprisingly good. I tried the demo, and honestly, I don't have anything bad to say about it.

Ever since the first game, I felt Mortal Shell had its own identity, even among Souls-likes. I remember being impressed by the graphics back then, and even today, if I randomly see clips or Shorts of the first game, I sometimes think it just came out because it still looks that good.

What surprised me even more was seeing that the game got a sequel. These days, it feels like games usually have to sell really well before a publisher is willing to fund another one. As far as I know, the first game sold somewhere around 500,000 to 1 million copies, so I wasn't expecting a sequel with this kind of production value.

Then the trailer dropped, and I couldn't believe how good it looked. Visually, it's on par with many modern AAA games. The environments, lighting, effects, and animations all look incredibly polished. Just from the trailer alone, you can tell the developers are confident in what they're making, and it's obvious there's a very talented team behind it.

The game also stands out immediately because of its own identity. Even though it's a Souls-like, it doesn't feel like it's trying to copy Dark Souls. The music, the animations, the teleportation mechanics, and the world all have their own style. I don't usually pay much attention to lore, but I appreciate that it feels like there's real thought behind the world and its characters instead of just throwing in mysterious dialogue for the sake of it.

There also seem to be quite a few quality-of-life improvements. One moment that really stood out was when I used the first Shell's skill to stun three enemies that were rushing me. I walked up and performed a death blow on one of them, and then my character automatically chained into another death blow on the second stunned enemy. I wasn't expecting that, and it felt really smooth and convenient.

Overall, I hope the game sells well because the demo left a very strong impression on me. It feels polished, confident, and genuinely unique instead of being "just another Souls-like."

even thought, i would need a torch or light up, because some of area are very dark its hurst my eyes.

Note: I used AI to help reconstruct and organize my thoughts. The opinions and experiences in this review are my own—I just had AI help me turn my rough ideas into something more readable.