Soulslike Mortal Shell made its debut today with a gorgeous, haunting announcement trailer that certainly piqued my interest. The environments look stunning, and really capture the dark fantasy vibe the Dark Souls games are known for. In some ways it seems to have more of a horror-lean than even From Software’s legendary series, which – as a regular Shudder lurker – doesn’t upset me in the slightest.
Of course, Soulslike are dime-a-dozen these days, so Mortal Shell has to bring something worthwhile to the table if it seeks to stand out. While the trailer is light on details (though heavy on the bassy baritone narration) it does appear the game will feature a unique possession mechanic, where your avatar is actually a spirit taking corpses for an apocalyptic joy-ride. Combat looks flashy as well, and the footage hints at a deeper combo system.
It will be interesting to see how exactly Mortal Shell plays. For all the beautiful scenes and settings we need to see how tight the core loop and fighting are. Unresponsive controls and cheap encounters ultimately sink fledgling Soulslikes before they can even leave port, so hopefully Mortal Shell is capable of nailing the gameplay as superbly as it does the visuals.
Mortal Shell will release sometime later this year, and you can join the Discord for a chance at beta access (which will occur at a yet to be disclosed date). The trailer can be seen in all its glory below.
