Back in 2021, Mortal Shell launched with a couple of interesting ideas, but poor execution eclipsed them. While its world-building, lore, Shell-inhabiting gimmicks, and creature design were on point, it failed to grab me; that isn’t the case for its sequel. Mortal Shell 2 is a reimagining of its predecessor to the point that it feels like a completely new series. Cold Symmetry has crafted one of the most brutal and compelling soulslike action-RPGs in recent memory, and it stands out for how boldly it approaches the genre.
The Shells We Inhabit
If there is one area where Mortal Shell 2 sticks to the “classic” soulslike formula, it’s in its storytelling. In other words, the narrative can be a little vague and convoluted at times. That’s not necessarily a criticism, however. One thing I like about the Mortal Shell universe is its lore and world-building. While the predecessor felt a bit more “all-over-the-place,” Mortal Shell 2 feels somewhat easier to follow and a lot more cohesive.
You assume the role of the Harbinger, tasked with collecting the Mether’s Ova, and to do so, you need to defeat a few nightmare fuel bosses around the map. While that might be the driving force behind the Harbinger’s adventure, what makes it memorable is its deep lore and how this sequel makes it more straightforward to follow.
For instance, every Shell you discover has its own backstory, revealing the events that led to it becoming a Shell. While you likely won’t see all of them in one playthrough, I enjoyed investing some of my Glimpse to unlock memories of my favorite Shells. In turn, this added even more lore to the world, making the overarching narrative have more of an emotional impact.
While I still feel the genre needs a better, more memorable way to tell its stories, Mortal Shell 2 is taking bold, exciting steps in how soulslikes handle storytelling. And while it isn’t groundbreaking, I appreciate how carefully written its lore is, to the point that the characters, Shells, and even some locales, stick with you after the credits roll.
As Brutal as It Gets
Now, the meaty part of Mortal Shell 2 is, undoubtedly, its combat and exploration, of which I’ll focus on the former first.
Its predecessor experimented with some genuinely interesting ideas, such as having you inhabit different Shells instead of building a single character throughout the game. Each one had different skills and served a different purpose. Sadly, as promising as it sounded on paper, the execution was a little rough, with movement and combat often feeling sluggish and unresponsive. Here, the core idea remains the same, but the execution is far smoother, and the way each Shell plays makes a huge difference.
When the game starts, you are the Harbinger, which is, let’s say, your “weak” form. Eventually, you’ll start discovering Shells, which you will play as and provide you with different active and passive skills. Should you meet your demise, your Shell will “break”, turning you into the Harbinger again and leaving you vulnerable. The next death will send you back to the latest Beacon, so, in essence, you have two lives of sorts.
What makes every Shell stand out is how unique each one feels in terms of what they bring to combat. For instance, my main Shell, Proxima, had two huge things that I loved about her: an active skill that would let me “probe” enemies to shock them, and a passive ability that would mitigate certain damage.
The Shell-building part comes into play when you spend Shell points on each Shell’s skill tree. Every single one of these unlockable characters has specific talents you can unlock that boast certain abilities. For instance, you can build Proxima as a tank who mitigates damage more easily, or lean toward a more DPS-focused build by increasing the damage of her active skill and allowing it to freeze enemies.
The truth is, I love how Mortal Shell 2 approaches its leveling and character-building. You don’t have to deal with stats or make a spreadsheet of the perfect build. Once you level up, stats get adjusted for all Shells, and you just need to focus on getting the upgrades you like.
However, character identity, in terms of build, goes beyond those passive talents, as you also have weapons and Tarstones. For the former, don’t expect hundreds of armaments. Instead, Mortal Shell 2 offers a couple of them and focuses on making each one extremely engaging to use.
All weapons can be used by every Shell, and every single one has a different moveset depending on whether you use a light or heavy attack. My favorite one was the Axatana, which, as the name implies, is a pair of Katanas that turn into an Axe during a heavy attack.
Despite all Shells having access to these unique weapons, you’ll be using your Tarstone to add passive and active abilities to them. Tarstones come in different categories, such as Support, which give you passive buffs like obtaining more gold after defeating enemies, Ability, which give you a skill you need to perform, and Infusion, which give your weapons an element.
Tarstones were another welcome surprise, as they can also be levelled up and upgraded. For example, one Tarstone initially let me apply Poison for just four attacks, but after upgrading it to its final level, the effect became permanent. All of the above, by the way, applies to Sidearms, too. So, you can have your hellish shotgun fire normally but use Tarstones to make it rain down projectiles or turn its bullets into explosive slugs.
Another thing I liked about how Mortal Shell 2 approached its combat is how much it encourages you to be aggressive, which reminded me of Bloodborne in a way.
To use your skills and fire any of your destructive Sidearms, you’ll need Resolve. The only way to refill this resource is by using melee attacks. So, if you want to summon clones as Sester Genessa or tackle enemies as Eredim, you need to smack them around first. In a way, Mortal Shell 2 encourages you to take the first step always instead of passively waiting to learn your enemy’s moves. It even applies to “reviving” your Shell. If you’re on Harbinger more, you need to do enough damage until you can summon them again.
However, there are also several defensive options, and parrying plays a huge role in this sequel. Parrying will allow you to increase an enemy’s break bar, and once it fills up, you can Riposte them. Often, I found this tactic particularly useful against enemies with a bigger HP pool, but stuck to just mashing buttons and skills against the more “cannon fodder” type of foes.
Lastly, I need to give praise to the animation team behind every finisher in Mortal Shell 2 as well as combat moves—they are the best I’ve seen in the genre, and rival those in DOOM. Almost every finisher is different depending on the enemy, and they are as brutal as you can imagine. Cold Symmetry didn’t have to go this hard when executing a monster with a freakishly long tongue, but it did, and beating that enemy with its own tongue while bashing its face in is the most satisfying thing I’ve experienced in a soulslike.
Exploration Without Bloat
When I learned Mortal Shell 2 would feature an open world, the many worries that arise after looking at the state of the current gaming industry flooded my mind: “How will it perform?” “How bloated will it be?” “Will it get repetitive?” Well, I have to say that my fears were unfounded because Mortal Shell 2 finally cracked the open-world exploration code.
See, Mortal Shell 2 is indeed an open-world soulslike action-RPG. However, it respects its approach to exploration by delivering an extremely carefully handcrafted world to the point that every single dungeon is unique. Furthermore, the map isn’t as big as Elden Ring‘s or Nioh 3‘s, to the point that some areas may feel empty. It delivers impactful locations with well-placed enemies that provide a challenge and a few moments of respite to catch your breath.
Also, as I mentioned before, every single dungeon is unique. Some are your usual combat-focused ones with a linear path until you reach the dungeon’s reward. Others, however, involve puzzles, illusory walls, and even minibosses.
And if that wasn’t enough, you also have Night Mode, which is the game’s hardest difficulty, toggable after meeting one NPC. Frankly, I am a bit conflicted with it because, on the one hand, it unlocks new content, such as dungeons that only appear at night. On the other hand, I mostly noticed some HP and damage increases for some enemies, and that’s my least favorite approach to difficulty bumps.
Still, it is a good way to provide players with an added challenge without having to restart the game, so that’s a welcome bonus. And, if the game is still too hard in its standard mode, you can equip one Seal that turns the easy mode on, allowing you to break enemies more easily at the cost of not having achievements.
A Stellar Sequel
As I delved deeper and deeper into this sequel, I couldn’t believe it was from the Mortal Shell universe, and I don’t say that as a bad thing. Mortal Shell felt like a testing ground for some interesting mechanics, while Mortal Shell 2 refines every one of those ideas into one of the most jaw-dropping, brutal, and exciting soulslikes in years.
My only hope is that Cold Symmetry continues experimenting with this formula. The studio has done a wonderful job making a superb sequel that fixes many of the genre’s issues. While many might have skipped its predecessor, Mortal Shell 2 is a must-play and one of the best games of 2026.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Mortal Shell 2 (PC Reviewed)
Mortal Shell 2 is a superb sequel that reimagines and refines every idea from its predecessor while sidestepping many of the pitfalls that often hold the soulslike genre back.
Pros
- A brutal and compelling combat system
- Impactful open-world exploration
- A gorgeous and unique art style
Cons
- Night Mode is a bit of a mixed bag
