This is the Best Soulslike I've Ever Played...

Minor spoilers!! Just a forewarning!
Code Symmetry gave me a key for Mortal Shell so I could test it out a day early. This is undoubtedly one of, if not, the single most polished and genuinely well-prepared soulslike games I think I've ever played. It remains faithful to its inspiration while not wearing it on its sleeve, and what comes of it is a brilliant game that feels less like a carbon copy and more like a love letter to the Souls games.
There's no music I used for this. I just took the audio clip of the shell playing a lute and just looped it like 14 times.
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[@LuxrayLloyd]

That Kitty-Petting was purrfect. Oh yeah, and the game is awesome as well

[@h3w45]

Cats are the best

[@ABadassDragon]

That sword grabbing move and hitting with a guard is a real life move with a most metal name, murderstroke

[@YeOldeMachine]

Metal af for sure

[@llucllumador380]

mordhau

[@brothermathius9506]

Used for fighting people in armor and using it similar to a warhammer

[@deedeekreep9139]

I'm assuming armor around the hands made the move possible

[@ABadassDragon]

@@deedeekreep9139 Leather gloves mostly, but if your hands are calloused enough and you have a strong grip it is possible to do it bare handed

[@carlkligerman1981]

This was my gateway drug into the world of Soulslikes. I was OBSESSED with this game. It is gorgeous, punishing, irresistible. After this I bought a PS4 to play BB for the first time.

[@KaroxNightshade]

I want a series. Rusty's constant anger plus this wonderful looking game would likely be a combo leaving me entertained more than anything else going on right now.

[@sinanuluc5143]

I love the parry sound in The Surge 2 too and this one sounds incredible as well. I agree that this type of little details do contribute to the overall satisfaction you get during combat.

[@ABadassDragon]

Do a begginers guide, or anything else about the game, just talk about it. Maybe maxed out lute 1 hour loop for study and relaxation

[@somniumoflight276]

Dude, I'm all for seeing more Mortal Shells content from you. While I'll admit that I'm not a player of Soulsbourne style games, the concept of the game - you being a non-human creature inhabiting human corpses and (theoretically, assuming your theory about the world-building and the familiarity thing is correct) trying to understand them at the same time - is REALLY FUCKING COOL.

[@xan7292]

I would *absolutely* be interested in more Mortal Shell content.

[@T4coTV]

Well this comes in handy... Now I (again) need a game to play while waiting for Silksong!

[@turanome5678]

SilkSong is a long ways away, and we do need stuff to keep us company but yeah this looks great.

[@carlosleather4241]

I’ve just started to play dark souls for the first time. But deep down, it’s all just filler for Silksong

[@T4coTV]

@@carlosleather4241 True true

[@carlosleather4241]

@SonOfOdin fair enough if that is your opinion. Ive been playing dark souls and i am enjoying it massively actually :) . The world building is great and the difficulty is on point for me. Ive also been seeing some mortal shell streams and it looks great too! My comment was just a little joke, didnt want to offend any opinions.Anyways, if you like souls games i recommend you some day try Hollow Knight. I can definately see souls fans loving the game. If you worried about it being too easy, dont be. There are some Very *VERY* tough challenges. But in the end of the day, you do you.

[@TheAdvertisement]

T4coTV Yup!

[@Cosmic_Cretin]

I thought it was pretty good, like a 7/10. It looks nice but the areas could have had more personality imo. The bossfights are good but some hit too many of the same notes. The combat has a good variety to it even though there is some jank with the parrying and hitboxes... overall, I think its a good debut but there is definitely room for imporvement, I would like to see Symmetry's next game have a bit more personality in its world though.

[@bizmonkey007]

I liked the combat far more than I thought I would. The specials are really badass and the game is actually extremely fair. I agree about the levels though. They weren’t very well developed or distinctive and it’s just too easy to lose your way.

[@troy8420]

@Oligoden Have to disagree a lot. Thought the combat was great and stood out from just being a Souls clone. There is no way a shell-less run is comparable to using, say, Eredrim who has a massive health pool, can stack a ton of damage, can upgrade his health even further and stagger more etc. Agree about the world building, the art is great but there isn't that intrigue in the lore or dialogue. Not too bad for a small team though, I would give it at least an 8

[@bucketfeet6570]

This is pretty much my exact same thoughts

[@nicholaslee7476]

Tainted nektor is actually op, if you use it it doesn't count as "dying" in which you can go back into your shell, get full health, and still can get knocked out of your shell!

[@JesusRodriguez-zc2bg]

Yup that's how I beat the game.

[@joshuajenningssims141]

Well done on the introduction to Mortal Shell, man. I’ve been intrigued yet uncertain and you warded off the uncertainty and replaced it with a confirmation to dive into.

[@Stizzl]

Really looking forward to playing this one! Might take a few weeks off of the wait for Milksong

[@poop3826]

Getting closer man, stay strong.

[@cr33p3rhd6]

I always enjoy people talking about games they like and why they do so, and this video is no different. Great work, if about Mortal Shell or not I am looking forward to more content like this :)

[@biohazardgamer7070]

Would definitely like to see a playthrough of this or at least some more content.

[@roger07ify]

Keep playing it dude I would totally love a beginners guide from you

[@snowwhite1855]

More content of this game please!!!!!! Super psyched for this game!!!!

[@rexflex7548]

If you sit down and play your guitar … next to the checkpoint lady she starts to nod her head to the music 🔥

[@alove8135]

Tainted Nektar allows you to fully gain your health without losing your shell. If your close to being knocked out your shell and your low on heals you can use Tainted Nektar and re-shell, gain all your health and still have another chance to re-shell upon being knocked out. It's similar to the Jizo statue in Sekiro.

[@andriakublashvili2020]

If you are interested into these type of games, mortal shell is the best to start: great atmosphere, nice combat with good upgrades and also it is the easiest from hard games like these.

[@Eli_Drennan]

Fun fact, you cant die to bear traps, they’ll take you down to 1 hp but wont kill

[@stevoyah]

I feel like its a solid game for such a small studio. Nailing parries 100% so satisfying to hear it. It does have its buggy ai and some clunky hitboxing and parries BUT souls games have their fair share of clunky moments. Also spent too much time getting familiar with the Lute playing. lol

[@stevoyah]

@Mk. 5 ds3 and ds1 I enjoy playing. Ds2 idk what happened but didn't my time playing it all.

[@Wendigo922]

This game just captures the same feeling I got when playing Bloodborne

[@kevinandrews9302]

"oh shit. Haven't seen you before...guess that's the end of the run" yep that just about sums it up.

[@zachrobinson8357]

Half-swording was actually a thing used in history, and yes it was still badass back then.

[@ethanpreheim9118]

Try playing Hellpoint. It’s a souls like that came out a month ago. It’s been overshadowed by Mortal Shell so not many people have heard about it but it is my favorite souls like EVER

[@thehauntedhat5519]

Man, why has nobody mentioned that the grab-sword-by-blade move is a real-life technique?!!!!! :P

[@randomsandwichian]

Ie. pommelstrike. And the longer the blade, it's better to design it more like a stave than a sword.

[@deic1d3]

Id love to see some more mortal shell content! It's been years and I honestly miss this game and have been longing for a sequel or at least some proper dlc. I recommend Hellpoint or Steelrising if you haven't played those games before

[@karenbonds264]

I found another Soulslike you might want to keep an eye on. Here's a trailer: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWPRf5-gq5WAhdk

[@comradecatbug5289]

Feline Persuasion You really liked petting the cat

[@bretth342]

I have never had such a SEETHING hatred of bear traps

[@wolfsraynefan]

You gotta hurry and finish this game to jump on the lore wagon before it gets too crowded! But in all seriousness, it sounds like you really liked playing this and although I'm not a huge Souls player myself I'd give this a shot with how you enthusiastically described it. Keep playing and give us that Mortal Shell content, my man!

[@bombardo6118]

I don't hear people talk about this game very much, which is a shame bcs it seems pretty interesting

[@ryanperrin3705]

We miss hearing you on TGN and this was so nice! Show us more!

[@Dandygirl_94]

You're basically the maggot who stole Hegemol's armkr in HK, just actually badass. I feel this is a little more Diablo but maybe this would be the result if Diablo and a Soulsborne game had a baby.

[@raulrojas9253]

Those are some bold statements right there rusty considering the fact that games like NIOH 1 and 2 exist, but ok I ll give this game a shot when goes on sale.

[@kasadeya3754]

Please more content for mortal shell, just man..this game is helping my dark souls withdrawal hard.

[@thetransientone6254]

I picked this up based on your first look and man I was floored. This is the most awesome game I have ever not even kind of understood lol Best moment so far: THE GAME FREAKIN' PAGAN MIN-ED ME! XDXD

[@dexterbarlow-busch4127]

Here's the thing: Tainted Nektar is actually probably the most valuable item in the game, because it rends you from your shell WHILE RETAINING the ability to get thrown out of your shell by damage. It's basically a full restore of your health to use when you're low hp.

[@Nionyx]

I’m three hours in and wanting to tear my hair out through though my mouth. I can’t get used to using all these mechanics and using them so quickly. Ahhhhhh

[@anubis2044]

I feel you bro, I almost completely gave up cause I couldn't beat Grisha, I gave up on parrying and just focused on my timing and actually the game gets easier after Grisha. Use the Eredrim shell in the beginning it has a huge health bar. And spend some time collecting healing items in Fallgrim. You can do it. (Oh and the lunging attack is your friend, lunge attack then dodge backwards and repeat. )

[@thedarkgenious7967]

Ah, yes. Fuck the Grisha. I wanted such revenge on those bastards that I made the infinitely respawning Fog-Grisha my Glimpse-farm. after roughly 50 kills at 6 glimpses per I had upgraded all the shells and got the fast-travel mask.

[@adeibmuthanna7936]

ill like to see some more btw don't forget about the silk song up date

[@RavenBane]

That game looks incredible! Have you tried out ashen?

[@zestycrunchman602]

Probably gonna pick this one up, Thanks for the recommendation. Hopefully it'll subvert my excitement for SilkSong and my pain of not being to play Bloodborne.

[@gingerscape5328]

Do all the things. I'm on my way to buy it now after watching this (was on the fence before now) and I would love to hear literally anything you have to say about this game going forward

[@gingerscape5328]

Hell, if you're down for it I'd love to see a playthrough of the game, but maybe after you and everyone else have had their blind playthroughs

[@exogenesis9112]

When you said you can combo light and heavy attacks, I thought that’s pretty cool and then he fucking half swords the fucker and that looked dope as hell

[@bucketfeet6570]

It's crazy how many souls-likes there are but none have mastered the combat design.

[@graemefisher7067]

I would indeed like more content on this game. I'm hoping to get it and would love to see more.

[@icespirit7829]

Perfect, now I can't wait to play this perl. However, it's not available on steam until 2021

[@heyyou9472]

God murderstroke will never *not* sound and look so fucking metal. First ever penetrating type of move that utilizes the hilt of a weapon to attack armor

[@megadolon7000]

The core combat feels very methodical and punishing which i like.. the only downsides for me were the endboss, lack of music and maybe lack of interesting spots in the environment. I hope Cold Symmetry will be eager to make a sequel in which they can address some issues and be able to include more content when the studio becomes a bit bigger. I am on NG+4 right now

[@copperheadai4797]

Yeah, I've tried different weapons but I keep going back to the sword. Fast, hits hard, and the murder stroke is oh so satisfying. But any new Mortal Shell content sounds good. It's an amazing game and I'd love to see how other people tackle it's late game challenges.

[@copperheadai4797]

@Mk. 5 I've since expanded to use the scorched mace on subsequent play-throughs using Tiel. Fire and poison are a wombo combo and it doesn't use as much stamina as Martyrs. I love heavy weapons, but the stamina usage just seems a little much for Martyrs

[@yalkn2073]

5:13 That is a real sword fighting move by the way. Its called murderstrike

[@R4ggedyM4n]

really like the background music

[@rango962]

The attack where you grab the sword by the blade and use it as a hammer was the only way in real life to do something against a guy with armor

[@BiggRich95]

Great video btw man love the content

[@Malenia128]

Played this game back in 2021 and oh boy that's when I realized I was skilled in Souls game for the first time ever! I'm definitely going to get the DLC later after I get Bloodborne's DLC that I need cause I'm almost done with my NG+3 playthrough

[@pr4360]

I really recommend for everyone to turn off the healthbars on the monsters! It is so awesome and scary to fight a new monster, blind of their health!

[@GregoryJohnson-l1g]

5:19 Thats a thing that real people historically have done. Smacking someone in plate armor with the heavy guard of a sword is more effective than trying to cut metal with that sword.

[@evk4821]

Mortal shell seems really cool and you should definitely do more content including it.

[@turanome5678]

The quenching acid probably gets rid of rust so it's less brittle, that's how it repairs it. (This is only just recently but holy shit 5 whole likes, I'll probably get ANOTHER in about 27 years. I am not popular so this is making me shit myself even though I was once known in 9th grade as the kid who chugged 9 bottles of cola in less than 10 minutes. {Don't do it, I threw up afterwards.})

[@otterlinormal9328]

Holy shit, ive never even played the Soulsbourne series and I want to play this.

[@EmilyRose0]

Got totally addicted, rushed into NG+ and missed A LOT of Quenching Acids. Then I began to chase them and also did not have the 3rd healing upgrade. Missed the 3rd healing upgrade even in NG+ and you can not get it when you already have the gland so I got that in NG++ ;) I mean that was not the only reason I continued, but I am not in NG+3 and I pretty much presssed out all the joiuce out of the game. Given that the weapons get +5 levels each NG and you can purchase "only" 10, not sure how many you can find. I am still on the hunt to have all 4 weapons maxed out to +20 but I stopped. I got a real Souls Urge now, I considered replaying DS3 again. I do not own a PS4 for Noih2 and the 2d pixelated "Souls Likes" Turn me off even though I enjoyed Salt and Sanctuary (not pixalated). I never finished Nioh, got tuned out at some point for some reason, does rarely happen but more as I get older. But damn this game got me, a bit to easy and way too small sadly. Could have been sooo much more. Kind of a dream come true to have a Souls in Unreal Engine. Looks perfect, runs perfect on my dated PC. I actually hated the harden mechanic at the beginning and the boss fights are easier than the rest of the game with it. But I ended up liking it. In NG+ you actually get a little damage through harden, but the game does not really get any harder especially when you get more used to it and max your weapon out. Tiel with his low HP pool is probably the hardest to play in NG+ because every harded gets you damage but you can always but as many rats to heal as you want. In the beginning I thought there are not enough heals, I most play played without buying rats but I think the game is a bit to easy already, but because the rats are there I could not help myself in burning through them for the Eternal Nexus Area and the Last Boss.

[@YeOldeMachine]

Yeah, its really fucking good. I just wanted more. Hope we get a DLC w/more weapons, shells, and locations

[@darthnut7089]

This game was my first souls like game (unless Jedi Fallen Order counts which I didn’t think it does) now I’m playing Bloodborne and it’s also very fun and I might like Bloodborne even more

[@blakewalker94]

It's a training ground for Einherjar. Gotta prepare for Ragnarok.

[@sagebaca2013]

Isn't this the game that H2O Delirious got his ass handed to?

[@taiyoctopus2958]

5:15 it's called Mordhau Grip... Mordhau also happens to be a great medieval multiplayer game with a steep and brutal learning curve :) come join us...

[@ToastyTstdToast]

Im absolutely loving the game so far, im maining the hallowed sword and playing as eredrim.

[@mauriciohablutzel]

Really cool looking game, hope there's more!

[@RegretfullyMine]

I’m buying it. This looks fantastic.

[@ickabob]

major spoiler, games is incredibly short. Its like 1/5 the size of DS1

[@sampearson2102]

First couple of hours it just felt like a worse dark souls but for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about it. I beat grisha last night and I've fallen in love with the game. The game has enough unique mechanics to stand on its own and once you get used to the combat its sublime.

[@animeweeb7002]

Ive been fuckin looking for this game gor 5 years

[@ThatBritishGuy138]

You're right about what people think, or more so don't think about the atmosphere of these kinda games. A lot people complain about the pallete of Dark Souls being really dark and not exciting,but it's a game that's about the never ending cycle in a world that is beyond messed up at the end of age of Light. It's meant to be dark, it's meant to be fucked and it's meant to give you the feeling of despair as you explore and truly realise JUST how fucked every thing is 😂

[@professorJorge11]

I finally bought this ! it's good , and I'm afraid of the NARTHEX area because of the videos I've seen.

[@NagiOki]

I say go-for-it buddy. I'd watch it.

[@tobiasbehnke9651]

Learning a boss is more like learning a piece of music. The better you are at the basics of reading what to do and how, the easier any piece is.

[@samuel-sevenstophost6642]

I'm sure we can expect a boss ranking

[@RoyFokker93]

5:30 that is an actual sword tecnique.

[@alohagamingbros]

Enhanced edition is out fellas.... go get em at 4k 60fps

[@armin4298]

Holy shit thanks Rusty i was looking for a souls game for so long and maybe i have found one Oh and i want to buy dead cells to but i don't have enough money for two games which one do you guys think i should really buy i can't decide

[@lanebutlermusic]

Holy shit, i cant wait to play this

[@SquirrelSword]

I've been interested in this game for a while so yeah, if you wanna talk about it more go ahead.

[@wickmotta5309]

Best 37 bucks I ever spent 10 out of 10 dlc is just as good if not better hope they make more

[@lolacerowosu5970]

this game looks awesome. as a DS3 player I approve

[@slingshotwaffles]

Being able to pet animals makes pretty much any game playable

[@whatsNiutjq]

Wanted to point out that the game's made by Cold Symmetry, not Code Symmetry! (In the video description)

[@s-o-u-p6095]

finally a video on it :)

[@randomsandwichian]

Possible explanation for the way the names are: Tar - some sort of adhesive? Glimpses - You're reprising the life of those shells, so role-playing? Harden - Since you wear a "shell" as armor... Most items are associated with some form of rot, death or tarnish. You're literally in hell.

[@troy8420]

How would you feel about ranking every soulslike you've played? (Could include fromsoft games too) This game is fantastic btw

[@ducksruleflorida4882]

Agreed but I'm getting sick of the term "Souls-like". Every game should have a chance to stand on their own.

[@logizom5335]

I would say that term fits pretty well with a game like this though... even if I do have to fight the urge to gag when I hear it.

[@dargons5145]

Ever heard of the term "Metroidvania"? Give it a few more years and people might not even remember where the term came from.

[@slingshotwaffles]

@@dargons5145 well I mean souls like kinda takes from Metroid and Castlevania as well

[@Nylspider]

I call them Souls em up games because of that one GMTK joke

[@oldfridge5059]

Dragonbasty “hey you explore in this game” “Oh so it’s a Metroidvania” People in the future will probably call hard combat a soulslike. Oh wait.

[@zekeinator4178]

More mortal shell content please

[@iletthedogsout9996]

If you want an excuse to talk about it, then maybe a Top 10 Toughest Enemies list?

[@yaminoroy]

More Mortal Shell please.

[@deedeekreep9139]

God I wish this had multiplayer :(

[@allandm]

Can you button remap in this game??

[@grahamstepniewski6694]

I’m getting a dark souls vibe, I’m also getting a strong God of War PS4 vibe.

[@Maestercbr]

I was looking for an excuse to try this game, but I don't need to look any further... You can pet the cat. 10/10 GOTY!