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While undeniably ambitious and packed with content, this Souls-like delivers challenges, but not all are intended
I think it’s amazing to see the types of games that have successfully made the transition to the Switch, adding needed depth to the library with experiences that are in shorter supply. While I’m not typically a fan of things that bill themselves as “Souls-like” in some fashion, I can at least appreciate their appeal to the challenge hounds out there who eat them up. Mortal Shell is perhaps a bit more of an outright attempt to copy concepts of that series wholesale in its overall design and execution than is typical, but its combat that focuses on effective use of a hardening technique at least helps it to stand out. In order to be effective with it you’ll initiate an attack and then while that is winding up you’ll quickly hold down the button to harden yourself. If done properly this will allow you to absorb your enemy’s attack and then immediately counter with the strike you’d initiated. It definitely creates a challenging and different flow of battle but I found that persistent performance hitches were a hindrance to the precision necessary to pull it off to be a nuisance. There’s no question this is a title that is pushing the hardware’s limits, and unfortunately it’s clear it can exceed them at times. With some patches this can hopefully improve, allowing you to enjoy what appears to be a wealth of tough content (this release includes DLC as well), but for now be prepared to be patient with some frustrations if you take the plunge.
Justin Nation, Score:Good [7.3]