The difference to me between something like Mortal Shell and Lords of the Fallen is that Lords feels like something a room of executives came up with to capitalize on the popularity of a genre, while Mortal Shell feels like a love letter to Dark Souls made by people that play, love, and understand the games. It has those little nuances that feels like its paying homage.
Absolutely - I thought it was clear from really early on that it was made by a team that loves this style of game and really knew what they wanted to make!
That's true... Most Souls-games and soulslike that are made by really small individuals are exactly what your saying. 1- Mortal Shell 2- Hellpoint 3- Remnant of the Ashes 4- Upcoming Bleak Faith Forsaken. with few other Soulslike games , they mostly are Love letter.... Many Indie games are adapting this idea aswell , like Lies of P. ( Notably nowadays Indie and small few individual studios are making up Titles mostly are Love letters , and just adapting the Exclusive Miyazaki blueprint with their own Scripts & Mechanics ). That's a good thing actually , it makes the Genre big... And i personally am a number 1 Fan in this Genre of gaming before Survival Genre games to me atleast. 💯👍🏼
@@omaralajmi1551 i would put the surge above all of those. i hated how remnant made leveling irrelevant, or even something that punishes the player. lords of the fallen is at best, mediocre. it gives the illusion of choice, but in truth, you can find the best weapon for 80% of the game pretty early.
I've always wondered who bothers to watch some random guy online talk about a game for an hour and a half, but I guess if you've just got it on in the background while doing something else that makes more sense
Mortal shell is a perfect example of the benefits of limiting the scope of a game. The game may only have like 4-5 weapons. But that limit allows them to have some of the best weapon animations out of any game I've ever played. Due to the small scope, they were able to polish the absolute fuck of the systems and visuals that are there.
Absolutely agree - I think this is the new model for smaller studios. The same thing happened with Asobo and A Plague Tale Innocence - by keeping the scope small they can compete with the quality we expect from AAA games.
I know I'm a year late on this, so not expecting anything, but I'm real interested in writing and storytelling, and one thing I've heard from multiple sources is that DEPTH is way more important and interesting than breadth. Like some of the Assassin's Creed games are oceans that are all of a few inches deep, but looking at another "assassin focused" game series, like Hitman, they've gone way deeper into the idea. It's not the perfect one to one comparison, or even the best two to point at, just wanted to show examples of what I meant.
@@LiteraryCurtastrophe Yup, it's kind of like carrying a big heavy metal bottle that has the same capacity as a regular plastic bottle. True its "higher quantity" but at the end of the day when you reach into your heavy ass bag all you care about is that you have enough water to quench your thirst. And it turns out that the metal bottle has less benefits long term because its heavier and hotter.
I added this game to my library a while back, honestly don't even remember how long ago it was. A few months ago I was randomly looking through my library and the image caught my eye. Then seeing you could download Rotting Christ as music in game REALLY caught my eye. Downloaded it and played it for about 3 hours. Which is a lot for me these days. Wound up finishing it over the next few days, paid for the DLC since I liked it so much. It's a really cool game, obviously it'll appeal to Souls fans, like me. The hardening stuff is awesome, that it decreases viability through subsequent playthroughs, making you rely less on it as a be-all end-all savior is really cool. Just really, really like the game and hope the team makes more stuff, they really outdid themselves and need some serious praise.
Absolutely - I really can't wait for their next game. I think they've earnt more than enough trust with Mortal Shell to put out whatever they want and have me interested!
Perfect timing - Just finished Dark Souils 1 for the first time and have absolutely no idea what any of the other games like it are like. Cheers for the upload!
34:10 I honestly quite liked the back tracking after defeating one of the three main bosses. Not only the ambient became more dark and sinister, but there were alot of sections where I would get jumpscared by ghosts or desfigured humanoid creatures, and it was quite a scary experience.
No that's completely fair - I think were the bell not ringing out from my controller non stop I'd have also found the atmosphere a bit more interesting. I think the first backtrack is certainly the most interesting one but the latter two are a little less interestingly implemented
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Oh yeah I remember some games from the ps4 had that feature, it was so annoying. I was playing on pc, and I only got to hear the bells when I arrived at Fallgrim.
Saw your Bethesda video in my recommend, loved the video and checked out your channel. You've earned a new sub! Will definitely be looking forward to your videos more as I love your commentary and editing
Ah thank you so much! That's really nice to hear especially as I'm still pretty fresh to editing/recording but I'm enjoying it a lot! Got a few more videos halfway finished so hopefully shouldn't be long before the next one!
The game's mechanics are impressive for such a small team, they have talented people. However when it comes to level design, it's hard to love the game. Levels go on for far too long with few checkpoints between them, it becomes a real slog.
I will definitely agree that level design is probably the one area of the game that could use some improvement. As I said in the video it's definitely more Demons Souls than Dark Souls - very linear, single routes to your goal, highly designed and not particularly open at all. I think that's why the Narthex stands out to me most of all - it's a lot more open with a lot more optional side areas and teleporters. That was probably my favourite part of the whole game and should there be a Mortal Shell 2 - I hope they design more zones to be along these lines!
Completely agree. While the world itself is relatively small, it’s a chore to navigate through it when it’s littered with enemies. There’s no relief of going through a challenging area, only more anxiety when you see the tiers and progress you’re risking by traveling further. If not more checkpoints, then at least a fast travel system between areas where Genessa is communed with. The game’s devs must have really enjoyed speed runs!
I did mean to upload it yesterday but I had an absolute mare with the sound levels somehow! Had to spend all day sorting them today! Hopefully everyone enjoys it! Its a little change of pace talking about a newer game but I just think it's such a hidden interesting game! I looks somewhat generic but under that surface is something truly crazy!
My god man ever since playing this game i've looked for a good analysis and you are THE first to accomplish this. On top of great analysis you also cover parts of the story i never even thought of, as story analysis on this game is criminally absent. Amazing content, cant wait to watch your other videos
You are straight up my new favorite channel. The way you can hold my attention on games that I've never played or even heard of and do it repeatedly is just fantastic! I'm a big big fan of long-form content on TH-cam and I feel like not enough people make that style, so its also super cool that youve decided to! best of luck in the future :)
Ryan my dude - thanks so much for that, that's a huge compliment! Personally I feel like the long form video game world on TH-cam has a tendency to just talk about the same games over and over (honestly how many Witcher, Deus Ex and Dark Souls videos do we need) so I wanted to take the format and talk about some stranger (and frankly more interesting) titles that might not enjoy the coverage from elsewhere! I've got some really fun videos that I'm working on at the moment - hopefully I can get them done in good time for everyone to check out!
It is I, random commenter extraordinaire, Brody DeLarge! Remember me when you reach hundreds of thousands of subscribers. I was here when you only had 2,4 thousand. Your content is professionally made and quite enjoyble. Carry on and may you reach a sizable following!
Hey Brody - thanks for taking the time to watch and comment! That's really nice of you to say! Honestly I'm just really enjoying making videos about the games I love and doing it in my own sort of weird unnecessarily long, overly in-depth way. Hopefully people are into the videos I have coming up as much as I am haha!
brilliant vids mate, you're attention to details screams an actual passion for the products you review as opposed to an attempt at financial success. all the best!
Thanks so much Luke - I'm really glad that shines through because I'm really not doing this to try and "build a brand" or get YT famous or anything like that. I just genuinely enjoy rambling about games for hours at a time lmao
Ok, I can only imagine the amount of time it takes to research and write a script to make these videos but you have me hooked now and I need more since I watched all the videos you have available already
I'm glad you appreciated this one! It was a lot of fun to make but it doesn't get a huge amount of love! I still think it's a great watch and a great game!
Man I got to say thank you for your support the whole way through this! Knowing I've got friends like yourself at my back honestly makes publishing this stuff a hell of a lot less stressful! Hope you enjoy the video! Its a bit different looking at something more modern but hopefully people are into it!
Mortal Shell is a weird one for me. I've played DS1, 2, and 3 nearly religiously (and a good amount of Bloodborne) thus I picked it up to try and expand my options in this department. After having played it for a while on multiple occasions I'm torn on aspects of it. While I can certainly see why people like major aspects of it (and the level of polish for such a small studio is honestly a triumph in it's own right) this is one of those games where I felt like most aspects either fell short or were very much designed for other people. The game's big commitment to the parry for sustenance basically turned the game into a mushroom farming simulator for most of my playtime as I didn't ever gel with this game's parry in the same way I didn't ever do much gun parry in Bloodborne. The extremely same-y and mazelike opening area also was basically a shot in the knee on trying to progress with the sporadic and slow lore not being enough to really motivate beyond that. The main gameplay gimmick is novel but also very centralizing for a lot of builds I tried which make combat sometimes feel like a glorified game of redlight-greenlight especially when my opponent also could harden. The obvious counter to that, I think, is that blocking and shield turtling is the same in Souls but, honestly I don't really agree. There's nuance in the positioning and movement and you're always doing something even if it isn't super reflex demanding. Because of the big focus on parries and the hardening in this game it feels almost like a double dose of the same mechanic and not as fun or as novel to me as it might have been if hardening was a side feature or if parrying was less important. To round it out, I found the way character designs conflicted with builds (Eredrim's low stamina vs his typically pictured large sword's high stamina cost and his additive damage skill being often better with fast weapons) to be kind of frustrating as when I tried to gravitate to things which the game seemed to suggest and which I thought I might like, they felt like unconsidered non-bos which further reinforced the redlight-greenlight gameplay loop I kept finding myself in. (Even the wiki page for Eredrim rags on using the blade with him as does the only comment.) I will say, the ice upgrade for said sword did make that more fun though as hyper aggressive enemies and strong foes could just take turns with me being unable to move. lol I haven't yet played the Rogue-like aspects of the game so hopefully that will make me like it more, but, despite the obvious charm and polish to aspects of the game, it really feels currently like a game aimed squarely at people who want to play a particular build in a particular game and unfortunately that isn't me for the most part. Apologies for the poorly structured rambling.
I've got this and have hardly played it. But the camera work on the last boss fights with the old prisoner is astounding. Love the movement from the camera haha. It makes the fight seem more visceral.
Don't worry I've got no plans to yet my friend. Just got to get this cancer situation out of the way and then hopefully I'll be back to making videos at full capacity!
never played mortal shell but have to appreciate the amount of time and effort that clearly goes into making this FREE content, love what you're doing matt, keep at it dude
I really hope this dev team keeps making games with this dark fantasy style, because they captured a kind of uncanny eerieness that I don't actually get from Fromsoft. Also they won me over with their silly secret ending where you can just give up the quest and play the lute. 🤭 Oh, and you can pet the merchant's cat. 1000 outta 10, best game ever.
Completely agree! I think that people really undersell just how unique the art style is in Mortal Shell when they say it's a simple Dark Souls clone. It's really got a huge dose of Clive Barker style hellscape to it which I absolutely love
Very, very pleased to have discovered you! I reflexively searched for you on Patreon, but alas! Still, top-notch work. I will be binging your videos in the coming days.
Thanks so much! Honestly I've had a few people ask for my patreon but I think the channel isn't really there yet. Maybe once I'm a bit bigger and more established, I feel a bit guilty asking for peoples money when this is just a hobby for me at the moment! Hopefully you enjoy my other videos! Currently working on a very big one which should be out soon!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Totally understand the sentiment. But with the quality work you do in these videos, I am sure many agree that it would be far from a handout. Of course, my .02. I will be looking forward to it. Cheers!
Playing mortal shell is what got me back into souls like games. The only souls game I played before this was the original demon souls which I never finished because of it’s difficultly. Then I got elden ring and I fell back in love with mortal shell even more. This is a game that any souls borne fan shouldn’t miss
Man, before I knew it, I've Watched All Your Videos! You and This Channel is Really Great! I find myself really compelled to watch hour-long videos lately because of this. These Retrospectives are so full of detail and awesome facts! Happy Holidays to You and Thanks for the Amazing Content! Cheers to another year!
I knew the game was good and that it could catch my interest but it wasn't until you mentioned that the DLC adds a roguelike campaign that I had full interest. I'm totally grabbing this for Christmas, roguelikes are literally my one and only drug.
I found your channel yesterday with the eternal darkness video. Mortal Shell is one of my all time favorites, and you got me clicking on this one immediately.
Amazing video, well thought out and up there with the best critiques in the biz...I never tried out the dlc, so will most definitely be jumping back in, I have you to thank for that...🙌
Thank you! I'm quite new to this YT thing so it's really nice to get feedback like this - definitely gives me motivation for upcoming videos! Oh nice - I highly recommend the DLC, it's a really enjoyable way to get more hours out of Mortal Shell and I still find myself popping it in and having the odd run here and there. There is a lot of legs in it with all the variables and I've still got a lot of stuff to unlock in it! Hope you enjoy it!
Really nice work on this. I haven't played Mortal Shell but this made me actually want to. I had no idea about the roguelike DLC either but that sounds fun.
That is exactly the effect I wanted to have! It's such a fantastic little game and I really wanted to do my bit to help shine a light on it - especially as the developer is so damn small! That DLC is also something else, even though I've long since stopped playing Mortal Shell, I still pick it up for a run every now and then - it's just perfect little bitesize chunk of souls.
I “grew out” of Souls-likes. Not because they are immature, I just don’t have the time anymore. Work, kids, wife, etc. doesn’t allow for hours spent on making very little progress. Nioh 2, which I dumped a ton of time into during lockdown, is the soul exception. I could do that one with my eyes closed while my wife’s eyes roll.
Thanks so much! Yeah I'm pretty new so I'm just enjoy whatever attention is thrown my way by the YT gods! Currently working on another huge complete series retrospective - should hopefully be out soon!
Amazing content as always. The sheer amount of research/knowledge that goes into these videos deserves praise alone! As someone who has never fallen into the souls world (I am trying to, but the sheer commitment is nuts!) - I have to say I am intrigued by this one. The pro's to the game look like they outweigh the cons by far. Excited to give it a go and see what the next lengthy video will be.
Thanks for watching and for the support my dude as always! I do think Mortal Shell would be a good place to start! Even though it has its issues at the beginning, the fact that it's a touch more simple over all (stats wise) and shorter means it's a great place to jump in!
Wow I watched this video and listened to the last half hour while driving and when I got home and checked my phone I see it only has 22k views! With this content I have no idea how you only have 11k subs but you definitely got another one.
That's awesome to hear! Glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah it's been a mad few months - when I first put this video out I only had about 6-700 subs but it's exploded over the last few! People seem to really enjoy it!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Yeah man at this pace I can see you blowing up👍. This kind of content is addicting to me because I can watch/listen to it while working. Always looking for more!
My initial impression of this game was clouded by the media attention it received, just like you said. It's a reminder to continue to be open minded and curious about games. Thank you and I can't wait to give it a shot! ❤️
I hope you enjoy it! I think there are so many games out there where the initial reception from journalists clouds the narrative (either for good or bad) and I'm glad I could help contribute to this games reappraisal!
Haha I'm glad someone liked that line - I thought it was alright actually and it's got some nice alliteration so it's fun to say out loud haha That being said thanks so much for the support and I'm glad you're enjoying the videos!
Loved that you showed the clip of Legend of Dragoon next to ff7, Dragoon was a masterpiece building off of the final fantasy formula. There is definitely nothing wrong with sticking to a successful formula as long as you can make a properly good experience for the player that is just unique enough to not be a direct copy paste
first time on your channel and this feels like a very fair critue of the game, and I love that. there's no many soul-like games out there that it's hard to stand out, and I was a bit hesistant about this one, but everything you've said and shown has really made me interested in it. Thank you!
That's really cool to hear! I know it's not exactly the most "original" game in this space but I really think the fact that it was made by so few people works in it's favour massively. Thanks to it's length it's super easy to check out and I had a whale of a time with it!
Haha that's the video working pretty well then! Honestly I do really recommend it even if you've seen this - the gameplay is so tight and it's such a nice size! Not too big or too small, the ideal "in-between game"!
I agree. Sometimes it's best to stick to what works well. Thanks for the in-depth look into Mortal Shell. I'm just starting my exciting journey through and hearing your enthusiasm, makes me look forward to continuing my experience! 👊✌️
You know about The Legend of Dragoon! That makes us kin! Kindred get a sub! I can't enjoy these grim games in these dark times, but I sure admire the artistry. I appreciate the chance to learn from them via videos like this. It's heartening to see fellow first-timers turn out such a strong title. Curious to hear my name in a game. Not sure that's happened before xD. 'Nother banger, bruv. Looking forward to more!
Of course - always nice to see a fellow Legend of Dragoon appreciator! I'd actually love to make a video covering it at some point! Glad you enjoyed the video! Hopefully you'll enjoy my next big retrospective (which I'm currently working on) it's a little more "triumphant" in tone!
Just found your channel better late then never lol. I absolutely love this game and upon release I beat it 4x, 100% completion with a insane no shell one hit run that was so satisfying after finishing it that way. The DLC introduced later which added Hadern and his amazing axe-katana weapon and the robust rogue like mode introduced were great imo. After watching this & listening to your Alpha Protocol lengthy critique(which I'm currently playing after all these years and is quite enjoyable). I have to say you do fantastic work on this videos & I'll definitely be returning to watch your worthwhile content. Consider me subbed & thanks.
Great job man. I hope your channel takes off. You speak of polish many times with regards to games, and I feel that I must commend the level of polish you yourself put into your in depth commentaries. I immensely enjoyed your video on Jade Empire as well. Your audio and editing are fantastic, especially for a small channel with only 11 videos. I am subbed and looking forward to your next production, sir.
Thanks so much Gabriel - comments like yours really do mean a lot to me because it's tough starting a YT channel let alone one that really goes against the grain with regards to what's popular on the website! I've got a few videos coming up that I'm super excited about so hopefully you enjoy them as well!
Thanks so much! I'm currently working on another really big complete series retrospective that I think is turning out really nicely - should hopefully have it out in the next few weeks!
Im coming here to give props for being able to tolerate Mortal Shell enough to do one of these on it. You popped up in my recommendation and I had to say something and help you in the algorithm. Mortal Shell is a game that I regret getting an achievement in. I absolutely hated it.
I’m one of those freaks that discovered the Obsidian form early on and restarted my playthrough to do the rest of the game blind in that mode. Was the first time I ever had to sit down and actually *learn* a boss’ patterns for a few hours. The final boss is what broke me though… his head can damage you while he’s in his falling ‘stun’ animation, and since you only can take one hit in Obsidan mode… Yeah. I got a lot of cheap deaths thrown at me. Punished. …being *too good* at the fight. Eventually I found a speedrun where I was able to loop his animations, and I beat him. But my God… I hated that fight. You might ask, “Why did I subject myself to this on a blind playthrough?” I wanted the two trophies for beating the game in Obsidian mode and going Shell-less at the same time. That’s it. Nothing more. Well… that… and I wanted the perspective.
That is absolutely incredible! I sort of love that the devs baked in a "no hit" mode as I'm sure it's pushed a lot of people to try it when they wouldn't have usually! I'm amazed you managed to do it - I feel like I got pretty good but damn that is a step beyond!
It's actually perfect if you want a little dose of Souls goodness but don't want to invest 60+ hours. I think my first playthrough was around 15-20 although there is of course plenty to do (NG+/DLC) that can take your run time well above that!
If you're after more lengthy retrospectives about the golden age of videos games - th-cam.com/video/feCqT1S5pxI/w-d-xo.html - it's a full exploration about the history of PARASITE EVE - the most chaotic survival horror franchise ever made. The video covers everything from the novel to the film to the crazed way it burned out. Hope you enjoy!
Huh, this started autoplaying, never seen your videos before, as I'm playing Elden Ring lol. Great recommendation, definitely be checking out more of your stuff, it's awesome!
50:05 I actually thought that sequence was genuinely effective. Just, fucking imagine having your Siamese twin die, and there's this dead flesh now hanging from your flesh...
I love that you can tell the devs are experimenting with conventions they love. And this is exactly what made games like Devil May Cry and other titans of the industry. This is the kind of thing that we're missing in the AA space. It's truly inspiring.
Absolutely agree. The idea that everything needs to be completely original is just totally bogus - many of the greatest games of all time crib large ideas!
I was burnt by Lords of the Fallen and convinced that I'd only stick to anything by FromSoft but some of these levels really remind me of dark souls 2 (my personal favourite) so I'll have to keep an eye out for when this is on sale
I am still scarred by that morning having to sit through Lord of the Fallen watching this fat warhammer space marine trudge around the level at an utter snails pace... But yeah in all honestly man I really recommend Mortal Shell - it's a perfect little snapshot of the soulslike genre with some really cool ideas, I reckon you'd enjoy it especially with how the different weapons/shells/abilities all mean you can make your own build to approach the game!
Much respect for the love of Dark Souls 2. It's my favorite of the series as well! It bums me out how many times I've seen it referred to as the "black sheep" of the Souls franchise.
super quality videos dude, been listening to them at work and they're great. just bought Jade Empire cause your video, gonna try this one out too I think
Thanks so much! I'm really glad you're enjoying them so much - got another really big one that I'm currently working on that should be out soon! Hopefully you enjoy Jade Empire!
It's really brilliant that some mechanics naturally become less bothersome over time, in Dark Souls it's a nice challenge in the first half that you have a limited amount of homeward bones and buying them makes a hole in your budget, but past O&S them being finite is just an annoyance, it'd be so cool if the dark sign gradually morphed into an infinite homeward bone.
Yeah I thought that was an incredibly clever mechanic. It presents challenge in the early game when it's fresh and then just shifts into utility as that challenge naturally wanes. Very excited to see what Cold Symmetry come up with next!
Never once have I had to worry about my quantity of Homeward Bones. I always seem to have them in abundance. I'm not trying to boast, I'm middling at best when it comes to Souls games. Just never been in a spot where I needed a Bone and didn't have plenty
Yet another great video. I just recently finished Dark Souls 3 and got pretty far into Code Vein. Mortal Shell looks like a very interesting change up in the genre that I might give a go in the future. I also completely agree with your philosophy and reasoning for making such a comprehensive video on this game. Small dev teams making something as grand and epic as this game is truly inspiring and something I too hope to see more of in general in the industry.
Absolutely! I really hope the success stories of studios like Cold Symmetry, Yacht Club, Larian, Moon Studios etc really proves that you don't have to be a massive global company or a tiny 2 person passion project to make extremely worthwhile high quality experiences! In this world of acquisition after acquisition I really think it's important that these smaller studios keep their independence where possible and a big way to do that is to give air time to those games! Anyway rant aside - I'm really happy you enjoyed the video and definitely recommend you check it out. It's a joy to play, especially for a veteran souls player!
Damn! Another insanely good video! And what a game. By far one of, if not THE, most impressive games I've ever played! I did not however, realise that they had released dlc for it, and boy does it look good. Thanks again for another amazing video. I love learning about the people that make these games, especially the sound techs as I feel they don't get the recognition they deserve usually. Doesn't matter how nice your game looks or plays, take away the sound and you've got another boring, soulless game. It's the sound that adds all the atmosphere and without it you can only kinda get what the atmosphere is suppose to be, but bring the music back in and you FEEL the atmosphere. The sound is the final piece of any game that turns it from just another generic title, into a triple A masterpiece. Defo gunna give that DLC a try. I also noticed a shot of Anthem in this video and maybe that's a good idea for another video if you've ever played it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that game, good or bad, as I played it a year after release and was quite impressed with what I got tbh, especially after all the bad press it received. It left me feeling like Anthem just received all the backlash created by Battlefield. I just remember everyone being pissed with Battlefield that year and then overly criticising Anthem for it. I may be wrong and would love to hear how it all really went down from someone who clearly does his research (damn! I'm so lazy! I should probably do this myself but honestly, I'm confident you will do a far better job of it). Anyway, thanks again for these incredible videos! You are a legend!
First Souls game I finished was DS3. I remember fighting Nameless King for 2 days straight during covid lockdown. I was on top of the world when I finally beat him. Still the best drugs money can buy.
That feeling when you finally overcome a seemingly impossible boss really can't be replicated! I've had it with Smough and Ornstien and then later with the Orphan of Kos!
@23:40 "..you can blow your load on all your heavy attacks, then quickly harden..." First of all: phrasing. Are we not doing phrasing anymore? Secondly: Lmaoool 😂
Personally I'm a huge soulslike fan - really recommend you check out Nioh and Nioh 2 as they're both great and I personally enjoy them more than some of the Dark Souls games. Especially because you liked the asian theme in Jade Empire
I probably should! Its quite weird because I've absolutely rinsed the Dark Souls series but I'm basically a soulslike baby - Nioh is definitely on my radar now for sure!
Thanks so much! Well when I originally posted this I think I had about 450 subs so it's changed a lot recently! Got another very big video just about to come out so look out for it!
Nice work. I've heard a lot of people write this game off at first glance as a souls wannabe but it's so not the case as this review articulately explains. If only every game review these days was a comprehensive analysis!
Before I have seen your video I want to share my two cents about Mortal Shell before I am influenced by the video. I was looking forward to play Mortal Shell when I bought it around half a year ago. The artstyle was cool and it seemed more streamligned than other soulslikes that shower you with (unnessecary) options. The game length seemed appropriate and the hardened parry/block looked like an interesting twist. But when I played I discovered a number of questionable decisions which all combined produced the worst early hours I have ever seen in a video game. The following points elaborate my problems while the paragraph below that shows how they intertwine in this mess (basivally a TL;DR). 1. healing system: Healing items are basically the number of mistakes a player can make before getting to the next checkpoint. I have seen 2 approaches in soulslikes to far, the farming of healing items and the self-replenishing ones. Both of those have their own pros and cons, but Mortal Shell took the middle way and took the worst out of both. Not only do you have to farm any number of healing items, but they are interactable items in the world that HAVE A COOLDOWN. In other words, you cant farm these efficiently, they are rarely dropped by enemies and you need to know where they spawn since are bound to run out of them at some point. It's not only inconvenient, you have to go out of your way to get the staple item of this genre. 2. lack of guidance: The game doesnt tell you anything. For Souls veterans this sounds like a huge plus, but if you compare DS to MS you see how forthcoming DS is in that regard. You have no narrative direction. You have barely directions given by NPCs. The first area is an open threedimensional space with no points of interests, no map and no sense of direction. Tbf Mortal Shell has a tutorial that actively tries to convey the base mechanics, but after that you are left alone in the dark. DS1-3 had a narrative direction given in the first hour of the game, levels were linear enough that you couldnt get lost and every NPC points you to a point of interest. I managed to get to a place that a small cutscene lined out, talked to 2 NPCs that gave me the parry item and the ability to level up (which I didnt unlock for some reason). After that I wandered around and still didnt know where to go. It was obvious that the game gave me the option to hunt for other shells, but why isnt the main path lined out? Same applies to items. You dont know what they do, you have to consume them to get to know their effect. In other words you have to consume items which cant be farmed reliably and arent abundant in exploration and risk using their strong effects just because the game wants to be obscure. The mentioned points paint the following picture: You get thrown into a world with no sense of direction, go anywhere with the hope that you end up where you are supposed to. You have the fear that you miss important early game encounters that give you important information or access to items/mechanics that you are supposed to have from that point onward. When you hit a difficulty bump you need to consider if you go somewhere else (since this could be an area for later) or try to overcome the challenge with the risk that with all that restricted healing you get punished for even trying. A big threedimensional space is the worst beginner area I can think of. You dont want your players to be lost before they have even grasped what the game is about. Even when you overcome a challenge, get somewhere where you couldnt go before or beat a boss, you still dont get answers. A big part of why Fromsoft games are so satisfying is the feeling of gaining control. Any challenge that seems impossible at first will end in a satisfying way once you push through enough. Confusing level layout will make sense, a hard boss will be learned and mastered. If Mortal Shell has any of this I am very saddened that they couldnt show it to me in the first few hours. Long story short: Mortal Shell is the only game I have ever refunded.
All I can say my friend is everything you've just said about Mortal Shell is completely correct. It's got some major issues although if you can push past those - you're in for a real treat of a game. Hopefully you can revisit this after you've watched the video!
Dark Souls (at least the first game) is technically a 3D metroid-like. Up until you beat OnS and get the ability to bonfire warp, you're legging across the entire world and the levels connect well with one another with elevators and locked doors
See I really wouldn't say it is - one of the main features of Metroidvania games is unlocking additional movement abilities which unlock bigger portions of the map. Dark Souls is just a very cleverly designed interconnected map that definitely takes influence from those games but certainly isn't in that genre in my mind. For example I'd say that Metroid Prime and Dark Souls don't really share much in common outside of well designed maps
@@PatrickSilent It is nothing like an imitation because besides some few comparable elements it has almost nothing in common with Souls. It is in fact closer to Ninja Gaiden than Souls. It is good on its own but neither is it anywhere near the quality of Souls games nor is it really comparable in terms of gameplay besides both franchises are demanding, third person and have checkpoints.
I beat this game at launch and loved it, but had to idea the Virtuous Cycle DLC was such a wholesale redesign of the game. Roguelike version of Mortal Shell sounds absolutely amazing.
You'd have to turn down your controller speaker to lower the sound of the bell coming from the controller, honestly sucks there's not a way to turn it off in the game settings
This is one of those games I've only known the name and nothing else... I NEVER knew it was a "souls-like" and one that's as interesting as it is! Found the new game I'll watch during the weekend, I've never played any of the Souls games but I'm a big fan, listening to their music almost as much as my favorite franchise being Monster Hunter. This is gonna be a great new experience to absorb
44:30 ish, the only way I know to stop games from playing sounds through the controller is to plug some earbuds in, it's an incredibly annoying gimmick in every game that does it, I don't know why there isn't an option to disable it somewhere in the options menu on ps4 or ps5
I know this is an older video. But since I haven't seen anyone else mention it. Remnant from the Ashes Swamps Of Corsus DLC adds a survival mode which is a roguelike gamemode.
As luck would have it, I found your channel a few weeks ago and been watching your Long forms retrospectives. Just as I get to your first (last on the playlist) game becomes free on Epic. Guess I'll have to play the game now
I like your take on how a short game can be alot of fun and have alot of ups that some people don't get. It's the same reason I really enjoyed the re3 remake being shorter cause it really helped me platinum the game and enjoy replaying the game over and over again even if I wouldn't have minded having the un carried over parts of the original re3 game remade.
I've never been interested in any "Souls" game besides Blade of Darkness (the progenitor of this genre), but thanks to this review I have this game on my radar - due to it not being a Fat Ballerina dance session.
As long as you can get past the very confusing first few hours - I really think this is a really good souls game to start with. The difficult is high but not absurd and never feels cheap which is a huge benefit. On top of that the tools you get really feel like the combat has some variety to it! Hopefully you enjoy it!
My friend practically forced me to try a dark souls game on her 360 some years back. Unfortunately for her (and maybe even more so for me!) I didn’t really enjoy it and brushed off all souls-likes as being too frustrating and boring for me and never played one again. This video really made me reconsider! Indeed shockingly polished and well done for a studio of a handful of people! I really hope that it inspires more small studios to tackle on projects that historically seem exclusively in the realm of AAA studios as you said. On a personal level, I think I might just try Mortal Shell and let go of the ban I’ve cultivated on these games into adulthood haha! Awesome stuff as always!
Yeah it's a really interesting game and if it wasn't for the crazy hard first few hours I'd say it was a perfect place to start with this genre! Oddly I'd maybe recommend using a map or guide along with it as it genuinely will teach you the basics and give you a better platform for approaching some more heavy duty ones (on top of it just being a great game!)
Vitali Bulgarov is a 3D industry icon. He inspires many artists worldwide. There is a great interview by another industry icon Raphael Grasetti. The both of them are giants. The interview highly recommended. Look up both their names together to find it.
Do you think there's some connections with the old prisoner killing his sibling, then (assuming the Player Character are Revered) the fact he gets you to kill the other Revered who would be your kin? Maybe Solomon's scribbles were a prophecy about "one gaining ascension by killing their kin" and the old prisoner greatly misinterpreted it? Or maybe he didn't fully misinterpret, because the Prisoner was indeed a main part of the prophecy, just not quite the part of the story that he expected?
That's actually a really cool interpretation - I would love that to be an extra link between the Old Prisoner and the player. I wish we got a little bit more information about the lore though a DLC or anything really. The snippets we have are genuinely interesting so it's a real shame!
Man, I love this game! This was the first game I played on PS5, purchased the game the week I got covid. Now I got the steelbook version to support the devs and to display in my collection
Appreciate this video. I tried Mortal Shell for a small time when it was free on the PS Pass thing. Life then got in the way, and of course Elden Ring then came out. I’ll have to go back to it. I remember being blown away by the atmosphere and changes to Souls-like gameplay. Curious if you’ve tried Lies of P? A fairytale Souls-like that I’ve heard good things about.
I highly recommend it! I think it's a nice counterpoint to modern soulslike games which tend to emphasise fast paced reflex combat whereas Mortal Shell is a bit more slow paced and rewards planning ahead! As for Lies of P I haven't got around to it yet! I need to try and find some time!
I started playing Demons Souls way back when it came out. A friend bought it and showed me the case and a few screenshots and I was already hyped. No map. Medieval dark fantasy. My kinda shit as I'm a huge Berserk fan. The same day I went to his house and we pushed the game thru the night. I remember I forgot to eat, and having to go piss was not good cause I didn't want to loose any moment. We only finished the game on the second day, and what an amazing experience it was. I imediately bought a PS3 and a brand new copy for me, so we could play coop online. I'll never forget how exciting it was. The thing I enjoyed that atmosphere. I remember having feelings of nostalgia, comparing the game with other gems like ICO and Shadow of the colossus. Very aestheticly pleasing. The Lore that felt missing. The atmosphere. It just hitted right on the spot for me. I only had the same feeling again with Bloodborne... and then Mortal Shell. I just felt like I was sad for the bleak decaying world and felt like hopeless and unease all the time. Needless to say I played it endlessly, and fully upgraded all the shells. But I don't say it's as good as the best Fromsoft games: There's still some polishing to be done on the mechanics and movement of the character that i feel need a little more working, some snapping that occurs... but the atmosphere is just so fucking awesome. Way above it "deserves" to be from a indie develper. Now I'm pretty hyped about "Bleak Faith Forsaken". Hope you can do a review on that too when it's time. Happy to find yout channel. Just subscribed. Sorry about the bad english, i'm brazilian. Kudos.
The difference to me between something like Mortal Shell and Lords of the Fallen is that Lords feels like something a room of executives came up with to capitalize on the popularity of a genre, while Mortal Shell feels like a love letter to Dark Souls made by people that play, love, and understand the games. It has those little nuances that feels like its paying homage.
Absolutely - I thought it was clear from really early on that it was made by a team that loves this style of game and really knew what they wanted to make!
That’s the best explanation I’ve heard
That's true... Most Souls-games and soulslike that are made by really small individuals are exactly what your saying.
1- Mortal Shell
2- Hellpoint
3- Remnant of the Ashes
4- Upcoming Bleak Faith Forsaken.
with few other Soulslike games , they mostly are Love letter.... Many Indie games are adapting this idea aswell , like Lies of P. ( Notably nowadays Indie and small few individual studios are making up Titles mostly are Love letters , and just adapting the Exclusive Miyazaki blueprint with their own Scripts & Mechanics ). That's a good thing actually , it makes the Genre big... And i personally am a number 1 Fan in this Genre of gaming before Survival Genre games to me atleast. 💯👍🏼
@@omaralajmi1551 i would put the surge above all of those. i hated how remnant made leveling irrelevant, or even something that punishes the player.
lords of the fallen is at best, mediocre. it gives the illusion of choice, but in truth, you can find the best weapon for 80% of the game pretty early.
nonsense lotf was great
One of my favorite things is to listen to massive retrospectives like these while playing games to unwind. Hope you grow more in the coming years.
Thanks a lot Rohit! Got a few more planned to come out soon so hopefully you enjoy them as well!
I've always wondered who bothers to watch some random guy online talk about a game for an hour and a half, but I guess if you've just got it on in the background while doing something else that makes more sense
Same!
@@r6scrubs126 not as uncommon as you think
playing something grindy like monster hunter is perfect for these
Mortal shell is a perfect example of the benefits of limiting the scope of a game. The game may only have like 4-5 weapons. But that limit allows them to have some of the best weapon animations out of any game I've ever played.
Due to the small scope, they were able to polish the absolute fuck of the systems and visuals that are there.
Absolutely agree - I think this is the new model for smaller studios. The same thing happened with Asobo and A Plague Tale Innocence - by keeping the scope small they can compete with the quality we expect from AAA games.
I know I'm a year late on this, so not expecting anything, but I'm real interested in writing and storytelling, and one thing I've heard from multiple sources is that DEPTH is way more important and interesting than breadth. Like some of the Assassin's Creed games are oceans that are all of a few inches deep, but looking at another "assassin focused" game series, like Hitman, they've gone way deeper into the idea.
It's not the perfect one to one comparison, or even the best two to point at, just wanted to show examples of what I meant.
@@LiteraryCurtastrophe I think outer wilds is a perfect example of something that is wide as a puddle and deep as an ocean.
@@LiteraryCurtastrophe Yup, it's kind of like carrying a big heavy metal bottle that has the same capacity as a regular plastic bottle. True its "higher quantity" but at the end of the day when you reach into your heavy ass bag all you care about is that you have enough water to quench your thirst. And it turns out that the metal bottle has less benefits long term because its heavier and hotter.
I added this game to my library a while back, honestly don't even remember how long ago it was. A few months ago I was randomly looking through my library and the image caught my eye. Then seeing you could download Rotting Christ as music in game REALLY caught my eye. Downloaded it and played it for about 3 hours. Which is a lot for me these days. Wound up finishing it over the next few days, paid for the DLC since I liked it so much.
It's a really cool game, obviously it'll appeal to Souls fans, like me. The hardening stuff is awesome, that it decreases viability through subsequent playthroughs, making you rely less on it as a be-all end-all savior is really cool. Just really, really like the game and hope the team makes more stuff, they really outdid themselves and need some serious praise.
Absolutely - I really can't wait for their next game. I think they've earnt more than enough trust with Mortal Shell to put out whatever they want and have me interested!
Perfect timing - Just finished Dark Souils 1 for the first time and have absolutely no idea what any of the other games like it are like. Cheers for the upload!
Well Mortal Shell is definitely a good one to go for next! Especially if you want something bitesize before Elden Ring! Hopefully you enjoy the video!
Don’t forget all the other fromsoft games you can also continue into! Don’t have to stop at the first❤️
34:10 I honestly quite liked the back tracking after defeating one of the three main bosses. Not only the ambient became more dark and sinister, but there were alot of sections where I would get jumpscared by ghosts or desfigured humanoid creatures, and it was quite a scary experience.
No that's completely fair - I think were the bell not ringing out from my controller non stop I'd have also found the atmosphere a bit more interesting. I think the first backtrack is certainly the most interesting one but the latter two are a little less interestingly implemented
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Oh yeah I remember some games from the ps4 had that feature, it was so annoying. I was playing on pc, and I only got to hear the bells when I arrived at Fallgrim.
I mistakenly did the 3rd area 2nd and wondered why the difficulty level jumped so far! LOL I will do them in the correct order on my 2nd playthrough!
And the relief upon reaching the otherwise brutish tower after a long run back rivals activating the elevator to Firelink Shrine from Undead Parish
The glowing gland with the sudden darkness instantly made me feel like a target that was gonna be hunted
Saw your Bethesda video in my recommend, loved the video and checked out your channel. You've earned a new sub! Will definitely be looking forward to your videos more as I love your commentary and editing
Ah thank you so much! That's really nice to hear especially as I'm still pretty fresh to editing/recording but I'm enjoying it a lot! Got a few more videos halfway finished so hopefully shouldn't be long before the next one!
The game's mechanics are impressive for such a small team, they have talented people. However when it comes to level design, it's hard to love the game. Levels go on for far too long with few checkpoints between them, it becomes a real slog.
I will definitely agree that level design is probably the one area of the game that could use some improvement. As I said in the video it's definitely more Demons Souls than Dark Souls - very linear, single routes to your goal, highly designed and not particularly open at all.
I think that's why the Narthex stands out to me most of all - it's a lot more open with a lot more optional side areas and teleporters. That was probably my favourite part of the whole game and should there be a Mortal Shell 2 - I hope they design more zones to be along these lines!
This game has some of the worst bosses in the genera on top of being extremely easy thanks to the harden, kick and attack combo.
Completely agree. While the world itself is relatively small, it’s a chore to navigate through it when it’s littered with enemies. There’s no relief of going through a challenging area, only more anxiety when you see the tiers and progress you’re risking by traveling further. If not more checkpoints, then at least a fast travel system between areas where Genessa is communed with. The game’s devs must have really enjoyed speed runs!
Blessing us this Sunday with another banger video!
I did mean to upload it yesterday but I had an absolute mare with the sound levels somehow! Had to spend all day sorting them today!
Hopefully everyone enjoys it! Its a little change of pace talking about a newer game but I just think it's such a hidden interesting game! I looks somewhat generic but under that surface is something truly crazy!
My god man ever since playing this game i've looked for a good analysis and you are THE first to accomplish this. On top of great analysis you also cover parts of the story i never even thought of, as story analysis on this game is criminally absent. Amazing content, cant wait to watch your other videos
You are straight up my new favorite channel. The way you can hold my attention on games that I've never played or even heard of and do it repeatedly is just fantastic! I'm a big big fan of long-form content on TH-cam and I feel like not enough people make that style, so its also super cool that youve decided to! best of luck in the future :)
Ryan my dude - thanks so much for that, that's a huge compliment! Personally I feel like the long form video game world on TH-cam has a tendency to just talk about the same games over and over (honestly how many Witcher, Deus Ex and Dark Souls videos do we need) so I wanted to take the format and talk about some stranger (and frankly more interesting) titles that might not enjoy the coverage from elsewhere!
I've got some really fun videos that I'm working on at the moment - hopefully I can get them done in good time for everyone to check out!
It is I, random commenter extraordinaire, Brody DeLarge! Remember me when you reach hundreds of thousands of subscribers. I was here when you only had 2,4 thousand. Your content is professionally made and quite enjoyble. Carry on and may you reach a sizable following!
Hey Brody - thanks for taking the time to watch and comment! That's really nice of you to say!
Honestly I'm just really enjoying making videos about the games I love and doing it in my own sort of weird unnecessarily long, overly in-depth way. Hopefully people are into the videos I have coming up as much as I am haha!
brilliant vids mate, you're attention to details screams an actual passion for the products you review as opposed to an attempt at financial success. all the best!
Thanks so much Luke - I'm really glad that shines through because I'm really not doing this to try and "build a brand" or get YT famous or anything like that. I just genuinely enjoy rambling about games for hours at a time lmao
Ok, I can only imagine the amount of time it takes to research and write a script to make these videos but you have me hooked now and I need more since I watched all the videos you have available already
I'm glad you appreciated this one! It was a lot of fun to make but it doesn't get a huge amount of love! I still think it's a great watch and a great game!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame wow surprising, the game looks amazing
Amazing as always! Was so happy to see this as I sat down for dinner. Thank you for the great content dude
Man I got to say thank you for your support the whole way through this! Knowing I've got friends like yourself at my back honestly makes publishing this stuff a hell of a lot less stressful! Hope you enjoy the video! Its a bit different looking at something more modern but hopefully people are into it!
Mortal Shell is a weird one for me. I've played DS1, 2, and 3 nearly religiously (and a good amount of Bloodborne) thus I picked it up to try and expand my options in this department.
After having played it for a while on multiple occasions I'm torn on aspects of it. While I can certainly see why people like major aspects of it (and the level of polish for such a small studio is honestly a triumph in it's own right) this is one of those games where I felt like most aspects either fell short or were very much designed for other people. The game's big commitment to the parry for sustenance basically turned the game into a mushroom farming simulator for most of my playtime as I didn't ever gel with this game's parry in the same way I didn't ever do much gun parry in Bloodborne. The extremely same-y and mazelike opening area also was basically a shot in the knee on trying to progress with the sporadic and slow lore not being enough to really motivate beyond that.
The main gameplay gimmick is novel but also very centralizing for a lot of builds I tried which make combat sometimes feel like a glorified game of redlight-greenlight especially when my opponent also could harden.
The obvious counter to that, I think, is that blocking and shield turtling is the same in Souls but, honestly I don't really agree. There's nuance in the positioning and movement and you're always doing something even if it isn't super reflex demanding. Because of the big focus on parries and the hardening in this game it feels almost like a double dose of the same mechanic and not as fun or as novel to me as it might have been if hardening was a side feature or if parrying was less important.
To round it out, I found the way character designs conflicted with builds (Eredrim's low stamina vs his typically pictured large sword's high stamina cost and his additive damage skill being often better with fast weapons) to be kind of frustrating as when I tried to gravitate to things which the game seemed to suggest and which I thought I might like, they felt like unconsidered non-bos which further reinforced the redlight-greenlight gameplay loop I kept finding myself in. (Even the wiki page for Eredrim rags on using the blade with him as does the only comment.)
I will say, the ice upgrade for said sword did make that more fun though as hyper aggressive enemies and strong foes could just take turns with me being unable to move. lol
I haven't yet played the Rogue-like aspects of the game so hopefully that will make me like it more, but, despite the obvious charm and polish to aspects of the game, it really feels currently like a game aimed squarely at people who want to play a particular build in a particular game and unfortunately that isn't me for the most part.
Apologies for the poorly structured rambling.
I've got this and have hardly played it. But the camera work on the last boss fights with the old prisoner is astounding. Love the movement from the camera haha. It makes the fight seem more visceral.
Oh it's great isn't it - the game is just full of cinematic little touches that make it hard to believe it was made by so few people!
I bloody love your videos man. Never give this up, i implore you
Don't worry I've got no plans to yet my friend. Just got to get this cancer situation out of the way and then hopefully I'll be back to making videos at full capacity!
never played mortal shell but have to appreciate the amount of time and effort that clearly goes into making this FREE content, love what you're doing matt, keep at it dude
Thanks man - really appreciate the comment. I will indeed keep at it!
I can never forget how they animated the reload animation for the ballista.
It was so fucking over the top it was AMAZING
It's just so goddamn heavy metal and I love it
I really hope this dev team keeps making games with this dark fantasy style, because they captured a kind of uncanny eerieness that I don't actually get from Fromsoft.
Also they won me over with their silly secret ending where you can just give up the quest and play the lute. 🤭
Oh, and you can pet the merchant's cat. 1000 outta 10, best game ever.
Completely agree! I think that people really undersell just how unique the art style is in Mortal Shell when they say it's a simple Dark Souls clone. It's really got a huge dose of Clive Barker style hellscape to it which I absolutely love
Very, very pleased to have discovered you! I reflexively searched for you on Patreon, but alas! Still, top-notch work. I will be binging your videos in the coming days.
Thanks so much! Honestly I've had a few people ask for my patreon but I think the channel isn't really there yet. Maybe once I'm a bit bigger and more established, I feel a bit guilty asking for peoples money when this is just a hobby for me at the moment!
Hopefully you enjoy my other videos! Currently working on a very big one which should be out soon!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Totally understand the sentiment. But with the quality work you do in these videos, I am sure many agree that it would be far from a handout. Of course, my .02.
I will be looking forward to it. Cheers!
Playing mortal shell is what got me back into souls like games. The only souls game I played before this was the original demon souls which I never finished because of it’s difficultly. Then I got elden ring and I fell back in love with mortal shell even more. This is a game that any souls borne fan shouldn’t miss
I think this game is really the perfect side game to Elden Ring. One maximalist, one minimalist. Both super playable with tons of content!
Man, before I knew it, I've Watched All Your Videos! You and This Channel is Really Great! I find myself really compelled to watch hour-long videos lately because of this. These Retrospectives are so full of detail and awesome facts! Happy Holidays to You and Thanks for the Amazing Content! Cheers to another year!
Happy holidays to you too my friend. Really nice to hear you're enjoying my videos!
I knew the game was good and that it could catch my interest but it wasn't until you mentioned that the DLC adds a roguelike campaign that I had full interest.
I'm totally grabbing this for Christmas, roguelikes are literally my one and only drug.
Yeah I got really addicted to the DLC especially as it's the perfect little "sequel" to the core game and reworks it in a really imaginative way!
I found your channel yesterday with the eternal darkness video. Mortal Shell is one of my all time favorites, and you got me clicking on this one immediately.
That's awesome - hope it was a good watch!
Amazing video, well thought out and up there with the best critiques in the biz...I never tried out the dlc, so will most definitely be jumping back in, I have you to thank for that...🙌
Thank you! I'm quite new to this YT thing so it's really nice to get feedback like this - definitely gives me motivation for upcoming videos!
Oh nice - I highly recommend the DLC, it's a really enjoyable way to get more hours out of Mortal Shell and I still find myself popping it in and having the odd run here and there. There is a lot of legs in it with all the variables and I've still got a lot of stuff to unlock in it! Hope you enjoy it!
excellent video lad! Glad you shined a light on this fantastic game. Them releasing the roguelike dlc was an insane add for sure!
Absolutely! And do to so with such a small team is seriously impressive! It's a shame there has been such little noise about a sequel!
Really nice work on this. I haven't played Mortal Shell but this made me actually want to. I had no idea about the roguelike DLC either but that sounds fun.
That is exactly the effect I wanted to have! It's such a fantastic little game and I really wanted to do my bit to help shine a light on it - especially as the developer is so damn small! That DLC is also something else, even though I've long since stopped playing Mortal Shell, I still pick it up for a run every now and then - it's just perfect little bitesize chunk of souls.
Had to stop the video so I could go and play it for myself, the first twenty minutes of your presentation gripped me!
Haha that's great to hear! It's really a special little game especially for fans of very dark fantasy or soulslikes with a twist! Hope you enjoy it!
I “grew out” of Souls-likes. Not because they are immature, I just don’t have the time anymore. Work, kids, wife, etc. doesn’t allow for hours spent on making very little progress. Nioh 2, which I dumped a ton of time into during lockdown, is the soul exception. I could do that one with my eyes closed while my wife’s eyes roll.
“hours spent on making very little progress” dude i best elden ring in under 30 hours on my first play thru. just grind the boss
"Bro, I'm awesome at games, just soend an entire work week playing a gameand you can be as cool as me"
Not everyone views that as a good use of time.
@@jeremycarnes1656 elden ring isnt hard you just need to level, stay a busta
@@Gherkinswhat a corny sentence
@@VelehkSain u wouldn’t ever say sum like this in real life bro, stay quiet like how you were at school
Have to thank the algorithm gods for finding you. Great video, great channel. Can't wait to see you get the attention you deserve.
Thanks so much! Yeah I'm pretty new so I'm just enjoy whatever attention is thrown my way by the YT gods! Currently working on another huge complete series retrospective - should hopefully be out soon!
Amazing content as always.
The sheer amount of research/knowledge that goes into these videos deserves praise alone!
As someone who has never fallen into the souls world (I am trying to, but the sheer commitment is nuts!) - I have to say I am intrigued by this one. The pro's to the game look like they outweigh the cons by far. Excited to give it a go and see what the next lengthy video will be.
Thanks for watching and for the support my dude as always! I do think Mortal Shell would be a good place to start! Even though it has its issues at the beginning, the fact that it's a touch more simple over all (stats wise) and shorter means it's a great place to jump in!
Mate your channel is bloody awesome! I've listened to your videos during night shifts and they're a god send , keep up the good work 👏
That's awesome - I absolutely love hearing about how my videos are getting people through the day! Should have another long one out soon for you!
Another quality video with great storytelling and superb production 🤩
Well it couldn't be done without certain people's support now could it!
Wow I watched this video and listened to the last half hour while driving and when I got home and checked my phone I see it only has 22k views! With this content I have no idea how you only have 11k subs but you definitely got another one.
That's awesome to hear! Glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah it's been a mad few months - when I first put this video out I only had about 6-700 subs but it's exploded over the last few! People seem to really enjoy it!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Yeah man at this pace I can see you blowing up👍. This kind of content is addicting to me because I can watch/listen to it while working. Always looking for more!
My initial impression of this game was clouded by the media attention it received, just like you said. It's a reminder to continue to be open minded and curious about games. Thank you and I can't wait to give it a shot! ❤️
I hope you enjoy it! I think there are so many games out there where the initial reception from journalists clouds the narrative (either for good or bad) and I'm glad I could help contribute to this games reappraisal!
“Fresh as a frozen pizza” ....slow clap. That is damn witty! I’m so happy I subscribed and going through all your vids
Haha I'm glad someone liked that line - I thought it was alright actually and it's got some nice alliteration so it's fun to say out loud haha
That being said thanks so much for the support and I'm glad you're enjoying the videos!
Loved that you showed the clip of Legend of Dragoon next to ff7, Dragoon was a masterpiece building off of the final fantasy formula. There is definitely nothing wrong with sticking to a successful formula as long as you can make a properly good experience for the player that is just unique enough to not be a direct copy paste
Got to sneak in some Legend of Dragoon whenever possible!
@I Finished A Video Game So stoked it got added to the PS+ Classic Log 🥳🥳
first time on your channel and this feels like a very fair critue of the game, and I love that. there's no many soul-like games out there that it's hard to stand out, and I was a bit hesistant about this one, but everything you've said and shown has really made me interested in it. Thank you!
That's really cool to hear! I know it's not exactly the most "original" game in this space but I really think the fact that it was made by so few people works in it's favour massively. Thanks to it's length it's super easy to check out and I had a whale of a time with it!
Amazing video, I had never even heard of Mortal Shell before this and now I feel like an expert lmao
Haha that's the video working pretty well then! Honestly I do really recommend it even if you've seen this - the gameplay is so tight and it's such a nice size! Not too big or too small, the ideal "in-between game"!
I agree. Sometimes it's best to stick to what works well. Thanks for the in-depth look into Mortal Shell. I'm just starting my exciting journey through and hearing your enthusiasm, makes me look forward to continuing my experience! 👊✌️
Hope you enjoy it! I think it's a really special little game - especially considering how few people put it together!
You know about The Legend of Dragoon! That makes us kin! Kindred get a sub!
I can't enjoy these grim games in these dark times, but I sure admire the artistry. I appreciate the chance to learn from them via videos like this. It's heartening to see fellow first-timers turn out such a strong title. Curious to hear my name in a game. Not sure that's happened before xD.
'Nother banger, bruv. Looking forward to more!
Of course - always nice to see a fellow Legend of Dragoon appreciator! I'd actually love to make a video covering it at some point!
Glad you enjoyed the video! Hopefully you'll enjoy my next big retrospective (which I'm currently working on) it's a little more "triumphant" in tone!
Hehe "it'll have yer guts for garters" i haven't heard that since i was a kid 😃🥰
Got to throw some local language in there for my international viewers haha
Just found your channel better late then never lol. I absolutely love this game and upon release I beat it 4x, 100% completion with a insane no shell one hit run that was so satisfying after finishing it that way. The DLC introduced later which added Hadern and his amazing axe-katana weapon and the robust rogue like mode introduced were great imo. After watching this & listening to your Alpha Protocol lengthy critique(which I'm currently playing after all these years and is quite enjoyable). I have to say you do fantastic work on this videos & I'll definitely be returning to watch your worthwhile content. Consider me subbed & thanks.
Thanks very much my friend! Glad you enjoyed this video and the game. The more people we can get turned onto the DLC the better!
I binged this, the Prince of Persia, and the Lord of the Rings videos in the span of 3 days. Just wanna say I love your stuff!
I hope you took some breaks! Really glad to hear you enjoyed the videos, I'm hard at work on another which I'll announce shortly!
This was free on PS Plus and I was on the wall on if I should play it. Thank you for your review!
That's great that this helped! I highly recommend it and I'm sure you're going to seriously enjoy it (especially when it was free!)
Great job man. I hope your channel takes off. You speak of polish many times with regards to games, and I feel that I must commend the level of polish you yourself put into your in depth commentaries. I immensely enjoyed your video on Jade Empire as well. Your audio and editing are fantastic, especially for a small channel with only 11 videos. I am subbed and looking forward to your next production, sir.
Thanks so much Gabriel - comments like yours really do mean a lot to me because it's tough starting a YT channel let alone one that really goes against the grain with regards to what's popular on the website! I've got a few videos coming up that I'm super excited about so hopefully you enjoy them as well!
You are building a great channel. Looking forward to what's next 👍
Thanks so much! I'm currently working on another really big complete series retrospective that I think is turning out really nicely - should hopefully have it out in the next few weeks!
Im coming here to give props for being able to tolerate Mortal Shell enough to do one of these on it. You popped up in my recommendation and I had to say something and help you in the algorithm.
Mortal Shell is a game that I regret getting an achievement in. I absolutely hated it.
Fair enough! I loved it especially considering it was from such a small team!
I’m one of those freaks that discovered the Obsidian form early on and restarted my playthrough to do the rest of the game blind in that mode.
Was the first time I ever had to sit down and actually *learn* a boss’ patterns for a few hours.
The final boss is what broke me though… his head can damage you while he’s in his falling ‘stun’ animation, and since you only can take one hit in Obsidan mode…
Yeah. I got a lot of cheap deaths thrown at me.
Punished.
…being *too good* at the fight.
Eventually I found a speedrun where I was able to loop his animations, and I beat him.
But my God… I hated that fight.
You might ask, “Why did I subject myself to this on a blind playthrough?”
I wanted the two trophies for beating the game in Obsidian mode and going Shell-less at the same time.
That’s it. Nothing more.
Well… that… and I wanted the perspective.
That is absolutely incredible! I sort of love that the devs baked in a "no hit" mode as I'm sure it's pushed a lot of people to try it when they wouldn't have usually! I'm amazed you managed to do it - I feel like I got pretty good but damn that is a step beyond!
Your journey towards Souls games was exactly like mine, right down to the Jedi Fallen Order moment of opening up to the genre
I think it's a similar path for a lot of people! I just didn't think anyone other than From Soft could make the formula work!
I hadn't even heard of this before clicking, but you've certainly sold me in it, as a fan of Souls who also thinks most AAA games are too long.
It's actually perfect if you want a little dose of Souls goodness but don't want to invest 60+ hours. I think my first playthrough was around 15-20 although there is of course plenty to do (NG+/DLC) that can take your run time well above that!
Outstanding video feature on an exceptional game with an atmosphere that is second to none.
If you're after more lengthy retrospectives about the golden age of videos games - th-cam.com/video/feCqT1S5pxI/w-d-xo.html - it's a full exploration about the history of PARASITE EVE - the most chaotic survival horror franchise ever made. The video covers everything from the novel to the film to the crazed way it burned out. Hope you enjoy!
Huh, this started autoplaying, never seen your videos before, as I'm playing Elden Ring lol. Great recommendation, definitely be checking out more of your stuff, it's awesome!
Just a quick question
Love the video btw
But what game are you showcasing at 10:40
@@simplysage3562 that's hyper light drifter!
@@A-1-Sawce thanks so much!
@@A-1-Sawce😮e😢😮
50:05 I actually thought that sequence was genuinely effective. Just, fucking imagine having your Siamese twin die, and there's this dead flesh now hanging from your flesh...
Nioh and Nioh 2's combat system is so transcendant it breaks free from feeling like dark souls in my opinion.
Yeah I've heard great things about those games - I really need to give them a try at some point!
That's because the combat is based on ninja gaiden not dark souls. Some weapons flat out use their ng counterparts movesets with some tweaks
yeah but as RPGs they fail, and thats why I play souls games
@@GooseGumlizzard hate to tell you this but souls games also fail as rpgs across the bored
Well written, and a channel to look forward to seeing grow. Cheers.
Thanks very much! Here's to a great 2023!
I love Mortal Shell cause of the aesthetic and gothic feel of it all. The ambience always fit the mood too.
Absolutely - it has incredible art direction
I love that you can tell the devs are experimenting with conventions they love. And this is exactly what made games like Devil May Cry and other titans of the industry. This is the kind of thing that we're missing in the AA space. It's truly inspiring.
Absolutely agree. The idea that everything needs to be completely original is just totally bogus - many of the greatest games of all time crib large ideas!
I was burnt by Lords of the Fallen and convinced that I'd only stick to anything by FromSoft but some of these levels really remind me of dark souls 2 (my personal favourite) so I'll have to keep an eye out for when this is on sale
I am still scarred by that morning having to sit through Lord of the Fallen watching this fat warhammer space marine trudge around the level at an utter snails pace... But yeah in all honestly man I really recommend Mortal Shell - it's a perfect little snapshot of the soulslike genre with some really cool ideas, I reckon you'd enjoy it especially with how the different weapons/shells/abilities all mean you can make your own build to approach the game!
Much respect for the love of Dark Souls 2. It's my favorite of the series as well! It bums me out how many times I've seen it referred to as the "black sheep" of the Souls franchise.
super quality videos dude, been listening to them at work and they're great. just bought Jade Empire cause your video, gonna try this one out too I think
Thanks so much! I'm really glad you're enjoying them so much - got another really big one that I'm currently working on that should be out soon! Hopefully you enjoy Jade Empire!
It's really brilliant that some mechanics naturally become less bothersome over time, in Dark Souls it's a nice challenge in the first half that you have a limited amount of homeward bones and buying them makes a hole in your budget, but past O&S them being finite is just an annoyance, it'd be so cool if the dark sign gradually morphed into an infinite homeward bone.
Yeah I thought that was an incredibly clever mechanic. It presents challenge in the early game when it's fresh and then just shifts into utility as that challenge naturally wanes. Very excited to see what Cold Symmetry come up with next!
Never once have I had to worry about my quantity of Homeward Bones. I always seem to have them in abundance. I'm not trying to boast, I'm middling at best when it comes to Souls games. Just never been in a spot where I needed a Bone and didn't have plenty
@@w.h.matlock8219 In DaS1?
Yet another great video. I just recently finished Dark Souls 3 and got pretty far into Code Vein. Mortal Shell looks like a very interesting change up in the genre that I might give a go in the future. I also completely agree with your philosophy and reasoning for making such a comprehensive video on this game. Small dev teams making something as grand and epic as this game is truly inspiring and something I too hope to see more of in general in the industry.
Absolutely! I really hope the success stories of studios like Cold Symmetry, Yacht Club, Larian, Moon Studios etc really proves that you don't have to be a massive global company or a tiny 2 person passion project to make extremely worthwhile high quality experiences! In this world of acquisition after acquisition I really think it's important that these smaller studios keep their independence where possible and a big way to do that is to give air time to those games!
Anyway rant aside - I'm really happy you enjoyed the video and definitely recommend you check it out. It's a joy to play, especially for a veteran souls player!
Damn! Another insanely good video! And what a game. By far one of, if not THE, most impressive games I've ever played! I did not however, realise that they had released dlc for it, and boy does it look good. Thanks again for another amazing video. I love learning about the people that make these games, especially the sound techs as I feel they don't get the recognition they deserve usually. Doesn't matter how nice your game looks or plays, take away the sound and you've got another boring, soulless game. It's the sound that adds all the atmosphere and without it you can only kinda get what the atmosphere is suppose to be, but bring the music back in and you FEEL the atmosphere. The sound is the final piece of any game that turns it from just another generic title, into a triple A masterpiece. Defo gunna give that DLC a try. I also noticed a shot of Anthem in this video and maybe that's a good idea for another video if you've ever played it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that game, good or bad, as I played it a year after release and was quite impressed with what I got tbh, especially after all the bad press it received. It left me feeling like Anthem just received all the backlash created by Battlefield. I just remember everyone being pissed with Battlefield that year and then overly criticising Anthem for it. I may be wrong and would love to hear how it all really went down from someone who clearly does his research (damn! I'm so lazy! I should probably do this myself but honestly, I'm confident you will do a far better job of it). Anyway, thanks again for these incredible videos! You are a legend!
Thanks again for the lovely comment! Hope you enjoy the DLC - I found it to be absolutely awesome once I got going!
First Souls game I finished was DS3. I remember fighting Nameless King for 2 days straight during covid lockdown. I was on top of the world when I finally beat him. Still the best drugs money can buy.
That feeling when you finally overcome a seemingly impossible boss really can't be replicated! I've had it with Smough and Ornstien and then later with the Orphan of Kos!
@23:40 "..you can blow your load on all your heavy attacks, then quickly harden..." First of all: phrasing. Are we not doing phrasing anymore? Secondly: Lmaoool 😂
No that is absolutely hilarious phrasing
What a masterful review, my man. 👏
Thanks so much Victor - next video should be out this week!
Personally I'm a huge soulslike fan - really recommend you check out Nioh and Nioh 2 as they're both great and I personally enjoy them more than some of the Dark Souls games. Especially because you liked the asian theme in Jade Empire
I probably should! Its quite weird because I've absolutely rinsed the Dark Souls series but I'm basically a soulslike baby - Nioh is definitely on my radar now for sure!
Bro your videos should have way more views these are such good reviews. Hard to disagree with your points!
Thanks so much! Well when I originally posted this I think I had about 450 subs so it's changed a lot recently! Got another very big video just about to come out so look out for it!
If you have not played Nioh 2 or Surge 2, I really would recommend give them a try. Particularly Nioh 2 since the combat in that game is really good.
I've heard a lot of cool things about Nioh 2 - I would like to check it out one day!
Surge 2 is decent, but the Nioh games are REALLY good
Nice work. I've heard a lot of people write this game off at first glance as a souls wannabe but it's so not the case as this review articulately explains. If only every game review these days was a comprehensive analysis!
If only! Thanks for the comment my dude, you're an absolute legend! Hope you're doing well man and thank you for the unwavering support!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame video game review reformation 🙌
@@danloney1830 Calvinist long form essays
Before I have seen your video I want to share my two cents about Mortal Shell before I am influenced by the video.
I was looking forward to play Mortal Shell when I bought it around half a year ago. The artstyle was cool and it seemed more streamligned than other soulslikes that shower you with (unnessecary) options. The game length seemed appropriate and the hardened parry/block looked like an interesting twist.
But when I played I discovered a number of questionable decisions which all combined produced the worst early hours I have ever seen in a video game. The following points elaborate my problems while the paragraph below that shows how they intertwine in this mess (basivally a TL;DR).
1. healing system: Healing items are basically the number of mistakes a player can make before getting to the next checkpoint. I have seen 2 approaches in soulslikes to far, the farming of healing items and the self-replenishing ones. Both of those have their own pros and cons, but Mortal Shell took the middle way and took the worst out of both. Not only do you have to farm any number of healing items, but they are interactable items in the world that HAVE A COOLDOWN. In other words, you cant farm these efficiently, they are rarely dropped by enemies and you need to know where they spawn since are bound to run out of them at some point. It's not only inconvenient, you have to go out of your way to get the staple item of this genre.
2. lack of guidance: The game doesnt tell you anything. For Souls veterans this sounds like a huge plus, but if you compare DS to MS you see how forthcoming DS is in that regard. You have no narrative direction. You have barely directions given by NPCs. The first area is an open threedimensional space with no points of interests, no map and no sense of direction. Tbf Mortal Shell has a tutorial that actively tries to convey the base mechanics, but after that you are left alone in the dark. DS1-3 had a narrative direction given in the first hour of the game, levels were linear enough that you couldnt get lost and every NPC points you to a point of interest. I managed to get to a place that a small cutscene lined out, talked to 2 NPCs that gave me the parry item and the ability to level up (which I didnt unlock for some reason). After that I wandered around and still didnt know where to go. It was obvious that the game gave me the option to hunt for other shells, but why isnt the main path lined out? Same applies to items. You dont know what they do, you have to consume them to get to know their effect. In other words you have to consume items which cant be farmed reliably and arent abundant in exploration and risk using their strong effects just because the game wants to be obscure.
The mentioned points paint the following picture: You get thrown into a world with no sense of direction, go anywhere with the hope that you end up where you are supposed to. You have the fear that you miss important early game encounters that give you important information or access to items/mechanics that you are supposed to have from that point onward. When you hit a difficulty bump you need to consider if you go somewhere else (since this could be an area for later) or try to overcome the challenge with the risk that with all that restricted healing you get punished for even trying. A big threedimensional space is the worst beginner area I can think of. You dont want your players to be lost before they have even grasped what the game is about. Even when you overcome a challenge, get somewhere where you couldnt go before or beat a boss, you still dont get answers. A big part of why Fromsoft games are so satisfying is the feeling of gaining control. Any challenge that seems impossible at first will end in a satisfying way once you push through enough. Confusing level layout will make sense, a hard boss will be learned and mastered. If Mortal Shell has any of this I am very saddened that they couldnt show it to me in the first few hours.
Long story short: Mortal Shell is the only game I have ever refunded.
All I can say my friend is everything you've just said about Mortal Shell is completely correct. It's got some major issues although if you can push past those - you're in for a real treat of a game. Hopefully you can revisit this after you've watched the video!
Git gud
Dark Souls (at least the first game) is technically a 3D metroid-like. Up until you beat OnS and get the ability to bonfire warp, you're legging across the entire world and the levels connect well with one another with elevators and locked doors
See I really wouldn't say it is - one of the main features of Metroidvania games is unlocking additional movement abilities which unlock bigger portions of the map. Dark Souls is just a very cleverly designed interconnected map that definitely takes influence from those games but certainly isn't in that genre in my mind. For example I'd say that Metroid Prime and Dark Souls don't really share much in common outside of well designed maps
Nioh DEFINITELY brings plenty new to the mix. To the point of almost being it's own thing.
Yeah I really need to check it out at some point - I've heard only good things
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Nioh is a really good game, but I'm not so sure that it brings that much to the table. It is a very fine imitation though.
Nioh is the definition of an overdesigned game
@@PatrickSilent It is nothing like an imitation because besides some few comparable elements it has almost nothing in common with Souls. It is in fact closer to Ninja Gaiden than Souls. It is good on its own but neither is it anywhere near the quality of Souls games nor is it really comparable in terms of gameplay besides both franchises are demanding, third person and have checkpoints.
@@ryan.1990 its called having a combat system
That's an amazing vídeo.
I was curious about this game.
"Souls like" is this generations "open world crime sim"
You're not wrong
I beat this game at launch and loved it, but had to idea the Virtuous Cycle DLC was such a wholesale redesign of the game. Roguelike version of Mortal Shell sounds absolutely amazing.
It honestly is great! I hope you enjoy it!
You'd have to turn down your controller speaker to lower the sound of the bell coming from the controller, honestly sucks there's not a way to turn it off in the game settings
This is one of those games I've only known the name and nothing else... I NEVER knew it was a "souls-like" and one that's as interesting as it is! Found the new game I'll watch during the weekend, I've never played any of the Souls games but I'm a big fan, listening to their music almost as much as my favorite franchise being Monster Hunter. This is gonna be a great new experience to absorb
I hope you enjoy it Victor! It's a fantastic little game that absolutely deserved more credit!
44:30 ish, the only way I know to stop games from playing sounds through the controller is to plug some earbuds in, it's an incredibly annoying gimmick in every game that does it, I don't know why there isn't an option to disable it somewhere in the options menu on ps4 or ps5
Such an annoying feature! I am baffled by the lack of being able to turn it off!
when you harden, you can hear the Foundlings gland pulse like a heartbeat, and their are stone men outside the place the foundling emerges
That's a real cool detail!
I know this is an older video. But since I haven't seen anyone else mention it. Remnant from the Ashes Swamps Of Corsus DLC adds a survival mode which is a roguelike gamemode.
That's cool to hear - it's a great blend and I'd love to see someone make a full game in that style
If you play the lute next to the merchant, his cat starts head bobbing! Best soulslike!
Those little details just show the care and attention that was poured into it!
Well done mate. Thank you kindly for your work!
It's an interesting looking game. Kind of missing something I can not wrap my mind about...
No worries at all - I hope you check it out, it's really got a lot to offer for fans of these kinds of game!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I will after finishing Elden Ring :-)
1:12:00 just do you know, there was a roguelike soulslike that was atempted before, and it wasnt great. Necropolis
What's this? An above hor long video game retrospective? Sheeeeesh sign me up brother.
Hopefully you enjoyed it my friend!
As luck would have it, I found your channel a few weeks ago and been watching your Long forms retrospectives. Just as I get to your first (last on the playlist) game becomes free on Epic. Guess I'll have to play the game now
Hope you enjoy it and thanks for watching!
I like your take on how a short game can be alot of fun and have alot of ups that some people don't get. It's the same reason I really enjoyed the re3 remake being shorter cause it really helped me platinum the game and enjoy replaying the game over and over again even if I wouldn't have minded having the un carried over parts of the original re3 game remade.
Great video really liked this type of content
Thanks so much for watching! Got a lot more stuff exactly like this planned so hopefully you're into that too!
@@IFinishedAVideoGame I'm definitely subbing
I've never been interested in any "Souls" game besides Blade of Darkness (the progenitor of this genre), but thanks to this review I have this game on my radar - due to it not being a Fat Ballerina dance session.
As long as you can get past the very confusing first few hours - I really think this is a really good souls game to start with. The difficult is high but not absurd and never feels cheap which is a huge benefit. On top of that the tools you get really feel like the combat has some variety to it! Hopefully you enjoy it!
My friend practically forced me to try a dark souls game on her 360 some years back. Unfortunately for her (and maybe even more so for me!) I didn’t really enjoy it and brushed off all souls-likes as being too frustrating and boring for me and never played one again.
This video really made me reconsider! Indeed shockingly polished and well done for a studio of a handful of people! I really hope that it inspires more small studios to tackle on projects that historically seem exclusively in the realm of AAA studios as you said.
On a personal level, I think I might just try Mortal Shell and let go of the ban I’ve cultivated on these games into adulthood haha! Awesome stuff as always!
Yeah it's a really interesting game and if it wasn't for the crazy hard first few hours I'd say it was a perfect place to start with this genre! Oddly I'd maybe recommend using a map or guide along with it as it genuinely will teach you the basics and give you a better platform for approaching some more heavy duty ones (on top of it just being a great game!)
@@IFinishedAVideoGame Sounds good! I’ll keep that in mind when I get to it!
Vitali Bulgarov is a 3D industry icon. He inspires many artists worldwide. There is a great interview by another industry icon Raphael Grasetti. The both of them are giants. The interview highly recommended. Look up both their names together to find it.
Do you think there's some connections with the old prisoner killing his sibling, then (assuming the Player Character are Revered) the fact he gets you to kill the other Revered who would be your kin? Maybe Solomon's scribbles were a prophecy about "one gaining ascension by killing their kin" and the old prisoner greatly misinterpreted it?
Or maybe he didn't fully misinterpret, because the Prisoner was indeed a main part of the prophecy, just not quite the part of the story that he expected?
That's actually a really cool interpretation - I would love that to be an extra link between the Old Prisoner and the player. I wish we got a little bit more information about the lore though a DLC or anything really. The snippets we have are genuinely interesting so it's a real shame!
Glad to have found you!
I'm glad you enjoy the videos! Working on a pretty big one at the moment so hopefully you enjoy that too!
Man, I love this game! This was the first game I played on PS5, purchased the game the week I got covid. Now I got the steelbook version to support the devs and to display in my collection
That's awesome man. I bet that steelbook looks great
@@IFinishedAVideoGame yes indeed, is a very nice piece of artwork 😄
Appreciate this video. I tried Mortal Shell for a small time when it was free on the PS Pass thing. Life then got in the way, and of course Elden Ring then came out. I’ll have to go back to it. I remember being blown away by the atmosphere and changes to Souls-like gameplay.
Curious if you’ve tried Lies of P? A fairytale Souls-like that I’ve heard good things about.
I highly recommend it! I think it's a nice counterpoint to modern soulslike games which tend to emphasise fast paced reflex combat whereas Mortal Shell is a bit more slow paced and rewards planning ahead! As for Lies of P I haven't got around to it yet! I need to try and find some time!
Great video, great game. People need to realize/remember this was developed by 15 people, not a AAA studio. So impressive!
It's kinda nuts how critical people were considering such a small studio put it together!
Great content man
Thanks so much Aaron - glad you enjoy it!
I started playing Demons Souls way back when it came out. A friend bought it and showed me the case and a few screenshots and I was already hyped. No map. Medieval dark fantasy. My kinda shit as I'm a huge Berserk fan. The same day I went to his house and we pushed the game thru the night. I remember I forgot to eat, and having to go piss was not good cause I didn't want to loose any moment. We only finished the game on the second day, and what an amazing experience it was. I imediately bought a PS3 and a brand new copy for me, so we could play coop online. I'll never forget how exciting it was. The thing I enjoyed that atmosphere. I remember having feelings of nostalgia, comparing the game with other gems like ICO and Shadow of the colossus. Very aestheticly pleasing. The Lore that felt missing. The atmosphere. It just hitted right on the spot for me.
I only had the same feeling again with Bloodborne... and then Mortal Shell. I just felt like I was sad for the bleak decaying world and felt like hopeless and unease all the time. Needless to say I played it endlessly, and fully upgraded all the shells.
But I don't say it's as good as the best Fromsoft games: There's still some polishing to be done on the mechanics and movement of the character that i feel need a little more working, some snapping that occurs... but the atmosphere is just so fucking awesome. Way above it "deserves" to be from a indie develper. Now I'm pretty hyped about "Bleak Faith Forsaken". Hope you can do a review on that too when it's time. Happy to find yout channel. Just subscribed. Sorry about the bad english, i'm brazilian. Kudos.
No worries your English is great! And that's cool to hear - I'm very excited to see where cold symmetry go next with the franchise!