Mortal Shell 2 Review – A Massive Soulslike Leap Forward

TL;DR

Mortal Shell 2 is a huge step up from the original in almost every way.
The stamina-free combat feels faster, freer, and more satisfying.
The Harden mechanic returns and still feels great.
Eight playable Shells give you real build variety.
The open world is compact but well-designed and rewarding to explore.
Stunning Unreal Engine 5 visuals bring Fallgrim to life.
Some minor issues with camera, progression opacity, and late-game enemy density.
Available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam — launched August 20, 2026.

Mortal Shell 2 is the kind of sequel that makes you forget the original had any flaws. Cold Symmetry took all the negative feedback from the first game to heart, and what they have delivered in return is one of the most confident soulslike games released outside of FromSoftware. If you enjoy dark fantasy, punishing combat, and worlds that reward curiosity, this game deserves your attention.

This review covers everything — the combat, the Shells, the open world, the bosses, the visuals, and the things that still need work. No fluff. Just what you need to know before you buy.

Mortal Shell 2

Table of Contents

What Is Mortal Shell 2?

Mortal Shell 2 is a dark fantasy action RPG developed by Cold Symmetry and published by Playstack. It is set in the world of Fallgrim and launched on August 20, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The story puts you in the role of the Harbinger — the chosen warrior tasked with helping Mether collect all of her Ova, her eggs, which have been scattered across the land.

Mortal Shell 2 is a standalone sequel, meaning you do not need to have completed the first game before jumping in. That is good news for newcomers. The original set the stage. The sequel expands it into something far more ambitious.

Mortal Shell 2 Combat: Faster, Freer, and Still Heavy

The biggest change in Mortal Shell 2 is how combat feels. The game entirely eliminates the stamina stat, so you can block, parry, and attack without worrying about running out of stamina. In its place, Mortal Shell 2 uses Resolve, which powers your special attacks. This sounds like it should make the game easier. It does not. It just makes fights more fluid.

The system is built around breaking enemy posture and landing critical attacks. It feels quicker than the original without becoming weightless. That balance is hard to get right, and Cold Symmetry nailed it here.

The iconic Harden mechanic is back too. Rather than functioning like a traditional shield, it lets you temporarily turn your character into stone, absorbing an incoming hit. You can even Harden during an attack animation — begin a heavy swing, Harden as an enemy attacks, absorb the blow, and then finish your own swing immediately afterward. It creates a timing game that feels completely unique to this series.

Mortal Shell 2 allows players to fight with melee weapons, ranged weapons, and Shell abilities. You get a mix of all three at all times. The result is a combat system that supports multiple playstyles without ever losing its dark, punishing identity.

One Thing to Note About Enemies

Combat feels mostly good, but animations can occasionally get interrupted while attacking enemies, and there is rarely an opportunity to hit multiple opponents at once. The game is largely built around one-on-one encounters. Late-game enemy density can sometimes tip from challenging into tedious. This is a minor frustration near the end, but it does not ruin the experience.

Mortal Shell 2 Shells: Build Your Playstyle

Shells are the heart of Mortal Shell 2. There are eight playable Shells, with each one embodying a unique playstyle for players to master. A ninth Shell, Harros, is only playable during the prologue. Each one changes how you move, fight, and survive.

Tiel is a Shell that lets you go invisible for a short period, allowing you to sneak up on an enemy and execute a powerful strike. Other Shells lean into brute force, ranged support, or tanky defense. Each Shell has its own hidden stats for Health, Resolve, and Stamina. One Shell can even shoulder charge enemies like a battering ram.

The absence of a stamina system does not make the game simpler. Instead, it gives players greater freedom in combat and allows each Shell to develop a more distinct identity. Swapping between Shells based on your situation keeps the gameplay fresh well into the later hours.

Shell Points can be refunded whenever you want, which encourages experimentation. You are never locked into a bad build, and that freedom is a big part of why the game stays enjoyable from start to finish.

Gloom, Progression, and Upgrade Currencies

Mortal Shell 2 uses multiple upgrade currencies, and it is worth understanding them before you dive in. Gloom upgrades your baseline stats. Glimpse unlocks additional abilities for the Shells you find and inhabit. Gold is used for purchasing items and upgrading your weapons, sidearm, and Tarstones.

Gloom works like Souls from other games in the genre. The Beacons — Mortal Shell 2’s bonfire-style checkpoints — are spread out, which creates tense exploration. Pushing forward might mean dying and leaving your Gloom as a puddle on the ground. Dying on the way back means losing it permanently, which pushes you further from your next level up.

There is a good rhythm the player can fall into, but holding onto Gloom is always a gamble. This tension is what makes progress feel earned. There are also different upgrade materials for melee and ranged weapons, plus Tarstones that add buffs, elemental coatings, or passive defenses to your gear.

By design, a lot of the mechanics are not explained to you. Some players will find this rewarding. Others may feel lost in the early hours.

Mortal Shell 2 Open World: Compact and Well-Designed

Cold Symmetry describes Mortal Shell 2 as an interconnected open world that is expansive but deliberately compact. There is more freedom to move around and explore side paths, but the world still feels hand-designed rather than generated to fill space. That is a meaningful distinction, and it matters.

The leap in scale compared to the first game is staggering. You move between biomes that each have their own atmosphere, enemies, and visual identity. The world of Fallgrim features poison swamps, corrupted villages, crumbling fortresses, hellish landscapes, and dilapidated graveyards. Each one decays in its own way and feels distinct from the last.

Every region you walk into has its own pocket of history and its own set of enemies suited to that environment. You can feel the shift walking from one zone into the next, not just visually, but in how enemies move and how the oppression in the air changes.

Dungeons and Beacons in Mortal Shell 2

The open world is filled with dungeons and Beacon checkpoints. Beacons serve as your rest points and act as entry points to some of the game’s dungeons. Each Corrupted Gate leads to a large, full-fledged dungeon with its own distinct atmosphere and a major boss waiting at the end. These dungeons are far from repetitive — each one feels like a proper encounter zone worth clearing.

Optional dungeons are scattered across the map too, and exploring them is almost always worth your time. The weapons and upgrades waiting inside are genuinely good enough to build a run around.

Mortal Shell 2 Boss Fights

The boss fights in Mortal Shell 2 are a genuine highlight. Bosses are visually impressive — they have the oversized, horrifying designs you expect from the soulslike genre, but they do not look like leftover Dark Souls concepts. They feel original, grotesque, and deliberately crafted for this world.

More importantly, fighting them benefits enormously from the new combat system. The posture-breaking mechanics, Harden timing, and Shell abilities all come together in boss encounters in a way that makes each fight feel like a real test. Cold Symmetry has clearly iterated on every major system and the bosses reflect that work.

Mortal Shell 2 Graphics and Performance

Mortal Shell 2 runs on Unreal Engine 5, and it shows in every corner of Fallgrim. The visual difference from the first game is substantial. It offers a beautiful and well-optimized experience that showcases what the engine can do — combining dark morbidity with surprising moments of verdant greenery and environmental detail.

Visually, Mortal Shell 2 is stunning. It is soaked in dread, all rot and ruin, with the kind of oppressive atmosphere the best games in this genre chase. The art team clearly knew exactly what mood they were going for, and they hit it consistently.

Performance on PC is generally solid. Outside of occasional stuttering, there are no crashes or serious performance problems, even during larger areas and fights with multiple enemies on screen. The game supports TSR, Nvidia DLSS, and AMD FSR. Intel XeSS support is absent, which is a minor omission for some users.

Difficulty Settings and Accessibility

Mortal Shell 2 includes options to adjust the experience for different skill levels. Quality-of-life options include aim assist for firearms, target snapping for nearby enemies, and off-screen enemy location indicators. These additions make combat feel more fair without removing the challenge for those who want it.

If you choose to lower the difficulty, it comes at the trade-off cost of locking achievements. This is not a new concept in the genre, but it does allow more players to enjoy the story and world without hitting an impossible wall.

Cold Symmetry has built a game with a clear philosophy: make it fun first. Mortal Shell 2 is a soulslike that values flexibility and build variety over sheer punishment. Veterans will still find a challenge. Newcomers have more room to breathe than ever before.

Mortal Shell 2 Story and Lore

Mortal Shell 2 takes place sometime after the events of the first game. Instead of returning as the Foundling, you step into the role of the Harbinger. The original protagonist is not forgotten — the opening directly references the Foundling’s fate and makes it clear that what happened in the first game is still part of Fallgrim’s history.

The story itself is told in a subtle, environmental way, typical of the soulslike genre. You piece things together through item descriptions, NPC conversations, and Shell backstories. The NPC quests in Mortal Shell 2 are also worth mentioning — they are far more coherent and readable than most quests you will find in the average FromSoftware game. Secrets, mysteries, and Shell backstories give the world real depth if you choose to dig for it.

What Could Be Better in Mortal Shell 2

No game is perfect, and Mortal Shell 2 has a few rough edges worth knowing about before you buy.

Camera issues: The camera undermines some otherwise excellent encounters, particularly in tight spaces and during larger boss fights.
Unclear progression: Many mechanics and upgrade paths are not explained. Players can easily miss key items or neglect upgrades they did not know existed.
Late-game enemy density: Toward the final hours, enemy density becomes excessive in a way that feels more like attrition than meaningful difficulty.
Glimpse scarcity: The limited availability of Glimpse currency can restrict access to one of the game’s better narrative and ability systems.
Map navigation: The open world map can be frustrating to read and navigate, especially early on when most of it is shrouded.

None of these issues break the experience. But they are real, and knowing about them upfront will help you enjoy the game more.

Mortal Shell 2 File Size and Game Length

On PS5, the game requires 32.179 GB of free space. The Xbox Series X|S version takes up approximately 31.6 GB. On PC, you will need 70 GB of space on an SSD. Plan accordingly before launch day.

Mortal Shell 2 will take around 30 to 40 hours to complete, and possibly longer depending on how much of the open world and optional content you explore. There is also a New Game Plus mode for those who want to push further after finishing.

Is Mortal Shell 2 Worth Buying?

Mortal Shell 2 is a genuine triumph for Cold Symmetry. It takes everything that worked in the original and builds something bigger, bolder, and far more satisfying around it. The stamina-free combat gives you real freedom without removing the tension. The Shells give you real identity. The open world gives you real things to find. And Unreal Engine 5 makes all of it look incredible.

If you bounced off the original Mortal Shell, this sequel removes nearly every reason to stay away. If you loved the first game, this is the sequel you were hoping for. It is one of the best soulslike games released in years and a strong argument that Cold Symmetry belongs alongside the genre’s best developers.

The base game is priced at $49.99. The Devout Edition is $59.99 and includes up to 72 hours of early access. For a game of this length and quality, that is a fair price at either tier.

You can get it on the platforms below:

Mortal Shell 2 Final Verdict

A few rough edges exist — camera frustrations, unclear progression, and a map that can be hard to read. But none of that holds back what is easily one of the best soulslike games to release in years. Cold Symmetry has earned their seat at the big table.

Score: 8.5 / 10