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Mortal Shell 2 Review: A Must-Play for Elden Ring Fans (Try the Demo First)
With Elden Ring pretty much finished and no longer the hot topic in gaming, I needed a new challenge, and Mortal Shell 2 caught my eye. Games are expensive, so it’s hard to know where to put your money. The good news is that Mortal Shell 2 has a generous demo, and that’s what got me hooked. I’d recommend you try it before you buy, too.
If You Loved Elden Ring, You’ll Feel at Home
Mortal Shell 2 has a very similar style and sense of progression to Elden Ring, but it has its own character. Plenty of the mechanics are unfamiliar and take some getting used to, but the game teaches you as you go, and before long they become second nature.
You Don’t Need to Chase Every Shell
At first it looks like the goal is to collect new Shells, the game’s playable characters. Having played it through, I found that isn’t really the main objective. I used the starting character, weapon and seal for almost the entire game.
What actually drives you to the end is reaching the gates at the corners of the map and completing them. They work like bonus levels, and finishing them unlocks the boss map, which appears as a staircase beneath your base camp once you’re ready. It took me about 10 days to finish, and there were some seriously tough fights along the way. There is one fight, the Scholar Prince that where he enters his second phase – it was impossible for me to defend against his multi sword attacks. This was the only place where using a different shell was the key.
The Best Starting Ability: Tiel’s Shadow Move
The starting character, Tiel, has a brilliant shadow move. You can use it to sneak around and avoid fights, or as a defensive tool when a fight is unavoidable. It’s the best ability in the game in my opinion, so I’d stick with it and not worry about unlocking the others early on, or even at all.
Verdict
If you want a tough, rewarding soulslike without paying full price blind, download the Mortal Shell 2 demo and see for yourself.
Still stuck on the final boss:
Mortal Shell 2 drops you into a grim, punishing world where every fight tests your timing. The series’ signature mechanic is back: you inhabit different Shells, each with its own strengths, resistances and skill tree.
How progression works
The campaign is gated by Ova, and Ova come from major bosses. Each of the six Corrupted Gate bosses also drops an Ability Tarstone tied to one weapon, so beating them changes how your gear plays. Most major fights let you summon a Shell warrior as a permanent spirit ally, but it costs a Glimpse, the same resource you use to raise Shell Bond, so spend them carefully.
You’re also not forced down a single path. Guides note that the first six bosses can be beaten in any order, so if one walls you, you can head back out, upgrade, and try again. Guides disagree slightly on the count, with one listing 11 main boss fights and another counting 10, but the point stands: there are plenty of fights, and the order is yours.
The toughest bosses
Zmey, the Unbidden. The final dragon sits in the top tier of at least one community difficulty ranking, alongside The Monolith. That ranking judges difficulty by health pools and status pressure rather than raw aggression, and these two are the fights where no single item or dodge direction saves you. Save them for a Shell you’ve actually invested in.
The Monolith. Found in the Obsidian Vault, it offers no Shell summon, so you face it without spirit-ally support. Expect a real test of everything you’ve learned.
Sir Isaac, the Scholar-Prince. This mothman-like warrior is a classic two-phase spike. Once you deplete his first health bar he grows a tail, becomes faster and more aggressive, and plenty of players will find the second half far harder than the first.
Orrem, the Discarded Golem. Orrem is the giant that killed Harros in the opening minutes, and it returns late in the story. Its second phase begins when it reshapes itself into something scorpion-like, so don’t get comfortable.
Magdalena, Lady of the Woods. She is a dangerous early test, and community rankings put her in the middle tier. She’s a good lesson in why preparation matters.
Gear matters as much as reflexes
Many fights hinge on elemental damage. Burning attacks can be softened with the Burnt Effigy in your passive slot, or by upgrading Lazlo’s burn resistance. Frost-heavy bosses call for Martyr’s Ash, or upgrading Eredrim’s frost resistance. Against the Hexapod, Proxima is a good Shell choice, and frost damage works well. Parrying is rewarding too: you can often parry with Harden, which then lets you strike before the boss recovers.
Mortal Shell 2 rewards patience, preparation and a willingness to swap Shells. If you enjoy fights where learning a moveset matters more than button-mashing, Fainweald and Mammon have plenty of punishment waiting for you.
