This meant that I had to use all of my Resolve to activate a weapon ability, and half for an Empowered Riposte. Managing Resolve is not particularly difficult but, since I played primarily as Tiel, I was stuck with only two Resolve bars. Resolve is used for all of your higher power abilities including your weapons’ and the Empowered Riposte as a follow up to a successful parry. Unlike Health or Stamina, you start without any Resolve, and gain it either by using consumables or defeating enemies. These abilities are all activated through your third primary resource: Resolve. The Martyr’s Blade can be imbued with ice energy for a limited time, while the Smouldering Mace can be ignited to burn enemies with fire energy.

Alternatively, the Hammer and Chisel’s ability launches a wave of nails around you while The Martyr’s Blade and the Smouldering Macehave the ability to activate an elemental damage buff.

The sword’s unique ability is a large spike that shoots out of the bottom, dealing high damage to an enemy. It is a normal sword, but like all of the weapons in Mortal Shell, can be upgraded to activate a unique ability. The Hallowed Sword is your first weapon, and the most basic of them all. It felt good to use with quick attacks that did not stop me from avoiding damage if I was careful, but compared to the damage I was dealing with the Hallowed Sword, it was not enough to reliably win most engagements. The Hammer and Chisel, however, was not a bad weapon. It certainly didn’t help that I had also invested heavily into the Hallowed Sword. Their slow attacks, alongside the inability to cancel by rolling or dodging, made them feel inferior in a lot of ways. The Hallowed Sword and the Hammer and Chisel are both fairly quick weapons, but the Martyr’s Blade and the Smouldering Mace are both slow two-handed weapons. This heavy investment made it harder to pick up the other weapons, but there was more to it. The other weapons, the Hammer and Chisel, Martyr’s Blade, and Smouldering Mace are all great weapons, but by the time I unlocked them, I had already upgraded my Hallowed Sword to +3. I also invested the most into the Hallowed Sword, the first weapon you find in the game, and because of that I almost exclusively used it along with Tiel. Tiel has a wide variety of special upgrades, many of which revolve around his high stamina and the poison status effect. For my playthrough, I almost exclusively used Tiel, the Shell with the highest stamina. These long-dead remains of powerful warriors act as your armor, but they are so much more.Įach Shell has its own unique backstory, can trigger its own unique dialogue, and most importantly, has its own set of stats and skills that will determine how you play the game.

Unlike most games of this ilk, you don't unlock new sets of armor, but rather you uncover Shells.

This game takes all the tropes and ideas that come with the Soulslike experience you know and love, and it builds upon them in a variety of exciting ways. Every step was a fight for my very survival, right up until that final boss took their last breath. While I have played everything from Dark Souls to Bloodborne or The Surge, nothing has ever made me work harder for what I wanted.

Mortal shell foundling