What is a souls-like?
Slow methodical combat, stamina, build variety, dark fantasy setting, losing valuable resources upon defeat unless you reach the area you died before dying again, massive boss health bars, parrying, dodge-rolls, ambiguous lore, steep difficulty, etc. etc. etc.
Now why do I bring this up? Everyone and their goddamn grandma knows what a souls-like game is at this point and this genre certainly isn't going away anytime soon. Well, even though all the aforementioned concepts/mechanics are generally seen as staples of the genre, I've come to notice that even the most popular games that follow this genre outside of the official Souls titles don't borrow all of these concepts. Taking a look at one of the most popular titles under this category Hollow Knight shows that it largely earned this comparison for its difficulty and lore exclusively. So called souls-like staples like stamina bar, visible boss health bars, and dodge rolls (though this could be attributed to the shade cloak sharing the same function) were absent. Another souls-like title Code vein also went for a much faster-paced combat flow along with more straightforward storytelling and a larger focus on co-op, even when playing offline. Hell, even From Software's very attempt to reinvent their formula with Sekiro saw the removal of stamina and practically flipped the idea of combat on its head as a sort of rhythmic fight of deflecting attacks at the right time to break enemy posture. I could go on with examples but the main takeaway is that all of these games were confident with straying away from the established souls-like conventions to create experiences that feel like their own thing rather than just riding off everything that worked for souls titles.
I bring all of this up as I believe this is where my meh feelings towards Mortal Shell arise and largely all come back to. Mortal Shell practically rips every element of a souls-title to a tee and doesn't really use them in creative ways to set it apart from the source material in any meaningful way. I'll give them credit for toying with some interesting mechanics like the hardening and shell system, but these were never fleshed out to justify their inclusion in combat. Hardening has potential for interesting ways to clearly telegraph delayed attacks and mix up combos but only one enemy uses this and you are better off using this as an "oops, I fucked up, am out of stamina, and need i-frames" button when you get impatient waiting to find openings in enemy combos. Shells basically amount to different pre-selected builds but have their own perk system, though I can't say this is anywhere near the level of replayability as being able to allocate into any stat you want in the souls games.
I understand this is a very small team and it would be extremely difficult to replicate something in the caliber of Dark Souls and I 100% appreciate the efforts seen hear. But I find it a lot harder to justify going back to this when it does hardly anything to stand as its own game and just ends up feeling like a lesser imitator on all fronts. And there are surely things I liked and even loved about the game. The art direction is phenomenal with some really distinct and cool areas for as short as the game was. The locations did a great job really selling the atmosphere of this decaying world and the interesting theming of some areas even somewhat set it apart from the traditional dark medieval atmosphere that has become tired in this genre. And while I think the boss fights were unfortunately pretty lame for the most part, the battle with Tarsus honestly kicked ass and I wish other fights would be as creative with their movesets.
So to answer the bullshit hypothetical question above, I don't think it's necessary that a souls-like needs to have all the aforementioned mechanics, rather, I think it's more about how these ideas are used to build the foundation of an experience that isn't afraid to take liberties that work in its favor. At least, that's what I think when we get such widely beloved souls-likes like Hollow Knight and Sekiro. Mortal Shell is by-the-book a souls-like through and through, though I don't think that's to the game's benefit. It ends up feeling like a diet Dark Souls game at the end of the day and while there was stuff a certainly enjoyed about this title, I can't say it really hit the mark for me. With stuff like the Tarsus fight and the art direction I'm convinced this team could make something truly special, this just isn't the game to do it.
Slow methodical combat, stamina, build variety, dark fantasy setting, losing valuable resources upon defeat unless you reach the area you died before dying again, massive boss health bars, parrying, dodge-rolls, ambiguous lore, steep difficulty, etc. etc. etc.
Now why do I bring this up? Everyone and their goddamn grandma knows what a souls-like game is at this point and this genre certainly isn't going away anytime soon. Well, even though all the aforementioned concepts/mechanics are generally seen as staples of the genre, I've come to notice that even the most popular games that follow this genre outside of the official Souls titles don't borrow all of these concepts. Taking a look at one of the most popular titles under this category Hollow Knight shows that it largely earned this comparison for its difficulty and lore exclusively. So called souls-like staples like stamina bar, visible boss health bars, and dodge rolls (though this could be attributed to the shade cloak sharing the same function) were absent. Another souls-like title Code vein also went for a much faster-paced combat flow along with more straightforward storytelling and a larger focus on co-op, even when playing offline. Hell, even From Software's very attempt to reinvent their formula with Sekiro saw the removal of stamina and practically flipped the idea of combat on its head as a sort of rhythmic fight of deflecting attacks at the right time to break enemy posture. I could go on with examples but the main takeaway is that all of these games were confident with straying away from the established souls-like conventions to create experiences that feel like their own thing rather than just riding off everything that worked for souls titles.
I bring all of this up as I believe this is where my meh feelings towards Mortal Shell arise and largely all come back to. Mortal Shell practically rips every element of a souls-title to a tee and doesn't really use them in creative ways to set it apart from the source material in any meaningful way. I'll give them credit for toying with some interesting mechanics like the hardening and shell system, but these were never fleshed out to justify their inclusion in combat. Hardening has potential for interesting ways to clearly telegraph delayed attacks and mix up combos but only one enemy uses this and you are better off using this as an "oops, I fucked up, am out of stamina, and need i-frames" button when you get impatient waiting to find openings in enemy combos. Shells basically amount to different pre-selected builds but have their own perk system, though I can't say this is anywhere near the level of replayability as being able to allocate into any stat you want in the souls games.
I understand this is a very small team and it would be extremely difficult to replicate something in the caliber of Dark Souls and I 100% appreciate the efforts seen hear. But I find it a lot harder to justify going back to this when it does hardly anything to stand as its own game and just ends up feeling like a lesser imitator on all fronts. And there are surely things I liked and even loved about the game. The art direction is phenomenal with some really distinct and cool areas for as short as the game was. The locations did a great job really selling the atmosphere of this decaying world and the interesting theming of some areas even somewhat set it apart from the traditional dark medieval atmosphere that has become tired in this genre. And while I think the boss fights were unfortunately pretty lame for the most part, the battle with Tarsus honestly kicked ass and I wish other fights would be as creative with their movesets.
So to answer the bullshit hypothetical question above, I don't think it's necessary that a souls-like needs to have all the aforementioned mechanics, rather, I think it's more about how these ideas are used to build the foundation of an experience that isn't afraid to take liberties that work in its favor. At least, that's what I think when we get such widely beloved souls-likes like Hollow Knight and Sekiro. Mortal Shell is by-the-book a souls-like through and through, though I don't think that's to the game's benefit. It ends up feeling like a diet Dark Souls game at the end of the day and while there was stuff a certainly enjoyed about this title, I can't say it really hit the mark for me. With stuff like the Tarsus fight and the art direction I'm convinced this team could make something truly special, this just isn't the game to do it.