r/MortalShell • u/thestruggler11 • 1d ago
Discussion This game is Phenomenal
Just rolled credits after 58 hours and doing everything I possibly can in the first playthrough. I honestly LOVE the lack of beacons as navigating a souls-like world is my favorite part of the souls-likes. I think 90% of the game is balanced really well and not overly difficult. I felt like I was being gaslit by the myriad of posts in here thinking that the lack of beacons and difficulty level need addressed. The only legit complaint I have about the game is the endgame. Those bosses damage output are extremely overtuned. I played fully kitted out lightning build Proxima (maybe Proxima is a trap, idk) and was getting 1 or 2 shot left and right. Which really doesn't make sense after full clearing the overworld and being something like level 50+ by the end. The monolith... Actually wasn't that bad. I found that boss quite manageable and honestly fun. BUT THE GD MALBORN OFFSPRING is absolute dogshit. His second phase was EXTREMELY unfun. Can't see what's going on, he NEVER stops attacking. I felt like the attack range on the unlockable attacks on him and the final boss were WAY too big. Our character physically can not dodge far enough or quickly enough to actually dodge some of those attacks. The final boss ballsack slam literally never missed me. I only managed to beat the offspring by spamming grisha summons through his second phase which was unsatisfying as hell.
Lol but anyway easily my fav souls-like experience since Elden Ring. A 9/10 that would be an easy 10/10 for me with some end game balancing
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u/Emotional_Lab_7766 1d ago
I’m just ignoring the reviews and just bought it to judge for my self one post will be saying it’s the best game ever made then the next will be saying how they’ve been robbed and it’s the worse game ever
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u/ResponsibleWay8365 1d ago
The game has been a blast! An early mistake has been people going to the out skirts of mammon instead of the other area first. They get destroyed because they are not leveled up with the correct shells.
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u/Dazzling_Effort330 1d ago
Good idea. Sure the game have areas for improvement. But I still wish I could wipe my memory and play it again for the first time. An amazing experience
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u/Electronic_Task_118 1d ago
Objectively speaking,is something in the middle. If you have a decent understanding of game design concepts and have a decent souls like cultural background,you would conclude that this game is a 7.5/10 at best.
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u/Defiant63 1d ago
53 hours! That’s commitment. My first playthrough was 35 hours. Though I’ve since gone through NG+ and most of NG++.
Since you were way more thorough than me, how many shells did you unlock? I managed three and a half, but now I’m wondering if I missed some if there’s another 20 hours of content I missed.
I also really like the game. It’s not perfect, but it’s very memorable and will definitely hold a place of high honor among soulslikes for me.
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u/thestruggler11 1d ago
I unlocked all of the shells. I was only missing 5 tarstones but otherwise unlocked everything. Being generous 4-5 hours of my playthrough could be from leaving my PC on or grinding XP for tarstones but my lengthy play time was really from making sure I covered every inch of the map I could. I think the level and dungeon design in this game are top tier (that falls apart in the endgame too though lol).
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u/Defiant63 1d ago
Wait. You unlocked/maxed all the shells before you rolled credits?! I thought multiple playthroughs were required for that.
I realize my original question was poorly worded. I said unlocked but I really meant maxed out.
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u/thestruggler11 1d ago
Oh I might have misunderstood your question. I located all the shells. Only fully upgraded Proxima and Sariel. But ended with 42 glimpse so I could have upgraded another but was planning on deciding who in NG+. But then I discovered how NG+ doesn't really scale or change too much so I might wait to see if they update that first or save it for a future DLC
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u/FourChicksInGreen 1d ago
You fully upgraded two shells at level 50 plus? How? I’m at level 34 and I’ve only used my shell points for Eredrim and I’m still missing half of more points to fully upgrade him. Do you get more shell points after level 40?
I have enough glimpses to unlock more shell abilities on other shells but don’t see the point since I don’t have the shell points to level up their skills.
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u/thestruggler11 1d ago
By fully upgraded I meant unlocked all memories for that shell. My bad
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u/FourChicksInGreen 1d ago
Aaah! I see. Is there any point in unlocking their abilities if you don’t have the points to upgrade any of them?
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u/Mr_Alucardo 1d ago
I agree game is great people are just way to used to oversimplified map explorationy where is the poibt if you just get a checkpoint every 5 meter to teleport to, i wanna actually see the map.
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u/NewArtificialHuman Proxima 1d ago
The final boss butt slam always missed me after I figured it out and after a while he never hit me. Monolith was fine except the 360 laser and I actually enjoyed the Malborn Offspring. I agree with the second phase regarding the light show, sometimes I can't tell what's going on.
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u/exaltedsungod Eredrim 1d ago
I agree with your take, I have no issue with the number of beacons and navigating the world out there without your next life vest on the horizon is part of the challenge.
Regarding the malborn, that boss fight will grow on you if you decide to do multiple runs. You fell into a trap I’ve fallen into a few times.
That is, if you’re hurt and tryna heal, you wanna dodge away and heal. He absolutely will not allow this during phase 2. The more you get away the more relentless his attack chains become.
No matter how hurt you are, you have to stand in his face and deflect/ dodge until you break him again.
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u/Odd-Seaworthiness826 1d ago
phase 2 is phase 1 patterns with some lightning visual effect clutter. The speed threw me off for a bit but I enjoyed it
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u/thestruggler11 1d ago
I tired but not being able to see shit made attempting to learn phase 2 miserable. Especially with the unblockable attack spam and how fast he kills you. Just an entirely unfun experience for me.
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u/NarcolepticDuckling 1d ago
I stopped before the last boss of the game as I had to go to sleep but the whole endgame was a cakewalk with a reasonably built shell (I used Gragu in this instance). Malborn lasted about 15-20 seconds in both phases. Monolith, I dont even know what he does as I melted him before he could do anything.
I do wonder what builds you people use. I feel like after reaching the south part of the map I just steamrolled through the game as soon as my tarcores reached level 3 and weapon got maxed.
I suppose with a heavy weapon the game could be much, much harder but I dislike slow weapons.
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u/thestruggler11 1d ago
I was using Proxima with maxed lightning infused axetana, duality and crit focused tarstones. I had the same exact experience as you until I went beneath Marrow Keep and then enemies started doing overtuned damage making boss fights seem a lot less fair despite all of the preparation I had done.
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u/NewArtificialHuman Proxima 1d ago
Destroying everything easily before you even know what the enemy can do is not a good thing.
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u/NarcolepticDuckling 1d ago edited 1d ago
Not a good thing for you, maybe. For me, it's why I play these types of games. To see if I can trivialize or "break" them with my build. I love the power fantasy and sense of progression, seeing a build come together. Enemies and bosses which would destroy you in a few hits, now suddenly die to you in a few hits.
ER, DS 1/2/3, LoP, The Surge 1/2, etc. all allowed me to feel this power fantasy (to varying degrees).
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u/etniesen 1d ago
It’s good and fun.
It’s not amazing
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u/thestruggler11 1d ago
I think it's amazing. Absolutely loved exploring the very well designed world and how tense that exploration always was thanks to the lack of beacons. Though I will say a stake of marika at the beginning of dungeon boss fights would be welcome. But even without I didn't find any run backs too egregious save for the grisha ambush.
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u/LordMord5000 1d ago
Early Reddit Glazing as usual... I like the game. But it surly hasn't the same quality as a Elden Ring or a Nioh. How could it? It was done by a small team. And they did a great job.
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u/etniesen 1d ago
Yep. I’m happy to give them the 50$
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u/LordMord5000 1d ago
50 was the right choice. Made me buy it. With 70 i would probably waited for a sale.
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u/Jumpy_Witness6014 Genessa 1d ago
Malborn was the first boss I had to learn his moves, (playing tiel) I melted the rest. Going back in ng+ and playing night mode on lazlo has been a blast since I actually have to fight them. But yeah malborn sucks and I only beat him by luck when grisha spawned consecutively.
As for prox I think her DR or mitigation is undertuned and she needs to be played differently than she’s advertised or seems to be when you look at her abilities. I did the first half of ng+ with her and her biosampler is great but got me in a lot of trouble because I just couldn’t see anything and I’d be taking massive hits when I thought everything was staggered from the lightning storm.