Mortal Shell 2, the sequel to the 2021 title that struggled to hit the mainstream, is set to officially launch this Thursday, August 20th, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Unlike the short, somewhat mediocre original, this new entry delivers a massive 30-hour, open-world experience. Early access is already taking over Steam, surprising both returning fans and the broader Soulslike community with high praise for its world design and exploration.
Massive Steam Early Access Numbers
Debuting with a respectable 84 Metacritic score, the strong reviews have pushed a flood of players into the game’s 3-day head start, driving it to the number one trending spot on SteamDB. On its first day of early access, Mortal Shell 2 hit a high of 19,242 concurrent players on Steam, and it has already surged past 22,558 early today. For context, the original Mortal Shell peaked at just 1,931 players on its release day. Surpassing its predecessor’s peak by more than eleven times before it’s even officially out is a great start for this upcoming title.
An Awesome Open World and Solid Optimization
Beyond the hype, what is really drawing players in is how much bigger and better the sequel feels. The new open world is massive and awesome to explore, filled with hidden dungeons, distinct Shells, and secrets that reward curiosity around every corner. Even better, despite the significant leap in scale and visual quality, performance is impressively well-optimized, running smoothly even on lower-end CPUs.
Early Launch Flaws and Combat Balancing
Though the game is remarkably addictive, it is currently held back by several frustrating technical and balancing flaws. Technically, input handling is a major issue: sprinting often fails to engage without repeated clicks, heal inputs drop mid-combat, and parries feel unresponsive due to wind-up animation lag. Outside of bugs, the combat feels brutally overtuned. Regular enemies often feel stronger than actual bosses due to how much damage they deal, basic mobs can two-shot you from across the room with homing attacks, the lock-on camera breaks down when surrounded, and weapon upgrades offer barely noticeable stat increases.
Add in a sparse variety of enemy types, and the early experience can quickly feel exhausting. While input fixes and numerical tweaks can hopefully be solved with a day-one patch, broader issues like limited enemy variety will take much more time to address.
A Strong Foundation for Success
Still, with its strong foundation, rewarding exploration, and addictive loop, Mortal Shell 2 has massive potential with just a few quick mechanical fixes. But even without immediate patches, the sheer numbers it is pulling before fully launching show that this game is already well on its way to becoming a breakout hit.