Mortal Shell II | The Top Soulslike Since Elden Ring
Let's address the elephant in the room immediately: yes, reviewers are calling Mortal Shell II the best Soulslike since Elden Ring. Is that hype or truth? Based on published reviews and community reports, we can tell you what reviewers found on PC and PS5 - and the answer is mostly truth, with one asterisk. It will punish you. You will thank it. That's the genre.
What changed from the first game
The original Mortal Shell was a solid but rough-around-the-edges take on the formula - a tech demo of moody atmosphere with combat that felt one mechanic short. The sequel fixes the biggest complaint first: the stamina bar is gone. Combat is now faster, more aggressive, and far more accessible. You can actually play it like a game instead of a patience exercise.
The Shell system (the game's character-class mechanic) is deeper too. Each Shell now meaningfully changes how combat flows rather than just tweaking stats, and the game encourages swapping between them. There's real build variety here - something the first game only gestured at.
The world
Mortal Shell II trades the first game's cramped tunnels for an expansive, interconnected open world. It's not empty Ubisoft-style space - it's packed with dungeons, each with its own identity and secrets. The world-building is confident and weird in the best way, wearing its influences (Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and a dash of Shadow of the Colossus) without feeling derivative.
Performance - PC vs PS5
On PC, this is a proper showcase game. It scales beautifully - a 5060 Ti runs it at high settings 1080p with ease, and on a 5070-class card you're looking at buttery 1440p. It's a great benchmark for a new build (and pairs perfectly with our GPU guide). On PS5, it runs at a stable 60fps in performance mode with quality mode holding 30fps for the screenshots-inclined. Both are excellent; PC wins on frame rates, PS5 wins on zero fiddling.
The verdict
"top Soulslike since Elden Ring" is fair, with one asterisk: it's not as ambitious as Elden Ring, but it doesn't need to be. It's a tighter, more confident game that knows exactly what it is. If you like the genre at all, this is an essential buy - one of the genuine GOTY contenders of 2026.
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