Hi guys,
Welcome back to the channel, my name is Onos
and today’s video I wanted to ask a question
and leave it open for discussion. I have a
worry and I wanted to share it to see what
you guys think. I’ll come to that when I’ve
explained a bit.
So the base question: Are newer Souls-like
games too easy. I am going to use Mortal Shell
as the example for this video.
Now before we get into it I wanted to say
a couple of things. First off, I’m not criticizing
Mortal Shell at all. I did a review of Mortal
Shell and rated it really highly. I loved
playing it, even though it was a lot shorter
than I would have liked.
There were some really memorable moments in
the game, and I STILL think it's worth playing
if you haven’t tried it already.
Another thing I want to make clear is that
I’m not a pro gamer. I would never claim
to have exceptional skill at any game, especially
souls-like games. I have recently started
my blind playthrough of Sekiro and it’s
kicking my ass.
All of that said, Mortal Shell, to me, was
a little too easy. It’s only after starting
my run on Sekiro that I’ve realised this.
Now I’m not saying that Mortal Shell is
a complete walk in the park. My first couple
of hours in the game were tough. I had to
learn new timings, and the rhythm of comat
and the systems behind leveling up and making
use of items in the game.
But - Mortal Shell has been presented to us
as a souls-like. So I expected to suffer a
lot more. I had the expectation of losing
hours and days to boss fights. My biggest
disappointment (in hindsight) with Mortal
Shell was actually the bosses and mini-bosses
in the game. The main difficulty for me was
not the bosses - it was some of the room encounters
or combinations of enemies in the different
areas - and personally I feel like that’s
the wrong way around.
The bosses themselves didn't really challenge
me much, I died only once to each of the bosses
I encountered, and then managed to beat them.
One of the bosses in fact I managed to put
down on my first attempt. Again, this is not
me trying to say I’m elite. If you’ve
watched me on any of my Sekiro playthrough,
especially on the boss fights, you’ll know
I’m not exactly an expert.
But having moved from Mortal Shell to Sekiro,
I realised the vast difference there is in
difficulty and challenge. I’ve just released
my video on the boss fight, Lady Butterfly
in Sekiro - and it was literally like being
tortured. A torture I wanted to participate
in. Now that I’ve beaten her I look back
on the experience with excitement and satisfaction
- I feel like I’ve earned the right to play
the rest of the game (knowing from my subs
that Lady Butterfly is just the beginning)
it's like Stokholm syndrome - being mistreated
for hours on end and looking back with a smile
on my face.
Don’t get me wrong, the world of Mortal
Shell is awesome, it's beautiful and dark,
the lore is interesting and the atmosphere
is perfect - but the bosses just didn’t
grind me into the dirt - so as a result, I
never really get that sense of satisfaction
from beating them. I don’t look back and
feel I’ve earned anything really. The adrenaline
rush just wasn't there.
So my follow up questions - and these are
my concerns.
Are Souls-like games being watered down? Has
the term “souls-like” been thrown around
too much? Are the more recent releases being
made, more easily accessible for the general
population? And if this is the case - does
it actually take something away from the experience?
Or, on the flip side, having played these
deliberately harsh games for so long, am I
getting numb to it?
In terms of replayability, personally I don’t
feel the need to play through Mortal Shell
again. I loved my time in the game but I don’t
feel that there is anything pulling me back
in to do it again. Whereas if you look at
something like Dark Souls, Sekiro, Nioh - people
get hundreds of hours from those games if
not more.
I would still happily recommend you play Moral
Shell if you haven’t already. It's a fantastic
game. But I wouldn’t go into it with the
expectation that this will be your new home.
If you’re a Souls fan, then you’ll enjoy
Mortal Shell - but my bet is you’ll return
to Souls pretty quickly afterwards, because
nothing else quite scratches that itch.
The same thing goes for Hellpoint, although
I would say it is more difficult and will
most likely present you with more of a challenge
on your first playthrough, especially with
all the secrets to uncover - but again, it
hasn’t quite done the job for me, and it's
only after trying to master Sekiro that I’m
realising this.
So what do you think guys? Are the more recent
releases easier? Am I being unreasonable and
too demanding? Should we be excited for whatever
game gets tagged with the “souls-like”
badge next, or should we be cautious because
the tag is starting to be over-used? I’ve
seen reviews saying that Mortal Shell is the
next Dark Souls - and while I do think the
game was great - it’s definitely NOT the
next dark souls in its current state.
Let me know our thoughts in the comments.
Thanks for watching. Take care, stay safe.
Bye bye now
