HowLongToBeat pegs the average Dark Souls playthrough at around 30 to 40 hours. Its two sequels aren’t too far from that, with average times varying a bit thanks to various remasters and expansions. Elden Ring towers over all three at 60 hours (which doubles if players want to scour every inch of The Lands Between). It’s not just titles from FromSoftware, either. Games from Nioh to Lords of the Fallen to The Surge come in at dozens and dozens of hours. Long hour counts seem to be as baked into Soulslikes as Estus Flasks and Bonfires. But not Mortal Shell, a Soulslike that comes in well under those average numbers and is better for it.
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Mortal Shell doesn’t hide its length or try to inflate it. It’s clear early on that it’s not a massive experience that’s attempting to match its peers. It only has a few areas that branch off its main hub, and when completing the first one, the true hour count becomes clear. If there’s only a labyrinthine hub area and three other stages and each only takes a couple hours to traverse, that means Mortal Shell can be completed in anywhere from five to 12 hours. That number varies greatly depending on skill, but that makes it easily finishable before it leaves PlayStation Plus Extra on May 19th.
Mortal Shell Is the Rare Brief Soulslike
This quicker pace is a boon for a few reasons, one of which ties into its power curve. Because it is shorter than the average Soulslike, players get stronger more quickly in Mortal Shell when compared to its aforementioned peers. Its weapons and Shells — which act as classes with different attributes — are doled out at a decent rate and mean players can mix up their style and rack up upgrades at a decent clip. Players don’t go hours between each new tool or notable skill.
It’s refreshing to move through a similar gameplay loop but in a condensed amount of time. There’s no real reason an RPG absolutely needs to be over 30 hours, something also demonstrated by South Park: The Stick of Truth that more or less does for turn-based RPGs what Mortal Shell does to Soulslikes. Arbitrarily abiding by hour counts set by other games can often lead to padding, which can water down an otherwise promising title’s impact. For example, Mouse: P.I. for Hire is around 15 hours, and while that’s comparable to other single-player first-person shooters, it runs out of steam well before that and leaves a bitter aftertaste because of it. Ninja Gaiden 4 is yet another recent example that is of average length for its genre but overstays its welcome.
Mortal Shell is seemingly aware of that risk and isn’t long enough to lose its luster. It’s a rather standard Soulslike — although, thankfully a bit on the faster side — in most areas and has many of the usual mechanics, but it also has a few systems that give it an extra bit of flavor. The Hardening skill is its most noteworthy ability and allows players to turn to stone at a moment’s notice and absorb a blow. Managing this generous cooldown and knowing when to stone up becomes a key part of combat since it can be used to punish a boss, safely heal, allow stamina to recharge, or cover up a poorly timed rush. Hardening sits alongside its meter system that gives players access to all sorts of tools, like an explosive parry, a kick, or a sticky bomb. It’s a simple system that has myriad ways of rewarding players.
These two systems are novel twists and fit beautifully in the dodge, parry, strike dance that is the melee combat, but it’s not as dense as some of its peers. There are no elaborate spell systems or a thousand different ways to customize the hero’s loadout. Mortal Shell is more than deep enough and has plenty of systems to tinker around with, but it’s a slimmed-down RPG that’s aware of what it is. Stats also, for the most part, aren’t upgradeable. However, that’s not an issue because it doesn’t need that kind of clutter. It’s by no means bare-bones, but it is modest and there’s not much fluff, which is respectable.
Mortal Shell Is Still Replayable, Though
And while its better aspects are aided by its length, its runtime also makes its weaker areas easier to overlook. Mortal Shell’s level design falls relatively far below the Soulslike standard. Stages are often a visually plain series of straightforward paths with few places to deviate. Exploration in the main hub is quite alluring with its many twisty paths and fog-covered secrets, but all the levels that branch off it are much more tame and linear. Boss and enemy variety is also somewhat slim, as most only have a couple attacks to bounce between. These are the weakest parts of the game, but it’s not long enough for these cuts to drain Mortal Shell of its essence.
Developer Cold Symmetry did add more content to Mortal Shell but in a way that didn’t sacrifice its modesty. Its Virtuous Cycle DLC adds a roguelike mode that takes the environments, enemies, and bosses from the base game and remixes them accordingly, while also adding various buffs that add extra spice and variability. Progression is slow and it can be even more brutal than the campaign, but it’s a clever way to remix the game and efficiently add more replay value.
Mortal Shell 2 has been announced for 2026, and it remains to be seen how it will build upon this impressive debut. Many sequels expand, and it’s likely Mortal Shell 2 will, too, but it would be nice if it doesn’t lose sight of the first game’s purity. It didn’t need a 50-hour runtime to be memorable or 95 different swords to have decent combat. It just needed well-tuned mechanics and the grace to bow out before it even had the chance to get stale. Mortal Shell 2 will hopefully do the same, ideally with better level and boss design.
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