Mortal Shell II
Mortal Shell II
Développé par Cold Symmetry et édité par Playstack, Mortal Shell II est un jeu d'action et de rôle qui constitue une suite indépendante du premier opus. Prévu pour le 20 août 2026 sur PlayStation 5, Windows et Xbox Series X|S, le titre tourne sous Unreal Engine 5 et est proposé au tarif de 49,99 euros. Le joueur y incarne une entité capable de prendre possession de huit enveloppes de guerriers disséminées à travers un monde ravagé, chacune offrant des capacités intrinsèques et des fragments d'histoire à découvrir. Le système de combat se veut dynamique et stratégique, autorisant l'amélioration des armes de mêlée et de jet sans contrainte d'endurance, dans un monde ouvert décrit comme compact, interconnecté et respectueux du temps d'exploration.
Côté accueil, la presse spécialisée salue globalement une évolution marquante. Voxel estime que l'œuvre figure parmi les meilleurs « souls-likes » jamais sortis, avec un potentiel de révolution pour le genre, tandis que COGconnected souligne une mise à niveau impressionnante malgré des réserves sur le rythme et l'opacité de certains mécanismes. Les agrégateurs de notes reflètent cet enthousiasme mesuré avec un 84 sur Metacritic et 85 sur OpenCritic. Du côté des joueurs, les retours sont plus contrastés : certains louent la fraîcheur apportée au genre, la qualité de la réalisation et la fluidité du gameplay, d'autres pointent une instabilité technique persistante, des mécaniques d'ennemis jugées frustrantes et une exploration parfois punitive qui a pu les pousser à abandonner la partie.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« Mortal Shell 2 is not only one of the best soulslikes ever released, but it also has the potential to spark small revolutions within the genre. The "shell" mechanic — which allows you to experiment with distinct classes throughout the game — is not only fun but also crucial for devising strategies during the campaign. The same applies to the associated abilities and subtle tweaks to traditional combat, such as the absence of a stamina bar. »
« Mortal Shell 2 is such an immensely impressive upgrade from the original that I wanted it to be flawless. Of course, it isn't. However, issues with pacing, opacity, occasional difficulty spikes, and bugs are dwarfed by Cold Symmetry's overall achievement. If Mortal Shell was a short story, Mortal Shell 2 is a richly textured epic novel. The Shell System has been fully realized. The shift from stamina to Resolve pushes combat towards relentless action and risk. If Mortal Shell was an appetizer, Mortal Shell 2 is a full, satisfying meal and should be in the library of every Soulslike fan. »
« Currently sitting in my top five releases of the year, fans of gritty Soulslike action RPGs will absolutely love Mortal Shell II. »
« Any fan of the Souls-like genre needs to experience Mortal Shell II. The difference from the first game to the second is substantial, offering a visual experience that’s beautiful and well-optimized. It showcases what Unreal Engine 5 can do and provides a world of both dark morbidity and beautiful greenery. »
« Cold Symmetry's expansive Mortal Shell 2 is a true soulslike gem, offering terrific build variety and a beautiful world that rewards exploration. »
« Mortal Shell 2 seems to be built for those who enjoyed the oppressive atmosphere and brutal combat of the first game but longed for greater depth. It retains the weight of the combat, the enigmatic narrative, and the punishing philosophy typical of the series, while expanding progression, situational variety, and freedom of action. It doesn't simply try to imitate Dark Souls or Elden Ring: it takes many ideas from classic Souls-like games, but continues to forge its own identity based on the harshness of the combat, the strategic use of Shells, and a world that feels more alive and independent than its predecessor. Let's sum it all up: do you like Souls? Buy it. »
« To call Mortal Shell 2 an improvement over the first game feels like underselling it. It's bigger, tighter, deeper, wider. »
« Mortal Shell 2 is a fantastic soulslike that felt rewarding to play through and experiment with. The way the progression systems work encourages trying new ways to play, and I can feel the differences as we continually try new things and get stronger. The story is easier to follow than others in the genre, and the world is creepy and beautiful. Some of the camera angles can be a little obnoxious, but at the end of the day, this is one of the best soulslikes out there. »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« Great graphics and environments. Decent combat and skills. Still a buggy mess with a lot of enemy troll mechanics. If you remember Lords of the Fallen enemies popping out of nowhere and pushing you off the edge, this game has twice as many. And most of the troll stuff is inside dungeons (this game doesn't have respawn points on dungeon entrance). I won't even talk about random bear traps every 10 feet. »
« After 20 hours, I've decided that this game just isn't going to be fun enough to finish. Exploration is punishing. It's hard to find a new beacon to start fully going through a new zone. I usually end up dying and having to work my way back. Enemies are always clustered in at least three and can't be pulled to strategically fight. Every battle turns into a chaotic mess because a whole group will aggro in concert. The player can't try to control the circumstances. The game just makes everything always attack at once. This is a false sense of difficulty. There is no saving at the start of dungeons. Player fight animations have made me fall off paths and cliffs countless times. I also get stuck in the terrain. After all this time, I still get odd moments of lag and crashes. Save your money and play something better developed and mechanically sound. »
« I beat the game in 40 hours and had an absolute blast. It reminded me of the days when I played *Dark Souls 1*. The difficulty was spot-on; none of the bosses had cheap, confusing one-shot attacks, and their moves were perfectly readable. The only thing that soured the experience was the final area. It’s a near-exact copy of the obsidian location from the first game. My oxygen ran out incredibly fast. And most importantly, there’s no way to upgrade all the Shells at once—or the weapons, for that matter. Even after exploring everything 100%, I only had enough upgrade resources for two and a half Shells and one and a half weapons (though, to be fair, you can reforge weapons at the smithy almost from the start of the game, but the process is incredibly tedious). In the end, I played through the entire game using Tiel with the axe and dagger. »
« 8,4/10 Ambientação e atmosfera excelente, ótima exploração, boa variedade de armas e carcaças, combate divertido e variado, bons inimigos e grande variedade de builds mas é chato alternar entre elas, mto caro, assim como as armas, ficando quase impossível trocar entre elas. Os chefes até são legais, mas poucos são marcantes e o jogo é desbalanceado, podendo ficar mto forte já no começo »
« Puro espectáculo visual, sumergete en un mundo inmenso, duro y desafiante pero al mismo tiempo misterioso y hermoso que no dejará de sorprenderte.. También demuestra un gran combate, con progresión de 2 niveles ; la tuya y la del Shell y mejoras de armas, potenciadores etc ...para los amantes de los soulslikes es un "must have". Por favor no dejen de sacar juegos así !! »
« Incredible combat with annoying jank and boss fights I don't enjoy. Cold Symmetry is so good at humanoid combat, but not blobs. »
« Beau, fluide, bon gameplay, bonne bande son, et rien à voir avec le premier épisode qui était très moyen »
« Amazing game. I genuinely think it surpasses Elden Ring. There's only two things that are particularly annoying, that really hurts this game. The beacon spacing is absolutely terrible, no sugar coating. The refund mechanism is too harsh, clearly expecting NG+ replays, that isn't great. Other than that, really amazing. (The ending is **** ) »
