Mortal Shell 2 replaces difficulty modes with items that refill health or turn off the sun

Mortal Shell 2 will not ship with traditional difficulty modes. Instead, developer Cold Symmetry has built the Soulslike's difficulty around a set of items players find in the world, each of which makes the game easier or considerably harder, Rock Paper Shotgun reports.

Players take the role of The Harbinger, a warrior tracking a sacred egg stolen from the Undermether. Over the course of the journey they recover the shells of dead warriors, which can be adopted to unlock new play styles and abilities. The difficulty items sit alongside that existing system rather than replacing it, so the same run can be tuned by both what the player wears and what they carry.

Making it easier

The Slayer Seal, which Cold Symmetry detailed in a video posted to Bluesky, lets the player regain resolve and health by executing enemies with powerful riposte attacks. The loop is closer to Doom (2016), where staying in the thick of combat and performing melee executions refilled the health bar, than to a conventional damage slider: it rewards aggression rather than weakening enemies, leaving encounter balance intact while lowering the practical difficulty. It carries an explicit cost, though. With the Slayer Seal equipped, achievements are disabled.

Making it harder

Players who want more resistance go looking for the Gloombound Flame instead. The candle has to be carried to a location called Marrow Keep and used to relight a brazier there, which summons a character named Thestus. Speaking to Thestus switches the game into Night Mode, turning off the sun and activating a set of new challenges along with new events, NPCs and dungeons. There are additional rewards attached for players who take it on.

Other seals adjust core combat mechanics rather than the overall level of challenge. The Untarnished Seal provides a more traditional parry option for melee exchanges. Vatra's Seal instead lets the player temporarily harden their shield against incoming attacks, effectively an all-over body shield, aimed at players who find deflection timing difficult. That one runs on a harden meter that can empty, leaving the player extra vulnerable to attacks until it recovers.