The Mortal Shell 2 beta has opened on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, extending a test that had already been running on Steam for some time. The console version went live on 1 August, ahead of the game's worldwide release on 20 August.
The beta is the point at which players can try the game's combat for themselves. Eurogamer characterises Mortal Shell 2 as a deconstructed soulslike, and the test is the first opportunity to play it outside Steam.
The developer said in a statement that "the Mortal Shell 2 console beta is the same beta as the version currently available on Steam, with all the same benefits" — meaning the console test is not a reduced build.
What the beta includes
The test covers the first three hours of the full game. Players who go on to buy the finished version will have the option to skip the prologue section, provided the platform they are playing on has access to that data.
There is also a cosmetic tied to playtime. Thirty minutes in the console beta unlocks the Flayed Harbinger, which can be redeemed in the full game once it launches.
Interest ahead of release
By the developer's count, the Steam beta had been downloaded more than 500,000 times. Eurogamer also reports that the game's physical Revered Edition on PS5 sold out before release.
In a preview for Eurogamer, Sherif Saed described the combat as "meaty, with hefty, sometimes deliberate, animations that punish you for overcommitting, but a joy to witness when your attacks land." He listed the soulslike conventions the game keeps — level-up currency dropped on death and recoverable in the next life, and "a bonfire that's not called a bonfire, but serves the same function" — while arguing the game is more than the sum of those descriptors.
Mortal Shell 2 releases on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 20 August.
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