Preview: Mortal Shell is a shameless and very good Dark Souls wannabe

Another Souls-like enters the ring, and I really enjoyed what I got to play.

I've made it no secret that I love Souls-likes, so much so that I tend to get excited when a new one appears. I enjoy the brutal challenge, engaging combat (most of the time), and the tendency toward obtuse storytelling. I love the Soulsborne franchise to death, perhaps even to undeath, and I'm obviously not the only one. Since Dark Souls debuted in 2011 and became a hit, we've seen plenty of copycats arise.

Some have even been good. Though we'd like to forget about Lords of the Fallen (aka Clunky Souls), there have been some genuinely good ones. I really enjoyed Code Vein and Salt & Sanctuary, for instance, and The Surge 2 received favorable reviews. Where the notable ones succeeded was not just copying From Software's winning formula, but rather by adding to it. Code Vein had plenty of things like Blood Codes, Gifts, etc. Meanwhile, The Surge 2 presented a sci-fi take with plenty of nuance.

That bri...