A few hours into your sojourn across Mortal Shell 2‘s harsh realm of Fainweald, you might stumble upon a tavern called The One Legged Wolf. In a monstrous land inhabited by pasty-faced brigands who refer to you as “brev” right before shanking you, this watering hole exudes novelty. Here, said thugs congregate to make merry and listen to the strums of the shirtless lute-player on stage. Even if you do as I did, and accidentally massacre the guy with a shot from your sidearm, nobody minds. The One Legged Wolf is a weird, memorable place where folk are free to do their own thing.
In many ways, The One Legged Wolf is emblematic of Mortal Shell 2, a sequel that stands out from the pack by melding the modern dark fantasy Soulslike with a willingness to ditch genre formula, a cheeky sense of humour, and the DNA of a PC-only game from yesteryear. The result is a goth cousin of more mainstream fare like Elden Ring, not to mention a phenomenal effort that outclasses its predecessor in a manner that we probably haven’t seen since The Witcher III.