Another week, another Mortal Shell 2 update! The first proper one arrived a week ago, and smoothed down some of the game's rough edges to make for a (slightly) more generous experience. This next update brings with it a bevy of changes, but most notably is an experimental adaptive difficulty mode that changes depending how well you're doing.

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We're a little over one week on from the launch of Mortal Shell 2, a game that Jeremy liked quite a lot. But the work of a developer is never done these days, what with the advent of the internet and patches 'n' all. A balance patch arrived on launch day, but the Soulslike has now received its first full update, bringing a whole lot with it.

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Formidable fantasy soulslike Mortal Shell 2 has been getting it in the shins from certain players over the decision to 'lock them out' of Steam achievements, when they equip the notorious Slayer Seal.

Trailers have characterised the Slayer Seal as an in-game 'easy mode'. As Jeremy summarises in our own Mortal Shell 2 review, it gives "you a pulverising punch and your ranged weapons the ability to deal Break damage", which goes a fair way in an action-RPG this vicious. Not being able to earn achievements with the Seal equipped (or even after you unequip it) has sparked a few Reddit threads protesting that people are being punished for declining to punish themselves… while other people (hello!) wonder why anybody cares this much about Steam achievements at all.

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For the past ten days or so I've been whinging my way through a chest infection. My partner's been sent out for lemsips, tissues, the blood of a vital youth filled with hopes of a bright future, and chicken soup. With the last dregs of the lurgy coming out of me in runs of coughs I'm starting to feel well again, meaning I've a weekend of ignored chores to catch up on. That and attending a one-year-old's birthday party.

Fingers crossed my immune system is now in fighting form because, with Gamescom next week, it would be right annoying to pick up something else.

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Heavy is the burden of being a game developer, as even as a game launches, there is always still work to be done. Mortal Shell 2 is out today, and while it generally seems to be doing quite well for itself, a game of its ilk, i.e. a Soulslike, doesn't necessarily get everything right the first go around (or I guess second first in this case). So, to smooth out some edges, developer Cold Symmetry have already released the game's first balance patch.

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Belated congratulations to everybody who correctly guessed that Mortal Shell 2 was the mystery game our guides team were raving about a couple of weeks ago. You'll hopefully have read Jeremy's glowing review, in which he calls the new Soulslike RPG "an incredible second outing that capitalises upon the potential of the first Mortal Shell and brings forth nostalgic memories of DOOM, Heretic, Hexen, and other PC gaming gems." Now, let us speak of difficulty thresholds, hotfix patches, and turning the tables on enemies so badassedly that you accidentally pinch their weapons.

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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.

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While Soulslike Mortal Shell 2 doesn't feature traditional difficulty modes, developers

Cold Symmetry have included a set of special items that let you tweak the challenge to your liking.

As someone who just got back from a three-day cycle trip with friends who coasted up the hills on bikes fitted with fancy 12-speed rear cassettes loaded with extra, larger gear cogs, while I huffed and puffed on my 11-speed, this is an approach to difficulty I both recognise and envy.

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