Mortal Shell developed by Cold Symmetry is a dark and harrowing rendition to the Dark Souls formula action-RPG much like Bloodbourne. With it’s distinctive taste in combat and unique ways for using items, Mortal Shell has a distinct weight to it that allows players a mildly heart-pounding, simple and sweet experience worth repeating a few times over.
As players make their way through the world of Mortal Shell, they will stumble upon what looks like frog statues, and in most cases might completely ignore it. But, if curiosity still manages to drive its way home players will find these seemingly unimportant statues to be chests. Items in Mortal Shell do not reveal the intended purposes until after a few uses much like the game itself, and these chests offer some very useful items that will help players along the way.
Opening Frog Chests in Mortal Shell
After making it to Fallgrim Tower, players will begin exploring the world in search of more shells, weapons, items, etc… During these early travels, there are 3 Temples housing enemies and challenging bosses to defeat. These temples are the Shrine of Ash, Crypt of Martyrs, and the Seat of Infinity. Completing the temples in this order is recommended as the difficulty for each one is quite different. Jumping to the second or third before the Shrine of Ash may result in a much longer completion time than necessary. At the end of each temple, after defeating the final boss, players will rip out a glowing artifact called a sacred gland. These Glands help progress the main story after returning them to the Old prisoner but serve another function.
Having a Sacred Gland on hand will cause a Fog to rise over the temples and Fallgrim, making the enemies turn into beast-like variants that are much more dangerous and difficult to kill. The Fog in the temples are much more dangerous than in Fallgrim so be careful heading back out. This Fog also reveals the true nature of the Frog chests, causing them to glow fiery red veins signifying that they are now accessible. Players can loot the chests while returning to Fallgrim Tower with the Gland in tow or afterward once they’ve brought the gland to the Old prisoner. Another NPC Thestus will appear in the tower wearing a dark-ashen cloak, carrying a lantern. Speaking to this person will give players the ability to turn the Fog off and on at will, but this will of course cost some glimpse each time.
Mortal Shellis available on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.
