Going in Blind: Mortal Shell 2 has one GREAT Accessibility idea

Mortal Shell 2 is out now, and folks are enjoying it, and as a Soulslike, I was curious to see whether it could actually be approachable or accessible. I know, I know, “Soulslike” and “accessibility” don’t always feel like they go together. But I wanted to evaluate it and see whether it could keep the genre's challenge intact while still being more playable for disabled players.

After spending time with the demo, I can say this: I like what’s here. There are some interesting ideas in Mortal Shell 2, especially one specific gameplay mechanic that I think other Soulslikes could learn from. But from an accessibility standpoint, the demo still has a lot of issues that made it difficult for me to play comfortably as a disabled gamer.

This review is based on the open beta demo I played as of August 17th. I don’t have a review copy of the full game, so everything here is based on that demo experience.

A Soulslike With One Really Smart Idea

The world of Mortal Shell 2 intrigued me. You play as this spawn of a goddess, and you’re able to take over different “shells,” essentially inhabiting different bodies. Each shell has different abilities depending on which one you’re using.

I started with the first shell, Harros, who is your basic knight-type character. Harros has a special ability where they can turn enemies to stone, letting you hit them while they’re frozen and potentially pull off a finisher. It’s a cool ability, and I liked the idea of different shells giving you different approaches to combat.

But the biggest thing that stood out to me was the second chance mechanic.

If your shell runs out of health, that’s not automatically the end. You leave the shell and get one more chance to keep going. It almost feels like a one-up mushroom from Super Mario. If you were close to beating an enemy or a boss, you still have a chance to pull through.

You can even bring your shell back by doing enough melee damage to enemies. It takes a bit of work, but I really like the concept. It gives you a little more freedom and a little more buffer as you’re learning the game. You can be more aggressive if you need to, and if you make a mistake, it’s not necessarily the end of your run right away.

That’s the kind of design idea I would love to see more Soulslike games adopt. It doesn’t make the game easy. It doesn’t remove the challenge. It just gives players a bit more room to recover, learn, and keep moving forward.

And to be clear, Mortal Shell 2 still has all the usual Soulslike trappings. You have your beacon, which acts as your commune or checkpoint spot. When you rest, enemies respawn. Bosses can still be intense. If you lose a boss fight, you’re brought back to your beacon and have to try again. But if you beat the boss, you don’t have to beat it again, which helps.

So mechanically, there’s something here that I think is really interesting. I just wish the game had more accessibility options to support disabled players around that challenge.

The Biggest Problem: Text Size

The biggest accessibility issue I ran into was the text size.

The text in this demo is really, really small. I had to get my face extremely close to the screen just to try to read it, and even then, I still couldn’t read it properly. That’s a major problem.

The contrast also didn’t help. Some text and icons blended into the environment, making them hard to see. I only knew I could pick up certain items because a little box appeared at the bottom of the screen. But even that text was so small that I almost missed it completely.

There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of font size options outside of subtitles, and that’s disappointing. For low vision players, text size and contrast are basic quality-of-life settings that can make or break whether a game is playable.

This is one of those things that doesn’t affect the difficulty or the “Soulslike experience.” Making text readable doesn’t make the game easier. It just makes the game more accessible and more comfortable to play.

Subtitle Options Are Inconsistent

The subtitles are another area where the game has some good ideas but also some problems.

In regular cinematics, you can make subtitles extremely large, which is great. I appreciate that the option exists. However, the subtitles use a serif font and all caps, which isn’t ideal for dyslexic players or players with cognitive disabilities.

The bigger issue is that subtitle styling is inconsistent depending on the situation.

In one cinematic, the subtitles were large. But then in an in-game cinematic, the subtitles didn’t keep the same style. They still used the same serif font and all caps, but they were smaller and didn’t have a background.

Then, when talking to NPCs, there seemed to be yet another subtitle style. So from what I saw, there are basically three different subtitle presentations in the game, and you can’t control all of them consistently.

That’s not great for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing players. Subtitle customization should apply across the entire game, not just one specific type of scene. Players should be able to adjust size, background, font style, and presentation consistently.

The game does include an audio visualization option for off-screen attacks, which is something I don’t usually see in Soulslikes. I thought that was actually helpful. There was a red haze on the side of the screen that acted as a visual indicator for attacks happening off-screen. That’s a good feature, and I’m glad it’s there.

But outside of that, the subtitle and audio accessibility still needs more consistency and customization.

Camera Issues Made Things Harder

The camera also got in the way for me.

There are settings that let you adjust the camera to be more immersive or more action-focused, pulling it closer or farther away. I tried both, but I still found that the camera became a problem, especially in tighter spaces.

It would zoom in and out or move around in ways that made it difficult to see what was happening. You can lock on to enemies, and the camera follows that lock-on, but in tight areas, the camera still gets confused.

For me, that made combat harder to follow. A better camera system, or even more field-of-view options, would help a lot. Again, this isn’t about making the game easier. It’s about keeping the challenge intact while making sure the game doesn’t get in the way of itself.

What I Wish Was Included

There are a few accessibility features I would love to see in Mortal Shell 2.

First, I would love a screen reader for all text. That would be amazing and would make a huge difference for blind and low vision players.

Second, I’d like better text size options across the whole game, not just subtitles. All UI text, item prompts, menus, and in-game messages need to be adjustable.

Third, the game needs better contrast for icons and interactable elements. If an item is there, I need to be able to tell it’s there without relying on a tiny prompt I can barely read.

Fourth, subtitles need more consistent customization. If I set subtitles to extra large, that should apply everywhere. Cinematics, in-game conversations, NPC dialogue, all of it.

And finally, I’d love better camera and field-of-view settings. Soulslikes can already be visually chaotic, and giving players more control over how they view the action would help a lot.

These kinds of options don’t take away from the Soulslike challenge. They don’t change enemy patterns, boss difficulty, or combat mechanics. They’re quality-of-life improvements that help more people play the game.

Accessibility Is For Everyone

I know there are always people who get defensive whenever accessibility and Soulslikes are mentioned together. But I’m not saying Mortal Shell 2 needs to be easy. I’m not saying it needs to remove its challenge.

Yes, difficulty options can be part of accessibility. But that’s not even what I’m focusing on here.

I’m talking about things like readable text, better contrast, consistent subtitles, screen reader support, camera options, and audio navigation assists. These are features that can benefit disabled players while also making the game better for everyone.

Accessibility is for everyone. And in today’s day and age, games need to expand beyond just their traditional audience. Making a game more approachable doesn’t mean making it less of a Soulslike. It means making sure more players can actually experience the challenge the developers created.

Accessibility Review Score