Because of the Souls series’ phenomenal success, numerous games have attempted to copy it, and virtually all have failed miserably. Last year’s Mortal Shell received a fairly respectable 80 percent from Rick Lane, who stated that “it gets the attraction of Souls in a way that many imitators don’t while adding just enough modifications to the concept to provide it a little personality of its own.”
Cold Symmetry has recently announced that an addition dubbed The Virtuous Cycle will be released this summer on both Steam and Epic Games Store (the game isn’t currently on Steam, but is expected for summer 2021).
The trailer is a little hazy (and in an awful aspect ratio), but it displays a new shell (the body your avatar may inhabit), and the character’s weapon is definitely the most revealing point: twin katanas that can smoosh together form a halberd.
Mortal Shell is clearly Soulslike, but this concept is directly from Bloodborne. The fighting system in that game is based on ‘trick’ weapons, which have two forms that may be swapped during the fight. It’s one of the things that truly distinguishes Bloodborne from the Souls games, and I guess Cold Symmetry simply decided they’d throw it in there.
Aside from that, the trailer and official site provide no clue of what to anticipate, other than murdering a lot of things and the implication that you’ll be ‘enwrapped’ in this cycle. Cycles! Where does this studio receive its inspiration?
