Mortal Shell 2 Players Agree: Bear Traps Are the Real Boss

Have you ever pulled off a clutch victory against a massive boss only to immediately die to a piece of rusted metal hidden in the grass? If you have been wandering through the grim world of Mortal Shell 2, that pain is probably all too familiar. While developer Cold Symmetry packed this souls-like action-RPG full of terrifying foes, the community has overwhelmingly agreed on the true terror of the game: those gosh-dang bear traps.

Danger lurks around every single corner in this dark fantasy world. Step in one direction, and a rabid miner might ambush you with a pickaxe. Turn around, and a hulking beast is sauntering over with murder in its eyes. Yet nothing hurts your pride quite like getting caught in a trap meant for wildlife while you are in the middle of exploring or fighting for your life. These snappy hazards are placed everywhere. You will stumble onto them outside enemy camps, directly in front of treasure chests, sitting beside friendly NPCs, or just hiding out in the open like a predator waiting to strike.

The annoyance is especially painful during major early encounters. Take the Great Arbiter of Flesh, the first open-world boss you encounter near the starting zone's first beacon in Fainweald. It is already a grueling duel where missing a parry or two spells your doom. But what makes it extra aggravating is the field of bear traps scattered across the arena. As Redditor Parcori highlighted in an August 24 clip, you can manage to beat the boss only to instantly get wiped out by a trap lying in wait.

Naturally, players have flooded Reddit to share their pain and laugh through the tears. On August 20, Redditor mountainyoo posted, "The damn bear traps," alongside a Robot Chicken clip of a gummy bear screaming in a trap. Redditor PurplePassenger7078 chimed in on August 19, asking, "Who else steps on absolutely every bear trap? I'm just so used to sprinting in games, and this game punishes me every single time lmao. I think it's a bit excessive in certain areas." Meanwhile, users Easy_Direction_6076 and Pointblankadvance both compared their blind running habits to Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes in The Simpsons.

It always seems to strike at the worst possible time—usually mid-combat with your health bar blinking red. Bosses like the Hexapod or Isaac, the Scholar Prince might test your reflexes and threaten your controller's survival, but nothing induces pure controller-throwing rage quite like a clamp on your ankle.

If you want to test your footing, Mortal Shell 2 is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The good news is that Cold Symmetry recently dropped a substantial update that nerfed a handful of bosses and increased gold drops so you can upgrade your gear faster. Now, if only we could get armor for our shins! How many bear traps have you stumbled into so far? Let us know in the comments below!