How to Fix Mortal Shell II Crashing on Startup: PC Troubleshooting Guide (2026)

There are few things more annoying for a PC gamer than finally sitting down for a new souls-like, only to watch it crash before you even reach the main menu.

That is exactly the kind of problem players can run into with Mortal Shell II. The sequel has plenty going for it: a darker fantasy atmosphere, demanding combat, impressive Unreal Engine 5 visuals, and the familiar shell-based gameplay that made the original stand out. But impressive graphics come with a price, and launch-period PC issues can turn what should be an exciting first session into an evening spent staring at a black screen.

If Mortal Shell II crashes on startup, freezes during shader compilation, throws an EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION, or dies immediately after the opening cinematic, don’t assume your PC is broken. In my experience with PC games, these crashes are often caused by something much less dramatic: a driver conflict, corrupted shader data, an overlay, a bad configuration file, or Windows simply running out of the resources the game expects.

I’ve put together the fixes I’d try first, starting with the safe and simple options before moving into more advanced Windows settings.

First Things First: Check Your PC

Before changing anything, make sure your hardware is actually within the game’s requirements.

For a demanding Unreal Engine 5 game, 16 GB of RAM and a reasonably modern GPU should be considered the starting point, while 32 GB of RAM gives you considerably more breathing room when the game is compiling shaders or loading large areas.

One thing I would not overlook is storage.

If you’re still running modern games from an old mechanical HDD, moving Mortal Shell II to an SSD is one of the first upgrades I’d make. UE5 games can constantly stream textures, shaders, geometry, and other assets, and slow storage can make loading problems much worse.

That doesn’t mean an HDD automatically causes every crash, but an SSD is absolutely the better environment for this kind of game.

1. Try DX11 Before You Start Doing Anything Crazy

This is probably the first troubleshooting trick I’d test if Mortal Shell II refuses to launch.

The game is designed around modern rendering technology, so DirectX 12 is naturally the preferred option. However, DX12 isn’t always the most stable choice on every combination of GPU, driver version, Windows configuration, and game build.

On Steam:

1. Open your Steam Library.
2. Right-click Mortal Shell II.
3. Select Properties.
4. Stay on the General tab.
5. Find the Launch Options field.
6. Enter -dx11.
7. Close the window and launch the game.

If it suddenly works, that’s a pretty useful clue.

I’d then enter the graphics settings and start with conservative options. After you’ve confirmed the game is stable, you can experiment with DX12 again after updating your GPU driver or after a game patch.

Don’t treat DX11 as a permanent requirement. Think of it as a diagnostic tool and a possible workaround.

2. Shader Compilation Crashes Are Worth Investigating

Shader compilation is one of those things PC gamers have learned to fear with modern Unreal Engine titles.

If Mortal Shell II crashes at roughly the same point during shader preparation every time, there’s a good chance that cached shader data or the graphics driver is involved.

Before doing anything complicated, completely close the game and Steam.

Then check your local game data under %localappdata%. Depending on the final game build, the exact folder names can differ, so don’t blindly delete random directories. Look for folders associated with Mortal Shell II or its developer and check the Saved directory for cache data.

You may also encounter Windows or GPU shader-cache files.

The important part is this: don’t delete your entire AppData folder or unrelated game data. PC troubleshooting guides sometimes recommend aggressive cleanup without explaining what is actually being removed. That’s a great way to create another problem.

After clearing relevant shader cache data, restart Windows and launch the game again.

The first launch may take longer because the shaders need to be rebuilt. Give it time.

3. An EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION Error Needs a Different Approach

Seeing something like:

EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION

can look terrifying, but the message itself doesn’t automatically tell you what caused the crash.

It can be related to the game executable, drivers, corrupted files, overlays, memory instability, or Windows security features.

One advanced workaround sometimes discussed for individual games is changing Exploit Protection settings, including Control Flow Guard (CFG).

I would not make this your first fix.

If you’ve already eliminated drivers, overlays, corrupted files, and configuration problems and you’re still getting the same reproducible crash, you can investigate Windows Exploit Protection:

1. Search Windows for Exploit Protection.
2. Open the system settings.
3. Select Program Settings.
4. Add the Mortal Shell II executable.
5. Review the available mitigation settings.
6. If you specifically have evidence that CFG is involved, you can test an application-specific override.

The key word here is test.

Security mitigations exist for a reason. I wouldn’t recommend globally disabling Windows security features just to make one game launch. If you experiment with a mitigation, keep it limited to the game’s executable and restore the default setting if it doesn’t help.

4. Verify the Game Files — Seriously, Do This

This is the boring fix, but it’s one of the best.

If the game crashed during an update, your download was interrupted, or something became corrupted, Steam’s file verification can save you from hours of unnecessary troubleshooting.

Open:

Steam → Library → Mortal Shell II → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files

Let Steam finish.

If it finds damaged or missing files, it should replace them automatically.

I always recommend doing this before reinstalling the entire game. Reinstalling 70 GB of data because one file is damaged is a spectacular waste of time and bandwidth.

5. Update Your GPU Driver — Or Consider a Clean Installation

Graphics drivers are another obvious suspect, especially around a major game launch.

If you’re using NVIDIA or AMD hardware, install a current driver appropriate for your GPU. If the game started crashing immediately after a driver update, however, don’t automatically assume “newer is better.” Sometimes a specific driver release introduces problems for a particular game.

For persistent driver-related issues, a clean installation using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) can remove remnants of an older driver installation.

The general process is:

• Download the appropriate GPU driver beforehand.
• Boot Windows into Safe Mode.
• Run DDU and remove the existing display driver.
• Restart Windows.
• Install the fresh NVIDIA or AMD driver.
• Reboot once more before testing the game.

This is more work than clicking “Update,” so I’d reserve it for situations where normal driver installation hasn’t solved the problem.

6. Turn Off Every Overlay You Don’t Need

This is one of my favorite “just try it” fixes.

Overlays are convenient, but they also sit between your game and the operating system. When a new title is having startup problems, there’s little benefit in having six different programs trying to hook into the same executable.

Temporarily disable:

• Steam Overlay
• Discord Overlay
• NVIDIA in-game overlay
• MSI Afterburner / RivaTuner Statistics Server
• Xbox Game Bar recording
• Third-party capture and monitoring software

Then restart the game.

If it works, turn the applications back on one at a time until you find the culprit.

That is much more useful than disabling everything permanently because it tells you what actually caused the conflict.

7. Stuck on the Opening Cinematic? Try Skipping It

A particularly frustrating crash is one that happens during the first cinematic.

If Mortal Shell II consistently freezes or crashes as the screen transitions into the opening movie, try skipping the cinematic immediately when the game gives you control to do so.

Depending on the control configuration, that could mean pressing the keyboard skip button or the appropriate controller input.

I wouldn’t consider this a guaranteed technical fix, but it’s a harmless workaround worth testing. If you can get past the problematic video sequence and reach the menu, you can then lower graphics settings and continue troubleshooting from a stable state.

And honestly, if skipping a cinematic gets me into the game, I’m pressing that button. I can watch the lore video later.

8. Repair Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Files

Some launch failures aren’t really graphics problems at all.

Windows games frequently depend on Microsoft Visual C++ runtime components. If those files are missing or damaged, you can get strange launch errors or failures that happen before the game window properly appears.

Install or repair the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable packages from Microsoft.

For compatibility reasons, having both the x64 and x86 packages installed can be useful, even on a 64-bit Windows system.

After installation, restart your PC and try launching Mortal Shell II again.

Don’t download random DLL files from third-party “DLL fixer” websites. That’s one of those classic PC troubleshooting rabbit holes that I’d strongly recommend avoiding.

9. Check Your Windows Virtual Memory

This is another advanced fix, particularly relevant if you’re running the game with 16 GB of RAM and have other applications open.

Modern games can consume a surprising amount of memory. If Windows has an unusually restricted pagefile, memory allocation problems can become more likely.

I’d normally leave the Windows pagefile on Automatically manage paging file size for all drives unless you have a specific reason to change it.

If you do need to investigate it:

1. Search for Advanced System Settings.
2. Open Performance settings.
3. Select the Advanced tab.
4. Open Virtual Memory.
5. Check which drive contains your game and Windows installation.
6. Make sure Windows has sufficient paging space available.

You don’t necessarily need to manually force a 24 GB pagefile. In fact, for most players, letting Windows manage the pagefile is the safer choice.

The important thing is to make sure you haven’t accidentally disabled virtual memory or restricted it to an extremely small size.

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What I’d Try First

If I personally had Mortal Shell II crashing on my PC tonight, I wouldn’t start by changing Windows security policies or manually configuring memory.

I’d go in this order:

Verify game files → disable overlays → update GPU driver → restart PC → try DX11 → clear relevant shader cache → test the opening cinematic workaround → investigate Windows memory/security settings only if the problem remains.

That order matters.

There’s no point making five complicated changes at once because then you won’t know which one fixed the problem. Change one thing, launch the game, and see what happens.

One Last Tip: Don’t Blame Your Hardware Too Quickly

PC gaming can be weird.

A machine that runs three other demanding Unreal Engine games without a hiccup can still crash on a brand-new release because of one driver interaction or one corrupted shader cache. That’s not necessarily a sign that your RTX card, Ryzen CPU, or RAM is dying.

Mortal Shell II is the variable you just introduced into the equation.

So before reinstalling Windows, replacing hardware, or spending money on an upgrade, work through the basic troubleshooting steps.

If the game still crashes after all of that, keep an eye on Steam discussions, official developer announcements, and patch notes. Early versions of ambitious UE5 games can have genuine engine-level bugs that players simply cannot fix locally.

And honestly, that’s sometimes the answer PC gamers hate the most: you’ve done everything right, and the developers need to patch it.

At that point, save your sanity, report the crash with as much information as possible, and go play something else for an hour.

The good news is that startup crashes are often fixable. Start with the low-risk solutions, change one setting at a time, and don’t turn your Windows installation upside down unless you actually have evidence that you need to.

For a game as atmospheric and demanding as Mortal Shell II, getting those first few launches stable is absolutely worth the effort.

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