Mina the Hollower: Review (PC)

Graphics

Audio

Gameplay

Value

Summary: Yacht Club Games somehow successfully marries old school Zelda and Castlevania...with a Souls-like dynamic. It's a beautiful challenge with great retro appeal.

4.3

Hollowed Out

Yacht Club Games, famous for the Shovel Knight series, is back with retro inspired vengeance. It’s the trifecta of classic GameBoy Color Legend of Zelda in presentation and dungeon crawling, Castlevania for weapons at one’s disposal, and Dark Souls in extreme difficulty.

Importantly: do not let the whimsical presentation fool you. Mina the Hollower (Mina) may be easy to pick up, but it’s brutally punishing in execution.

To explain, titular character Mina is a mouse on a mission to Tenebrous Isle to restore her Spark Technology generators. These generators are the power source for the island, taken offline by a traitor to the land’s big cheese, Baron Lionel. Harkening back to Zelda, each generator is housed within an individual dungeon featuring a boss battle at the end.

Mina, per the title, is a ‘hollower’, which means she burrows like a champ, capable of executing an array of cool manoeuvres which can avoid enemies, duck under barriers and execute longer jumps. Mina is assisted by both primary and secondary weapons, the latter executed akin to Castlevania’s system (where inventory is a product of pick ups). Trinkets are scattered throughout the world, a vast array of character boons which make for easier travelling.

And boy, will you need them. Mina the Hollower is vicious. Presented in a top down view, enemies come at you from literally every different height and angle. Even the seemingly easiest requires careful manoeuvring to avoid getting swiped. Flying enemies are exceptionally problematic, quick to send Mina into the depths and cause heavy damage loss.

There are save points – safe spaces to swap trinkets, level up Mina, and restore health vials – but they are infrequent. To git good, Mina’s currency consists of bones, obtainable by defeating enemies and uncovering them hidden across stages. Die several times in a row, and there go your bones. Back to the previous safe point you begin once more.

This mechanic isn’t problematic – as Mina encourages one more go and lots of exploration – but early game oddly requires farming to tackle even the easiest bad guys. To capably prepare for boss battles, expect more farming than Harvest Moon. If you’ve got a lot of patience, this may not frustrate… especially for a Souls‑like veteran. Thus, those expecting to ease into Mina should be prepared. And farming can become a chore, as required bones increase with each level while amounts dropped do not increase significantly in tandem.

With this being said – and like any good Souls game – Mina doesn’t cheat. Considered attack strategies, burrowing and jumps will win out every time. To prove this point, Mina allows immediate access to even the hardest aspects of the game from the start. If you’re a master at such combos, lower levels shouldn’t prove a problem. Sadly, I’m not one of those people. More on this below.

Weapons are Castlevania flair. Starting (Mina selects one) begins with knives, sword or mace, and secondary weapons are the similar Belmont flair of an axe and a throwing knife. All the good denizens of the Town of Ossex – where much of Mina’s exploration begins and ends – offer ways of upgrading abilities, weapons and access via fantastic dialogue. All it takes is one solid purchase to literally open up entirely new areas of the game.

Presentation wise, Mina is beyond charming. Yacht Club has done a jaw dropping homage to the Game Boy Color, one which would make the Modretro blush. Graphics, audio and overall look and feel will make any GBC veteran smile from ear to ear.

Similarly, each area in Mina truly looks and plays unique. Environments, enemies and music all match each other perfectly. Finding hidden chests and items via considered puzzle solving never gets old, with rewards (especially keys, known as ‘kears’) extremely helpful.

Bosses are challenging but surprisingly not as prone to cheap hits as some of the regular baddies. Memorise a pattern, attack wisely and you will succeed. Just note, once more, the first few hours of Mina will produce a lot of deaths due to being underpowered and underprotected.

For those who’ve played Shovel Knight, the degree of difficulty in Mina should not shock you. One more battle and defeated location feels very much earned.

In full reviewer confession (hate the playa not the literal game): while I understand what Mina is trying to do, the high barrier of entry did frustrate often. Low defense rating combined with only 4 directions of attack (versus 8 that enemies can attack from) got old fast. As did falling into yet another pit following a cheap shot from a seemingly weak baddie that will just not die. That, however, is on me. I expected Zelda and got its very angry cousin waiting to eat me alive. For those experienced at Souls game and with the farming patience to match, Mina is a gorgeous, fun romp with tremendous nostalgia inherent.

Important disclaimer to this caveat: almost everything in Mina can be modified from the Options Menu mid-game. This can literally reduce difficulty to zero while adding some very cool environment and gameplay effects. This will, however, simultaneously disable achievements. But if you’re wanting to nerf Mina the option is there.

Final Thoughts

Yacht Club Games strikes again with a brilliant homage to Game Boy Color’s favourite titles. Mina the Hollower is a charming title with gorgeous presentation, one apt to be well received by those with an affinity for old school dungeon explorers. Just be warned: looks can be deceiving in its very high difficulty level.

About the Author

Paul Stuart A gamer for over 30 years with 400+ reviews across four sites literally spanning the globe, Paul Stuart has an unhealthy obsession with Assassins Creed, God of War, and all things Lord of the Rings.

Mina the Hollower: Review (PC)