Mina the Hollower Review

Yacht Club Games strikes gold again.

Since the launch success of Shovel Knight in 2014, Yacht Club Games has established itself as one of the most dependable indie game developers. What began as a Kickstarter success story quickly became a hit in the retro-gaming world. Shovel Knight is now one of the most recognized indie games ever. But Yacht Club didn’t just disappear after one hit.

It spent years building up the universe of Shovel Knight with fresh campaigns and updates, while patiently working on its next big project. That project was Mina the Hollower, a game launched years ago with a very unique promise: it would merge the top-down exploration of vintage Zelda games with the gothic horror atmosphere of Castlevania and the severe gameplay of Soulsborne games.

Over the years, many people had expected Mina the Hollower. The Game Boy Color-esque graphics and somber attitude were already attracting retro aficionados, so expectations were high from the get-go. The project had a simple but serious question: can Yacht Club Games develop another excellent game like Shovel Knight, or was it lightning in a bottle?

I played through the enormous universe of Mina the Hollower, battling monster bosses and discovering secrets behind the vast majority of screens, for dozens of hours. It demonstrates Yacht Club Games isn’t a one-hit wonder. Big, hard, highly enjoyable action adventure that proudly makes its own style while paying thanks to the games that provided it with ideas.

Mina the Hollower follows Mina, a brilliant explorer and inventor who created the Spark Generators that keep life alive on Tenebrous Isle. But as the engines stop and the island descends into turmoil, Mina is called back to investigate what is going on. Soon she comes in contact with the mysterious Thorne, a former friend who has become a deadly enemy, and Baron Lionel and a band of unusual people residing in different sections of the island.

The story is relatively simple plotwise and is more an excuse for discovery than a profound cinematic story.

Mina is the main character; however, she doesn't say much. Players expecting extensive cutscenes or complex character arcs may be a little disappointed. After a good start, the main story sometimes gets pushed aside as the gameplay takes over.

Luckily, the universe itself carries a lot of weight in the plot. Great NPCs, weird side stories, and environmental storytelling make the island feel alive. One minute you're terrified by horrible gothic monsters, next helping out weird hunters find a giant rabbit-like creature, or just stumbling across frightening clowns and intriguing traders. These little tales add additional individuality and appeal to the encounter, even when the main story loses its path.

Also, there is a lot of story concealed in the game, which is very cool. Bosses have their own histories. Regions have their own. Or you might select conversation that contributes to the situation. Mina the Hollower may never approach the emotional highs of story-heavy RPGs, but its worldbuilding and mood are always engaging.

Mina the Hollower is at its heart a top-down action-adventure game heavily inspired by older Zelda titles such as Link’s Awakening and A Link to the Past. Yacht Club Games, however, builds upon that base and layers on a ton of new ideas to make something that feels both familiar and refreshingly different. The key feature is Mina’s ability to excavate tunnels underground.

This one characteristic affects almost every aspect of the game, from movement and jumping to fighting and puzzle-solving. Mina may burrow beneath the earth to dodge strikes and threats and swiftly move around the ground before she jumps up. It’s a tremendously rewarding skill that adds a rhythm to activity that doesn’t exist in any other style.

Burrowing can often seem like holding your breath underwater. If you want to use temporary invulnerability as part of a strategy, you need to be very precise with your timing and positioning. When you grow skilled at it, the mechanic converts it into a seamless dance of movement and accuracy. The world is a really connected, really vast place. 

Players start off in Ox, the primary town of the game.

It’s a home base full of shops, upgrades, secrets, and NPCs to aid with general questions. From then on, players can basically tackle the six main regions of the island in any order they like. This structure is not gripping their hands tightly but rather encouraging individuals to attempt new things and discover.

One of the game’s bravest design choices is its lack of forethought. Eventually you can receive a simple overworld map, but there’s no precise dungeon tracker or objective marker that always points the way forward. Players have to rely on signals, clues from NPCs, the surroundings, newspapers, and their memory.

This can be a tedious strategy at times, especially when looking for tiny hidden passages or breakable walls, but it also adds a true sense of adventure to the game that you don't see too frequently in modern games. Curiosity always pays back exploration. There are secret tunnels, bosses you can choose to face, hidden items, shortcuts, and riches everywhere. So sections cleverly loop into each other, creating a connected universe. Reminiscent of previous RPGs or even the way Souls is designed today.

Mina the Hollower's combat is a mashup of action games like Zelda and risk-reward games like Souls. There are various major firearms for gamers to choose from, and each has its own way of use. “The Nightstar whip has distance and can be used in various ways. Daggers are speedier, hammers deliver lethal heavy blows, while shields and specialty weapons are ideal for protection or parrying.

Secondary sidearms offer you even more methods to combat. They operate as sub-weapons in Castlevania games, allowing players to toss axes, shoot projectiles, summon allies, or exploit enemy weaknesses from a distance. Add in the myriad trinkets that change stats or powers and fighting is incredibly flexible.

One of the best aspects of the game is the different kinds of enemies.

Regular opponents usually have their own assault patterns and ways of interacting with the environment. Bosses, on the other hand, are truly memorable confrontations with intricate rules, various stages, and carefully constructed arenas. Some vary the scenery, some have players adapt to moving underwater or shifting dangers, and many offer amazing pixel-art animations.

But the trouble factor is really high. But Mina the Hollower is not hesitant to punish those who commit wrong. Enemies deal a lot of damage, and players can be susceptible to attacks. Platforming sections often require precise movement. Flying foes, clashes with lots of projectiles, and aggressive groupings might sometimes be a bit too much to handle.

Healing adds another element of stress. The jars are loaded with plasma, which helps players regain their health, but players must deal damage to collect it. This leads players to play aggressively rather than simply back off. Healing when to heal is always a gamble, especially in intense boss fights when a poorly timed animation can take you out easily.

There are vital things that happen after death, too. When you die, your bones are dropped at your point of defeat and can be used to earn experience points or money. They are permanently lost if the player doesn't retrieve the bones before they die again. There is always a risk and a reward for players when they use their resources to upgrade, buy goods or keys, or move up.

It levels up easily. It works well. Players can increase strength, attack power, sidearm accuracy, and storage space. All options are meaningful because bones can also be used to purchase items. You can grind if you want, but most of the time the game encourages exploration more than grinding over and over again.

Platforming is perhaps the portion of the game people disagree on the most. Some players may find the difficulty and accuracy enjoyable; others may find the controls a little too stiff for the required level of accuracy. Timing your jumps over spikes, moving platforms, and burrows in the air can be annoying, especially in long stretches of the dungeon.

Thankfully, Yacht Club Games has one of the most robust accessibility tools we've seen over the previous few years. Modifiers allow players to adjust the difficulty in a wide variety of ways, such as adding checkpoints, altering leap heights, permitting one-hit kills, or making enemies tougher. These options allow players of nearly any skill level to adjust the game to their preferences without affecting its core.

Mina the Hollower is pretty to look at.

The game looks like a long-lost classic for the Game Boy Color, with modern animation techniques and ambient realism added on top. Every location is custom-built from dark marshes and chilly caves to gothic castles and eerie woodlands.

The color palette is fairly limited, and the somber mood is great. The character sprites are emotive, the enemies look unique, and the bosses typically have massive pixel art displays that eat up most of the screen. The classic appearance never gives the impression of being cheap or lazy. It feels robust and purposeful creatively.

But occasionally the graphic style isn’t very readable. Sometimes hidden paths and breakable barriers look too much like their surroundings, leading to misunderstandings. Some areas with many pixels can also look a bit harsh on larger screens. For some reason, the game typically plays best on handhelds. The graphics are amazing on the tiny screens.

Performance-wise, Mina the Hollower is well polished. The framerate remains smooth even in frantic conflicts, and some versions of the game support 120 FPS and HDR.  Jake Kaufman has once again provided some amazing music for the game. It’s chock full of catchy chiptunes that match the grim mood of the game. The music ranges from frightening adventure themes to high-octane boss compositions to dark ambient pieces.

The soundtrack always enhances the game's emotional flow. Dramatic compositions make boss fights more compelling, while softer exploration tunes keep you intrigued and lure you in.

A number of the songs immediately stand out as among the best retro-inspired gaming soundtrack tracks in recent years. Sound design in general is in sync with the sound of ancient mobile games, but it improves over time. The sounds of weapons hitting, adversaries, environment, and menus all contribute to the nostalgic feel without being tiresome.

Mina the Hollower is the follow-up to Shovel Knight, and it’s a massive endeavor.

It also shows that Yacht Club Games is quite good at making vintage games. They don't just replicate the past; they deliberately blend nostalgic themes with modern mechanics and quality-of-life features to create something that seems both ancient and fresh.

There are various bugs in the game. The primary story has no emotional punch, some platforming sections are overly difficult, and the absence of detailed maps might make you feel like you have nowhere to go. Combat and movement controls can also feel a touch stiff to those not acclimated to just how challenging the game is.

But Mina the Hollower always does an amazing job where it matters. The game is fun to explore, hard to fight, features interesting enemies, and the whole adventure is made special by the burrowing concept. Gorgeous retro graphics, wonderful soundtrack, a ton of material, and a ton of ways to play it again and again; this is one of the best independent action adventures in years.

If you're a fan of ancient Zelda games, Castlevania games, Soulsborne games, or little games with an old-school vibe, Mina the Hollower is definitely worth the wait.