Mina the Hollower

A Link to The Past meets Castlevania in this kooky new Stuart Little film.

Mina the Hollower is a game that proves that Yacht Club Games still got it! The game itself takes a very specific inspiration of Zelda which is from the gameboy era of Zelda, more specifically games like Oracle of Ages and Seasons in terms of sprite style. The gameboy Zelda games brought something that does not exist in any other 2d Zelda title which is jumping. What makes this game different compared to other 2d Zeldas that we have all played? First let's also take its other obvious influence which is Castlevania. The gothic aesthetic, the earwormy music are something more reminiscent of Castlevania. This is more apparent with weapon and enemy design which have a more Castlevania feel to it than Zelda. Your primary weapon is the whip, funnily enough if you upgrade it fully Mina will be able to do the flail whip technique from Super Castlevania 4, a clear homage. The subweapons which you obtain through candles only is also an homage but more specifically, the majority of subweapons are clear homages to Castlevania. The dagger is a blend between the cross boomerang and dagger, and the axe works almost the same as the axe we know of from CV. The enemies too have a more Castlevania feel to it where you usually fight stuff like poisonous frogs, bats, skeletal knights, skull demons etc. Which are more reminiscent of something you'd find in a Castlevania game rather than a Zelda game. Let's go over the important part now, the gameplay. We mentioned that there is a jump button which is only seen in gameboy Zeldas, what Mina the Hollower offers is an exclusive burrow mechanic where if you hold the jump button Mina will dig through the ground for a set amount of time. What's interesting about this is that burrowing makes combat and exploration much more interesting, you can dodge enemies that lunge into you, reposition through digging. Someone may say "is burrowing overpowered" and it really isn't because Mina has a set amount of time until she is forced to dig up to the surface again which makes planning that much more essential. Certain attacks from enemies like fire or shoveling make you unable to use burrowing where you need to instead maneuver differently. The same can be said about the platforming and exploration, Mina cannot dig beneath any rock terrain, or structure. Metal for example makes her completely incapable of it which does give the player more ideas on how to effectively use your other kit while being locked. The level design in my opinion is the game's strongest ace. Unlike 2D Zelda games where dungeons are the only highlight and the overworld is only a passageway to dungeons, Mina functions in such a way where even in the overworld you're encouraged to explore and there were times I was wondering "Hey is this the dungeon area" even if it was not, the two are interconnected enough where both are of high quality. One example of a great dungeon for example is the Bone Beach dungeon where you enter a giant Whale where inside you destroy teeth to get further in, fight uvula enemies which knock back upon impact and you jump into pits to get further deep into the dungeon to figure out how to proceed further, while getting on certain floors you will exit the whale and enter the overworld again to navigate to the next area which is my point on how the game's map is very interconnected. Each world was also very unique where it didn't really feel like the game was doing checkmarks of every biome that exists with their own gimmicks. For example one gimmick I really enjoyed for a stage was again Bone Beach's where it had these handle bars where you could reach higher areas, connect to other bars and you couldn't grab onto it as long as you wanted. Also noteworthy are the enemy variety and bosses. Let's give an example of a really great enemy design, the UFO enemy found in one of the last areas truly shows the philosophy of how the game's combat is made. It will choose to either throw its disc on the ground or towards you. Where you are forced to either dig or jump depending on what he threw. That is one of many examples but the bosses were also great and offered a lot of variety, for example there was one boss that completely turned everything below you into metal meaning you can't dig. That boss made the player rely on jumping to dodge more. Let us also talk about the exploration which I found to be great, there are many breakable things that you can notice from sprites looking a bit off compared to the rest or spotting a space which could lead to another area. The game is good in that if the player thinks "maybe I can reach this place if I do this" and you do. You will most likely get rewarded by it. I think a good exploration game is the kind that encourages you to find as much as possible. I gathered all the kears, trinkets (which are basically passive abilities), bonestones and etc. and 100% fully completed the game. There are so many good secrets, and optional events that I honestly don't want to spoil it. Another interesting thing the game has is its bones mechanic where you can gather bones from defeated enemies or from found treasure. However, if you lose all your sparks and can't gain them from an enemy that defeated you. You get rid of all your bones, your secondary income which goes in tandem bonestone doesn't get deleted because they can be converrted into bones from treasure you find. The reason I find it to be a great mechanic is because this makes game overs meaningful, especially considering that bones themselves are used to purchase trinkets, upgrades as well as your own stats depending on how many are required. It also won't make you feel left behind as again, if you explore you'll gain so much bonestone that I was actually able to max out and buy everything I could. One negative thing I heard online was that people didn't like the sequence minigame when Mina is climbing the spark tower. I liked it precisely because it was extremely short and made the story feel more impactful to get to the spark towers. Perhaps some people found it to be difficult but as long as you spot the map on where the holes are for Mina to dig into. You'll be done with it quickly. Overall I can confidently say that this game is greater than any 2D Zelda game I have played and should be debated as one of if not the greatest indie game ever made. Score: 10/10

mouse game of the mouse year

Extremely addicting! Can be challenging, but if it was easy it wouldn't be as engaging, would it? I've got like 40 deaths and love this game!!!

it somehow mixes the open world genre + gameboy graphics + soulslike difficulty + castlevania combat + hollow knight charm system + silksong enemy ai + a bunch more ♥♥♥♥ ad then makes it one of the best at these I've ever played

Entire game basically is built around the end encounter. NOTHING is even remotely hard compared to this. Actually takes it down a notch for me. It's a good game but core mechanics like burrowing are essentially useless in the end.

really wanna like this game but -bad map -immediate tough as nails runbacks -insane difficulty curve not for me

More than a blast to the past; if anything its a step to the future for top-down adventure games. The grim atmosphere, dark humor and colorful characters make a pretty engaging story and the design/topography of Tenebrous isle turn it into an incredibly memorable place. None of the fast travel systems of the game felt that intuitive to me but they also felt mostly unnecessary once you dominate the layout and have a decent trinket/sidearm combination for fast movement. Combat can be incredibly demanding but its just as satisfying, very simple in concept but hard to master. Mina only moves in the 4 cardinal directions while enemies, projectiles and stage hazards dont have the same limitations. It ensures players learn enemy patterns(especially since burrowing has a one second delay) as most games do but more than anything it rewards mastery of positioning and space awareness to best most enemies, especially since a lot of them are fast and aggressive enough to put you against the ropes fairly easily. Exploration and secrets ooze from every screen you travel throughout; there will rarely be a room without some secret area/object hidden in plain sight for the most observant to collect. Shortcuts, sidearms, secret bosses, etc, this is a game thats begging the player to spend all the time it can enjoying it to the fullest. Its also ironically enough one of the most speedrun-friendly games ive ever played.

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