Yacht Club digs deep into nostalgia
Mina the Hollower is the latest release from indie studio Yacht Club Games. Unlike their previous offering, Shovel Knight, in which the studio aimed to out Duck Tales Duck Tales, Mina aims to out Zelda Zelda, in this case Link’s Awakening specifically with a bit of Castlevania and Soulslike thrown in for good measure. And while it mostly succeeds in its goals, there are facets of the overall experience that didn’t exactly light the spark I hoped they would.
Mina the Hollower is not afraid to show its influences, for better or worse. We start our adventure much in the same way as a Zelda title, with almost nothing and almost no direction. The opening sequence sees Mina reading a letter asking for her help in repairing the Spark Generators, her invention from 10 years prior that brought prosperity to the city of Ossex on Tenebrous Isle. Her boat is then attacked and, in order to fend off the monster, we need to make our first choice, which weapon to use. Players are presented with the Nightstar, a morning star ala Castlevania, Whisper and Vesper, a pair of quick-strike daggers, or the Blaststrike Maul, a slow swinging hammer that also gives you the ability to dodge roll while charging up a more powerful strike in the vein of many a soulslike. No matter the weapon you pick you will have the option to change later, including new weapons you discover throughout your journey, though frustratingly this can only be done in an Underlab, more on that in a bit.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: PC (reviewed), Xbox, PlayStation, Switch
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
The first boss battle, the Nether Kraken, follows and upon its defeat you receive your first trinket, various items that can be equipped to enhance your abilities though frustratingly this can only be done in an Underlab, more on that in a bit. Our ship crashes into the cliffs of Tenebrous Isle and when Mina comes to, she is given Plasma Vials, a means to restore her health. These vials function in a similar way too many soulslike titles in that they do not refill a set amount of health but rather are contingent on the amount of damage Mina has done to surrounding enemies. This is shown by a yellow bar within her red health bar growing with damage dealt. Importantly Mina is not immune during the drinking of a vial and if you are hit during the rather lengthy animation, which can be sped up with a trinket found later in the game, you will not heal and you will take additional damage. It’s a brutal system that requires calculated risk to manage effectively.
Making your way to town the game does a fairly good job of forcing you to learn the mechanics. You’ll fight enemies (standard/flying/shielded), burrow under obstacles, collect Bones (in-game currency), find a sub-weapon, recognize breakable sections of wall, figure out some light platforming, break a whole bunch of candles, and cut down a ton of grass and bushes. If you do well enough you will level up at least once before you hit town but if you do poorly, you may just lose a life and your Spark. Indicated by a blue dot next to your life bar Spark is essentially the same as the Shade in Hollow Knight; die once but reclaim your Spark and all your saved up Bones will be restored. Die twice and those Bones are gone for good. Early in the game it’s not a huge deal but as you progress and build up a big stash of Bones, it’s best to spend them before you lose them. None of this is explained by the way; much like the old school inspirations Mina draws from, you need to figure this out along the way.
Once you hit the Ossex city center, the story starts to take shape. After speaking with Baron Lionel Mina has her first encounter with Thorne. This boss fight does a nice job of teaching some more mechanics, specifically using burrowing to avoid attacks, and ends with Lionel telling Mina the desperation Tenebrous Isle is in and how fixing the Spark Generators is the only path to salvation. Not questioning her longtime friend, Mina sets out to fix what Thorne has broken. What follows is a story that, while it won’t win awards for being overly clever, is well… fine. I do wish it was presented more overtly as a lot of the nuance requires talking to every NPC which, fine this is an action RPG after all but does feel like a bit of a step backwards in design. That lack of nuance could potentially lead to an unsatisfying end to this story for players since the resolution is atypical of what is usually presented. Mina never questions why her inventions are doing the things they are doing, never questions how they were given that power, never comments on the inconsistencies of Spark and Plasma. Things just happen, threads are never picked up on, and it ends feeling like sequel bait which, in my opinion anyway, is never a good thing.
Perhaps the most frustrating part of Mina the Hollower is its difficulty. Make no mistake, this game is old-school hard. Platforming is tough but straightforward in the early game but shifts to precise and demanding/borderline maddening in the late game. Enemies hit for a ton of damage, especially early on, and the combat just doesn’t feel great. Mina can move in 8 directions but can only attack in the 4 cardinal directions. Enemies can of course hit from every and any angle. While there are ways to mitigate this, finding a weapon you gel with or using trinkets/side arms, the overall experience falls flat. Soulslike combat in a 3D space is fun and rewarding while also being quite difficult. Soulslike combat in a top down, 2D space is limiting and frustrating while also being quite difficult, and constant.
Mina is a no-breather type of game. Outside of the main city center, the game is relentless. It is common to have to travel 7-8 screens before there is a tiny bit of give. And considering that there is no real map to speak of, getting lost is inevitable. My biggest gripe though is the Underlabs. Scattered throughout the map are checkpoints that can be burrowed into. At these checkpoints Mina can change her weapon, trinket, exchange Bones, and do a few other things after upgrading that I won’t spoil. Outside of these Underlabs though you are stuck with what you’ve got. Find a new trinket that seems fun? Better find an Underlab so you can equip it. Get a new weapon or upgrade for an existing one? Better find an Underlab because it will automatically replace the one you are using. And since those Underlabs are few and far between, coupled with the difficulty in both combat and platforming, it all seems punishing for no reason.
All of this seems very negative and while it is frustrating, there is a lot to like here. Mina is going for a very specific, GB/GBC vibe and it absolutely nails it. The sprite work, animation, and backgrounds are all fantastic. Yacht Club knows how to make good looking games and Mina delivers. The various biomes you visit, while feeling disjointed to me, are all wildly different and interesting. The music is, as expected, top notch with some really great tracks that will stick with you. The biggest positive though is the ability to manipulate the game as you see fit. In the pause menu is a section for modifiers. These modifiers cover an incredibly wide range from things like changing the color palette to dealing more damage to making Mina invulnerable. Players can essentially enable “god-mode” from jump though doing so will disable feats. (trophies/achievements/etc.) In full transparency I flipped modifiers on and off during my playthrough as needed. I’m not out to prove anything and while I don’t mind a challenge, I find the default difficulty to be just a bit much.
At the end of the day Mina the Hollower is a good game that cannot get out of its own way. I appreciate the inclusion of modifiers so that anyone, regardless of skill level or patience, can experience the game from start to finish. It accomplishes what it sets out to do which is to marry the top-down Zelda experience with the difficulty of a Soulslike. In that respect it is extremely well made and if that sounds like your jam, this could be a game of the year contender for you. For me, I enjoyed my time with it in spite of itself. I’m curious to see where this franchise goes next.