Yacht Club Games’ Shovel Knight has been an indie north star since its release in 2014. That success has left players asking for a sequel, but instead of revisiting the title that catapulted the developer to breakout star, they’re going a different direction with Mina the Hollower.
We went hands-on with a build during the Nintendo Switch 2 Partner Preview for a 20-minute demo. Speaking with one of the reps onsite, she let us know that the build was near complete, and that it was okay if we died. And yeah, I died, like right off the bat.
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Mina the Hollower is a love letter to the Game Boy Color with its 8-bit visuals. However, even with the homage to the past, the game’s UI and design have all the modern touches that improve quality of life, and this shines most in the animation and intuitive controls that are easy to learn.
Mina the Hollower is a love letter to the Game Boy Color.
In the game, you play as Mina and descend into a frightful world of action-adventure in Mina the Hollower. A renowned Hollower, you’re thrown into a desperate mission to rescue a cursed island. A scientist by trade, Mina’s technology has helped the world reach new heights, but when her inventions start failing, it’s up to her to save everyone.
Mina’s core kit is about leaping, dodging, and burrowing (and better yet, using any mix of the three). The key mechanic in Mina the Hollower is her ability to burrow beneath hazards and monsters, moving substantially faster underground than above. Timing jumps after burrowing can result in further leaps, and timing your attacks to come to the surface can be the right surprise you needed to kill a boss.
As the primary game mechanic, navigating the world by burrowing pushes you to look closely to identify when you can tunnel under and when you simply need to find another way around. Burrowing beneath hazards is one thing, but learning how to do it with strategy in mind when fighting enemies and bosses is a different level that pushes you further.
Whimsical but filled with Victorian Gothic dark fantasy, Mina the Hollower is stylish to say the least.
Additionally, wearing its Castlevania inspiration on its sleeve, Mina’s Nightstar offers a balance of range and damage that you don’t see with the daggers or hammer. And well, it just looks the coolest. In addition to the primary weapon, Mina also has Sidearms to use in combat, but it’s the Trinkets that can be collected and equipped to provide passive and proc effects to suit your combat style.
The other element that makes Mina the Hollower a standout isn’t just its gorgeous pixelart style and UI that take nostalgic menu systems and make them work well; it’s its humor. Humor is worked into the mechanics themselves, and the cast of bizarre characters we meet, and how players choose to interact with them.
One of the best memories during the Nintendo Switch 2 Partner Preview is talking to a rich man flying his father’s kite. I then moved back and destroyed the kite, which made him sad. It’s a really simple yet funny moment that shows how Yacht Club Games has layered in humor throughout the game and how you interact with it.
Yacht Club Games nails a nostalgic difficulty.
Additionally, Mina the Hollower also features a newspaper that will help you figure out what to do next through its headlines and blurbs. But outside of the helpful hand it offers, it also just makes bold jokes that you can’t help but giggle at. And that’s only with our brief time with the title.
The last element of our hands-on preview for Mina the Hollower is that it is really challenging. The number of obstacles, enemies, and movement mechanics you need to balance can make the combat feel overwhelming, but the chiptune score and the color palette somehow keep you cheery and engaged…even when you keep dying. And yes, I kept dying.
With a nostalgic sense of difficulty and fantastic art design, Mina the Hollower is sure to continue to excite Yacht Club Games’ dedicated player community. A good time and a challenging time, this is one indie standout on the Switch 2 you need to wishlist.
