To say Mina the Hollower has been a highly anticipated title is an understatement. Yacht Club Games built their reputation with Shovel Knight, with players embracing the retro style and gameplay elements. Mina the Hollower is more of that classic 8-bit style, with gameplay to boot, and while it has some great execution as a retro Zelda-style adventure, it also comes with some questionable decisions.
The basis of Mina the Hollower’s story is that she has been recalled to Ossex to restore the light of the Spark Towers which power the city, and which have allowed it to flourish. They have been the target of Thorne who seeks to destroy the towers forever, so Mina’s mission is to venture across the island and restore those towers while dealing with dangerous foes. To be honest, the overall story is pretty predictable from near the beginning, though there are a couple of moments at the end where the impact of Mina’s exploits hit in a way you wouldn’t expect. It’s not the only driving force from the main story, Mina will come across different characters who have their own problems or issues, with all of these being optional to complete though some are worth doing for the rewards. There are some fun and absurd side quests like the Duke looking for the Duchess, which becomes a pretty dark tale. Then there is the guy moonbathing and a leaf being murdered.
Mina the Hollower’s gameplay consists of exploring the isle and unlocking pathways, fighting enemies, and solving environmental puzzles. Mina is armed with one weapon, and you get the option to pick between a whip, a hammer, and blades at the start. You can unlock the other weapons later but you are stuck with your starting weapon. I chose the chain whip to allow some range with decent damage. Mina can also find sidearms in the world, including throwing axes, boomerang knives, and a poison gas pump, as well as trinkets to provide additional bonuses and abilities. All of these can be upgraded, and you’ll certainly want to increase the ammo count for sidearms, as it’s easy to run out.
To be honest, the combat is pretty straightforward. You will be hitting enemies and dodging them using Mina’s burrowing to dig underground and move out of the way, but it can feel that Yacht Club Games has overengineered some encounters. One section leading up to a boss fight includes a chase sequence while avoiding lighting strikes and dealing with wind that can push you back into pits. You can lose quite a bit of health before even triggering the boss fight. It’s instances like this where the game is designed to essentially punish as much as possible, and it can lead to frustration. Mina can only attack in a straight line for the direction she is facing, but som enemies can attack from any angle – flying enemies in particular can be an absolute pain to deal with.
It’s a shame because, when the combat lines up, it can be very good, rewarding you, during a boss fight as an example, for switching from an offensive whip approach to a defensive one with a shield. It is worth experimenting against bosses because some weapons are better suited for situations, but you can’t switch weapons on the fly, and have to return to the Underlabs checkpoints. Except that the game will automatically equip a weapon that you find, which can be quite inconvenient!
Healing can be its own issue too. Even if you have health vials, their use and the amount that they can heal you by is limited by the amount of damage you’re dealing to enemies. It’s also not instant, as Mina has to play out the animation and wait for the little sparks to be absorbed. If she is hit during this then she won’t heal and you’ve wasted a vial.
Exploring Ossex and the island is a mix of fun and getting stuck. There is a lot of detail put into the world with hidden areas and secrets to find off of the beaten path. Smashing through walls and diving into holes in the ground can lead you to unexpected boss fights, and treasures like new trinkets. Areas are not all open to you with paths locked until you make progress in other areas, so you are encouraged to walk around and see what you can find.
However, while you can unlock a general map of the island, there is no detailed view as you might expect from a Zelda or Metroidvania. This can make it difficult to find the path forward and it’s easy to miss what you need to take you forwards. While I can understand the design decision, pushing back against the way some games simply lead you around by waypoints, but it goes too far and ends up just being annoying as you walk back and forth in the same areas.
As you explore you will collect bones, which are the games currency – a morbid choice, but everyone wants bones for some reason. Initially, they are tough to collect and it is annoying when you lose them in combat if you do not reclaim sparks. It also doesn’t help that there is a pickpocket who will steal from you, and if you are not quick enough you lose a significant amount. As you upgrade Mina’s attack, defence, and weapons building that bone balance does become easier, but the initial learning curve to get there is steep.
The top-down platforming can be very good but then there are other times where it does not quite connect. Mina’s burrowing is a core way of getting around and finding secrets, and it is also necessary in fights to get around enemy attacks and pop up behind them, but there are times when the jumps don’t land as intended. If you do want to change things up, Yacht Club Games has included an extensive amount of modifiers and assists you can use, but turning many of them on means that beating feats and getting their associated achievements will be locked out. You can make the game easier so you don’t lose bones, or you can go the opposite way and make things harder.