Mina the Hollower Review – Don’t Dig Straight Down

When you think back to the retro classics of yore, there’s always nostalgia about the good ol’ days. It’s almost easy to forget the frustration and misery you suffered due to now-archaic mechanics, iffy controls and incredible difficulties. That’s one reason why I treasure Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games’ debut effort, so much. It distilled all the great old-school aspects with modernised controls and all-around excellent design (alongside optional challenges for those who really wanted it). A near-perfect balance of new and old with plenty of charm.

Mina the Hollower, the studio’s newest title, is comparatively more skewed. Not only does it retain the overhead perspective and old-school movement that would define a Link’s Awakening, but it also tends to be less forgiving with its challenges.

Long story short: When Mina the Hollower is good, it’s very good, but when it’s bad, it drags out a level of frustration I’ve felt from very few games in recent memory.

"As macabre as some of this may sound, it’s all injected with the signature charm that Yacht Club Games is known for. The 8-bit retro aesthetic certainly adds to it and is wonderful in every other way."

Let’s start from the beginning. Mina, a Hollower, ventures to Tenebrous Isle at the behest of Baron Lionel. The Spark Generators that she’s created have malfunctioned for unknown reasons, and chaos has seemingly taken hold – even after barely finishing the letter, a massive kraken attacks her ship. After regaining consciousness on the shore, Mina must fight past burning buildings and an elite guard to finally reach the central city of Ossex…only to find Lionel at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new orphanage and rather laidback about the situation.

If that wasn’t odd enough, she learns that Thorne, the former head of the Baron’s guard, has gone rogue, taking those loyal enough to sabotage the generators. But why? What is with Lionel’s behavior? Why does Thorne insist that he’s doing the right thing? Why is the isle seeping further and further into madness?

It’s all very intriguing with streamlined dialogue that knows when to get serious, when to inject some cartoonish levity and when to become downright surreal. A massive possessed house comes to life and attempts to crush you. Farmers and their animals begin taking on tomato-like characteristics. A sentient leaf will tragically die after you land on it accidentally on purpose, with its comrades bemoaning its demise and even holding a funeral service later (with plenty of leaf puns). And yes, you can take its corpse to use as a Trinket.

As macabre as some of this may sound, it’s all injected with the signature charm that Yacht Club Games is known for. The 8-bit retro aesthetic certainly adds to it and is wonderful in every other way. The sheer detail in Ossex is mystifying – it’s enough to make you stop and stare at the sheer work that went into the roof tiles, the gravel on the pavement, and so much more. That’s before even exploring the greater isle as a whole. Nox’s Bayou, true to its name, merges swamp-filled aesthetics with alternating water levels, while Septemburg plays with the Autumn theme when the deranged locals aren’t trying to stab you to bits. Then there’s the Queensbury Crypt – a series of graveyards leading into a once-extravagant but now-ruined underground dungeon.

All of this is immaculately rendered, and that extends to every other visual aspect. The map, the character portraits – even the little animations and unique NPCs roaming through Ossex. Standing on a corner and just watching the different characters walk by is an unexpected yet welcome pastime.

Despite clear inspiration from the classics, the visuals masterfully establish their own identity – even if some areas, like the Southern Outskirts, are less than exciting to explore in the grand scheme of things. Thankfully, the chiptune soundtrack helps, conveying the atmosphere and emotion of each region without completely overpowering the action. There’s an old-school horror movie vibe throughout, which certainly fits Mina’s demeanor as a Van Helsing stand-in, trying to bring order to this overwhelmingly monstrous isle.

"What should be a struggle to deal consistent damage, healing bits of vitality while relying on your own skill to stay alive, turns into this awkward exchange where I take damage, smack the target a few times, and then excuse myself for a healing break."

If there’s anything you need to take away from this review, it’s that presentation-wise, Mina the Hollower is a slam-dunk. Alas, now we come to the gameplay.

The combat and traversal are about what you’d expect from an old-school Legend of Zelda title (or even The Minish Cap, considering all the jumping). Granted, enemies can be far more mobile, and while it is initially awkward trying to figure out the best times to burrow or just jump out of the way, you eventually find your footing. Burrowing away from an enemy, only to emerge and snap them in the face with a whip, or perfectly parry an attack to unleash the coffin shield’s counterattack, feels immensely satisfying. Some of the secondary weapons, known as Sidearms, also keep things interesting. A floating minion that follows you around and chomps on threats within proximity before blowing up? Please and thank you.

However, for every standard throwing axe, there’s the situational fishing rod, the throwable portal (which feels more defensive than offensive), or the bicycle mount that’s…just odd. They’re not complete throwaways, but some Sidearms are clearly better suited for more important tasks (read: “I need this thing to die”). Given that you lose them on death – until you unlock an upgrade later in the Hollower base – the runback without a potent secondary can be annoying in the early going. At least the passive benefits of Trinkets can make up for it, especially the one that pops a healing buddy if you’re hurt, which works very well with a mandrake that knocks any attacking threats back.

But that complaint pales in comparison to the healing system. Everyone, gather round and tell me what makes Bloodborne’s recoverable health and Blood Vials so satisfying. Is it the fact that the latter is quick and lets you get right back into the action without massively interrupting the flow, but could result in sacrificing an advantageous position, especially against certain bosses? Is it that the former encourages aggression, of staying in the thick of things, even at risk of potentially taking more damage? If you said yes to both, then give yourself a gold star.

Mina’s healing vials attempt many of the same tenets but feel nowhere near as enjoyable. When you lose health, damaging an enemy grants yellow, recoverable health – not temporary health, mind you. This can be healed with a vial, which requires disengaging to a safe enough distance to use it. With how quickly some of these enemies can close the distance to interrupt the process, it feels like more risk than reward. Oftentimes, using the Sidearm that restored health on dashing through an enemy, even if it was a pittance, felt more practical (until its uses ran out, of course). And if Mina’s red health depletes, it’s curtains.

"It’s as if someone felt these pits were absolutely essential to the challenge – so much so that turning off their damage would make things far too easy for players. The solution, such as it is, feels tedious and makes me dread any room with too many places to fall."

What should be a struggle to deal consistent damage, healing bits of vitality while relying on your own skill to stay alive, turns into this awkward exchange where I take damage, smack the target a few times, and then excuse myself for a healing break. No wonder everything is out to get me, with how annoying this must feel at times.

Then there’s the level design. Now, for what it’s worth (and opening region aside, because it teaches the basics), the levels in Mina the Hollower are mostly good. The aesthetic interweaves with the design so well in places, whether it’s indicating a burrowing path through the thick canopy of a forest, or cleverly concealing – but not excessively so – a hidden entrance that you can knock down, discovering a new area in the process. Each region incorporates Mina’s burrowing and jumping in fresh ways, from swimming through the Bayou to timing your leaps to match the wind’s intensity.

The problem is that several sections feel overdesigned and overtly stuffed with gimmicks. Take Septemburg, for example. A place where the wind blows a little too hard, thus requiring you to carefully judge its direction before leaping – makes sense. What should logically follow but lightning? So why not have lightning rods that players must stand near, interrupting their overall flow in a red light, green light fashion, to avoid taking damage (unless you happened to buy that one Trinket from the formerly possessed house)? Now, how about combining both those gimmicks? And also making the annoying, indestructible boss chase you as well? For good measure, make it so that the final stretch before the fight is one where he can throw you all the way back to the beginning.

That tediousness occurs again when trying to navigate a dark series of rooms with a firefly-esque character by your side. Its periodic luminescence highlights the platforms you can jump on, which is fine, but it also knocks you into the many bottomless pits. The amount of control in such a situation is so limited that it feels like a crapshoot (and the fact that it’s apparently optional made me feel all the better about leaving). Throughout the entire experience, even with more control over where you land, it can feel like there are too many pits to fall into and too many things that are way too good at pushing you into them.

"As for the progression, both in terms of leveling and which towers to conquer first, your mileage may vary. Initially, going in any direction after meeting Lionel felt like death; most enemies slay Mina in a few hits."

So you snap and finally head into the settings to turn off damage from pitfall. Things improve significantly…until you discover that the game deposits you back to the start of a section upon falling. Even places which aren’t platforming-oriented, where you can still fall into the abyss, throw you further back than feels logical. It’s as if someone felt these pits were absolutely essential to the challenge – so much so that turning off their damage would make things far too easy for players. The solution, such as it is, feels tedious and makes me dread any room with too many places to fall.

The towers with the Spark Generators are a whole other rigmarole. You must scale them in one fell swoop, burrowing into circuits to obliterate obstacles and progress ahead of a surge. Get hit by the surge, and it’s right back to the bottom. Unfortunately, actually maneuvering from left to right is unwieldy at times, especially when you need to precisely position on top of a circuit to burrow into it. And of course, my old pals – enemies that knock you back or generally cause a nuisance – return to add to the tedium of what should be a capstone to completing a region. Don’t call me next time, fellas. I’ll call you.

As for the progression, both in terms of leveling and which towers to conquer first, your mileage may vary. Initially, going in any direction after meeting Lionel felt like death; most enemies slay Mina in a few hits. You don’t deal enough damage at that point or have enough healing vials, and dying a second time without retrieving your Spark means permanently losing the Bones used to level up (which otherwise feel like a slog to earn normally). So you’ll need to spend some time grinding them out, raising your attack and defense to reach a point where the level-ups feel smoother and more in line with exploration progress, especially as you discover more Bonestones. Or just turn on the “Enemies give more Bones” modifier and save yourself some time.

Fun fact: There’s a store in Ossex that actually sold more health upgrades, healing vials, Sparks and Trinket slots for decently affordable prices that I only discovered several hours later, and honestly? I’m not even mad. Now, the number of Bones needed to get the trains running again? That’s something to inspire rage.

"You could say my standards for Mina the Hollower were too high, especially with how much Shovel Knight spoiled me."

All that said, even with the tediousness in some levels and the annoying healing system, and the fact that you need to grind a bit to stand a chance in the wild, I couldn’t stop playing Mina the Hollower, as I constantly pushed to see what the next screen holds. It has some genuinely charming moments, like trying to buy an upgrade for my whip and having to fight the Blacksmith’s brother underground for his service or peering into a mirror, making funny faces with Mina, half-expecting a Crypt ghost jump scare. Even that annoying circus clown thing that pops out occasionally with its gallows humor has grown on me.

You could say my standards for Mina the Hollower were too high, especially with how much Shovel Knight spoiled me. It’s still a mostly well-designed retro action-adventure, packed with things to discover, fun bosses to fight, unique weapons to experiment with, and a winning presentation that will doubtless appeal to many. Personally, some much-needed changes would elevate it to the realm of excellence, but in the meantime, being really good is no mean feat.

This game was reviewed on PC.