9.5/10 – 22 hours to beat
Finished on 7/29/2026, written on 8/25/2026
Only 20 hours, but legitimately some of the most jam packed, fulfilling, and memorable 20 hours I’ve experienced in a long time. The goats at Yacht Club have outdone themselves, reaching a height I think exceeds even Shovel Knight.
I loved Shovel Knight and its different campaigns by the way. Especially Specter of Torment where you play as one of the bosses Specter Knight. The refreshing takes on movement and combat, new music, expansion of the world, all laid out the strengths Yacht Club Games had in making a thoroughly fun retro looking experience in the modern day. And Mina the Hollower exceeds that.
The big reason why is because it does so much with so little. The game takes the form of a Gameboy Color style of game akin to Zelda Link’s Awakening or Oracle of Seasons/Ages. It’s a top down adventure dungeon crawler, now added with Soulslike mechanics in its leveling system, limited healing, and boss battles. Combining two already goated styles of games is already a massive W.
Now add the sheer creativity on display. The combat flow is super unique with the mix of jumping and burrowing underground to dodge attacks, then striking enemies down with a host of weapons with unique movesets that play to a variety of playstyles. Bonk people with a charging hammer and roll right before you swing, bonk people with a gun to charge it up then fill them with lead, or get up close and personal and rapid-bonk them with two daggers. The latter two were my favorite until I found upgrades for the whip, where it turns into Sheik’s side-b from Smash Bros Melee and Brawl, where you can dangle a little electrified pool noodle to mess with enemies and deal good damage. Add to this the variety of builds you can make with the Trinkets that add passive effects and buffs, and you can adhere to the playstyle you want.
What’s even better is how amazingly accessible the game is. This game has more than just an easy-normal-hard mode toggle; you can change nearly every aspect of the game to your liking. Make enemies do more damage, less damage, or make the cease to exist entirely. Make walking faster, make more Bones (the money / Souls) drop. Make leveling up cost more or less. Make Mina BIG (your freaky bastard). If it’s too much, you can even randomize which ones are toggled! There is an aspect that is a little weird that I’ll get to later
Finally, the world feels so vivid and enthralling, even with it being one we’ve never seen before. It is very Link to the Past coded in the themed temples and areas you need to travel to and activate landmarks, but each area has such a strong and cool gimmick that makes them feel miles more unique than any Zelda ever has been. One moment you’re parkouring across floating hooks over cliffs, and next you’re being chased by an immortal pumpkin boogeyman until the end of the area where you finally fight him. In between you meet so many colorful and goofy characters, some silly some serious, and they all flesh out the world and its identity so strongly.
My biggest gripe with the game is how it treats the aforementioned difficulty modifiers. If you choose any of the modifiers that make the game easier or goofier, no matter how broken it might be, you are immediately locked out of getting any achievements on that save file. The weird part is that 80% of these achievements are extremely specific and geared towards hardcore completionism rather than just playing the game. Sure achievements should be earned, and making the game easier trivializes the acquisition of these, but why make them so specific? You make such a big stink out of turning out the modifiers, then why give me the option? Additionally, said achievements aren’t even going to be achieved by most players anyways. For every achievement is there for beating a story boss, there are 20 more that sound like “perform Lasik eye surgery using piss from your morning wood between the hours of 4:56 and 6:47 AM in September on a Wednesday”. I just bit the bullet and turned on some mild modifiers that streamlined the experience a little for me. I made Underlabs (similar to Bonfires in Souls) spawn outside boss doors where they otherwise would not be, and removed fall damage as the platforming can be tricky in a top-down 2D setting. Especially when the pixel art makes it hard to determine what is set dressing and what can be interacted with + general depth perception issues with that style of game.
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