Check out the newest hit from Yacht Club Games!
Yacht Club Games will always hold a special place in the gaming industry for me. They were one of my first interviews many years ago. I also was lucky enough to receive Shovel Knight as one of my first reviews when it came out for practically every Nintendo platform. I remember finding a glitch in the Tinker Knight stage while I was playing the game for review on Wii U. That being said, Yacht Club Games as at PAX East again this year showing off their next hit, Mina the Hollower. I had heard a lot about Mina the Hollower on the Internet. When I found out Yacht Club was going to be at PAX, I knew I had to stop by the booth and play some Mina the Hollower.
Graphically, Mina the Hollower gives off Legend of Zelda Game Boy Color vibes. One could also say that Mina takes inspiration from Castlevania as well. What I mean by that is with Mina having extra weapons that cost something to use each time. Castlevania had weapons that you needed hearts to use. That being said, this game feels like the next hit for Yacht Club Games. Compared to Shovel Knight, Mina has a darker tone and that’s the direction the developers wanted to take Mina The Hollower. The demo stage looked like a graveyard and you had to fight crows, skeletons and all kinds of monsters.
It’s neat to see that the checkpoint system is alive and well in Mina the Hollower. You have to burrow into what looks like fairy fountain a la Legend of Zelda but the fairy is missing. You also can select new weapons to use as well as set sub weapons in this area. You will also want to use the bank/vault system in the burrow since you will lose them if you don’t bank them here. If you die out in the world and didn’t bank, you can’t use them later. If you do use the vault, you will be able to get that currency back.
There are all kinds of secrets to discover in this game. Similar to Shovel Knight, you will find yourself checking every corner of every screen as you never know what wall can be broken or what cavern you can burrow through.
You have your trust whip but you also have different sub weapons and abilities to use. I found myself using daggers and a dash attack that could ram the enemy, If you rammed the enemy just right, they would be thrown across the stage, giving me plenty of time to attack with the daggers and whip. You can also jump over all kinds of things like enemies or holes in the ground. Make sure you use that to your advantage.
The boss fight of the demo was a headless statue, complete with tentacles. I found that faster attacks were better for me so I used the daggers to attack often. I also used the dash attack for range and to get away from the monster faster. It was tough but fair boss fight and when I figured out what to do, I was golden.
Mina The Hollower appears to be another hit in the long list of great games from Yacht Club Games. It was one of the best games at PAX East this year and I can’t wait to play the full version when it releases!
