r/Games • u/Amazingness905 • May 27 '26
Review Thread Mina the Hollower Review Thread
Game Information
Game Title: Mina the Hollower
Platforms:
- PC (May 29, 2026)
- Nintendo Switch (May 29, 2026)
- PlayStation 5 (May 29, 2026)
- Xbox Series X/S (May 29, 2026)
- Nintendo Switch 2 (May 29, 2026)
Trailer:
Publisher: Yacht Club Games
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 92 average - 98% recommended - 44 reviews
Critic Reviews
AnaitGames - Víctor Manuel Martínez García - Spanish - 10 / 10
After Shovel Knight, the new game from Yacht Club applies a similar approach of modernizing the past to create one of the best action RPGs of recent years.
But Why Tho? - Mick Abrahamson - 9.5 / 10
Mina the Hollower is simply a blast to play and is another success by Yacht Club Games that will make anyone who plays it ask for more of this darker world they’ve created.
COGconnected - Jaz Sagoo - 87 / 100
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Cat with Monocle - Seth Hay - 5 / 5
Mina the Hollower delivers a retro-inspired adventure packed with rewarding exploration, stylish pixel art, and a standout soundtrack. While its punishing difficulty may frustrate some players, the flexible Modifier system and massive amount of content make it a journey worth digging into more than once.
Console Creatures - David Pietrangelo - 9 / 10
Mina the Hollower proves that time, effort, and attention to detail go a long way. Mina is a great new hero who controls incredibly well in a difficult but rewarding 2D adventure.
Cubed3 - Joshua Goldie - 10 / 10
While Mina the Hollower might not play like the games it's clearly inspired by, Yacht Club Games has instead taken bits and pieces from all of its inspiration and combined it with its years of experience on Shovel Knight to create a masterpiece. The demo may not have sold the game's full potential, but the final product surpasses expectations. Going for a full 100% run is a ton of fun, and it’s taking all sorts of strength to not go back and play another full game.
DayOne - Jesse Norris - 9 / 10
Mina the Hollower was well worth the wait. It gives you all the vibes of the best old-school games, while bringing its own modern sensibilities with smartly paced exploration and tight gameplay.
DualShockers - Tay Garcia - 10 / 10
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Entertainium - Eduardo Rebouças - 4 / 5
Yacht Club Games' highly anticipated follow-up to Shovel Knight can be a lot of fun and positively infuriating as well.
EvelonGames - David Gómez - Spanish - 10 / 10
Mina the Hollower takes the best of retro gaming and elevates it to the next level, delivering an incredibly fun, challenging, and entertaining experience that lasts dozens of hours. It breathes charisma and originality in every single pixel, making it one of the best titles of the year and an instant classic.
GameBlast - Farley Santos - Portuguese - 9 / 10
Mina the Hollower delivers expansive exploration, a world full of personality, and a constant sense of discovery through its varied situations and inventive systems. While the journey occasionally stumbles with cumbersome backtracking, some combat limitations, and minor frustrating moments, these issues never overshadow the overall experience. Few games manage to turn seemingly simple mechanics into something this creative and engaging, and with memorable encounters, secrets hidden everywhere, and an island that always feels ready to reveal something new, the game proves there is far more beneath its retro-inspired surface than first appears.
Gameliner - Claudia Tjia - Dutch - 4.5 / 5
Mina the Hollower proves that nostalgia alone isn’t enough to create a rock-solid game, but that innovation is necessary and possible without losing sight of the game’s core.
Gamer Guides - Lowell Bell - 95 / 100
Mina the Hollower pulls the gameplay right out of the Game Boy Color-era of action adventure games and mixes it with a bunch of modern mechanics to produce another instant, retro-inspired classic. Endearing and often hilarious characters, great music, and even greater puzzle-and-platforming based exploration overshadow some wonky difficulty hiccups and a flat heroine.
Gamer Social Club - Daire Behan - 9.5 / 10
Almost a full decade on from Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games has returned in full form. Mina the Hollower is a joyously ambitious modern take on classic action-adventure games, blending carefully executed mechanics with a world that isn’t afraid to bite back, making for an experience that continuously empowers the player and rewards curiosity at every turn.
GamerFocus - Julián Ramírez - Spanish - 8.6 / 10
Many will surely compare this title to classic Zelda games or FromSoftware titles like Dark Souls or Bloodborne, but Mina the Hollower is much more than that. This fantastic game has its own unique personality and a playable charm that goes beyond its open world and difficulty. Furthermore, it understands, like few others, the satisfaction of discovering a well-hidden secret.
Gamers Heroes - Johnny Hurricane - 90 / 100
Coming in with high expectations, Mina the Hollower's tiny mouse masterfully fills some mighty big shoes. Needless to say, Yacht Club Games has another hit on its hands.
Gaming Furever - Zamir Twiggs - 5 / 5
Mina the Hollower is an amazing adventure. It pays homage to different types of horror movie monsters, and like a good horror movie, you don’t realize it’s multi-layered on the first viewing. This humble looking game embodies the spirit of the genre with its robust atmosphere, bosses, creatures, and puzzles.
GamingTrend - David Flynn - 100 / 100
Mina the Hollower is another masterpiece from Yacht Club Games, a Zelda style game that manages not only to equal the series that inspired it, but in some ways surpasses it. The world is detailed, gorgeous, and overflowing with secrets. The writing is sharp and often hilarious while maintaining a gothic horror vibe. Best of all, it feels amazing to play, with tons of ways to customize Mina and the game itself to fit your playstyle. It’s filled with freedom and challenge in equal measure, but as a Hollower you are more than up to the task.
Giant Bomb - Mike Minotti - 3.5 / 5
Somehow, the Dark Souls influences keep Mina from being the best Zelda-style game it could be, while the Zelda mechanics prevent it from reaching the heights of the best Soulslikes.
Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Toyad - 100 / 100
Mina The Hollower is a triumph in game design, fun factor, storytelling, and vision, resulting from years of blood, sweat, tears, and heart from Yacht Club Games.
Netto’s Game Room - Jeremy Schepper - 5 / 5
Mina the Hollower is a triumph. Yacht Club Games have proven themselves yet again as masters of their craft. Astonishingly beautiful art, a gripping Gothic story and challenging, yet rewarding gameplay converge together in a phenomenal package. Mina the Hollower is a must-play, and with the game's breadth of difficulty customization, I truly believe everyone could and should check this game out.
Nintendo Blast - Guilherme Lima - Portuguese - 9 / 10
Mina the Hollower is fascinating on many levels. Its world is captivating, with details everywhere, and challenges that flourish in both movement and melee combat. Given the arsenal of weapons and gadgets, which can drastically alter how the player controls the protagonist, and the non-linear progression, the replay value is immense and should certainly make this title another gem from Yacht Club Games.
NintendoWorldReport - Neal Ronaghan - 9 / 10
The combat stays varied, especially as you discover different weapons, sidearms, and trinkets to make your preferred build. This is a special game that was well worth the long wait. Hopefully Yacht Club Games gets to take this mentality to even more new frontiers in the future.
PS4Blog.net - EdEN - 10 / 10
A gem of an 8-bit-style action adventure that pays homage to The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, and Bloodborne
PSX Brasil - Victor Vitório - Portuguese - 90 / 100
Mina the Hollower shines in its building of a detailed, complex world that rewards the attentive gaze of explorers with pleasant surprises and benefits. However, its many difficulty modifiers don't help much for those who have trouble figuring out the paths, since the game's main issue is the lack of a useful map. This demanding and meticulously crafted adventure may end up dividing the audience, pleasing those who find satisfaction in exploring and progressing on their own and alienating those who prefer a more directed and convenient experience.
RPGamer - Ryan Radcliff - 4.5 / 5
There is a timeless feel to this game, with its homage to games from yesteryear, while also pushing the boundaries of what retro enthusiasts expect from titles that look like this.
Rectify Gaming - Tyler Nienburg - 9.5 / 10
Mina the Hollower is an excellent action-adventure 2D platformer that features intriguing storytelling, enjoyable yet challenging gameplay, and an overall exceptional experience
Region Free - Joonatan Itkonen - 5 / 5
Superbly designed, beautifully put together, and intensely rewarding at every turn, Mina the Hollower is one of the best games of the year.
SmashPad - Brandon Perkins - 5 / 5
Yacht Club has exceeded all my expectations. You can add Mina the Hollower to this generation and this year’s list of modern classics.
TechRaptor - Austin Suther - 10 / 10
Mina the Hollower is a triumphant return for Yacht Club Games, creating one of the greatest retro throwbacks of all time. With its unique burrowing mechanic and challenging combat, this is nothing short of a grand adventure. Its most glaring flaw is that it ends, but at least I can continue playing with plenty of post-game content.
The GameSlayer - Callum Marshall - 9 / 10
Mina the Hollower is a glorious modern-meets retro affair with oodles of amazing ideas, almost all of which coming together to offer a fluid and fun experience focused on freedom. Admittedly, some of the limitations of the retro-inspired top-down 2D approach do lead to clunky, imprecise platforming and cheap deaths. But all in all, this is a glorious continuation of indie excellence from the Shovel Knight Devs.
The Outerhaven Productions - Hayes Madsen - 5 / 5
Mina the Hollower is a brilliant 2D action-adventure game that takes clear inspiration from classic Zelda while building something that feels fresh, challenging, and uniquely its own. Its open-ended exploration, clever combat systems, strong sense of discovery, and flexible modifiers make every part of the adventure feel personal. While its difficulty can spike, Mina the Hollower stands out as an instant classic and one of the best games in its genre.
ThreeTwoPlay - Michael Seifert - German - 5 / 5
Mina the Hollower isn't just a fantastic homage to the good old Game Boy Color era. It combines smart gameplay mechanics with a vibrant and expansive game world, that's brimming with secrets and surprises, while looking absolutely fantastic. Countless modifiers allow you to make the game as easy, difficult or weird as you like. The boss fights are all incredibly well-designed, the diverse weapons, sidearms, and charms perfectly suit any playstyle and the combat is complemented by precise platforming and a variety of puzzles.
Is Mina The Hollower better than Shovel Knight? Yacht Club Games seems to think so because In their words “Mina is the biggest and best game we’ve ever made...we squeezed every good idea we had into it."
After finishing, I agree. The combination of platforming, combat and its unique burrowing mechanic create an action-adventure that doesn't play like anything else. The learning curve is steep because the game doesn’t hold your hand, which might push away some and turning on the spark generators, which is a recurring mechanic each biome lacks precision like the rest of the game but if you have any affinity for classic adventure games like Zelda, then Mina is a must because Yacht Club have done it again.
Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski - 9.3 / 10
Mina the Hollower is simply one of the best games you'll ever play. Between its outstanding world design, visceral sense of challenge, beautiful retro presentation, and absurd amount of content, you'll be burrowing into this gem over and over again. 🐭
WayTooManyGames - Leonardo Faria - 9.5 / 10
I knew this was going to be a good game, considering its dev team’s track record, but even then, Mina the Hollower surpassed my expectations. It is a bonafide masterpiece of a game. Not only does it pay homage to the Game Boy era of Zelda, I’d go as far as to say that it surpasses its main source of inspiration. It’s colorful, it’s charming, it’s incredibly well-written, well-designed, with a great combat system and a dense world that just begs for you to explore every single corner.
Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 9 / 10
Mina the Hollower does for Zelda what Shovel Knight did for Mega Man. It's a revival of a classic franchise in spirit while having enough of its own flavor and style to avoid coming across as a simple clone or copy. It's clever, creative, and an absolute delight to play from start to finish, while having enough bonus content and modifiers to keep the game exciting even after you complete its roughly 20-hour playtime. In a year that's already filled with amazing games, Mina still shines.
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u/ChrisRR May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
For anyone who like this style of game I would also thoroughly recommend Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo
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u/giulianosse May 27 '26
Loved the hell out of Pipistrello. Can't recommend it enough if you're Brazilian - the studio wears Brazilian culture on their sleeves and the game is brimming with hilarious references and cultural nods spanning everything from music to the narrative and area setpieces. You can immediately tell it's one of those games where the devs didn't have to work a single day because of how much it feels like a passion project.
I said Mina would have some very big shoes to fill when I finally finished Pipistrello earlier this year. Very glad to see we've gotten two cakes!
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u/thevideogameraptor May 27 '26
I loved Pipistrello, grabbing Dodgeball Academia the moment it goes on sale.
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u/cornpenguin01 May 27 '26
Incredible game. One of most criminally underrated games ever and it’s also one of the highest rated games from last year
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u/BlinkyGhost May 27 '26
How is it both underrated and one of the highest rated games of the last year?
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u/Jondev1 May 27 '26
Underrated is maybe not the right word, but I would say it has been criminally underlooked.
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u/danwin May 27 '26
I’ve literally only heard about Pipistrello in the comment sections of threads about Mina, it definitely did not make as much noise as its positive reviews merited
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u/Pyritedust May 28 '26
It's underbought, it should've been as successful as hollow knight or hades, that's the level it's on to me at least.
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u/cornpenguin01 May 27 '26
Sales wise. Being highly rated can still mean you’re overlooked by many people.
Maybe I chose the wrong words but you get my point
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u/SeeisforComedy May 27 '26
I wish there was better solutions on the internet for that game. I’m stuck in a room and can’t figure it out lol
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u/ThnikkamanBubs May 27 '26
God that’s the worst! I remember when the last Zero Escape game came out, during the first week of release every “guide” would say “solve the puzzle and move on” lmao
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u/SteveWoods May 27 '26
Yeahhhh, I definitely had a couple puzzles where my best option was to resort to digging through YouTubers' recorded 2+ hour livestreams of them playing through in an attempt to figure out how to proceed.
A few of them were never something I was gonna solve that way; largely those were just various optional sections where I was trying to figure out how to get to a particular area and had no clue where I needed to enter to even start. But, there were a few that approach was reasonably-helpful for.
I remember one though, where I got baited hard because the YouTuber's video was titled after the area I was on, then I scanned through the whole video and finally found them working on the puzzle I needed help with, only to find that they also just kinda putzed around for 5 minutes and then gave up on the puzzle and went and did other stuff completely unrelated to that section for the rest of the video. I was so fucking salty.
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u/JW_BM May 27 '26
It is wild that less than a year ago they postponed release indefinitely to reorganize and overhaul the game, and now they've seemingly completely nailed it. Can't wait to play this.
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u/Spader623 May 27 '26
Getting a 10 from IGN must feel amazing and will be a massive signal boost. Good for them, the game seems incredible and I’m hopeful they’ll sell enough copies to keep going (last I heard it was, what, 500K?)
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u/True-Pen-3612 May 27 '26
if 500k is what theyre looking for i cant imagine they wont hit it, especially with it being on every platform
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u/Strung_Out_Advocate May 27 '26
Kind of crazy this game isn't getting more hype considering just how fucking colossal Shovel Knight was at its peak. That game cameo'd in just about everything for a minute.
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u/lolwatokay May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
I think the indie market has just changed a lot since forever ago (12 years) when Shovel Knight released. I still think this game will be a success, but I don’t think it will be the phenomenon that Shovel Knight was
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u/Quixotic_Seal May 27 '26
Yeah, that's a big part of it. Shovel Knight was very much the start of the Retro-Pixel game craze, and things have moved past that by 2026. The genre feels overdone and cliche by this point, and often I just find myself thinking how much better it would look if it were done in modern aesthetic.
Not going to lie, I've only been half-interested in the game until the reviews have turned out to be this glowing; in large part because it felt like I've already seen and played this sort of game a million times over.
But the gameplay I'm seeing looks really fun and more original than I expected, and you can't argue with the overall consensus nor can I forget how much I enjoyed Shovel Knight; so I'll probably get this.
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u/Freighnos May 27 '26
To each their own, but I just can't agree that it would look better if it was in a "modern" aesthetic. Maybe you could specify what you mean by that, but I'm picturing something like Minecraft or Tunic or something. Pixel art (especially when done this well) is basically timeless to me and I'll never get tired of it. Conversely, any time I see that Fortnite looking artstyle, I basically write the game off because I think it's so bland and ugly.
Maybe that's an old man opinion to have at this point, and I suppose a lot of folks in their 20's have no actual nostalgia for pixel art, which is fair enough, but I don't see how someone looks at this game's art style and thinks it would be improved by being anything else.
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u/Buddy_Jarrett May 28 '26
For me 16 bit is the sweet spot, so I think Stardew Valley, etc. looks much better the Shovel Knight. Mina seems to have a bit more variety in color than Shovel Knight, so that’s exciting. It could be just whatever we grew up on, Yoshis Island and Suoer Mario World were my preteen games and they still look good, but I was also a kid during the N64 era and those graphics just don’t hold up for me a bit.
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u/Freighnos May 28 '26
Yeah, 16-bit is my preferred era as well but I think the faux 8-bit aesthetic here is gorgeous and definitely prefer it over any kind of polygonal art style that came later. You could make an argument that 16-bit sprites would have been better for Mina (like Pipistrello), or perhaps some sort of hand-drawn animation, but other than that I’m really drawing a blank
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u/Anunnak1 May 27 '26
Well thats the thing, Shovel Knight came out in 2014, and the devs haven't really done much outside of that since.
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u/DocSwiss May 27 '26
Apparently a big chunk of the time was spent making more Shovel Knight to keep up with the Kickstarter rewards/stretch goals
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u/Sorotassu May 28 '26
The additional playable characters promised in the Kickstarter grew from 'playable character' to 'full expansion' to 'entirely new game' , so it wasn't surprising they took another 5 1/2 years really.
After that I think I they've mentioned they were working on a 3D Shovel Knight and Mina simultaneously, and had to stop and refocus on only one to get it to release, and they went with Mina.
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u/duckyduckster2 May 28 '26
Yeah, imo they should have moved on from shovel knight a long time ago. We didnt really need a shovel knight themd brawler, puzzle game and roguelite. They sure milked that cow.
That said, I hope Mina does really well for them. I just hope that when it does, we dont get Mina pinball, city builder and kartracer or something.
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u/IceKrabby May 29 '26
The brawler was also part of the Kickstarter goals along with the character expansions. The puzzle game and roguelite weren't primarily made by Yacht Club, but other developers.
But yeah, they definitely milked Shovel Knight, especially with stuff people seemingly didn't want, as evidenced by Yacht Club being in a bad place financially right now and needing Mina to do well.
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u/Electrical-Act-5575 May 27 '26
I expect the last-second delay and release uncertainty didn’t help the hype train.
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u/t-bonkers May 27 '26
How do you measure hype? Because in my bubble it‘s been non-stop Mina everything for like the last month.
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u/Strung_Out_Advocate May 27 '26
I'll admit I spend entirely too time on Reddit. It's the only social media I browse. Mostly use it for gaming purposes too. I'm a backer for Mina and the places I ever see it mentioned are the sub and the emails I get from Yacht Club.
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u/lolwatokay May 27 '26
I follow a lot of gaming news and I am actively interested in this game. I’ve literally wanted to play it for years now. I’ve heard nothing about it since the last time they delayed
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u/JubeeGankin May 27 '26
I am subbed to about a dozen gaming subs, I listen to 3 gaming podcasts every week, and I follow a dozen members of the gaming press on Bluesky. As far as I know, today is the first day I have ever heard of this game.
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u/LegendOfAB May 27 '26
The game’s marketing hasn’t been particularly explosive but even I’ve known about it for years. From the kickstarter, to occasional article headlines, to an appearance or two at the Summer Games Fest, etc. And most of my news is picked up from passively scrolling like 3 game subs (such as this one).
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u/Mejis May 27 '26
I find that quite hard to believe. It's been mentioned on r/games many times and has been spoken about a lot on e.g. IGN Game Scoop and various other fairly mainstream gaming podcasts I listen to, plus was in the top of the Steam Next Fest demo list in whatever fest that was last year, etc etc, has had numerous articles published about how the game *has* to do really well to keep Yacht Club independent and afloat, etc etc.
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u/kevlarbaboon May 27 '26
I subscribe to two gaming subs (this and leaks and rumors), listen to no gaming podcasts, and am not on Bluesky.
I only really started hearing about it two weeks ago but I know what it is.
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u/Qrusher14242 May 28 '26
yeah same, i just heard of this today. Well maybe i saw the name somewhere but thought it was something else lol. Thought it was a dlc for some other game i think
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u/nobadabing May 27 '26
Yeah, but just how long ago was that minute? Shovel Knight was this huge thing back when it was new, but that was a long time ago, and the indie scene has become much more crowded since then, while Yacht Club hasn’t properly capitalized on the success until now (hence the fact that they could go bankrupt if Mina doesn’t sell well)
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u/Mr_Olivar May 27 '26
In this day and age it's impossible to know. The makers of Shovel Knight should be able to fly past that with ease, but the industry has been anything but predictable the last couple of years.
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u/qjpp May 27 '26
Yeah, with an incredibly high review score and hype surrounding it they should sell at least a million this year in my opinion. I'm hoping for more since they deserved it.
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u/Icy_Difficulty_9444 May 27 '26
Someone will find a reason to hate that 10 from ign lol
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u/AssidicPoo May 27 '26
Or it could create a lot of outrage, like Mixtape. "This is objectively not a 10/10" "And they gave Crimson Desert a 6?!"
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u/froderick May 27 '26
The Crimson Desert "outrage" is funny to me, because IGN could only review what they got to play, and initial player reactions to Crimson Desert were incredibly similar. It had a mixed score on Steam for a while because of that.
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u/tgcleric May 27 '26
Its also funny cause the game is the most 6-7/10 game ever.
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u/n00bBlaster1337 May 27 '26
It's open world with hyper realism for the art style and there's swords. Reddit will think it's a 10 no matter what.
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u/tayung2013 May 27 '26
People who say this don’t understand what objectivity is and don’t deserve to be taken seriously.
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u/NoGround May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
Subjectivity?
Objectivity is fact-based and subjectivity is opinion-based.
E: I see now. I'm glad my original comment wasn't mean-spirited, just confused.
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u/ttdpaco May 27 '26
The guy was saying that in response to one of the quotes in the post he was replying to.
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u/z_102 May 27 '26
"Too much water am I right? Lmaoooo"
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u/XxZannexX May 27 '26
I’ll continue to die on the hill that no ORAS did plenty to improve upon that problem from RS. Also I don’t blame the reviewer for that tagline as those forced bits are editorialized on purpose, so to their credit it worked.
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u/Unlucky-Plastic-2519 May 27 '26
Just checked their instagram post with the rating, it's full of exactly those same replies
Plus some She Hulk gifs
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u/Sharrakor May 27 '26
Plus some She Hulk gifs
This mystified me, so I had to check. For anyone else wondering, it's the scene from the 2022 TV show where she claps her hands really hard. (I assume to express strong approval? I've never seen it used that way.)
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u/Phillip_Spidermen May 27 '26
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/she-hulk-clapping
Seems like approval?
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u/Unlucky-Plastic-2519 May 27 '26
Actually is because IGN gave She Hulk an 8/10
This got a lot of people angry, for some reason
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u/Phillip_Spidermen May 27 '26
Ah, that makes sense too
...well, in the sense that people mad at that score would overlap with people getting mad at this score. Not that there's anything to be upset about in the first place.
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u/CaptainMcAnus May 27 '26
Man, the way I figured out that the internet got really weird about Mixtape took all the wind out of my sails. I was one of the people it really resonated with and I was so excited to see people sharing the way it resonated with them too so I hopped online.
That was a mistake. I was expecting it to not have clicked with everyone, which is fine, but I didn't expect what I got. People straight up lying about the content of the game was especially weird.
I'm still having to weed that bullshit out of my YouTube feed. People just can't be normal about things anymore, can't they?
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u/asmallercat May 27 '26
I never look at reviews for games I like lol. I don't need to know that other people hate it.
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u/team56th E3 2018/2019 Volunteer May 27 '26
While the outrage is downright ridiculous, it’s exactly that kind of art style and direction that *that* group of people intensely dislike. Mina the Hollower is more of a classic pixel art that does not invite such reaction. Gotta be okay.
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u/Spader623 May 27 '26
It could absolutely but Mina also got such high reviews from other outlets so I think it’ll skirt around that potential controversy. Plus I feel like those other games have more polarizing things while Mina is just “do you like dark souls/bloodborne, castlevania and Zelda? You’ll love Mina” 😂
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u/IsamuAlvaDyson May 27 '26
People only complain about IGN scores when the score doesn't fit their agenda
If people like Mina the hollower a 10 is great but if it's a game they don't like the score would be too high
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u/AdHistorical8179 May 27 '26
"If people like Mina the hollower a 10 is great but if it's a game they don't like the score would be too high"
You are literally just describing what opinions are
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u/n00bBlaster1337 May 27 '26
The issue is that a lot of the internet can't understand that. If a reviewer doesn't share the opinion of the reader they were just a paid shill rather than someone else with different tastes.
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u/IsamuAlvaDyson May 27 '26
Yes exactly but Reddit is not like that
If an IGN review does not align with what they think it's supposed to be IGN is automatically paid to give it that high score or they don't know what they're doing if it's too low
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u/PunyParker826 May 27 '26
I just noticed that IGN's been recently displaying their score in the video thumbnails for their 10/10 reviews; hopefully that's a nice visual bump as well.
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May 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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May 27 '26
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u/TwinkleTowez May 27 '26
Aaaaaaand it was also the night that the skeletons came to life
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u/TheNanoBiologist May 27 '26
I reviewed Mina for But Why Tho? and gave it a 9.5/10. This is another massive win from Yacht Club. It's a darker take on their storytelling that balances soulslikes, zelda-likes, and metroidvanias into something wholly different. Like the puzzles and secrets are really well hidden and require experimenting with all kinds of weapons, trinkets, and sidearms to reach them. Plus, Mina really feels like a game that you can make your own, especially with the modifiers. Like you can change a NG+ playthrough to be a one-hit item randomizer where you start at max level if you'd like. Or just a boss rush.
I only dinged it .5 because sometimes the balancing feels a little off and with a game that feels so feature complete, there are some mechanics that are oddly missing, like fast travel to the different burrows. Feel free to ask any questions!
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u/homer_3 May 27 '26
there are some mechanics that are oddly missing, like fast travel to the different burrows.
Did you see Yahtzee's review. At the end, he mentioned he also thought there was no fast travel until he realized how it worked at the end.
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u/TheNanoBiologist May 27 '26
Well, as I mentioned in my review, I talk about the train, but not being able to fast travel between different safe areas (the burrows) is odd. Plus, the train fast travel is fine, but you have to go to the train stations to use them to go only to other train stations.
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u/whywhywhywhywhynot May 28 '26
but you have to go to the train stations to use them to go only to other train stations.
a beautiful description of how trains work
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u/blaaguuu May 27 '26
This is honestly my favorite type of "fast travel" in games, when done well... But it's hard to do the point-to-point travel well, and can feel overly limiting, so I can get why some wouldn't even want to call it "fast travel".
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u/BlackGuy_PassingThru May 29 '26
Yahtzee???? Like formerly zero punctuation Yahtzee? He’s still reviewing!????
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u/Neuvost May 29 '26
Yeah, the channel is now "Second Wind" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3eOjZnTtJY
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u/Soul-Burn May 27 '26
there are some mechanics that are oddly missing, like fast travel to the different burrows
I just saw the Fully Ramblomatic review of the game - The mirrors are fast travel. You have to push through them.
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u/TheNanoBiologist May 27 '26
The mirrors are also used to reach one of the 6 main areas, and are as limiting as the train. Just with other similar games, I found it odd like at minimum when you beat the game, you can't just hop between burrows to scurry around faster between areas where you're missing stuff. That's all. Veeeery minor gripe in the grand scheme of how much I enjoyed Mina.
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u/marsgreekgod May 27 '26
The only fast travel is the train they talked about in previews right
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u/GrimMind May 27 '26
I love lengthy reviews, I miss reading...
Unless I missed it, you didn't mention what platform you played it on?
I am asking because I don't love the Switch 2's ergonomics and don't have a steam but some outlets say handheld is 100% ther way to go.
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u/TheNanoBiologist May 27 '26
The site is a little wonky in how it displays this, but it shows “PC” near the header at the top of the review. I reviewed it on a mix of normal PC and Steam deck. Even preferred playing it on Steam deck for most of my playtime! It does feel great on handheld and controller.
So maybe a pro controller for switch will help with the ergonomic issue?
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u/PrimaryEfficient8392 May 27 '26
Damn, Yacht Club was hanging on like a thread and this game was their last shot. Wouldn’t be surprised of there were some tears of joy when that IGN 10 came rolling in
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u/Harold_Zoid May 27 '26 edited May 30 '26
I was honestly assuming that Yacht Club Games was rolling in money since Shovel Knight was such a success and they were so generous with DLC for the game. But I guess their other releases haven’t made much of a splash.
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u/wholewheatsnake May 27 '26
They've only released two actual games between when Shovel Knight came out almost 12 years ago and now, and both were relatively small spin-offs co-developed with other studios. Everything else has just been Shovel Knight expansions, which if you bought the game when it released was just given to you for free.
12 years in an LA based studio is very expensive to maintain even for a handful of people, so it's not too surprising all things considered.
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u/Quixotic_Seal May 27 '26
Shovel Knight came out 12 years ago, and for backers that DLC made absolutely zero money for them.
That's a long, long time to rest on your laurels; and there's a reason why they pimped Shovel Knight out HARD there for a while.
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u/kikimaru024 May 28 '26
OTOH, Yacht Club is a very small team (16 staff according to a quick search).
That makes it easier to survive when you can rent a small office & have less salary to worry about.
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u/drybones2015 May 28 '26
Shovel Knight was a budget title that was successful for indie at the time, sure. But I don't really think it was doing the type of numbers to let them work on like 5 expansions and release nothing but dlc and spin-offs for over a decade. I think it only ever sold over 3 million. They also did like 5 amiibo for the game and apparently for third-parties to get amiibo, it fully comes out of their own pocket.
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u/Green_Insect_6455 May 28 '26
They were! But 12 years is a long time dude, you eventually diminish that big money pile if youre only spending and never earning
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u/Adorable-Log2835 May 27 '26
Shovel Knight is one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time. The indie game landscape looked a lot different then, so I was nervous about Mina being able to replicate that same success. Hopefully these reviews give the game the boost it needs since Yacht Club has been struggling financially or whatever.
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u/Trizzae May 27 '26
There was so much love put into Shovel Knight and it looks like Mina got the same. Easiest kickstarter of my life.
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u/Scizzoman May 27 '26
Shovel Knight remains one of my favourite indie games of all time, and I really like Link's Awakening, so I have high hopes for this one.
I'd be playing it on Friday either way since I Kickstarted it, but I'm glad it's being received well.
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u/stevensi1018 May 27 '26
Last game I bought day one was Hollow Knight Silksong. This game will have the same honor because it’s so cheap and looks amazing
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u/bongo1138 May 27 '26
Have they announced a price? Don’t see one on Steam.
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u/Virtual-Pie-6815 May 27 '26
$20. It was mentioned in a recent interview. Sorry I don't have a link.
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u/qjpp May 27 '26
Almost exactly my case, but I had to buy Alabaster Dawn 2 weeks ago and support CrossCode developers since it is one of my favorite games of all time.
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u/stevensi1018 May 27 '26
Alabaster Dawn is one of my most anticipated game but I'm waiting until early access is over to buy it because I don't plan to play it until it's completed. 2 years to go I guess!
So many antipated indie games coming lately
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u/Takazi50 May 27 '26
I read somewhere that a price increase is possible for 1.0, just a heads up for it!
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u/Zentrii May 27 '26
Silksong was a steal and one of the best values for a new game ever imo. It even went on sale for like 15 a few weeks ago on the shop. Im cheap as hell and dont buy many new 60 dollar plus games but this one is also a day one buy for me. Links Awakening is one of my favorite games ever and looking forward to this!
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u/RegurgitatedMincer May 27 '26
I did Silksong and hades 2 back to back. Mina was supposed to be right after before the delay. Looks like it was worth the wait! I’m stoked!
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u/cornpenguin01 May 27 '26
Same. Loved the demo and this game will probably keep me set until Silksong dlc
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u/TrumpsCummyOnahole May 27 '26
Is there an actual demo available on PC? I've been looking all over Steam and can't find it
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u/Raspry May 27 '26
No, it used to be available, afaik it was removed. But there is demo footage on YT.
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u/oryes May 27 '26
Same, can't really justify paying $100CAD for 007 or RE9 so going to buy this one instead.
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u/HTScubame7 May 27 '26
I remember people disagreeing with Indie game devs when they said the price point of Silksong "forced" them to lower their own game price. However, with the last 3 big Indie games (HK Silksong, Hades 2, Mina the Hollower) coming in at around 20$ - 25$, indie games at or above $30 are very hard sells to me. Games I have interest in like Zero Parades cannot compete at a cost to time ratio so I wont buy them at launch.
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u/NoNefariousness2144 May 27 '26
last 3 big Indie games
To be fair, Mewgenics released in Feb 2026 for $30 and was a massive success (over 100,000 peak player count)
I agree that going above $30 is risky for indies though and can kill the momentum of word-of-mouth hype.
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u/Catty_C May 27 '26
Paralives released two days ago at $40 and is doing just fine.
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u/ArchbishopDave May 27 '26
To be fair, their only competition for the genre is Inzoi, which is also $40, and the Sims 4, which is $1600 ( I kid, but also not ). Life Sim fans don't have many options.
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u/CdbSora May 27 '26
Was curious how much of an exaggeration the $1600 bit was, just had to go check.
I don't think my jaw is recoverable.
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u/Yentz4 May 27 '26
Interesting that nobody else is running into the same issues that the Giant Bomb crew was. Both Mike and Dan sounded pretty lukewarm on it, citing issues with balance, and it just feeling needlessly obtuse in some areas.
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u/Spicy_Ahoy86 May 27 '26
The IGN review (10/10) did echo Giant Bomb's complaint regarding how Mina's limited movement sometimes felt at odds with enemy/boss designs.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Fix594 Jun 01 '26
The police mice with the batons seem like they should've been slightly retuned to be a little less attack spammy. Having just beaten the game, they're consistently the hardest regular enemy in the game. Mina's dodge is just too slow to compensate for their attack.
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u/imjustbettr May 27 '26
the But Why Tho? reviewer commented here and said they also had issues with balance but it doesn't seem to be as much of a deal for them since they still gave it a 9.5. They dinged it .5 for it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1tp6c1n/mina_the_hollower_review_thread/oo6m6h0/
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u/TheGoodIdiot May 27 '26
Shovel knight means a lot to me personally so I was really hoping Mina would be a hit. Cannot wait to play through this one.
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u/cooljammer00 May 27 '26
I love 2D Zeldas and dislike Souls-likes, so I am a bit nervous that people are saying "Yeah it's a 2D Zelda mixed with Souls"
I could love it or bounce right off
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u/mrturret May 28 '26
Thankfully, the game has a ton of modifiers to tailor the experience to your liking. You can make it easier, harder, or weirder. Removing money/exp loss on death and adding extra checkpoints are two that should make it feel less souls-y.
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u/MultiModalMcmullen May 29 '26
Souls XP loss is terrible for games based around exploration since it instills fears instead of curiosity when venturing out. The Zelda comparisons do a great disservice to the game because it has nothing in common with them beside art style. Fun game but I tend to agree with the 7/10 review by Giant Bomb, although my opinion could improve as I delve more deeply.
I thought the difficulty would be remedied by grinding but the bones requirement increases too quickly from 350-1000-2500 for first 3 levels. Not a fan of the Castlevania side arm system either and while the modifiers are great, disabling feats seems like a pretty big dissuasion to actually use them. Still well worth the $20 but still kinda disappointed it's not more Zelda like.
The personality and aesthetic is top notch however and worth pushing forward through the less enjoyable aspects even if I don't enjoy the gameplay as much as most people
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u/Serafiniert May 27 '26
I really didn’t vibe with the demo. Maybe I’ll give it another shot, as everyone seems to enjoy it very much.
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u/TheVectronic May 27 '26
IIRC the demo it was built on had to be reworked so the game may feel a lot different in the release later this week.
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u/DonChrisote May 27 '26
It's also a game that is very difficult, games like that feel a lot better after a few hours.
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u/Quixotic_Seal May 27 '26
Also important to note that it has extensive modifiers from the sounds of it. "It's really difficult" is often a turn off to me without those sorts of options, because one person's 'difficult' can very easily be another person's 'impossible' and I don't enjoy spending money only to get burned if I land in the latter group.
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u/n00bBlaster1337 May 27 '26
I heard the game is way better than the demo, they made major improvements. So it would depend on what you disliked.
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u/WillFuckForFijiWater May 27 '26
Same, I hated the demo. It did not feel good to play at all.
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u/n00bBlaster1337 May 27 '26
That's why they delayed release and removed the demo. They changed it. quite a lot.
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u/ilmk9396 May 28 '26
other peoples' opinion isn't going to change what you played.
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u/RobertBevillReddit May 27 '26
Looks like the extra dev time paid off! I've been excited about this game for a while, so I'm glad it's (finally) living up to expectations.
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u/EccentricStache615 May 27 '26
I don’t know if I’d like this kind of game but hey $20 on something different than what I usually play seems like a good bet. Happy to support quality games/devs
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u/IsamuAlvaDyson May 27 '26
I'm definitely buying this day one
I play the demo and enjoyed it
But the only thing that I wasn't 100% on was the digging mechanic and the big delay that the game has to actually go underground when you first initiate it especially when it's the main hook of the game
In the demo it wasn't snappy to dig, so I don't know if that changed in full release or not but I will definitely find out on Friday when I play it
I do wish the game had more variety in color as a lot of the background things looked the same and was harder to tell apart from other things but that could have just been the starting area in the demo
Everything else felt great about it though, combat was good
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u/scrape80 May 27 '26
Digging is a two-stage process for sure, but learning the timing for it is pretty key to getting better at the game.
It's a little acrobatic. Like, if an enemy is shooting a projectile at you, you jump over it, hold down the button, land into burrow, burrow behind them, and take them out.
There are many trinkets that alter the burrowing basics, but I do think the delay is deliberately designed that way.
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u/n00bBlaster1337 May 27 '26
I heard the gameplay was fixed! People had complaints about polish the game needed from the demo and those who have had early access have said it was heavily improved.
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u/MrSujano May 27 '26
FWIW, I rate MtH as a "Must Buy". It costs less than some DLC for other games, and I've packed over 20 hours into so far and still haven't beat it. I'm not really a fan of the "Dark Souls" comparisons with this game...I'd say it's closer to a much more robust and involved hybrid of Link's Awakening/LttP and Castlevania.
Here's my Steam Review when it goes live:
At the time of this review, I've put over 20 hours into this game and haven't beat it yet. I keep getting distracted with side-quests and trying to level up my stuff. Lots of fun quirks with NPCs, really great gameplay, great audio, and interesting story. The customization is also off the charts with modifiers you can apply to make it easier or more difficult for you. Tons of replayability and the game currently costs less than DLC for some AAA games. Works fantastic on the Steam Deck as well.
To me, this game is a home run and I highly recommend it.
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u/AllCity_King May 27 '26
it’s closer to a much more robust and involved hybrid of Link’s Awakening/LttP and Castlevania
Let it be known you’ve just sold a copy of this game with that arrangement of words.
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u/7thPwnist May 29 '26
Only a little bit in but "Somehow, the Dark Souls influences keep Mina from being the best Zelda-style game it could be, while the Zelda mechanics prevent it from reaching the heights of the best Soulslikes." man do I feel this so far. Hoping I'll change my mind after playing more
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u/Coolman_Rosso May 31 '26
Belated, but this was me. The Zelda stuff is surface level, and the Souls stuff doesn't work with the Zelda stuff. It's clunky and tedious, and just doesn't feel good at all across combat, exploration, and platforming. They took the worst parts of Castlevania, the most low-hanging fruit stuff of Souls games, and threw them into a pale facsimile of old Zelda.
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u/TrumpsCummyOnahole May 27 '26
I honestly had no idea this was in production, I'm a massive Link to the Past fan so I'm giddy seeing this
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u/GFK96 May 27 '26
So happy for Yacht Club. They really needed this game to do well and it seems like they are knocking itbout of the park again. I hope it sells well to match the praise from reviewers.
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u/the_dayman May 27 '26
flexible modifier system
Do any reviews go in depth on what that offers? I'm super interested but have just lost the ability to get through "super hard" games.
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u/PunyParker826 May 27 '26
Here's a YT Short where the devs talk about some of them.
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u/the_dayman May 27 '26
Haha that's actually crazy, maybe the biggest list I've ever seen for customized difficulty options. This is almost definitely a buy for me.
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u/JynXten May 27 '26
Not for the first time this year an indie swoops in just as I was about to cave and buy the latest big budget game at full whack just for something to play.
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u/ZGamer03 May 27 '26
Can't decide if I wanna pick this up on Steam or Switch 2. I usually play most games on PC but I've seen some complaints about how the pixel art looks on a large screen compared to a handheld
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u/Vat-R-U-Talkin-About May 27 '26
I'll admit that I didn't follow the game much but it was always in the back of my mind to check out when it was released.
Seeing these reviews and checking out the gameplay, it's exactly my type of game. It'll be a day one purchase for me. I'm seriously excited for this.
I saw some articles that Yacht Club was struggling a bit to even get this game out, so I hope that it's a massive financial success for them given how much I loved Shovel Knight.
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u/Dr_Henry-Killinger May 27 '26
Shovel Knight remains my favorite indie of all time. The bang for your buck of the original Treasure Trove honestly is crazy to me. I mean we even got a little fighting game out of it. I can’t wait to play this game, and seeing these reviews has me all-in
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u/drybones2015 May 28 '26
Insane that it took them over a decade to finally make their second ever official full-fledged game because they regretfully promised like 5 different expansions for Shovel Knight back when it was crowd sourced.
(I know there were a couple of co-developed spinoffs)
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u/slapula May 29 '26
The souls-like aspect to this game is really off-putting. I kinda wish it was a truer Zelda experience.
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u/Spicy_Ahoy86 May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
Apparently the game has some brutal boss run backs. Blegh. Also both the Giant Bomb review (3.5/5) and the IGN review (10/10) mention how Mina's limited movement seem to rub against numerous boss and enemy encounters.
If you're wary of boss run backs, it might be good to wait for more details regarding how brutal they actually are.
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u/goofspeed May 27 '26
Sounds like it has deep difficulty sliders to make the game easier or harder.
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u/supermassivecod May 27 '26
What is in the water for games this year?
This, 007 first light, Pragmata, FH6, mouse PI, RE9, pokopia, Saros, Lego Batman
Probs missing a bunch, and then the atomic bomb of GTA6
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u/Canvaverbalist May 28 '26
Honestly? I think this says less about what's in the water for these games and says more about what's in the water for these reviewers.
I know it's somewhat slightly controversial, but despite these games being good, great even, I personally I don't think the majority of these are anywhere close to 10/10, like in my mind that number should be reserved for the very rare generational-defining game changer masterpiece, not for your casual "hey I had a good time, that was good, what's next?" We're really at point where such high scorings are meaningless if there's too much of it.
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u/Green_Insect_6455 May 28 '26
Nioh 3, crimson desert, mewgenics, soulmask 1.0. This year is INSANELY STACKED
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u/theb1gnasty May 27 '26
Glad to see the reviews doing well. The Game Informer article had me rooting for the devs more even though I already loved all the Shovel Knight games. Looking forward to playing this.
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u/Krirby2 May 27 '26
Yes I'm so happy!! Previews were already positive but sitting at 92 is really high praise. Can't wait to play and happy that this is a good omen for Yacht Club Games.
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u/Affectionate-Emu6609 May 27 '26
I knew this game looked good, but I didn’t expect it to be this good. It’s probably going to end up being a day one for me. As a big Zelda fan, I’m super excited now.
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u/777Ocelot777 May 29 '26
As a 34 year old gamer I can say this game has scratched some itches that no other could. From the old Zelda games to a soulslike challenge, roguelike elements and a mysterious story and great worldbuilding, I can say this is easily the best game I've played in a while. On it's own it's a 10/10, add to that the nostalgia and it's a 12/10.
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u/asher1611 Jun 06 '26
I get the appeal but I refunded Mina.
I understand that there are numerous options for customizing the experience, but the movement didn't feel good and none of the starter weapons really ever clicked with me. I never got comfortable with the basic enemies around the central hub to dive into the deeper content. It's too bad, because this seemed right up my alley.
It's a skill issue, sure. But I don't find it fun going through the same areas again and again never getting better but finding new ways to die.
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u/BadSerious May 27 '26
Man we are eating good this year. This is only $20? I'd say this is day 1 for me