Mina the Hollower - The First Six Hours

Mina the Hollower is visually stunning with top-tier sprite work, animations, and sound. The central town is bustling and filled with weird and interesting characters. The writing has a charm to it, with snappy puns and NPC oddities. And there’s a unique burrowing mechanic that sets this game apart from those that came before it.

Unfortunately, if I had to sum up Mina the Hollower in one word I would say “frustrating.” This is a game with an extremely promising foundation. But it's designed in a way that is often maddening. I love "hard" games when done right (Hollow Knight: Silksong and Elden Ring come to mind), but the difference here is that when I fall into a pit or die I find myself getting annoyed and upset instead of feeling encouraged to push on. This isn't a "get good" situation; I beat the pumpkin boss on my first try, for what it's worth, and progress is happening. The issue is more about how the game feels to move through. Enemies constantly press forward and are sometimes placed just to mess with you, and the platforming demands a level of mastery from the very start rather than letting it develop naturally as you play.

Part of this comes down to how the individual screens are designed, as they're often just chaos. You're rarely given time to think, pits are everywhere, and falling into one sends you back to the start of the screen while taking a serious chunk of your health. There's no room to catch your breath or take in the moment; you can't even stop to read a sign without an enemy hitting you.

The tower climbs take this to another level (pun intended). They could have been fun Sonic- or Earthworm Jim-style bonus stages, but instead they're the biggest middle finger to the player, demanding insane precision to thread through womp rat-sized holes while a rope swings you wildly and enemies come at you like an insane shmup.

All of this points to a larger problem: the game feels like it has a bit of an identity crisis. You, as the player, are in a mix of a Final Fantasy Adventure, A Link to the Past, and Castlevania, whereas the enemies and obstacles feel lifted from a quarter-munching arcade game.

Despite being two towers in, I don't feel satisfied when I complete a zone. It’s the little moments that keep me going (e.g. hidden stuff, silly NPCs, new items, and upgrades) while the big frustrations make me bang my head on the table. Thankfully, the game seems to be getting slightly less frustrating the more my character gains abilities, leaving me with a glimmer of hope that the best is yet to come.