![]() The enemy that kills her will absorb that spark (if it’s a hazard, you’ll find it near the trap), giving you the short-term goal of getting it back in revenge. Hitting enemies increases the amount that she can heal, so staying smart and aggressive is key for survival.ĭying during a run will revive her at the last activated checkpoint, but only if she has a spark remaining. While Mina packs several potions, they only restore her health up to a certain point. It only took a few minutes into the demo for me to realize that not getting hit is more important here than in other games. Spark of life This coach driver is doubtful about Mina's abilities, but you'll show him. Mina can only hold one of these special weapons at a time, so I could imagine swapping the axe to, say, the Gyro Dagger, which functions like a boomerang, to fit the situation. There was one bird in the cemetery that wouldn’t stop harrying Mina from different angles, so I just threw an axe at its face so I didn’t have to deal with it anymore. In particular, the magic pots were incredibly useful for powering a throwing axe that I used to lob at enemies that either had a large health pool or were tricky to eliminate with the hammer. This would typically drop gold pieces, magic pots, and bones, which can be used to upgrade Mina’s stats and abilities. It’s slow and lumbering, though, and getting hit mid-swing completely cancels the attack, so spacing and timing matter a lot for the weapon.Īlong the way, I made sure to cut down any destructible objects I could find, whether it was a bush, a candle, or a stump. I ultimately favored the hammer for its powerful charged attack which usually flattens regular enemies in one shot. I found the mace to be a classic nod to Castlevania, an all-around weapon with solid damage and range, while the daggers had the neat ability to be thrown as projectiles, though I found it tricky to retrieve them in tight spots. Mina had access to a swinging chained mace called Nightstar, a destructive hammer named the Blaststrike Maul, and a swift pair of daggers Whisper and Vesper. ![]() One main feature on display in this demo were the three starter weapons, which was a stretch goal in the Kickstarter campaign. Dig them an early grave Collect enough bones and you can upgrade Mina's base stats. Admittedly, that was tough given the time constraints, but I made sure to play the demo more than once. Fighting enemies, some of which are faster than Mina, without getting damaged requires proper planning and not speeding through each screen too quickly. Our protagonist’s signature ability allows her to dig underneath the ground (without needing a shovel at all) and then pop up to burrow beneath obstacles, pick up boulders, or perform a boosted leap over gaps. The 15-minute demo I played at the Day of the Devs booth mainly expanded on what we already know about Mina the Hollower. In fact, reading through the comments for the game’s Kickstarter, the developers humorously responded to a fan question by saying it didn’t want to add the Pizza Cutter weapon because it didn’t want to rip-off Bloodborne 100%, but “maybe just 60%.” This goes to show that they’re fully aware of where the game is going, and really, having it be compared to Bloodborne is hardly a bad thing. More than flesh and BloodborneĪpparently, when you aim to create a spiritual successor to Shovel Knight by blending the gothic horror of Castlevania and the swift action of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, you get something close to a cool demake of Bloodborne. But from what it has shown so far, its progress is already impressive. Even today, despite showing off a short hands-on demo of the game at GDC 2023, the game still doesn’t have a firm release date. Since then, Yacht Club Games has been rather quiet as it focuses on making Mina the Hollower as polished as it can be. Only asking for $300,000 for its initial goal, it finished with more than four times that amount with $1.23 million, smashing the majority of its stretch goals. ![]() It’s been a little over a year since Yacht Club Games, the developer of the incredible Shovel Knight, announced Mina the Hollower and its accompanying Kickstarter campaign.
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