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This is the part where I admit I've only ever played maybe an hour of **Shovel Knight**.

<VideoEmbed src="https://qkmxahnj8jdyrevu.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/mina-the-hollower/mina-jumping-0dlgbAihngvoIkPt51zHMBhJ4TlPo4.mp4" />

**Mina the Hollower** is a top-down Zelda-like, Yacht Club's follow-up to the massively successful **Shovel Knight**.

The demo covers the first area of the game, a journey from a shipwreck to some kind of capital city. I don't know if it'll be like this in the final release but the demo lets you choose your primary weapon, choosing between a whip, double daggers, and a big ol' hammer. I can't resist a big ol' hammer, so I went with that.

What I've played so far is promising. Basic combat encounters are simple but still engaging. Exploration can be rewarding. The healing vials system is a little weird to pick up on at first, but I think I got the hang of it after a while.

The demo ended with a great boss fight. It's an early check that you can can use the burrowing dodge mechanic, plus get the hang of the bosses few moves to know when it's safe to attack.

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**Mina the Hollower** is set to launch on October 31, 2025. Feels like it'll be a perfect Steam Deck game and I'm looking forward to it.

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Mina the Hollower Demo Impressions


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I'm 70% writing this post as an excuse to mess with a video embed component, since I've been trying out Steam's background recording feature.

I hadn't paid too much attention to **Hell is Us** before the demo was released, but I'd seen enough to know I would give it a try.

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First impressions were good. The demo starts off in a mysterious, desolate forest, and it gives off a nice, eerie atmosphere. I'm impressed with the graphics, even if the art style doesn't feel like it totally has its own identity in the early stages.

<VideoEmbed src="https://qkmxahnj8jdyrevu.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/hell-is-us/combat-6iofnuwPiImLKFCBeK26HeUU8BU4mt.mp4" />

The combat is decent so far. It feels like a Souls-like for sure, and the closest one I'd compare it to is **The Surge**. Just a little clunky, with attack animations that go a little further than you expect. You have a little drone buddy too. At first it only has one move, to stun/distract enemies, but I'm sure that'll open up as the game progresses.

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I'm digging the menu UI, though it is ever-so-slightly too slow to open. Fallout Pip-Boy vibes. Equipment seems pretty straightforward, but I'm intrigued by the investigation system. Seems like you'll be discovering clues and putting some pieces together yourself, but maybe with a little more structure than **Dark Souls**.

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I've played enough to be intrigued, but not enough to know I'd be down to pick it up on launch day. I'll be waiting for reviews.

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Hell is Us Demo Impressions


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I've never believed in fate / destiny / the guiding hand of a higher power. RNG has been easier to swallow for a long time. But there is something to parenting, when I look at Ole, it's obvious to me that he is supposed to exist. And the chaos of the universe that led to his existence happened as it should.

It's a weird belief to hold in parallel with no faith in any religion or destiny, but it's how I feel.

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On Parenting


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Yeesh, well, it's been about a year since this site came online. In that time, as a blog it's been a total failure. Writing isn't the outlet for me it used to be, and between busy work and busy parenting life I haven't felt the urge to wax poetically about any of my dev work. I don't think I'm one of those devs.

But over in the **consume** section of this site I'd call the experiment a success. Over the years I've tried a bunch of different tools to track and review(?) media consumption. Goodreads for books, Infinite backlog and others for gaming, Letterboxd or whatever for movies and TV. Everything's a little too much work, maybe the workflow is too involved for what I'm trying to do.

So I started using a very basic Notion database. Anytime I finish something I care enough to write a paragraph about, I drop it in Notion with a title, a little bit of metadata, a category (games, TV, movies, books, etc), and maybe a paragraph of my thoughts. This site grabs the update, slaps a date on it, styles it based on the category, and drops it in the feed along with everything else I've consumed. And I think that's all I need it to do, at least for now. I've been using it pretty consistently for the past year, which is more than I can say for any of the tools I've tried.

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(Spongebob narrator voice) One year later...


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A catalog of my continuing adventures. I need to continue learning more about development on my own time, and I also need (want) a place to record light, general impressions of the media I'm consuming.

Hence Create / Consume

I think this will be a good place to track it.

Coming up soon, an overview of the technologies I worked with and what I've learned building a new site for the in-laws. E-commerce minus the commerce. More details at a later date.

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Create

Mina the Hollower Demo Impressions

Hell is Us Demo Impressions

On Parenting

(Spongebob narrator voice) One year later...

Time to return, time to learn