Mina the Hollower Demo Impressions

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

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.

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.