Yacht Club Games Interview - Mina the Hollower

With the launch of Mina the Hollower only one week away, our dedicated Zelda and Yacht Club number one fan Steve Whiting was lucky enough to speak with Sean Velasco and ask him a few questions.

We cannot thank Sean enough for taking the time to answer our questions in such wonderful detail.

Steve: With Mina being the first title you’ve developed outside of the Shovel Knight IP, how did you begin that process of deciding to venture across into a whole new world of characters and settings?

Sean: Once we were done with Shovel Knight, we wanted to make something that was a big contrast to it, and Mina fit the bill. We had wanted to make a top-down game after doing a side-scroller, and something in a different style, but still a project where we could apply our skills. So this felt like a natural next project - making something more RPG-like, and something spooky, as opposed to fantasy.

Steve: Many publications, as well as yourselves, are calling Mina 'Castlevania meets 2D Zelda', and we can see why with the whip-action! Is the whip interwoven into the game's lore like the Master Sword in Zelda, or should we wait and see?

Sean: Nightstar is not really integrated into the lore in a meaningful way in this game! It would be cool if it was, though! Maybe if there’s another Mina game, we’ll learn more about how she learned to wield her whip and where it came from. I always like it when a game explains all the things the character had in their first game, George Lucas-style. Haha.

Steve: As huge 2D Zelda fans here at Switchaboo, we love our action RPGs to be chock-full of collectables, secrets and side quests. How prominent will they be in Mina, and will they be comparable to Shovel Knight in terms of scope and scale?

Sean: Mina actually has way more collectibles, secrets, and side quests than Shovel Knight. It is absolutely a massive game that can take between 20 and 30 hours to complete. There are 60 trinkets, dozens of bosses, so many different paths and routes you can take through the game, and tons of shortcuts, secrets, and surprises. It’s just really special. We’ve been in our reviewer Discord watching as media reviewers play it, and seeing their reactions. I can’t wait to see how everyone reacts!

Steve: Zelda-aside, is the Yacht Club Games team fans of any more obscure action-adventure RPGs from years gone by, and have those also influenced Mina?

Sean: Well, we are big fans of Zelda II around here, which is one of the more obscure Zeldas. But we also looked at every top-down game under the sun, from Landstalker to Dark Arms: Beast Buster, to more popular games like Dragon Quest, Zelda, Pokémon, and even Gremlins 2 on the NES. We’re big video game fanciers, obviously, so going through all these piles of games and playing them for inspiration was really fun.

Steve: Given the recent discussion and debate over Silksong’s difficulty levels, has this led to any reflection on the development team as to how the difficulty of Mina has been pitched?

Sean: From the beginning of development, we wanted Mina to be a challenging game, and in the end, it is very challenging! But we also designed it so you can use trinkets, weapons, and other equipment available to you - or you can level up - to overcome what’s giving you trouble. Depending on your strengths and weaknesses, no matter what they are, we’ve got you covered in some way. If you have trouble with platforming, there are things that help you jump over pits. If you have problems with combat, there are long-range weapons. There’s a ranged weapon that lets you shoot projectiles! The game is very difficult, but because of that, we give you a lot of flexibility, and that’s part of the fun.

Steve: Has the 2D Zelda tradition of layered worlds - different seasons, eras, or light and dark worlds - inspired the design of Mina at all?

Sean: We don’t have an alternate world or anything like that in Mina, but there is something that I think you could consider a slight homage. You’ll just have to see that for yourself!

Steve: With Shovel Knight evolving into the epic franchise that it is, is there aspiration for Mina to take the same path, or is it a case of 'let’s see where the journey takes us'?

Sean: We definitely want to see more Mina, but I think maybe we need a vacation first. Haha. Right now, I’m thinking about making another side-scroller, or just something different. I think that’s how it always is when you’re finished with a project - you just want to do something different.

One thing about Mina is that we really did everything. There’s so much scope to it, and we put so many of our ideas into it, so it’s not like there’s a bunch of stuff just sitting around waiting to be developed further. If we wanted to make a new Mina, we would really have to figure out what it was again from the ground up. I don’t think it would be fun to just make a sequel that had more content. We would need to meaningfully change the whole thing.

Steve: Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo released last year to positive reviews. When you see a game like that release which, on the face of it, is a similar project to Mina, does it provide affirmation that there’s still a market for 2D Zelda-likes, or does it create additional creative pressure to strive for originality?

Sean: We are big Pipistrello fans here, and we love that they have found success! We welcome all games, and we’re just happy to be there with them! We always just try to do the best that we can and work against our own constraints, which are about as high-pressure as you could imagine.

So… who knows? Hopefully it sells. Haha. But there’s been a lot of good buzz so far, so I’m feeling hopeful.

Steve: We can’t wait to listen to Jake Kaufman’s soundtrack in full, especially with the cameo from Yuzo Koshiro. Does the development team have any particular favourite tracks, and will there be plans to release the OST physically?

Sean: After having worked on Mina for six years, the soundtrack to the game has almost been like the soundtrack to my life. I have listened to all of the songs so many times, and I’ve gone through phases where this or that track is my new favorite. Right now, the one that comes to the top of my head is the final boss battle music, so epic. Hot damn I’m gettin misty eyed just thinkin’ about it! Ya’ gotta get to the end!

Thank you for checking out our interview with Yacht Club Games about their upcoming release Mina the Hollower and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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