{"id":137338,"date":"2026-05-27T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-201694"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:30:00","slug":"round-up-the-reviews-are-in-for-mina-the-hollower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/05\/27\/round-up-the-reviews-are-in-for-mina-the-hollower\/","title":{"rendered":"Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Mina The Hollower"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9c4fc49462aae\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9c4fc49462aae\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<figure class=\"picture\" data-uuid=\"9c4fc49462aae\"><a class=\"scanlines\" title=\"Mina the Hollower\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9c4fc49462aae\/mina-the-hollower.large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9c4fc49462aae\/mina-the-hollower.900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" alt=\"Mina the Hollower\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption\"><em class=\"credit\"><span class><\/span> Image: Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/mina_the_hollower\">Mina The Hollower<\/a> might just be our most-anticipated indie of the year. Yacht Club Games&#8217; throwback Zelda-like has felt like a long time coming, and today, we&#8217;ve started to get an idea of what we can expect from the full game.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, while we technically have to wait until release day (<strong>29th May<\/strong>) to go hands-on ourselves, the review embargo has lifted, and the scores are flooding in. Spoiler: they&#8217;re pretty darn positive.<\/p>\n<p>Here at Nintendo Life, we gave Mina a 9\/10, calling it &#8220;another retro-styled masterpiece&#8221; from Yacht Club Games. Here&#8217;s a snippet of our take, followed by a link to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch-2\/mina-the-hollower-nintendo-switch-2-edition\">full review<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Blending the exploratory charm of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nes\/legend_of_zelda\">The Legend of Zelda<\/a> with the European gothic setting of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nes\/castlevania\">Castlevania<\/a>, and adding subtle nods to numerous other titles, Yacht Club Games has delivered another finely polished gem that stands shoulder to shoulder with the classics it pays tribute to.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!-- cache: html:nintendolife.com\/ssl\/switch-eshop\/related-articles:201288 @ 1779903056 --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"block object-related\"> <\/aside>\n<p>Of course, we&#8217;re not the only ones with thoughts on the game. Below, we have rounded up a handful of reviews from across the web, in the hope of showing you the full spread of opinions so far \u2014 as difficult as that is, since almost everyone seems to be in love with it! Do bear in mind that the following reviews may be based on other platforms.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ll kick things off with a full-beans 10\/10 review from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/mina-the-hollower-review\">IGN<\/a>, which, as you might expect from that score, praised just about everything Mina has to offer:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Its blocky exterior disguises rich combat systems, some of the best puzzle solving ever put to screen, and a funny, <em>deeply weird<\/em> world I loved to explore.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It was more of the same in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegamer.com\/mina-the-hollower-review\/\">The Gamer&#8217;s<\/a> 5\/5 review:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Mina the Hollower is an almost faultless game that combines elements of nostalgic classics we know and love with a healthy dose of Yacht Club\u2019s flair and expertise to make it something that truly stands out as a retro-inspired masterpiece.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamespot.com\/reviews\/mina-the-hollower-surpasses-the-greatness-of-shovel-knight\/?_gl=1*1nro97z*_ga*MTYxNDcyNjIwLjE3Nzk4OTI1MzY.*_ga_HLJ6XDCTMV*czE3Nzk4OTI1MzYkbzEkZzEkdDE3Nzk4OTQzMDQkajE0JGwwJGgw\">GameSpot<\/a> landed on the same 9\/10 score that we did, arguing that Yacht Club has even surpassed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/wiiu\/shovel_knight\">Shovel Knight<\/a> this time around:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It surpasses the boundaries of mere homage or retro throwback to become something new, fresh, inventive, and exciting. Shovel Knight was a well-deserved successful debut for Yacht Club. Mina the Hollower may be its masterpiece.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/adventure\/mina-the-hollower-review\/\">GamesRadar+<\/a> was similarly optimistic in its 4.5\/5 review, particularly praising the number of approaches available to each puzzle and combat encounter:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Yacht Club Games clearly understands what works about the classics, and Mina the Hollower is an incredible collection of tested ideas rebuilt in new ways.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Keeping the good times going, <a href=\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/review\/mina-the-hollower\/refined-throwback\">Game Informer<\/a> offered Mina an 8.75, with the &#8220;annoyances&#8221; of Mina&#8217;s movement being the only real sticking point:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Mina\u2019s titular hollowing ability, where she can go underground to move quickly, leap from the ground, and avoid some attacks, is the game\u2019s most compelling and novel mechanic, but learning to control it well takes time; I still had annoyances related to it even through the final challenges leading to the end boss.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giantbomb.com\/reviews\/mina-the-hollower-review\">Giant Bomb<\/a> went lower still, opting for a 3.5\/5 after finding frustrations in one too many of its systems:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Other early game enemies hit so hard and have so much health that grinding almost feels mandatory. And, hey, usually I\u2019m a big defender of grinding. I think it\u2019s fun and relaxing. But even I thought it was a bit strange how much I was relying on it in a Zelda-type game.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr>\n<p>Pretty glowing across the board, eh? As it stands, Mina the Hollower has pulled in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metacritic.com\/game\/mina-the-hollower\">Metascore<\/a> of 93 based on 38 critic reviews \u2014 that puts it as the site&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metacritic.com\/browse\/game\/all\/all\/current-year\/\">best-reviewed game of the year<\/a> so far!<\/p>\n<p>Gosh, it may have been a long time coming, but it certainly looks like Mina the Hollower will be worth the wait.<\/p>\n<p><!-- cache: html:nintendolife.com\/ssl\/switch-eshop\/related-articles:201288,201371,186220 @ 1779903056 --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"block object-related\"> <\/aside>\n<p><em>Will you be picking up Mina the Hollower later this week? Let us know in the comments.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image: Nintendo Life Mina The Hollower might just be our most-anticipated indie of the year. Yacht Club Games&#8217; throwback Zelda-like has felt like a long time coming, and today, we&#8217;ve started to get an idea of what we can expect from the full game. Yes, while we technically have to wait until release day (29th [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}