The same cannot be said of her heroine, determined to shed light on the extinction of the spark generators that she had once helped to create, for the well-being and prosperity of the inhabitants of Tenebrous, the small island where she has taken up residence. The receipt of a mysterious letter signed by the hand of Baron Lionel, his longtime boss, even encourages him to seize his whip and his strange inventions to venture into the most remote regions, obviously populated by strange monsters. The title indeed draws its inspiration from the Gothic horror of the end of the 17th century, from Dracula at FrankensteinPassing by The Picture of Dorian Gray. The general tone should be in line with Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, and its tone darker than that of Shovel of Hope.
Still, after having revisited the codes of the platformer 8-bit, Mega Man and Duck Tales in mind, Mina the Hollower plans to reinterpret the formula of Zelda-style action-adventure games by adopting an aesthetic close to Game Boy Color, but redesigned for the modern era; Zelda Link’s Awakening better watch out. Yacht Club Games specifies that the title is currently in full production, and that the ideas are still germinating: “We want your feedback, collaboration, and support to make Mina the Hollower the best game it can be. That’s why we’re going back to our roots and launching the development of Mina the Hollower as a Kickstarter campaign. Although we are funding most of this project ourselves, we hope to be able to create a larger game this way. More importantly, we want to build a community around Kickstarter, like we did with Shovel Knight. We also want to share our development process, more than ever before!“says Alec Faulkner, the director of the game.
Side gameplay, Mina the Hollower plans to integrate an experience point and leveling system, a first for the studio, via hidden bones all over the world, and in particular in chests. These bones will serve as both XP and currency, which poses potential dilemmas when spending them to improve attack, defense, or the power of gadgets. The levels increase with each rise in level, it will indeed be necessary to think carefully about its future build. Similarly, the space assigned to the charms that Mina can equip are limited, which will force you to think about your tools before launching into the depths.
Good news also for those who still haven’t picked up Shovel Knight, we will indeed find in the composition the so-called Jake Kaufman, who had used the freeware FamiTracker to reproduce the typical NES music and sound effects of the time. In the case of Mina the Hollower, Kaufman turned to MSX and the Konami SCC expansion to capture the sound of the era. The publisher has also partnered with Fangamer to produce exclusive goodies for backers, including a physical soundtrack, enamel pins, an illustration book and a soft toy. We let you refer to the Kickstarter page for a more detailed description of the different rewards, knowing that the “expected deliveries” speak of December 2023, which still leaves quite a margin.