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Julius

Mina the Hollower (next game from Yacht Club Games)

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Well, this was the big takeaway from tonight's Yacht Club presentation, and it looks great (looks very Game Boy Colour and Link's Awakening meets Castlevania):

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Mina the Hollower is a bone-chilling action-adventure game featuring classic gameplay and an 8-bit aesthetic in the style of Game Boy Color, refined for the modern era.

Quick and deliberate 60fps action combat, captivating world design, and top-down adventuring combine in a nostalgic blend. Whip foes, burrow through the ground, and explore a pixel-perfect world in Mina the Hollower, a brand new game from the developers who brought you Shovel Knight!

Choosing to "go back to their routes" and get partial funding for this game through Kickstarter (link to the game's Kickstarter here), but they've stated that they will be investing in the game themselves also, so it seems like it's mainly for the purpose of stretch goals and so that they get some of that money trickling in now from higher tiers. Still, I think that's a really bizarre decision given just how well Shovel Knight and everything to do with it has done, and just how much they've grown in size and stature in the years since. 

Estimated delivery on their Kickstarter is currently December 2023, though I'm sure that is subject to change. 

Edited by Julius
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So the "groundbreaking announcement" was... a new game via a Kickstarter. :blank:

The gameplay looks ok, but frankly I find the visuals to be really ugly. The colour palette and the low resolution especially. 

Meh, I'm sure it'll be great, but at this moment in time I'm a bit disappointed. 

Also I'm not sure a Nintendo Direct Yacht Club Presents was needed for that set of "announcements".

Edited by Ronnie

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Really glad they're working on something brand new and not stuck making Shovel Knight spin offs but yeah, it's a bit odd that they're putting it on Kickstarter. 

That trailer showed off quite a lot of stuff, I'd be surprised if it takes them until next December to finish it but like you say, the stretch goals that will inevitably come from the campaign will probably bloat the development considerably so it might even be a conservative estimate

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1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

So the "groundbreaking announcement" was... a new game via a Kickstarter. :blank:

You're kidding, right? You've been moaning for ages that Yacht Club is too focused on Shovel Knight, and when they reveal something new, you react with sheer indifference?

Anyway, I think it looks great! Loads of games go for the NES vibe, but the Game Boy Colour aesthetic is very rare to see these days. And the amount of different intriguing items that trailer shows promises some really elaborate techniques to learn.

I'm very much sold!

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This looks awesome!! Link's Awakening meets Castlevania you say? Sign me the hell up! :D

So glad to finally see Yacht Club Games move beyond Shovel Knight! At last!  Let's just hope that they don't make the same mistake as last time and get themselves stuck in a corner where they're forced to spend the next 10 years fulfilling ridiculous & outlandish stretch goals...

Edited by Dcubed

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2 hours ago, Dcubed said:

 Let's just hope that they don't make the same mistake as last time and get themselves stuck in a corner where they're forced to spend the next 10 years fulfilling ridiculous & outlandish stretch goals...

Yeah, this is also my fear. 

Game looks great and I look forward to its release. I'm just happy it was a game announcement. With what's been going on in the industry, I was half expecting their big announcement would be that they have been bought be someone. :D 

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7 hours ago, Glen-i said:

You're kidding, right? You've been moaning for ages that Yacht Club is too focused on Shovel Knight, and when they reveal something new, you react with sheer indifference?

I've not been moaning for ages that they're too focused on Shovel Knight, I don't know where you got that from. I've been moaning that they're too focused on the original game, instead of creating a sequel. My last post on it literally asked for a proper sequel to the original game. 

The part you quoted isn't even speaking of indifference about Mina, it was calling them out at overhyping a simple game reveal that's years away, via Kickstarter.

Glad you like the aesthetic, I'm personally not a fan.

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Looks interesting, although they have borrowed quite some assets from the Zelda series. But indeed a weird move to put this on Kickstarter as well, especially as only the high $100 tier gives access to a physical copy. This and the december 2023 release date (surely with this kind of footage already this game is not 2 years away?) make me a bit hesitant about Yacht Club's business practice.

Guess we will just wait (a while!) and see.

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4 hours ago, Ronnie said:

I've not been moaning for ages that they're too focused on Shovel Knight, I don't know where you got that from. I've been moaning that they're too focused on the original game, instead of creating a sequel. My last post on it literally asked for a proper sequel to the original game.

Oh right... My apologies then.

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The Kickstarter goal has been met. Not surprising.

The game looks solid, and even though it's quite far away, I look forward to seeing more of it.

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I didn't mean to sound so harsh on the game, I'm sure it'll be fantastic. It's just hard to get much motivation for it now when it's two years away (probably closer to three when the inevitable delay(s) happens).

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Surely Shovel Knight has to make a cameo in this game right?

 

I think its easy to pidgeon hole indie studios into their association with one particular indie game. There's tons of indie games out there by so many different studios and doing it alone takes a lot of time, if one gets traction and becomes popular the way Shovel Knight has, then your studio becomes known as the Shovel Knight guys.

 

While I would have loved for them to make a Shovel Knight 2, I do have respect for YCG for wanting to diversify their portfolio and make something new. Besides, doing an indie game sequel to a game that carved out a devoted fanbase brings its own pressures, your a small dev team, sometimes just a single person, working with the weight and demands of millions of people who don't understand that making an indie game takes even longer than the amount of time big studios can create sequels to their IPs. The most high profile example of that has to be Hollow Knight Silkesong. Fans are begging Team Cherry to show off the game ever more even though Team Cherry is a 3 man operation developing a sequel to an indie game that was almost as large as most triple A games. The sequel is going to take a lot of time!

 

Indie scene has come a long way since Shovel Knight came out in 2014 although thanks to his numerous cameos I think he remains one of the most popular indie characters to this day. I will admit I never really did much more than the base campaign back in 2014, I did start Plague Knight's campaign but didn't get very far with it.

 

Good luck to YCG. They're clearly a very talented game studio so I'm sure by the time this is out it will be a good game. At the very least I'm sure The Completionist will make a review of it!

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YCG have already made Shovel Knight 2,3,4 and Mega Man Soccer the Fighting Game spin-off! How much more Shovel Knight do you want!?

Edited by Dcubed

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1 minute ago, Dcubed said:

YCG have already made Shovel Knight 2,3,4 and Mega Man Soccer the Fighting Game spin-off! How much more Shovel Knight do you want!?

To be fair, Shovel Knight 2 was more of an alternative Shovel Knight. A Shovel Knight Remix if you will.

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Gotta say, as a big Game Boy (Colour) fan... this game looks really good! :heart: I'm fine with the NES aesthetic, but this Game Boy look is what truly tickles my nostalgia bone.

It's weird that it'll only come out in late 2023, but whatever, I'll keep this in my sight.

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Game Informer have shared their hands-on preview, for anyone who wants to see a bit more:

 

Edited by Julius
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There is another 30 min vid without commentary for anyone wanting to further bone up on Mina The Hollower.

 

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