My most-anticipated but frequently delayed Zelda-like is finally releasing later this month after 6 years in development

Mina the Hollower was announced in 2022 and originally slated to launch the following year. It's a top-down adventure in the style of older Zelda games, and as far as I can tell there's no grand twist: it's a very orthodox take on the genre, just as Shovel Knight was for the NES-era platformer. The same developer, Yacht Club Games, is responsible for both.

The star attraction is the pixel art, which wends very closely to 8-bit orthodoxy, but does so with modern smoothness and fluency. When it hit Kickstarter in 2022, Bloodborne was mentioned as an inspiration, and it's definitely true that Mina the Hollower looks more Castlevania than it does Link's Awakening. Whatever the case, I'm excited to play it.

And it won't be long before I do: Mina the Hollower, after a storied history of last-minute delays, is finally hitting Steam on May 29.

Yacht Club Games confirmed as much on X with a brief vertical video showing Mina—the mousy protagonist—in a series of volatile situations: elevated by a column of rushing water, nearly stomped by a giant brain, and shooting electrical currents at various baddies.

"Prepare yourself for one of the greatest top-down adventures ever to be delivered directly to your soul for less than 20 bucks," the post reads, confirming the price.

Development of Mina the Hollower hasn't been smooth sailing: it's been in development since 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic proved problematic, as did the ensuing post-Covid industry crash. It really needs to be a hit. "It’s make-or-break for sure," Velasco said. "If we sold 500,000 copies, then we would be golden," studio founder Cris Velsaco said late last year. "If we sold even 200,000, that would be really, really great. If we sold, like, 100,000, that’s not so good."

It's a pretty safe time to release an indie: the second half of May is very quiet save for 007 First Light.