• Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:

    1. The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
    2. Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration

    Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.

Talking about Mina the Hollower, Yacht Club's next digging-adjacent adventure!

Alixsar said:
I was working yesterday so when I got home and found out about it, it was 2,000 dollars from being funded. So yeah, it's nice that I don't have to use Kickstarter, but it'll also kinda suck for Yacht Club if it doesn't get funded as well as Shovel Knight did because of this. I know they'll just make money later with full release, but I wonder how/if it'll affect their plans internally?
Click to expand...
Considering how long it has been since the Shovel Knight Kickstarter, I have to assume Yacht Club's finances are pretty stable at this point. Presumably, the new campaign is more to drum up hype for this game, give people a chance to pay lots of money to put their faces in the it, etc. It's a shame about the KS blockchain announcements, chances are Yacht Club had this campaign organized well before that stuff came to light.
 
Needless to say it looks rad.



The kickstarter is here. It is, of course, double-funded as of me posting this but it's been up for like a week already where is all the hype for it? Like is it how furry game the thumbnail looks or have horrible NFT creep signifiers ruined the SEO of the people who made freaking Shovel Knight?

... Can't think of much else to say that isn't in the thread name. This one's wearing its influences on both sleeves.
 
It looks great. Possibly leaning a bit further into action than I'd like, but it looks fluid and fun.

I hope the whip has a wider hitbox than it looks because Link's sword in the first Zelda was intensely annoying to me.
 
Yacht Club’s CEO:

dog-2160149-960-720-dog-digging.png
 
Okay, yeah, that's really in my wheelhouse. Also, the "cheat codes" stretch goals seems like nice insurance again my discovering it's unpleasantly hard.
 
I can appreciate aesthetics, but I'm somewhat guarded towards the slow GameBoy-like movement mechanics shown in the video. It's probably going to be fine, but currently, I feel like it looks a bit too retro for the sake of being retro.
 
Yeah, the movement is definitely the thing that worries me the most. It’s early days though, so maybe it will get tweaked - or maybe it’s fine when you’re actually the one playing it.
 
I didn't think it looked very slow, and on watching again just now...still don't. Even if basic walking is a bit slow it looked to me like there are a lot of movement tools to mix things up.
 
Looks like this one got funded for about 1.2 million. So yay fishing game, and unfortunately we'll be limited to a robust 3 starting weapons instead of a robust 5!
 
I backed it at the last minute. I just love their games and wanted to participate in this campaign despite KS's moves toward shittiness.
 
I figured it might be something like that.

Many people forget just how much of the Shovel Knight compilation that Yacht Club Games gave away for free to those who bought that initial $20 purchase back when it was just Shovel of Hope. They did boost the price as they went and eventually sold the component parts of the Treasure Trove separately, but they still put a lot of work into additional content they weren't guaranteed to make more money off of. And as a puzzle gamey spinoff, Pocket Dungeon was likely to be a bit of a harder sell to the crowd that bought Shovel Knight for the retro 2D platformer goodness.
 
Played the demo on PS5. Definitely seen enough to know it's going to be a purchase but I'm not without reservations.

I still don't understand why everything must be Dark Souls. Death is the penalty. Stop adding shit on top of that. The pixel art is mostly lovely but there are some sections where it was tough to see what the foreground and background elements were. I'm not convinced the borrowing aspect adds much but it could just be needing to get used to it. The game hints at trinkets and things changing some of the gameplay elements but none of those are available in the demo as far as I could tell.

Reminds me less of Link's Awakening and more of a pixel-cute Bloodborne. (That's not a critique, just an observation.) It definitely has some teeth.
 
Is it the same demo they released on Switch last year, or is there different content?
 
Not sure if it's the Switch demo; wasn't even aware that was a thing. It seems to be the initial part of the game - the opening, a shipwreck, and then you can basically go as far as a little after the first boss.

The level up structure is basically out of the Adventure of Link, so when you get enough bones (souls), which you can also just find in the environment, you can level attack, defense, etc. If you die once, you lose your soul and you have to defeat whatever defeated you (or go back to the spot if the death was environmental) to get it back. If you die again, you lose all of your bones. Along the way you can find Bonestones that are effectively the souls you keep in your inventory, so you don't lose those, and you can pop them back at your lab to get more bones.

Regardless of the particular shape of it, I've grown tired of sprinkling something on top of failure/death, just as a little depraved treat.

Also, the way you restore lost HP is weird, where you have to maximize a yellow bar by hitting enemies and then you can use a potion to fill in the yellow bar. I didn't find it difficult to play around but it is bizarre.
 
In case anyone besides me was wondering, I booted up the PS5 demo today and can confirm it is the same as the Switch demo from last year. On the one hand it's a little annoying because I was hoping to play something new, but on the other hand I'm not upset because it means I get to experience more of the game fresh. (I didn't play the demo a second time because I didn't want to remind myself too much about what's in it.)
 
It's out and I've beaten it and nearly 100%'d it (just missing some Bonestone around Bone Beach).

I like it a lot. My favorite weapon is the Battery Buster.
 
I am enjoying the game quite a bit, but as I posted in the Gripe thread yesterday, I've found the combat to be way tougher than I expected. All the enemies are big and fast and powerful, while Mina is slow and clunky by comparison. I have a hard time dodging attacks. Maybe you're supposed to be diving underground more often, but having to jump first has made timing those dives a lot trickier than if there was just a dedicated button for it.

That's my only complaint though. The gameplay is full of charming and surprising interactions, the environments are great, the music slaps, the art is fantastic. I'm looking forward to exploring more of this world tomorrow.
 
Mentioned it in gripe, but digging is NOT a a dodge roll. You want to play it less like "when this tries to attack me, I need to move" and more "I want to dictate the flow of combat, not let them do so." You wanna strike first then get away before they even think to attack you ideally.

With knights for instance, stealth mechanics of a sort are in play. They'll lose track of you if you dig straight under them when they're facing you. So, sneak up if you can and hit'em in the back, immediately jump away, dig, tunnel under them, pop up behind them and you're good to repeat it. You don't have to hit them while they're mid-attack animation or anything, just stick and move on your own terms. Or keep a healthy distance and attack from range, get a pit or wall between you and them, etc.

Jump dig jump is a weird rhythm to learn, but once you have it down and know not to get too greedy there's a really nice flow to it.
 
Purple said:
digging is NOT a a dodge roll
Click to expand...
This is something I've had a hard time internalizing. It feels like I should be able to avoid damage that way, but a lot of attacks still hit you underground.

Sound advice though, I'll try to keep it in mind next time I play.
 
The problem is a LOT of stuff about the game screams "I am a Sousl-like" aesthetically, and it REALLY isn't. So yeah, everyone seems to have a hard time learning that digging is not a dodge roll, and that sparks aren't souls falling on the ground when you die. They're just 1-ups you can keep collecting if you can reliably get to a point (and in very rare cases, refundable keys).
 
I would also like to add to your previous point that the drill buckler sidearm is fantastic for creating space between yourself and a particularly tough enemy, because of the knockback effect it provides.

MY RELIGION IS WARIO

(That said, this doesn’t really work on the major bosses. You probably want the mist vials for more of a proper dodge effect. Or even just a long range option like the axe or throwing dagger.)
 
Last edited:
Purple said:
sparks aren't souls falling on the ground when you die
Click to expand...
I mean...they are, though? Lose your spark and you lose all the bones you were carrying. It's the same thing, just slightly more benevolent since you can eventually carry more than one at a time.

Also, why did nobody mention this game has a full instruction manual hidden in the Options menu?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top