Shovel Knight Developer Reveals New Zelda-Inspired Game

Shovel Knight developer Yacht Club Games has pulled back the curtain on its next internally-developed game, Mina the Hollower. Revealed during a special G4 Twitch stream, Yacht Club Games cites the Game Boy Color as a major influence on the new title. In particular, Mina the Hollower has been inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. While the Game Boy Color is currently experiencing something of a renaissance thanks to the Analogue Pocket, a version for the system is not planned. However, the title has been confirmed for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox.

A trailer for the game can be found in the Tweet embedded below.

Mina the Hollower will feature a "darker tone" than Shovel Knight, and will draw inspiration from Gothic Horror, with Frankenstein and Sleepy Hollow listed as influences. In the game, protagonist Mina wields a whip as she explores Tenebrous Isle. Mina travels to Tenebrous Isle after its spark generators go offline. Mina will have to restore the generators by traveling to various "exotic biomes" to restore them, and defeat the monsters that stand in her way. The game will feature RPG influences, including a leveling system inspired by Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

Yacht Club Games is currently "in the thick" of development, and the game isn't expected to release for quite some time: December 2023, to be exact! While the studio will be funding the majority of development, a Kickstarter campaign for the game has been started, and Yacht Club Games is hoping to build the kind of fan community that Shovel Knight established. The campaign has a number of reward tiers set, including digital copies of the game, physical copies, soundtracks, art books, and more. Readers can find the game's Kickstarter page right here.

It will be interesting to see if Mina the Hollower will find the same level of popularity as Shovel Knight. The game already looks quite impressive, and it's interesting to see how Yacht Club Games is looking to the Game Boy Color for inspiration, as opposed to the NES, as it did with Shovel Knight. Hopefully, the finished product will offer the same level of quality that fans have come to expect from the studio!

Are you interested in learning more about Mina the Hollower? What do you think of the game's aesthetic so far? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

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