Always be prepared to go with the flow, even if that flowing ain’t really where you want to be going.



I’m not sure why, but in recent days, when I sit down to put some thoughts to screen, almost always for something video game related, I usually have to start the entire process by having an existential crisis right in front of my computer. Not sure if this process helps to get the motor running the way it needs to for the rest of the thoughts that follow, or if I’m just making sure I “still want to do this”. What this is doesn’t even necessarily mean “write” or “be”, mind you, infinitely complicating the scenario. That is usually why I quickly abandon the thought process post haste, and proceed with a clearer mind thereafter, as any thought compared to that one is then a walk in the park. Reminds me of that Carl Sagan quote: “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, first you must create the universe”.

So much space and time poured into a momentary singularity that ends up being nothing but a blink and you’ll miss it moment. C’est la vie.



Let’s see, where was I? Oh yeah, Mina, in all of her hollowing glory. I’ve been running through the game for a little more than a week now, and each play session feels as full as the last. I’ve taken some justified pot shots at the big N, as Mina has corrected some of the more commonly utilized, thought greatly disliked pastiches that Nintendo tends to shoehorn into their own games. Not to say they haven’t done it incredibly right in the past, I just think that when an entity becomes more of a financial institution than a creative force, things tend to go awry. Maybe Nintendo was always that way, having been successful with games since the 80’s, and I was always just duped by their Disney like excellence at peddling the extraordinary equivalent of corporatized, fluffy propaganda, to obscure their more cut throat, litigious goings on in their own industry, in making sure everyone believes the hype they are just this family friendly, sweet as candy, wouldn’t hurt a fly content creator….but the curtain is pulled back eventually at some point, and for me, that was during my official run as a game journo, and most of what I saw “behind the curtain” was…lamentable, at the very least.



Putting aside quite the absurdist shorthand tangent about the inevitable transformation most too big for their britches industries go through, in becoming this sickly specter, plagued by its own worse tendencies, one of a hedonistic bent, compliment with outlying red flags representing ouroboros tales of late stage dystopic, blighted miseries that silently sweep the land with bitter resentments, cause obviously, that would be a bit much for what’s suppose to be an article detailing the misadventures of a talking mouse. With that in mind, Mina the Hollower may conceptually be cut from the same cloth as old school Nintendo games, but without all of the saddened political backdrop that sours the spectacle that is proper design methodologies, in giving the player things they didn’t even know they wanted.



I’ve made plenty of references to the notion Mina pays tribute to the likes of both Zelda and FromSoft games harvesting both of their metaphysical memetics to create a new hybridized source of synthesized design, worthy of the mantles this new entity owes it’s existence to, and Mina makes short work of doing the exact same kind of heavy lifting look like light work, sporting several elements that would be extremely easy to fumble, but maintains a level of consistent quality throughout. Whether it be the surprising depth to the combat system, or the ridiculous thickness to be had in the exploration of the overworld, not a pixel feels wasted in making the game feel as robust as possible.

This next insinuation, even for all of my gentle and…not so gentle pokes and prods on Nintendo’s behalf, I think maybe where they often go wrong with perhaps less than engaging world building elements or overall character ecosystem’s I guess you could say, is by having a lot of individuals who you end up interacting with feel as if they lack a certain depth, or have an absence of mystery not truly imbued with the individual. I’m aware this is likely due to the more family friendly nature of Zelda titles, which does immediately bring to mind that maybe one of the only games that pulled it off with gusto was Majora;s Mask, which was decidedly not family friendly, in spite of how Nintendo wanted to frame it for the sake of where less problematic marketing is concerned.



The Souls series may be one of the more powerful forces within the realm, that reside on the video game version of Mount Olympus where such things are concerned, as not only are their worlds just chalk full of hidden lore elements, but the oppressive backdrop, and the characters who inhabit them, feel as full of life in the way of one already lived, as they are already quite clearly dead inside as a result of said living. This is a fine line to walk, as too far in either direction can get one to fall into the trap of cliche, so the fact that the Souls series (I’m including Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring in that grouping, just fyi), has done it so consistently over the years, is just as much a part of the formula that makes the whole package feel bursting with intrigue.



All of this may relate to an interesting note of interest in why such occurrences happen within that realm, and it’s due to almost a rhetorical sense of esoteric knowledge, totally obscured backstories, cryptically dense storied histories, and arcane knowledge’s dripping with the macabre, and spread out amidst the hardened remains of eldritch horrors from nightmares made real, and all we are left with is the creeping sensation that it is likely for the best we are left with only our imaginations to fill in the blanks…

…lest we desire to become the figment of a strangers imagination, too.

~Pashford