The verdict is in: Mina the Hollower is the best game of 2026 so far. While yes, that is my own subjective opinion – you can read my Mina the Hollower review for more on that – it seems I'm not alone in that belief. The Metacritic score for Yacht Club Games' latest adventure has eclipsed everything else this year has had to offer.
Mina the Hollower's Metascore currently sits at a mighty 93 with 38 reviews counted, unseating the previous top dog in Forza Horizon 6, whose Metascore sits at 91. Other major releases are also a few points behind, with Pokemon Pokopia (89), Resident Evil Requiem (89), Mewgenics (88), 007 First Light (88), and Saros (87) rounding out the big names.
"Mina achieves the same heights in both action and style that its impressive inspirations – Zelda, Castlevania, and FromSoft RPGs – reach on a regular basis, and with far fewer resources," as IGN's 10/10 review puts it.
GameSpot's 9/10 review says that Mina "surpasses the boundaries of mere homage or retro throwback to become something new, fresh, inventive, and exciting."
"Mina the Hollower looks like a nostalgic throwback, and it undeniably is, but its thoughtful design and larger sensibilities make it play and feel like a contemporary video game – one that has taken the right lessons from the medium’s history," according to Game Informer's 8.75/10 review.
Those thoughts ring true with my own experience. Mina the Hollower is full of obvious tributes to classic games, even beyond the Zelda, Castlevania, and FromSoftware inspirations that underlie its basic design. But Yacht Club Games has smartly picked through gaming history to choose the bits that best serve their ambitions with Mina, and smartly mix them into a familiar blend that still feels fresh.
Strong critic impressions are a good first step, but it remains to be seen how that'll translate into sales, and the devs have apparently been desperate for a big breakthrough. While the quality of the Shovel Knight games never really diminished, their reach did, and YCG co-founder Sean Velasco said last year that Mina's release is "make-or-break for sure." Here's hoping it's more make than break, because after playing Mina through to its conclusion, I'm already dying to see what the studio does next.
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