Like it or not, parrying has become ubiquitous in modern games. What began as a defining feature of action series like Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is now common across genres — from FPS experiments such as Doom: The Dark Ages to horror remakes like Resident Evil 4 and even turn-based adventures like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, where parrying plays a central role in combat.
In a conversation with Knowledge, Yacht Club Games co‑founder Sean Velasco described the combat design for the studio’s upcoming Zelda‑inspired title, Mina the Hollower.
“There are limitations, but those limits are what make the system enjoyable,” Velasco says. Mina’s toolkit centers on three core actions — jumping, burrowing, and the whip — and he explains the combat is “about occupying that neutral space and treating it like a Castlevania or Bloodborne encounter — games that don’t rely on a block.”
“There’s an interesting dialogue happening in combat design right now — mechanics are converging,” Velasco continues. “It feels like every game has some sort of parry these days. I even played the new Doom and noticed Dark Souls‑style elements in it. Creating the combat was important to us; we wanted more than a simple dodge‑roll. Our aim was to take familiar ideas and rework them into something fresh.”
Yacht Club admits they “expanded the scope” of Mina after realizing the project needed more of an adventurous backbone. Mechanically, however, the team seems committed to lean, proven systems. Part of what gave Shovel Knight its broad appeal was its simplicity and faithful nods to NES-era design — qualities that bode well for this long-awaited follow-up.
Sales executive who helped launch the NES called Donkey Kong Jr. Math “the worst game we released,” saying Nintendo thought it would be a hit for children’s education but “we couldn’t give it away.”
