Finally finished everything in the game! Unless something incredible comes out of nowhere, this is my game of the year.
Short Review
Mina the Hollower is a retro top-down adventure game, it's a mix between Zelda, Castlevania, and Bloodborne - with references to all three in particular.
The game is just fantastic all around. The combat is tight, the music and art are incredible, and the horror atmosphere of the whole world is just amazing. The game has hands-down some of the best level and world design you'll see in games, it's so full of secrets and shortcuts and manages to feel huge and fun to explore without being too confusing. The game also boldly does not have a map, but it does guide you in the general directions you need to go.
You will get lost, especially at the start, but you'll slowly have a grasp of how the whole world connects as you play. The biggest issue people have is the game's difficulty, but I can say that the game gets easier as you keep playing and explore. After the first area or two, you'll start stacking trinkets that make life a whole lot easier, even in late-game areas. There are some really good trinkets near the start of the game that are easily missable, so be sure to look around - don't try brute forcing the game!
I also want to add that the game has toooons of modifiers that you can enable on your save file. Some make the game easier, some make the game harder, some are weird and let you break the game (like a super high jump modifier) as well as a lot of visual stuff. The good stuff though is unlocked after beating the game, there are crazy modifiers like a built-in randomizer, or a modifier that removes RPG mechanics and equalizes difficulty, or one that mirrors the world... The game is built from the ground up to be replayed in many different ways and has built-in challenge runs. If you're into these things, you can keep coming back to the game and play it for a loooooooong time. I'm already getting ready for New Game+ before doing any of the crazier ones.
That's pretty much it. It's such a great game. Go play it!
The black hole sections just aren't fun, I think the Orrery was fine outside of the sections that force you to work around using black holes. Like the experience was night and day, every other section was a cakewalk until black holes. The cultists were fun, but then the final boss of the area you sort of just hit it til it dies.
The manor I'm having major difficulties simply remembering, the garden shortcut (the one that requires you to carry a statue head and jump on moving platforms while hitting switches) was so distinctly not fun that it almost made me quit the game. The shadow section with the lightning rods felt very cheap. The first half of the final boss being simon says and the second half having the tower minigame setting... idk it just did not hit for me.
I did genuinely enjoy the game up until the Orrery, though.
Edit: oh, and Wallower's simply negating half of the games challenging platform sections leads me to think that they simply weren't designed with the player's real movement in mind.
Honestly kinda surprised that you disliked it, Orrery is one of my favorite areas and the black holes didn't give me much trouble. The trinket you get from the race ghost made the platforming sections way easier for me.
As for the manor, it's not my favorite area but I still enjoyed it. It gets hard, no doubt. Those moustraps hurt a lot, but I never found it annoying. In fact, I kinda liked the Hyrule castle-esque massive dungeon they had going on, it was a big culmination of all these different mechanics you went through.
I kinda get what you mean by the final boss though. He was alright but there are tons of better bosses. I'm still kinda surprised there would be people that didn't like the Orrery though, it's one of the most creative levels ever.