A Cute Little Monstrous Adventure Indeed
This is one of the things I love about the PSP the most, it gives me the opportunity to play odd-ball games like this that I would have never played on purpose before. But I’m glad that’s the case because experiments like this often lead me to hidden gem’s like Gurumin which I would like to review, so that the game will get some much needed exposure here.
At its core the game is an action RPG not so unlike the kingdom hearts games (albeit a lot more slow and RPG like as opposed to the action heavy kingdom hearts). The game mixes things up by introducing a lot of entertaining platforming sequences during the dungeons, to sum it up properly I like to think of this game as a cross between Zelda and old school RPG’s.
Awwwww, isn’t that cute
The most unique thing about the game is its super cute art style, as you can see from the above screen shot. It looks very much so like a Saturday morning cartoon with cute charming characters (both human and monster) with big beady eyes and faces full of emotion. The game does a nice job of capturing changes in the facial expression even in this kind of art style, for example in the middle of a dungeon you will notice Parin has an obviously strained look on her face when she’s pushing large wooden crates of killing off baddies.
On the audio front, the game is pretty impressive, the voice acting is subtle, but humorous and not in an over the top way that most Japanese RPG’s tend to portray. Each character’s voice actor fits (although some can get rough over the course of the game). Complimenting it all is a fine musical score, the game could have used a couple of more tunes to go randomly but the small amount of tracks that are there are well enough.
Big special effects on the small screen
The game’s plot is a fairly basic one and wouldn’t turn out to be ground breaking if you’ve played a fair share of RPG’s in the past, the story involves a cute little girl named Parin who is visiting her grand father for the summer vacations, during the visit she starts seeing monster like beings who are only visible to her, one thing leads to another and soon she finds herself in an alternate dimension where she becomes the sole savior of an entire world full of monsters.
Most of the action in the game involves using a unique "drill" like weapon, this weapon is central to the plot of the game as well, and it happens to be an entertaining tool ti dispose of enemies with. The game features a lot of small dungeons which can be finished in the span of half an hour each, which makes sense for a portable title. The game could have used a more easier save system though. If you save in the middle of a dungeon and have to turn the game off, then you will have to start the dungeon from the beginning the next time.
What RPG is complete without a generic town to visit ?
The sad thing is that since the game doesn’t come from a big named developer or publisher, most people would leave it unnoticed, thinking that its just another game. I encourage all PSP to give this game a shot if you are a fan of role playing games, or if you just want to play a feel-good game.