''Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure'' is a 2004

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

developed by

Nihon Falcom is a Japanese video game developer, best known for their '' Ys'', '' The Legend of Heroes'', and ''Trails'' series. The company was founded in March 1981, making them one of the oldest active video game companies. They are credited with pioneer ...

. It was originally released in Japan in December 2004 for

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. A

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

version was later released in Japan in June 2006, then in 2007 in North America by

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in February and in Europe by 505 Game Street in March. A

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

version, titled ''Gurumin 3D'', was released in 2016.

Gameplay

''Gurumin'' is a 3D action RPG with heavy emphasis on action through real-time combat. Parin can acquire various headwear which have varying effects while equipped, such as protection from water damage, stronger attacks, or HP restoration. Each piece of headwear can be upgraded to increase their effects. Parin's drill has up to four power levels that are increased through combat or restoration points in levels and decreased by taking damage. The current level of her drill dictates damage that can be dealt and can change up and down frequently in each level. Various consumable items can be bought or found which are used during levels to restore HP or drill power. ''Gurumin'' offers replayability by offering new difficulty levels upon completion of the game. The game starts with Beginner and Normal modes; Hard, Happy, and Crazy modes are opened up with completion of the previous difficulty level. While each difficulty alters the strength of the enemies, some also change other elements of the game, such as removing environmental hazards in Beginner mode, an altered game script in Happy mode (Japanese version only), and only allowing damaging of enemies through critical hits in Crazy mode. In addition to headwear that gives characters various abilities and protection there is also a number of outfits that can be equipped. Matching the right outfit with the right hat could unlock additional abilities. These are acquired by purchasing from the (vending machine), completing the game at a set difficulty level, or through other means, such as playing on the right date when a special event happens.

Plot

A girl named Parin goes to live with her grandfather in Tiese Town after her parents are called overseas on an excavation trip. After being told that there are no other children in Tiese, she finds what looks like another girl who is being threatened by a dog. Parin rescues the girl and discovers that she is actually a which only children can see. To thank Parin, the monster takes her to a crack in the back wall of the town which is revealed to be a portal to the monster world. A group of monsters known as phantoms begin a series of attacks on Monster Village. Parin, who unearths a legendary drill, decides to fight against the phantoms and restore Monster Village.

Reception

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the

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website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. In Japan, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' gave the PSP version a total of 31 out of 40. Subsequent reviews for the 3DS port have been "mixed or average".

Notes

References

External links