A seemingly cute and cuddly kids game that is just a clever cover-up for a fun and challenging action/platformer RPG.
As the little girl starts making friends among these nice monsters, evil monsters known as Phantoms invade the monster town and kidnap most of its inhabitants, leaving the surrounding areas encased in dark clouds. Parin's quest to rebuild monster town, save the monsters, get their favorite pieces of furniture back and get rid of the Phantoms begins, as she is able to pull out a magic drill that was stuck on the ground. This drill becomes Parin's handy weapon in her dungeon-crawling adventures, and soon you see that there's a bit more to the combat than just hack'n'slash. The drill's power is represented by a meter divided in three portions, that fills up gradually as you break things, attack monsters or drill in "level up pits". As Parin takes damage, the drill level will lower. When the drill is fully charged, it gains a projectile effect for ranged attack.
Drilling is important since it's how you can unequip monsters that wear armor. Without drilling first and taking the armor off, you can't damage them. It's also necessary in level progression to find hidden passages, usually breakable walls that have cracks on them.
In certain areas of the game you will eventually come across elemental modifiers for Parin's drill. This means that you can equip an ability to it, which is mainly used for solving elemental puzzles. For example, in the earlier stages you need to use fire to light up torches and open gates.
The tokens collected from jars, monster kills or other breakable items can be used to purchase drill upgrades that unlock new moves. There is a series of special attacks that involve using Parin's dash or jump with a full circle on the analog stick, which usually allows for combo moves. As you learn them, they will all be recorded in a log that you can access via the System menu.
There are a few RPG properties in Gurumin. Aside from the traditional health and energy restoring items, you are able to equip Parin with a number of outfits and accessories, bought with tokens. You will begin with the Goggles, which reduce water damage. But as you collect junk from defeating monsters, you can purchase upgrades for every item. For example, the Goggles on level 2 block all water damage, so you are free to swim without worrying about your health. But there are several useful items that will make your adventure easier, and none of them becomes obsolete, since you will use them according to different situations. A Gask Mask to prevent poisoning, a Bandana that increases damage, Cat Ears that help detect chests, a Ribbon that halves trap damage, and a Vampire Kit that restores HP through critical attacks are some of the items you will find. All of these will be visible on Parin when equipped, and some make her look even more adorable than she already is.
The dungeon designs in Gurumin are clever and full of traps, treasures, puzzles and enemies. Upon clearing a dungeon you are graded on a letter scale. The better you did, the higher the grade (S being the highest possible), and the grade is based on the number of monsters killed, number of jars broken, times you've died and time used to clear it. According to the grade you get a medal, which you can exchange at the grandfather for money or special items.
Extra features include hidden mini-games and unlockable difficulty settings after you beat the game the first time around.
Graphics-wise, Gurmuin has a very cute and cartoony look to it, with creative character designs, particularly on the monsters. The animations are smooth and the particle effects look really nice. In the sound department, the game shines as well. Although there aren't that many tunes, the soundtrack is cheery and very catchy. The sound effects are appropriate and realistic, so pay close attention you can hear the drill sounds, pieces of junk falling on the ground and other little details, just for the sheer fact that they sound proper. The voice acting is also superb. The actors really make the characters come alive and make it easy for us to bond with the characters right away.
While Gurumin may look like a cute and cuddly kids game, that's just a clever cover-up for a fun and challenging action/platformer RPG that everyone should have in their PSP games collection.
Review text part of Grrlgamer.com. Full review and screenshots at:
http://www.grrlgamer.com/review.php?g=gurumin