Monstrously Entertaining
Don't let the cutesy looks fool you; Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure is solid adventure fun.
Published: February 21, 2007
That armor I mentioned before is rather key to the game's other upgrade system. See, the Phantoms aren't exactly a varied lot. You'll see more or less the same enemies all throughout the game, but they're differentiated by donning little bits of armor or weapons that give them special attacks. A powered-up drill attack will knock the armor off, and you can pick it up as junk, which is then used to upgrade any items you buy in the store back in the Human World. The back-and-forth between monster and human realms is used well in the game, allowing you to buy restoratives with the change dropped from offing enemies or bits of the scenery, and provides a couple of little side quests as well.
So, drill in hand and kitty ears on head (or a gas mask, or a handful of items that all provide increasing benefits when upgraded with junk), Parin charges off to explore the monster world and beat back the clouds of dark fog that appeared when her new friends got all bummed out (having your home reduced to rubble will do that, y'know). It's a simple mechanic for allowing you to slowly peel back the world and explore things at a modest pace (you can actually earn medals for finding all the treasure chests and breaking pots, as well as beating a level within a certain time limit, and these are used back in the real world for more items), but it also helps endear the denizens of the Monster Village to the player a little bit. You'll learn their personalities, get to know their tastes, and slowly watch the village rebuild itself on the back of your donations.
It's also the primary source of exposure to Mastiff's localization. Much was made of the fact that they pulled in voice acting vets to handle the game, and though I never really got the impression that the voice work was superlative, it was more than satisfactory. The game isn't fully voiced, but when it is, the actors picked to fill the roles do it with the kind of plucky resolve that befits their characters. The rest of the audio, too, is quite nice, with clean, bright sound effects and cheery, plucky tunes. In short, it's Falcom doing what they do best, which is crafting a world that sounds as good as it looks.
And it does look good. From the ornate bucolic little village where you start out to dank caves, blustery ruins and choked forests, the game delights in mixing little details here and there with level designs that never try to do too much. As a result, the game runs at a smooth framerate and offers just enough detail that you want to explore a little without ever feeling lost. Yes, it's undeniably cute -- that was the goal, after all -- but it's not so sickly sweet that a guy who loves big boobs and bigger explosions can't enjoy it for what it is. It's cute without being forced, and that just makes it all the more lovable.
Though the adventure is over fairly quickly (I dropped just over eight hours into the game and I was poking around a bit for side quests and the like), multiple difficulty levels, unlockable Japanese voices, and a handful of tasks I never got around to finishing up (like, say, Mastering all the levels by hunting down all the treasure and barreling though things quickly) could easily add another few hours to that count should you be so inclined. Were I not ass deep in games to review right now, I probably would have.
Here's what I'm getting at: Gurumin is the kind of game that's disarmingly solid. One expects a game this spritely to be a little lax on the depth or story. Neither is the case here; what you will find amidst all the genuinely enjoyable characters is an adventure that reaches well beyond the confines of a My First Adventure Game aesthetic and actually satisfies on a hardcore level. Again, it's not a game one would buy a PSP for, but if you already have one, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.
