Gurumin 3D: A Monstrous Adventure is a cute little game about a girl named Parin who is sent to live with her grandfather while her parents are excavating ancient ruins. This title was originally released in 2004 as a Japanese RPG computer game and has found its way onto steam and PSP. The Mastiff team was able to get their hands on it and port it over to Nintendo 3DS. Boy, am I glad they did. It is a charming little game that brings you back to the early days of RPGs, with tons of side quests and minigames.
Gurumin 3D follows Parin as she travels to the Tiese town to live with her grandfather, but is told that there are no other children in town that she could be friends with. She sets off on a quest to find friends in the village, but finds a secret monster village instead. Even though the monster village is nearby, the adults do not know about it because they are unable to see the monsters. The monster village is unfortunately under siege by the phantoms who have taken some of their possessions and kidnapped some of the residents. Parin decides to help the village by defeating the phantoms that are wreaking havoc on the village and make it peaceful again. She goes throughout the game helping monsters gather their things and defeating the Phantom Prince.
Parin’s adventure throughout the world of Gurumin is very peaceful and light-hearted giving it a feel-good vibe. The task is to help the monsters gather as many of their possessions as you can and this serves as a mechanic to learn as much information about your enemy as you can. It does not have however a deep story that you can really sink into and has very shallow character development, which is by no means a deal breaker on playing the game. The game is full of side quests, mini games and adventures, which gives you more than enough to hold onto. This game I think would be better for younger players because of the copious amounts of humor and it’s charm.
Gurumin has an old-school feel to it that brings me back to the Nintendo 64 days. The graphics are not that amazing, but the combat system more than makes up for it. It is in real-time and becomes more intense as you unlock more skills for our young hero. The camera is tight and you never feel as if you can’t see things. Objects become transparent at all the right times and the point of view is far enough away to see all the action.
It makes managing tasks throughout the game easier and reduces those lovely raging moments. Most of the stages are quick and easy, allowing you to complete them in about 10 minutes or so and Boss fights aren’t so over the top that they ruin the flow of the game.
Gurumin 3D is definitely a game that should be played. When I saw the opening screen, I had little hope of enjoying my time with this game, but found it extremely entertaining. The nostalgia alone was enough for me to keep playing as I completed side quests and defeated the Bosses. The tone of the game was always light and easy going never building up tension. The character development was low on the list for this game, but it was not really missed.
Candice ‘Gamer Girl’ Wendt
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: Mastiff LLC
ESRB: E 10+ (Everyone 10+)
Price: $14.99
Gurumin 3D A Monstrous Adventure Official Website:
http://gurumin.rocks/
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| The graphics are not amazing, but they are colorful. | |
| Sound | |
| An enjoyable soundtrack. | |
| Gameplay | |
| The combat system is in real-time and becomes more intense as you unlock more skills. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Gurumin 3D is definitely a game that should be played. | |
#1
Thanks for taking the time to review Gurumin 3D, Candice. :3
#2
Not a problem at all. The game was a pleasure to play complete with vibrant colors and cute characters. It brought me back to my younger gaming years.
#3
Candice is a great reviewer and staff member.