The adults of the mining town of Tiese believe the child with the wild red hair made up a world of her own imagination, a world where some monsters aren’t fearsome creatures but actually friendly characters that like her. Who can blame her when the town itself is composed mainly of adults? But what if this world did exist and the little girl did cross into another world where her friends are actually monsters? This is what happens to one little girl in Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure for the PSP.  

You assume the role of Parin, a bright-eyed little girl who has come to live with her grandfather who so happens to be the major of the mentioned mining town. It seems that Parin’s parents, a group of adventurers, think it unwise to include Parin on one of their latest excavations so this means their adventurous daughter must sit their latest adventure out. To make matters worst, there are no other kids in the town Tiese and there’s a creepy older man who wants to date her. All looked bad for Parin until one day she rescues a young monster named Pino and befriends her and her brother Puku. Suddenly, Parin joins them in Monster Village and a great adventure unfolds like a good Japanese anime (the game even has an anime-styled intro complete with a theme song).

Of course, no adult really believes her and believes that Parin’s young, imaginative mind is making up all these imaginary friends. That’s Ok with Parin, though, since she is able to slip between her own world and a world filled with interesting monsters that quickly become her friends. This world isn’t always filled with friendly monsters (like the very French Pierre) and Parin will often find herself battling bad monsters known as Phantoms. That’s also Ok with Parin seeing as this little girl loves a good scrap and makes good use of her trusty drill. 

Like a good adventure game, Gurumin allows gamers to interact with the main character’s surroundings. You can explore the town and talk to town folks or walk into a shop to buy cookies and cakes (the game’s source of health for your character). Much like a role-playing game, you can even rename your character, level up and upgrade your character (with useful headgear) and weapons. You’ll enter dungeons and clear them of Phantoms while collecting coins, medals and mystery bags filled with goodies. Using your drill you can break walls and find secret areas and you can even drill the ground. You’ll do some platform jumping to avoid traps and move crates to help you reach distant ledges. 

Combat in the game is actually pretty fun and Parin has some great moves and attacks to take out each Phantom you’ll encounter throughout your adventures in the Monster Kingdom. My biggest gripe, though, is with the camera that seems to stick with Parin and thus doesn’t offer the best view of your surroundings. You won’t see an enemy until it comes close enough to Parin to attack. Sure, you can swing the camera around manually but this becomes a bit of an annoyance. Another annoyance also happens to be the long and frequent load times. There’s a long load time for entering each dungeon or area and the more impatient gamer will become a tad frustrated by it. 

Then again, the game is actually quite lengthy and spans several areas within the monster-themed world. There are four mini-games you’ll get to play in this game and you’ll be rewarded each time you break a record. Speaking of rewards, there’s collectibles scattered throughout the game that is good for unlocking various items you can equip. You can even forge different items to upgrade your weapon. You can even unlock harder difficulty settings.  

Graphics-wise, Gurumin looks more like an original PlayStation game but that’s not bad considering the game does have its own sense of style. In fact, as I mentioned before, the game resembles a Japanese anime. The characters are cutesy but there’s plenty of detail in the backgrounds. The various locales you visit all have their distinct look and even the dungeons don’t look boring. What really stands out, though, are the visual effects. The PSP screen literally lights up as Parin defeats Phantoms or breaks through walls with her drill and some Phantoms are actually quite impressive. 

The game’s sound is also pretty good since the game does include voice acting. Occasionally too cheery for its own good, the voices aren’t bad at all and do a good job of making the dialogue work. There are also some good tunes in the game and there’s even an opening theme song at the beginning of the game. As for the sound effects, they work wonderfully throughout the game. 

Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure for the PSP is one of those rare gems in adventure gaming and while it looks way too kiddy, this is a game with a lot to offer gamers young and old. With a lovely story, fun level, great characters and plenty of action, it’s easy to overlook the game’s few flaws and simply enjoy this charming adventure. Trust me when I say that this is a gaming experience worth checking out if you love your PSP or a fun anime-styled game perfect enough to take on the go. 

Gameplay: 8.2
Exploring the various locales and fighting against monsters, Parin is a fun character to control. The game’s combat never gets tedious and is actually fun and the RPG elements make interacting with characters and your environment a real hoot. The problem is you’ll be wrestling with the camera and the load times way too frequent. 

Graphics: 8.0
Gurumin is a nice-looking PSP game that smacks of classic anime or an old school RPG like Skies of Arcadia. While that’s not a bad thing, it’s not exactly a visual achievement on the PSP. Still, there’s plenty of neat effects and the characters are so gosh darn cute. 

Sound: 8.2
Not only are the visuals very anime but also so is the more than decent voice acting work that brings the characters to life. The dialogue may not be witty but it does make each character come off as likeable. The music is also pretty good and the sound effects not bad at all. 

Difficulty: Medium
Some battles get a little more difficult along the way so you’ll be glad Parin can level up but there’s nothing here that will seem too incredibly difficult even for the much younger crowd. The real challenge is finding all the hidden goodies. The again, with five difficulty settings, you can increase the difficulty if you like. 

Concept: 8.5
It’s hard not to like a game that really piles on the extras to unlock like mini-games, new costumes and better weapons. The main game is actually very good and the game creatively uses your PSP’s calendar that can only be unlocked on the December/January holidays. This is great stuff, indeed. 

Overall: 8.5
Easily one of the most enjoyable and surprising adventure games to grace the PSP, Gurumin is one of those rare treats that are fit for gamers of all ages. Despite the few problems this game possesses, its charming characters, fun levels and loads of extras make this a game no PSP owner or adventure game fan should miss.