Gurumin: A Monsterous Adventure

Gurumin: A Monsterous Adventure

Developer/Publisher: Mastiff/Falcom

Genre: Action/ Adventure

Release: March 31,2015 (Latest port)

Available: Steam, GamersGate, Desura, and GOG

Price: $10

Platforms: Windows, and PSP

Mode: Single-Player

Disclaimer

• Got it for free for green lighting it.
• I play games on hard mode
• Played many platformers and action/adventure games
• I'm harsh and picky.
• I'm not a professional journalist.
• Most of my reviews are usually the PC version. I am the PC master race.
• I try to 100% games unless it's pointless or tediously stupid.
• No bribes were taken.
• No bribes were offered.
• This game was originally released on PC in 2004 then on PSP in 2007.
  
  
  

Hardware

• Windows 7 Home premium 64-bit
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600@ 2.40GHz. Kentsfield 65mn technology
• Ram: 4gb Dual channel DDR2@400MHz (6-6-6-18)
• GPU: 1023MB MSI GeForce GTS 450
• Monitor: 1440x900@60Hz
• Audio: Creative X-fi Audio Processor

Story:

• You are a bored little girl who moved to quiet empty town when you save a monster from a dog. You have fun when phantoms attack and destroy the village while kidnapping your friends. Your out to get them back and stop the phantoms.
• Plot is simple with a few twists. Not heavy or reliant on story.
• Voice acting decent , but not there best performances.
• Dialogue is simple with some quirkiness. Not comedy of the year material , but can put a smile to your face.
• The script is mediocre for the voice acting. Sometimes can be hard to follow or feels disjointed.

Graphics:

• Good quality. Some low-res objects but level textures have detail.
• The art style feels like you are playing an N64/PS1 game
• At times, levels can feel a bit spartan with and repetitive visually.
• Turning off depth of field, motion blur, and background buffering will turn AA on.
• Graphical setings are sparse.

Game play:

• Controls:

• Limited control over camera. Can turn it or have it lock on to an enemy or face where you are looking.
• Camera can zoom in too close at times and will automatically reset its self if it isn't facing where the player is looking. Minor hindrance.
• Controls not very customizable. Is improving but limited. Controller works better.
• Mechanics:
  • Jumping feels lose and floaty with little control. Problem in last half of game where you will being doing precise jumping on small platforms.
  • Attacks tend to push you forward. Problem when you can fall off ledges in last half of game.
  • Auto targeting doesn't always seam to work.
  • Delay in switching between attacks and dodging can be a problem in combat.
  • No long range attacks. An issue in latter half where you have to target enemies that are over the edge and won't come near you. Also annoying to deal with fish.
  • Mantling is finicky. Doesn't always work when it visually should or annoying to drop down.
  • You can sink in water if you don't move and need to so you can access certain area's. Never mentioned in game.
  • There is a rhythm combat mechanic that lets you get critical hits, but it moves rather fast and hard to time in practice.
  • Special attacks can be tricky to pull off and not as easy to do as they should be.
  • Medals depending on enemies killed, jars/chests opened, and time. Time only applies for S+ and S++ ranks.
  • Not hard to get S ranks
  • A variety of different attacks to use in combat that are handy.
  • Game runs at 30 fps while the UI runs at 60. Not fixed yet.

• Level design:

• First half of game are well designed. No issues as far as game mechanics and levels go.
• First half isn't a platformer.
• Puzzles are very simple. Mostly just moving boxes. The riddles for the bonus levels can range from easy to Not making any sense or being too hard to pull off.
• Levels don't have much besides breakable objects. Tends to feel a bit empty and repetitive.
• Levels get much longer in length when it comes to s-ranking them.
• Quality of second half is worse then first half. Platforming, ice, enemies flying over gaps.
• In mountain levels, the ice and the snow nearly look alike in color. Faint difference in textures.
• Three of the chests in the last bonus level are hard due to jumping and mantling mechanics.
• Secret platinum coins have to be triggered by a quest and are found through completely vague triggers. Example: step on small cliff edge.
• Most of the hats are not needed. Some hats abilities overlap with others which can make other hats worthless.
• Even on normal the game is easy.
• Need to s-rank every level on each difficulty in order to unlock all costumes.
• Item levels, items obtained, parts and money carry over to next play-through.

Audio:

• Music is cheerful and perky. Type of music you would want to listen on a soundtrack.
• On rare occasions does the music stop for a second then picks back up.

Thoughts:

• Beating the game 100% can be frustrating due to bad game mechanics and level designs.
• Not a bad game despite it's flaws, but hard to recommend due to it's flaws.
• The game could have used some polish and more time spent working on the game.
• It's cheap.
• This is an old pc game from 2004.