Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure isn’t just a great action RPG, it’s a rebuke to what Westerners assume about Japanese gaming.
There’s this myth amongst Westerrners that Japanese never made PC games until recently.
This myth persists even though some of the greatest Japanese-made franchises started as PC games. But even some Westerners who are aware of the MSX, PC-98, and Sharp X68000 still believe that Japanese developers abandoned PCs once Windows dominated the Japanese market.
It simply isn’t true. If anything, some of the greatest Japanese games were made for PC first. One such company with a PC-first focus is Nihon Falcom. If you’re a JRPG die-hard, you probably know them.
Nihon Falcom is, in my opinion, the greatest JRPG developer of all time. They’re famous for so many classics: Dragon Slayer, Ys, The Legend of Heroes – just to name a few. These JRPGs started life on Japanese PC platforms, not Windows – before Windows was localized into Japanese.
But even after Windows’ localization, Nihon Falcom continued PC game development. Initially released in 2004, only in Japan, Gurumin was designed for Windows. It stayed as a Japanese exclusive release for almost a decade. Finally, in 2015, it got English localization and a world-wide release.
Now the interesting thing about Gurumin is that it’s not a hardcore JRPG for dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts. Rather, this is an incredibly accessible, family-friendly adventure about a little girl named Parin moving to a mining town. There are no kids in this town, so she makes friends with the local monsters – who the adults in the town can’t see. One day, her monster friends are attacked by the evil phantoms. So what does Parin naturally do? She goes on a quest to rescue her friends.
Because of this game’s PC-centric Japanese design, Gurumin has certain quirks. For one thing, it does not give a damn about certain Western conventions about PC gaming. For example, instead of WASD or arrow keys for movement, you move the mouse while pressing left mouse button. Believe it or not, using the mouse this way almost feels like using an analog joystick – it works pretty well!
And this is just one quirk regarding the controls too. If you look at the top of your screen, you’ll see musical notes. That’s because Gurumin has a rhythm game component to it. If you hit right mouse button – which is attack – at the precise beat of the game music rhythm, you will achieve a critical hit.
Graphically, Gurumin resembles something that could have come out on GameCube or PS2. It seems so console-like in the graphical department that when I show this game off to someone unfamiliar, they are shocked to discover that this was once a PC exclusive. But I think it’s graphics, look the way they do is because – again – this was a Japanese-made game that came out in 2004.
Because this is a PC game, it looks far sharper than anything made for console during that era. Gurumin has no problems displaying at modern resolutions with a widescreen aspect ratio. And believe it or not, no mods are needed!
The soundtrack is whimsical and fun, befitting for the fantasy scenario. It’s also a core component of the game. Paying attention to the music helps you with the rhythm combat component of the game, helping you achieve success.
Gurumin is a great entryway into the world of JRPGs. It’s a standalone game, not part of a series. And the world-building is remarkable.
I also think young girls (and young girls at heart) will love Gurumin. Parin is a character they can relate to, and all her friends are lovable. It also helps that Parin is a courageous hero who simply wants to defend her new home.
Believe it or not, Gurumin was the first game I ever bought on GOG.com. I’ve owned it since 2015. And this was the game that really sold me on the service. I’ve installed this game on so many of my computers. My daughter has now grown up with Parin and her friends.
Gurumin might not be famous, especially here in the West. To me, though, it is a JRPG classic for PC. It continues to create fond memories for my family.
