New Game!! Fans, do you like the Peco concept?
Okay so those unfamiliar, the anime New Game!! is a moe genre show that revolves around the character modeling/design division of a video game developer. This current season shows off fictional ideas of a video game concept the cast is working on.
The game’s premise is of a girl in a strange new world ran by a “evil” queen, and she uses various costumes to navigate the world and overcome the challenges presented. The character designs are whimiscal and cute.
Seems like a fun cartoony type of game. Don’t you wish you could play it?
Well, I have something you might actually be interested in. Something i feel comes close to the same vibe “Peco” gives off.
This is Gurumin. A Falcom game that debuted on PSP way back in 2004. It is an Action Platformer that implements RPG mechanics such as upgradable gear and stats to improve your main character, Parin!
The story is about the young girl, Parin, who arrives alone at a miner town with no friends her age to hang with. One day she follows a “Monster” into a new world hidden from most humans in the normal world. She makes a whole new group of friends with these monsters. The peace is short lived though, phantoms terrorize their monster world hangout and scatters them all about. With a mystical drill in hand, Parin sets off to save her new friends.
The core of the game involves using the drill to break through the defenses of various enemies and bosses with a varied and upgradable moveset. Elements and resistances come into play by changing the parts on Parin’s Drill and changing her hat/headgear to change your offensive and defensive bonuses. The drill lives up to its namesake as many objects are destructible in the environment to unlock secrets and reward exploration.
The consistent stream of unlocks and new moves keep combat and platforming through the varied, and surprisingly large stages fresh. The game also provides replayablity by adding more challenging difficulty modes that unlock different costumes for Parin to wear, some with unique effects to boot!
The game is a bit of a cult classic. The soundtrack is well done, and there’s tons of useful items, and unlockables via challenges. It ranks your play and score in each stage, giving reason to master the mechanics, as the medals you earn lead to even more unlockables!
Best of all, Gurumin has seen a resurgence: the game has been revived via a Steam Rerelease and on Oct 13, 2016, a month from now, there will be a-release on the Nintendo 3DS!
The Steam version is only 10$, and the 3DS version is 15$. Not a bad price at all, the steam version which i have now, actually looks better, WAY better than my PSP version, and they put good work into making several control schemes that work with setups of all types, even mouse based play is possible. Not a half-baked port at all.
Anyways thats about it, I hope you New Game!! fans found this game interesting. The Peco game idea really did bring this game to mind. Its a great game and shares a similar spirit to the Peco concept.
