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Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure Guide > Walkthrough > Potato Ruins: Nanometer Shrine

Items: Cookie

Welcome to the first dungeon! Straight ahead, you'll see a giant blue monster. He assures you that he is not a Phantom, tells you to take care of the drill, then skips off into the distance. You're now free to explore the ruins.

From the dungeon entrance, you can go three ways. Start by heading left. If you hold down the 'X' button, you can charge your drill attack. The meter along the top of the screen will fill. Once it does, release the button while facing a stone pillar. Then you can release it to destroy the obstruction. You'll gain some coins from each pillar. With that done, go ahead back down the stairs to the right, toward where you first entered the dungeon.

This time, head up the short staircase to the right to smash two more pillars, then return to the entry plaza and head directly ahead, up the stairs where you saw the mysterious blue monster upon entering. Up the stairs, you'll find a black opening area that leads into the next room.

When you enter, the iron gate closes behind you with a loud slam. If you try to open it, you'll find that you cannot. Parin is trapped now, with nowhere to go but onward. Straight ahead, there's another staircase. To the left are two pots that you can bust for more coins (you don't even have to charge the drill). Head up the stairs and you'll find a sign at the base of a bunch of higher ledges. The sign lets you know how to destroy objects, but I've already told you so you don't have to bother reading it unless you want to. Just use it for a reference point.

Around the sign, you can jump up the ledges to break open pots for more coins. There are two boulders blocking the way forward. Charge up your drill to turn them into rubble and proceed.

Now another gate closes behind you and you're trapped again. A spider drops ahead of you and a screen pops up to tell you how you can attack. You can press 'X' for a standard attack, or press it simultaneously with 'O' to launch enemies into the air with brutal efficiency (Jack Bauer has nothing on Parin). Now that you're familiar with the basics, it's time to show the spider that no one messes with a red-head who's packing a drill.

The first spider is just the beginning of your trouble, though. After you defeat him, two more will attack. Once they're gone, four will drop from the sky and a message will pop up as Parin realizes there's a wall she can probably drill through. She can do that in a minute, but first it's time to kick some spider butt! The spiders are easily enough defeated. The launch attack works wonders on their life meters and also keeps you moving so they don't have a chance to attack. Even regular attacks are worthwhile, and those allow you to move pretty quickly.

When the spiders are gone, it's time to tend to any destructible walls... and to the numerous pots around the area. They contain coins. Along the left and right walls, just short of the archway that leads to another door with vases on either side, you'll notice that the walls look rather weak. If you drill through the left wall (you have to charge, as you might anticipate), you can find some enemy cubes dancing around a treasure chest. They are easily defeated.

With the arachnid threat removed, check the treasure chest to snag a COOKIE and then head back down the short hallway toward the main room. Directly ahead, you should see the other weak wall. Drill through it to find another room with a sign, where you'll learn about the Guard Dash move. Pressing the 'Square' button allows you to perform a dash that lets you surprise attack your enemies or dodge various obstacles. Case in point: cannons line the corridor ahead, between you and a lever you need to pull.

The trick, of course, is to just tap the 'Square' button as you move forward so that cannonballs soar harmlessly past you and so that you can pass through the yellow barrier unharmed. Alternatively, stone columns and cannons alike can be removed by charge drill shots. When you reach the switch, press 'X' to activate it and the door will open in the previous room. Head back through the cannon fire (unless you already destroyed them), through the archway and take the right to where the door with the purple vases remains (unless you destroyed those too).

Pass through the next door and again a gate will close behind you. This time, you should see what looks like a portal ahead of you and Parin will say "Wait up!" If you move forward, you'll see a sign next to the strange mound of glimmering soil. Examine it and you'll learn about the 'level' system. Basically, your drill has different levels of maximum power and those diminish when you take damage. You can defeat monsters to raise it, and you can also drill in some special areas for a quick restore. This mound is one such place. If you've taken damage for some reason, stand over it and drill to see what I mean.

With your drill revitalized, go ahead and move forward. You can also pause long enough to drill the pillars and break the pots. At the end of the room, standing in a narrow aisle between some fences you can't pass, you'll see a blue blob. He's a Phantom, Parin realizes. As you approach, it will slowly shuffle toward you. Your launch attack ('O' and 'X' simultaneously) will take care of it quite nicely. As you fight, it probably won't get in any hits at all if you keep on the assault.

You'll probably also destroy some fence pieces during the struggle and that will allow you to pass through and drill the boulders stacked around you. It's worth doing so, since they hold gold coins. Destroy all of them, then continue through the passage the Phantom was guarding.

When you step into this new room, things flash red and an alarm sounds. A gate closes behind you and a Phantom attacks. It falls to your drill the same way its predecessor did, and then you can break more vases for coins before proceeding through the archway that leads to a room to the right. You'll find that you're at one end of a long chamber. There's a ladder leading to a lower level and some spiders dangling in the air. Nearby, there's a sign next to a little pedestal. The sign explains that by standing on the pedestal, you can restore your health in the even that you've taken damage. Nice!

Stand on the pedestal to refill your energy if you like (you don't have to press any buttons, just stand), then look down the chamber (press the 'Triangle' button if you need to turn the camera into putty in your hands. To your right, as you stand on the brink, you should see the top of a ladder that leads down to the lower level. Once you descend it, be ready; spiders will creep toward you. Take them out with simple swipes of your drill and then go read the sign. It explains how you can move and break crates.

What it doesn't say is that pushing crates can be a pain in the butt. Stand near one and you won't just instantly grab it to start pushing. Instead, hold still for a half-second and you'll see an animation as Parin braces herself. Then you're ready to start pushing. Push the stack of crates forward, toward the raised wall a bit short of the low wall. You'll know it's the right one by its lack of a ladder. When you've pushed the crate all the way against the barrier, break the bottom one (it's wooden and destructible) with a charged bit of drilling, then hop onto the iron crate and from there to the raised ledge. Pass through the open doorway and into the next room.

Here, again, an iron grating falls down behind you and you're trapped once more. This time, you're in a room with a low staircase to your left, as well as a corridor that extends beyond it and off to the left from there. Climb the short stairs to break some pots for coins if you wish, then move from there and break purple-toned vases as you follow the hallway straight ahead, then left to a smiling stone statue. Break it from the side with a charged drill and you'll reveal a little cubby hole with a switch. Trigger the switch and a blue platform will fly up to the top of that short staircase where you broke the white pots just a moment ago.

Work your way back around and up the stairs, then step onto the ethereal blue ledge. It will quickly glide back down to where it formerly was positioned and you can head toward high ledges to the side. Be warned that when you do, a spider will come out to attack you. He's easily disposed of, though. Past him and up the steppes, you'll reach another flat spot and another spider will attack. Defeat him and you can jump left to break open another purple vase. Up and to the right, there are more vases and you can drill the wall to break it away and reveal another iron grate. Yay.

Drop back down from where you stand now, to the flat area where that second spider attacked you a moment ago. Cautiously move forward along that ledge and you should be looking at a straight corridor down below, with another switch at the end. When you flip it, the grating you just revealed a second ago will open and four cube enemies will bounce through it. You have to defeat them now in order to proceed. Turn around quickly and press the 'Triangle' button to swing the camera around if the shoulder buttons aren't doing the job. Then quickly press the 'X' button a few times to take out the foolish cubes (they may mob you, in which case two quick tabs can easily take out all four before they even have a chance to harm you).

Once you've disposed of the cubes, hop up to the opening that gained them entry and you'll come to a new sign that explains the 'Target Attack' concept. Basically, if you jump into the air when an enemy is targeted, the cursor glowing bubble around him will change color when he's vulnerable. As that happens, you can press 'X' to execute your strike. Once your blow hits, jump again right away to springboard into the air, where you can perhaps target another enemy and repeat the process. It's a little like Nightshade on the PS2, in the unlikely event that you've also played that game.

Your new knowledge of target attacks will of course be put to the test forthwith. Head off to the left from where you read the sign and you'll trigger a practical tutorial that lets you put the notion to the test. Destroy two enemies and collect some coins, then face more enemies from there that will allow you to bounce your way up to take out a series of three more. These enemies regenerate, though, so there's not much point in trying to get rid of them all.

When you make your way past those floating thugs to the next ledge and its contents, you should notice a sign amongst all the pots. Beyond it, on the next raised ledge, a Phantom is pacing. Read the sign and it tells you about 'Junk.' Essentially, some enemies guard themselves with equipment that you can knock loose with charged drill attacks. Once you defeat the Phantom, you can snag its arsenal and add it to yours to improve Parin's combat readiness. The pacing Phantom provides such an opportunity.

Use a charged shot to take out the enemy, then rescue Puku from the cage. Suddenly, dark clouds move in over the world map. Puku explains that what you saw is actually something called 'Dark Mist.' It's bad. Puku rushes back to the village, and you appear there automatically as story sequences transpire (you can press 'Start' to skip them, if you like).

Back in the village, it appears that chaos reigns. Monsters meet and tell one another that their mission has been a success, even though some people got away. Then a Phantom called the Prince advises everyone that they're moving to the next stage of their plan. Parin and the Prince meet for the first time. He won't tell her where her friends have gone, but says simply that she must look for them on her own. Then he departs on a beast he has summoned and you are left alone in the village to contemplate matters. It's time to head back to town (just follow the path with a sign that says 'Town' if you're lost).

NEXT: Tiese Town: After the Ruins