Ever heard of a small developer called Nihon Falcom? How about the Ys series of action RPGs? No on both counts, huh? Well, despite the lack of clout these two names carry, know that Falcom's reputation for quaint, addictive adventures is of the highest caliber, and its next title is coming to PSP next year.

Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure hits early 2007 and follows the story of a little girl who must save a world of invisible monsters from their even-more-monstrous oppressors. Naturally, the only way to do this is to use a magic drill that can carve up the baddies and rid the world of their vile presence. The 3D action-RPG managed to pull away a silver award from Famitsu magazine, the big-time source for Japanese gamers (that's also notoriously hard on every game it scores).

Boss battles, minigames and plenty of talking heads are on the agenda, but games like this are usually much more charming than their feature list.

October 2, 2006