Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure/Potato Ruins (Nanometer Shrine)

This is where you start your adventure and first quest. Once in the Ruins, you'll first see the big friendly cat who assures you that he's not a phantom before running off. Look around to find jars. These can be smashed for money. How much you get seems to be completely random. Once you are ready, proceed to the sign. It teaches you to store energy in your drill by pressing and holding psx: X. Use it on the two boulders in front. Voila, you are through!

Room 1
The gate will close behind you. Don't fret, you can always leave the dungeon by pressing psx: Start then going to "System" and "Leave Area." Now for your first encounter: spiders. Kill one, and two more will appear. Kill those and four more will hang from the corners of the room.

Look closely at the walls around you, and you will notice that on the left and right from the entrance, there are two walls that have more crumpled lines. Destroy these walls by charging up your drill. On the right "weak wall," you'll see a chest in the middle surrounded by four rotating blocks. These blocks will not attack you until you hit them. Destroy them and open the chest to get your first "Cookie!" Clear the room and cross over to the opposite side to destroy the other weak wall. It will reveal a room of traps. Cannons on both ends and Electric traps line the room.

Through the traps
You can weave through them by pressing psx: S or simply destroy the cannons and side pillars. Pull the lever with psx: X and it will open the gate in the previous room.

Next up, you will see a little depression in the ground which resembles a soil patch for gardening. This is where you gather power for your drill. Dig through the soil and you will level up your drill. The three bars at the top next to your HP determines the power of your drill. The more it is filled up, the more potent your attacks will be. Receive physical damage and the drill energy will decrease. Once you gain power from the soil, you will not be able to do so again (unless you leave the dungeon and return to start anew).

A little up ahead is your first real test: a phantom! They look more like little blue potatoes, but their attacks can be deadly. The basic attack is a roll towards your direction, but when combined with other equipment, they are able to conjure up some other skills like Guard mode and/or the ability to shoot. You can knock off their equipment by charging your drill before you attack. You can also gather up this equipment as "junk." These junks are useful to use for upgrading existing equipment that you have at the shop with Disk.

Crate puzzle
Kill the phantom and blast the rocks in this area before destroying the weak wall up front. The new room contains another phantom. This time you have to fight him in a smaller enclosed space. This is good practice for the tough road ahead. Go to the next room and you'll find a pleasant surprise. Its a portal to heal your life to the max! Always look out for weak walls, as some are passages and some just contain some gold. There is one to the right of this healing portal. Once done, look towards the left to see a little puzzle.

There are two stacks of crates, one on top of the other and two spiders hanging from the ceiling. Drop down, clear the spiders and move towards those crates. Once you are beside the crates, Parin will automatically engage in a holding action. You can then use psx: Neutral Dpad to push or pull the crates. To release, press psx: C. Push the crates towards the far wall and charge up your drill to smash the bottom crate. Now you've created some steps!

The next part has a little stairway on the left and gates on the right blocking your access. Clear the area, walk to the back and destroy the statue that is hiding a lever. Pull on it and the blue step teleports to the top of the stairs. You can now step on it and it will teleport you to the right area beyond the gates. More cute spiders stand between you and the next stage. The next room has some cascading steps on the left hand side and looking ahead, you can see a lever. Go to the lever and pull it. This will release four cute blocks monsters and they will promptly approach you. Quickly dispose of them and head up those steps.

Bossfight
Look closely and you will find that the wall is fragile here. Charge up that drill and blast through the wall. The next room is an interesting place, it's best to pay attention to the skill here. Parin can continuously jump and attack as long as she (or you) gets the timing right. Jump, and when the target changes color (as in the picture), strike, then jump again and strike the next target. If you get it right, you can destroy all five floating phantoms here without touching the ground. The phantoms are harmless, and here for you to practice this skill. After a few seconds, they reappear again. Try to master this sequence, as it will prove valuable in future.

Now, onto the last phantom. This little fellow wears a shield that provides him 100% protection from normal drill strikes. You will have to charge your drill for this one. Once he loses his shield, he will be completely vulnerable. Finish him! The cut-scene thereafter is rather amusing. You find Puku and try to rescue him. Puku does not need help though, as he conveniently walks out of his enclosure. There is still bad news though: the phantoms have attacked and destroyed Monster Village.

Destroyed village
Dark mists now cover the once beloved land of the Monsters and until Monster Village is restored, the mists will cloud over the land like a disease. Puku rushes back to Monster Village and Parin goes after him. She comes back in time to catch the Prince of the Phantom's last goodbye.

Monster Village is destroyed, and Parin now needs to rescue her new found friends.