Doshin the Giant
Encyclopedia
is a Nintendo
god simulation game
for the Nintendo 64DD
released in Japan on December 1, 1999. The original game was bundled with the 64DD console. An add-on was released five months later called Kyojin no Doshin Kaihō Sensen Chibikko Chikko Daishūgou, which took a very different perspective of the game. The original Doshin game was later released and upgraded graphically to the Nintendo GameCube
and released in Japan on March 14, 2002 and Europe on September 20, 2002. It was not released in North America because of a deal struck between Nintendo
and Atlus
over the localization of another niche game called Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest, which would have released at about the same time on the GameCube
.
The player has the choice of what the outcome will be. By absorbing the love or hate of the islanders Doshin grows in size.
Doshin is the Love Giant, a yellow, featureless giant with a happy face and a few strands of hair. He is a benevolent, helpful being who, with his good actions, earns love from his people, and increases in size (only for that day, by the next day, he is back to normal size).
Doshin can transform, at will, into his evil alter ego Jashin, the Hate Giant, and has wings on its back and clawed feet. Jashin is known to be a destructive force to the natives, the exact opposite to Doshin's nature. With his bad actions, people show him their dislike, and he increases in size. The only thing the two giants have in common is that both have an outie belly button.
Doshin/Jashin has a small variety of actions to perform. He can raise and lower terrain, and pick up trees and objects. The island is randomly generated, and it takes time to walk the whole island.
The four native tribes on the island are separated with the color of their clothing (red, green, yellow, blue). The female natives are dressed in a sleeveless, uni-colored gown of their tribe's color. The male natives wear a kilt
and hat of their tribe's color, but remain shirtless, also showing outie belly buttons.
Doshin also appeared as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee
. He was shown holding a villager in his hands. He was called the Love Giant as the title of the Trophy, but called Doshin in the entry. Jashin appears as a secret trophy in the lottery as Hate Giant.
A recent document unveiled by Nintendo for Super Mario Galaxy also shows what suspiciously looks like a Doshin the Giant planet which didn't make it into the final game.
If you build the love or hate version of all 15 monuments, the last monument will be built. After the building, it will cut to a cut scene, where the monument is destroyed and the island sinks. Doshin attempts to save the villagers but is later seen floating at sea, where he then turns into an island himself.
You then awake on the small Doshin island, where aliens have inhabited the island, and Doshin has to gather a flower so they can complete the final monument of the game, a spaceship. Once the spaceship has been completed, the game is finished, but the player can continue to unlock bonus maps.
Another objective is to free Doshin from his imprisonment, by causing him to grow larger than his cage. This will cause the game credits to show and can only be viewed once, unless you reset the game's saved data.
You can also gather help to free Doshin. After creating monuments in 'Doshin 1' and their counterpart pavilions, children will appear in the Expo area and you can "tinkle" on them with your hearts and they will join you, becoming what are known as Teamers or teamsters. There are two other teams you can choose from at the start of the game, and with enough pavilions completed you can battle the other teamster groups in a tinkle contest. If you win, the loser's team members become neutral and can be added to your team. You can have 6 other children on your team. This gives you 6 times more tinkling hearts when you go to try to free Doshin.
, peaking at number-one in that country and was Japan's ninth best-selling game of 2002.
In the UK, Doshin the Giant peaked at number-nine and was the UK's sixty-fifth best-selling game of 2002 and hit the top of the GameCube
charts and was the twenty-second best-selling GameCube game of 2002.
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
god simulation game
God game
A god game is an artificial life game that casts the player in the position of controlling the game on a large scale, as an entity with divine/supernatural powers, as a great leader, or with no specified character , and places them in charge of a game setting containing autonomous characters to...
for the Nintendo 64DD
Nintendo 64DD
The is a peripheral for the Nintendo 64 game console. It plugged into the N64 through the EXTension Port on the Nintendo 64's underside, and allowed the N64 to use proprietary 64 MB magneto-optical discs for expanded data storage...
released in Japan on December 1, 1999. The original game was bundled with the 64DD console. An add-on was released five months later called Kyojin no Doshin Kaihō Sensen Chibikko Chikko Daishūgou, which took a very different perspective of the game. The original Doshin game was later released and upgraded graphically to the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
and released in Japan on March 14, 2002 and Europe on September 20, 2002. It was not released in North America because of a deal struck between Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
and Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
over the localization of another niche game called Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest, which would have released at about the same time on the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
.
Gameplay
Doshin is the Love Giant, a yellow, featureless giant with a happy face and a few strands of hair. He is a benevolent, helpful being who, with his good actions, earns love from his people, and increases in size (only for that day, by the next day, he is back to normal size).
Doshin can transform, at will, into his evil alter ego Jashin, the Hate Giant, and has wings on its back and clawed feet. Jashin is known to be a destructive force to the natives, the exact opposite to Doshin's nature. With his bad actions, people show him their dislike, and he increases in size. The only thing the two giants have in common is that both have an outie belly button.
Doshin/Jashin has a small variety of actions to perform. He can raise and lower terrain, and pick up trees and objects. The island is randomly generated, and it takes time to walk the whole island.
The four native tribes on the island are separated with the color of their clothing (red, green, yellow, blue). The female natives are dressed in a sleeveless, uni-colored gown of their tribe's color. The male natives wear a kilt
Kilt
The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly...
and hat of their tribe's color, but remain shirtless, also showing outie belly buttons.
Doshin also appeared as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBM or simply as Melee, is a crossover fighting game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the Wii game Super Smash...
. He was shown holding a villager in his hands. He was called the Love Giant as the title of the Trophy, but called Doshin in the entry. Jashin appears as a secret trophy in the lottery as Hate Giant.
A recent document unveiled by Nintendo for Super Mario Galaxy also shows what suspiciously looks like a Doshin the Giant planet which didn't make it into the final game.
Plot
The main scenario of the game is that you control Doshin, a yellow giant. Doshin inhabits an island called Barudo, and the objective of the game is to encourage the four tribes to build monuments. The game is divided into days, of which the player can have an endless number, which last 30 minutes and include changes from sunrise to sunset.If you build the love or hate version of all 15 monuments, the last monument will be built. After the building, it will cut to a cut scene, where the monument is destroyed and the island sinks. Doshin attempts to save the villagers but is later seen floating at sea, where he then turns into an island himself.
You then awake on the small Doshin island, where aliens have inhabited the island, and Doshin has to gather a flower so they can complete the final monument of the game, a spaceship. Once the spaceship has been completed, the game is finished, but the player can continue to unlock bonus maps.
Expansion
was released on May 17, 2000 for 64DD and requires 64DD version of Doshin the Giant to operate.Plot and gameplay
In the game, a child is told to go to sleep and is pulled out of bed and through the window, into a world of dreams. In this dream world, Doshin is now imprisoned and you can "Tinkle" 2D hearts on people and even the giant himself. The main objective of the game is to watch the 17 mini black and white movies collectively titled "More Than Giant" that were specially animated for this game. You must repeatedly go back and forth between the two disks to verify that monuments were built in game 1, and to complete tasks that the "Queen Companions" request of you. Most of the mini-movies in this game are simply stand-alone animated shorts called "more than giant' telling bits of the story of how Doshin came to be imprisoned (e.g. a boy fishing catches a giant, Doshin raises and lowers land to the sound of rap music, etc.).Another objective is to free Doshin from his imprisonment, by causing him to grow larger than his cage. This will cause the game credits to show and can only be viewed once, unless you reset the game's saved data.
You can also gather help to free Doshin. After creating monuments in 'Doshin 1' and their counterpart pavilions, children will appear in the Expo area and you can "tinkle" on them with your hearts and they will join you, becoming what are known as Teamers or teamsters. There are two other teams you can choose from at the start of the game, and with enough pavilions completed you can battle the other teamster groups in a tinkle contest. If you win, the loser's team members become neutral and can be added to your team. You can have 6 other children on your team. This gives you 6 times more tinkling hearts when you go to try to free Doshin.
Reception
Doshin the Giant was a hit game in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, peaking at number-one in that country and was Japan's ninth best-selling game of 2002.
In the UK, Doshin the Giant peaked at number-nine and was the UK's sixty-fifth best-selling game of 2002 and hit the top of the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
charts and was the twenty-second best-selling GameCube game of 2002.