Doshin the Giant

Be a giant, do what you want!

JP release: 12th March 2002
EU release: 20th September 2002
NA release: N/A
Developer: Param
Publisher: Nintendo
NGC Magazine Score: 62%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

Originally released on 64DD, Doshin the Giant is a game that I enjoyed but didn’t quite understand. Luckily, the GameCube version was released in Europe, so I know more about how the game works, which is definitely a good thing, although the game is also not as deep as I was hoping.

Doshin the Giant is a “god” game where you control a yellow giant and help a bunch of villagers construct buildings by bringing them trees and adjusting the height of their land. You can also turn in to the evil Joshin to smash stuff up, or to ward away natural disasters. Doing good or bad deeds will make you grow stronger – although only for one in-game day.

The main thing I struggled with was building monuments, but the game hints at what you do a bit more here: for them to build a nice monument, you need to give them a flower, obtained by putting around seven trees close together, those trees will die but more will take their place, along with a flower – although there can only be one flower at the time.

This tree mechanic is also needed to keep areas green and alive – as all the trees will die over time, you need to keep things refreshed for the villagers.

Building the different monuments is also quite simple, the flags in a village indicate the group living there, with different tribes having different colours. Getting the different monuments built (which is the main objective of the game) is a case of smashing the old one, moving some villagers around, getting a flower, wating for them to build the new monument and repeat. I had envisioned in my head a system where they would build different ones based on the actions you perform, but the reality is far simpler.

There aren’t that many ways the villagers need your help, either. They either want a tree, want an object moved from where they’re building (usually the tree you just places) or want the land levelling, which can be a massive problem, especially if lots of villagers need stuff adjusting, as fixing one area will make the others unhappy. Luckily, you do get a massive amount of hearts, although the bigger you get, the more difficult it is to avoid trampling and killing the villagers.

For Doshin’s transition to GameCube, there are a few changes. First of all, nothing from the rather strange expansion is included, which is understandable. The map is also smaller, probably so the game doesn’t eat up an entire memory card. There are some enhancements, though, as the game (especially the water) looks much nicer and there are more animals and building designs to make the world much more vibrant, with the villagers having cattle and birds flying around and hunting fish. The camera controls also let you more closely look at what the villagers are doing.

As it stands, Doshin the Giant is the only 64DD game to be remastered or re-released in some form, although a few portions of the Mario Artist series did inspire other things like Miis and WarioWare. While shallow, it’s still an extremely charming game that’s well suited to giving it the odd go every now and then.

Fun

Doshin the Giant is so kooky-Japanese it almost hurts: the main dude himself, with his little tuft of hair and over-long arms, for a start. He appears out of the blue – literally, right out of the ocean like a jaundiced, philanthropic Godzilla – and wanders onto a tropical island one morning. With the power to tug trees right out of the ground and raise or lower the odd terra firma at will, he (or rather, you) sets about helping the four native tribes to build huts, followed by farms, villages, and so on. Sadly, for a god sim, your actions are pretty limited.
Tom Mayo, NGC Magazine #74

Remake or remaster?

A remastered version would make for a lovely little downloadable title that you can open up every now and then.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Doshin the Giant.