"Doh’s Investigations - Overview (Part 1)"

Now here it is, the final Investigation. Yep it’s been a good few years but it must come to an end, I am now at University where hours of lectures and such not stare me in the face everyday. Sadly I just won’t have any time to continue these Investigations, though.

So as it’s the final Investigation, I’ve decided it was the perfect time to write the Investigation on Doh’s Investigations…Now this is going to be interesting. This’ll be split up into many parts.

Why?

Interesting question to start off with and to be completely honest I don’t have one particular reason why I wrote the Investigations. It was an idea that came to me the November of 2001, I was getting more furious over the popularity of Ocarina of Time, in my books things were sitting well and I really needed to understand why people liked it so much and why it was still so successful. So I set about doing an “Investigation” into Ocarina of Time, I wrote my first draft but with no where to actually place this editorial. So sitting one day at a computer at school, the idea of turning this into a section suddenly dawned on me and e-mailed Max. Max agreed to this idea and with me sending in the Investigation brought the birth of Doh’s Investigations. Admittedly the first three Investigations were really my trial run and weren’t exactly of great standard, they focused on the two N64 games. I managed to move away when the first images and movie of The Wind Waker (name not known back then and was referred to as “Cel-da”) appeared on the internet. However, that was still Zelda in subject, but it was the first to really have a proper dig at Nintendo. Fine both the first two Investigations were a shout at Nintendo and indeed the start of what could most likely be my dislike for some Nintendo ideas, however, they weren’t really thought out and needed more insight into them. But I continued.

Perhaps it was the fact that I knew Nintendo made and were making (and still are making) some very big errors and that they needed looking into why, how and indeed exploit their idiotic ideas. Nintendo is not a perfect company, people need to understand that, but there are those certain few who believe everything Nintendo does is correct. Yes fine I have been wrong in my Investigations, my DS Investigation is a true example, though the system hasn’t been released it’s been shown to have some potential and the minute it was announced I damned it. I’m not saying the Investigations are right or wrong, they were my sole opinions, but I tried to stay on a line where people hopefully would agree with me and I’d try and argue both sides of the argument as to make it a fair Investigation.

Whatever happened to the Timeline Investigation?

It was scrapped, simple as that. The reasoning behind it being thrown in the dustbin however is a bit longer. I’d done a lot of research, going to sites such as Zelda Elements and many of the big playing sites, and of course Max had decided to write a little rant in one of her updates. I had both sides of the argument, however, whereas Max didn’t believe in the timeline many of the sites revealed the timeline in a different order to each other. Of course each had evidence to prove their theories, but it made it all the harder to decide what was right. I continued to research and read into many other timeline theories. Then it suddenly struck me. Why should I write an Investigation about this? The Zelda series is a gaming series in which I really enjoy and have been a fan for many years. Why should I restrict it to a tight timeline? Why should I disprove the existence of the timeline? Nintendo hasn’t released anything about it, fine there were bits and pieces from interviews in some of the theories, but none of them really backed up the idea of a timeline. They have neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the timeline and to be honest restricting the Zelda series to these confines in not something I wanted to do. I am inclined to agree with Max to an extent, but I won’t yet agree to the fact that they’re remakes. So I have left this Investigation for good and will never return to it.

This next part of the Investigation is an overview of previous Investigations (well, the ones that need updating) up until the end of 2002, I will comment on what I have stated in the previous Investigations and give my opinions that I have now. My views have changed since 2001 and I look forward to actually changing my own Investigations.

November 2001 Edition: What made OoT so successful?

Ah…Investigation number 1, the one that started it all. Reading over this old Investigation has brought back some memories and I can clearly see some faults in my own opinions and even the way I set about this Investigation. Splitting up the editorial into sections allowed me to look deeper into the game; however, looking back now some of the sections are not needed. In the months after writing the Investigation I began to realise that The Legend of Zelda series of games were not RPG’s but instead are Adventure games with RPG elements added in. If this was applied to my Investigation now, the whole outcome would be similar but at the same time extremely different to what I previously stated. At the moment the Investigation states that all other Zelda games have been RPG’s and OoT is just an Adventure game, I was so wrong. I also believe I should have explored the Graphics more, it was the biggest characteristic in the success of OoT, and it needs some fleshing out. The graphics in OoT were indeed “good in their own right”, but what does that comment give us? Not a lot really. The graphics in OoT revolutionised the Zelda game series and showed us the next step Nintendo would be taking. It was realistic to a certain extent and pushed the capabilities of the Nintendo 64’s power. This did bring a smile to Zelda fans worldwide and this was the key point of OoT selling. If it were top-down view like ALttP would the outcome have been the same? Well maybe as Nintendo had established a good graphical system, however, as we ended up seeing Mario 64 in full 3D, a 2D Zelda wouldn’t have cut it and would have eventually only appeal to the fans of the series.

Moving along I see “Sound” which was fine, then to the RPG point, and then continuing down there’s the “Good Ending?” In a way it’s a good factor to look at, but now looking back upon this it doesn’t seem too relevant. It makes out that I’m just having a go at the game because I want the conclusion to down grade OoT. This has made the Investigation slightly unfair and was planning on re-writing this Investigation, who knows? I may still actually get time to doing it.

December 2001 Edition: Should Nintendo have spent more time on Majora's Mask?

Oh dear...Majora’s Mask, once one of my most hated games of all time. And I mean hated, I used to believe it was a blurry mess with no substance to it. However, after considerable thought after I wrote the investigation and recent playing on the Zelda Collectors Edition, I must admit that my views have changed and I’ve warmed up to the game. There is a word I’m able to use that describes this game, “fun”. Yes you read that right; “fun” is the word I seemed to have missed out in the investigation. Majora’s Mask brought a refreshing change to the Zelda series (just as Link’s Awakening did), it wasn’t set in Hyrule, fine the storyline isn’t exactly the best thing in the world, but it was extremely good fun to play. In my mind Majora’s Mask actually ranks higher than the over-rated Ocarina of Time. Nintendo may not have spent much time on storyline and the amount of temples, but the challenge was still there and so was the longevity. My investigation was in a way very wrong, Nintendo spent enough time trying to bring the players this sense of greatness with all the twists and sub-plots.

They could have indeed spent more time creating some more dungeons or thinking up a better storyline.

It intrigues me to see that I again looked in to the ending of the game to judge it, this is just so horribly wrong, does the ending constitute the games overall feel? Of course it doesn’t. Yes fine it would be nice to see a great ending to a game you’ve played you’ve spent hours on, but looking at the game itself does not include the ending, but is all about the gaming aspect.

January 2002 Edition: What is the actual interpretation of the MM introduction?

Good question and something I really can’t come to a conclusion anymore. It’s far too cryptic for a solid answer, even back when I wrote the investigation I didn’t decide on the conclusion that Link was indeed looking for Navi.

February 2002 Edition: Is Nintendo doing the right thing making "Cel-da"?

This Investigation really doesn’t need looking into again as I’ve actually written an Investigation about The Wind Waker.

March 2002 Edition: Should Nintendo make a Zelda Movie?

Let’s face it, Movie’s from Video Games aren’t very successful and many have been slated by the critics. However, with the recent announcement of Nintendo starting up its own studio for movies could things change? It’s possible, but it depends if Nintendo will actually make a movie of one its most beloved series of all time. In my previous investigation I looked at all the Zelda games to decide if they would be suited for a movie, most of them didn’t. So what about today’s games?

Well Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, do indeed have an interesting background to the story, but on closer inspection this background story is all that they’ve got going for them. You couldn’t successfully make a movie following the whole plot line (or lack of with these games).

Looking onto The Wind Waker, it’s interesting to say the least, though its storyline was a little shallow at times (only at some points), it packed a punch and kept you gripped all the way through. The Wind Waker was short, no doubt about it, but if you placed the shortness into a movie then you may actually possibly have a good movie on your hands as Nintendo wouldn’t have to fish around a 60 hour game for points to use.

Yeah of course even with it being short, bits of the game would have to be cut out and things added to bring out a fresher experience and stop the movie from dragging on. I believe The Wind Waker may actually work.

November 2002 Edition: Are 2D games out of date?

One of my favourite Investigations, don’t know why, it just is. Even to this day I still strongly believe that the world still needs 2-Dimensional games. It’s about gameplay and other factors, not just graphics and I like that. In the investigation I mentioned the GBA being the 2D king of the 21st century and it still is. But Nintendo have still gone one step better and for those people who believe 2D games are stale but want to continue playing, then the Nintendo DS is the system for them. Now with the added touch screen, 2D games can be viewed in a different light and indeed give a rejuvenated and new experience. Take Yoshi’s Touch and Go for example, pure 2D fun in a small cartridge, and the only way to control? The stylus on the touch screen.

So before people start talking about how great 3D games are or how good the graphics are on their average slightly boring 3D game, just think to your self about the gameplay and fun with 2D games.

Okay that’s the first part of my Final Investigation done, check back next month for the next edition.