Drawn to Life Review

 Drawn to Life: Two Realms, A Decades-worth of Disappointment

Drawn to Life: Two Realms is the third installment in the Drawn to Life Series. Releasing in December 2020, many were hyped to see their beloved, nostalgic franchise’s return after a decade. However, now that the game has been out for a while, many feel as though the game has not lived up to its hype. 

While I didn’t grow up with Drawn to Life, my boyfriend got me into it around 2018-2019. As an artist, I had a ton of fun with the gameplay, which would consist of drawing all the platforms, weapons, and other assets in the game while having a fun, intriguing story. I loved seeing the cute cast of characters. From the main characters, Jowee and Mari, to the supporting characters, to even the minor characters! It was one of the most fun series of games I’ve ever played and I couldn’t wait when Two Realms was announced and later released. 

I bought the game almost immediately. The price was cheap, $9.99, roughly 10 dollars. Once it came out, the price was even discounted to $7.99 as a release sale, which I got it for. The previous games were on the DS, while Two Realms was on PC, Android, iOS, and the Nintendo Switch. This should have been a warning sign, but oh how my rose-tinted glasses were on. I immediately downloaded the game, ran it, and was greeted by a fun and funky start! I genuinely enjoyed the beginning of the game’s story and my hype was still really high. Then… The gameplay. Oh, how they changed the gameplay.

As previously mentioned, the prior games had gameplay that would include drawing various things. It was a fun element, making the player feel invested as they actively customize the world around them to help them. There were also challenging boss fights that tied to the story and other such aspects of the game. Drawn to Life’s first game is infamous for its difficult final boss, Wilfre, and the Next Chapter had two bosses that stood out, the Giant Robosa and Wilfre again. 

In Two Realms, the gameplay has completely changed. You now enter the minds of various characters and use various “Toys” (premade assets) to complete puzzles and “get rid of the shadows corrupting them” somehow with these puzzles. There are no bosses in this game. There are only puzzles, which cannot be customized with art. The only drawing you are allowed to do is purely cosmetic items. The game also isn’t art tablet compatible, from what I’ve attempted, so if you’re using your PC, have fun drawing with a mouse! It also does not help that there are outrageous difficulty spikes. Puzzles range from painfully easy to hard and intense. The music’s pretty banging though, at least. Drawn to Life’s music always is. I especially love the remix of “Ooh, Wilfre!” called “Theme of Shadow.”

Now, onto the story. It picks up from The Next Chapter’s Real Life ending, a mix of the censored version and the original. The Creator, or the player, is tasked with giving life to the Hero again after Mari brings them back to life. Apparently, Raposa Village, despite being hinted at only existing while Mike is asleep, is actually able to exist still. It’s a separate realm now and Mike somehow got trapped there when he was in a coma from the previous game’s ending. There’s also a new antagonist this time around with the name Aldark. The story of the game just feels so… Lackluster and even stupid compared to the previous games. Not helped by the lack of boss fights or any real stand-out moments. Even Aldark’s name being less clever than Wilfre’s name stings.

This game is, unfortunately, the weakest in the series. What was supposed to be a hopeful revival only turned out to be a disappointment. Sure, there’s some good, such as humor, characters, and such, but it’s generally overshadowed by the bad. This game is just okay. 3/5 stars.

- The Friendly Ghost