Drawn To Life was one of the more interesting properties to appear on the Nintendo DS. One of the rare franchises to make use of the device's touch screen in an effective manner, Drawn To Life and its sequel allowed the player to draw and customize their hero. Now, the series has another chance to shine through Drawn To Life: Two Realms.
Developed by a team including many Drawn To Life veterans at Digital Continue, Drawn To Life: Two Realms takes place several years after the events of Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter. The twin worlds of the real world and that of the Raposa are back, with a darkness descending through the mysterious Aldark and his Shadows. It's up to the player to help out, along with the assistance of returning characters Mike, Mari, and Jowee.
The key gimmick of Drawn To Life of course returns as well. Early into the experience, the player is tasked with creating their hero for the game, choosing either from a selection of templates or going freestyle. The character creation is a step up from the previous games, with more flexibility in terms of color and template options.
Primarily, the actual gameplay in Drawn To Life: Two Realms consists of basic platforming. This comes with a variety of end goals, be it simply reaching the end of the stage, destroying all enemies on the map, or herding a certain type of NPC into a gate before the time runs out. The different modes are nice, although it's fair to say it all does feel a little simplistic.
The most successful moments are those that give the player some basic level editing control. Like a very stripped back Super Mario Maker, the player has to choose the right place for different enemy units in order to complete the level. Requiring a little more puzzle-based thinking to not only win but get as many points and coins as possible, it's here that Drawn To Life: Two Realms stretches its players the most, and is all the better for it.
These platforming sections are found within Drawn To Life: Two Realms' open world setup. The player is able to hop between the world of the humans and the world of the Raposa, and traverse the areas speaking to NPCs within a day-night cycle. The open world setup does have its benefits, mainly being able to see more of the game's cute pixel artwork, although it doesn't add too much to overall gameplay experience.
In fact, the game's open maps instead exacerbate the game's main issue, which is that Drawn To Life: Two Realms isn't as deep as it could be. The player needs to earn stars throughout the game to be able to take on the next part of the story, which is done by taking on voluntary challenge levels in the open world. However, this only results in it feeling the like the player is stalling for time, unless they are desperate to get the sticker bonuses by perfecting these voluntary levels.
The title is then held up by minor issues that stop it from reaching its true potential. Hit detection can be unreliable, which can be frustrating given the time limit for each level and the shortage of invincibility frames for the player. Meanwhile, walking around the open world is extremely slow, with the player depending on temporary speed boost power ups to get to where they want to be in a decent time - another example of the game feeling like it's stalling the player.
Drawn To Life: Two Realms is therefore unlikely to break away from criticisms of the franchise overall. What it will likely come down to is whether Drawn To Life: Two Realms is able to appeal to long-term fans with its charm and art style. If it does, then there's enough here for Drawn To Life aficionados to enjoy, while those who haven't been interested before won't find anything to change their opinion now.
Drawn To Life: Two Realms releases 7 December, 2020 for PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android. Screen Rant was provided with a PC download code for the purposes of this review.