Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is a sequel to the original Drawn to Life game. Interestingly, two sequels with this name were made, one for the Nintendo DS and one for the Wii, both of which actually had different plot, graphics and gameplay. In The Next Chapter for the DS, the player takes on the role as the Creator, a god to the people of the game world, able to materialize your drawings into the world. The population knows that you exist and will often call upon you to help them out. There is a robust story and starts off with a pretty pre-rendered sequence showing the antagonist Wilbre kidnapping Heather (a returning character from the previous game). Wilbre then proceeds to drain the village of color, leaving only the ink outlines. The villagers use the Book of Life and call upon the Creator for help, to which a hero is drawn and created to save the day. The hero travels to various villages to help restore color, solve that village's problems and in the end, save Heather. There are four villages in total and each one has a subplot where they have encountered some sort of issue. You'll end up helping a person get their lost voice back, discover a village with ridiculous laws and help overthrow a tyrant. While the story is quite deep for a game of this genre, it is also its weakness, which shows right from the beginning.
You see, the game starts off with a super long cutscene to set up the story which felt like a hindrance. You're sitting there waiting and waiting until you can actually control your character but it takes a while. There are constant cutscenes playing which breaks the flow of the game at times due to their length. In the end, it is a simple story which yet takes a long time to tell its tale. The Next Chapter is a platform adventure game presented as a 2D sidescroller. As the hero, you will have access to a sword, springing punch and a projectile weapon, all of which are drawn by the player. These weapons can be upgraded with extra moves through coins collected throughout the levels. Expect to jump from platform to platform, swim underwater, slash at enemies and swing on vines. It's a classic platformer with heaps of fun. The core mechanics of Drawn to Life is the ability to draw at specific points in the story which it then brings to life into the game. What you draw will influence how certain objects look like in the world such as the platforms, balls, birds and transport vehicles. Of course, the hero, i.e. the character you control, is one that you have drawn yourself, which makes no two games alike and unique to each player. It is something special when you see your own creation move, jump and interact in the game world.
However, it is hard to draw something in detail though so you will often opt for simplicity. Plus, for your character, there is no point in having a lot of detail as it will get shrunken down for gameplay, which means it ends up losing all of that detail anyway. The game plays on the bottom of the touchscreen, with a map and collectibles screen above. There is an overworld where the cutscenes and level select happens. Each level has a Pirate Coin which is hidden and sometimes there will also be a hidden person for you to find and save. There are normal coins scattered throughout the levels to purchase items, and paint pellets to help recolor the world. From time to time, there will be simple puzzles in which you draw platforms to traverse across big gaps. The constant engagement of the player to draw items into the game keeps your attention and makes the game fun. The mechanics are simple to master and makes it a blast to go through the levels, you pretty much only have a jump button and an attack button, although you are able to switch weapons at any time. Later on in the game, you are able to change forms: either a blob or a spider. The blob can shrink to move into tight spaces while the spider can walk on walls and ceilings, both come with the downside of reduced attack ability.
Later levels are naturally harder, needing to dodge stronger enemies who fire projectiles, dropping platforms, acid etc. However, the last few levels stray into the territory of being annoying with the sudden deaths, requirement to constantly change forms wasting time, time limits in the form of a wall of lava chasing you which end up being trial and error gameplay and random doors that you must choose to get to the end of the level. The Next Chapter has a great art direction, being a cartoony 2D. The graphics are great and shines through, with different environments such as castles, space, forests and underground caverns. The level design is towards the simpler side which makes it easy to traverse and no frustrations. The ending is hard to understand at first and requires some deep thought, be sure to keep watching through the credits. There are two emotional scenes in the game, the first one being when the mother sings for the son, and the second scene is the ending when you realize what the Drawn to Life games were about. The music is actually a highlight of the game, being catchy when required and sad when needed. The Next Chapter takes around 8-9 hours to finish, plus probably another hour or so for backtracking for the remaining collectibles, this is not a hard game. Overall, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is a hidden gem, with a charming world and excellent game play, bound by a unique concept that works well, it is definitely a great game.
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