Log Status

Shelved

Playing

Backlog

Wishlist

Rating

Time Played

--

Platforms Played

DISPLAY


I really REALLY wanted to like this one. As soon as I saw the announcement that a new Drawn to Life was coming, my feet turned into rockets as I blasted myself to the moon.

Then I saw the trailer and, upon playing the game, it seems a few of my concerns leading up to the game came true. The music and art are on point as they capture the essence and charm of the original DS game perfectly, so much so I could feel the nostalgia coming like a ton of bricks. Even if the story doesn't seem interesting this time round, I was just glad to see the characters I grew up with as a kid again in all their glory.

Why oh WHY did they change the gameplay though? The gameplay is what made Drawn to Life what it is and while the original DS gameplay's platforming kinda sucked, I still loved the amount of meme potential that came out of whatever I could draw. The only things you draw to "bring to life" is your hero and things in the over world.

The gameplay this time round has been turned into some puzzle platformer where you place down toys, aka enemies, in order to reach the goal. For example you might be able to reach a higher place by jumping on an enemies head which is higher than your normal jump. As part of the story when someone is facing some kind of negativity, you pull out your "book of dreams" or something like that, get thrown into these mediocre platform levels (with random backgrounds) and then BAM, after completing it you have made them positive!
The gameplay and UI of the game made the experience feel like an average mobile puzzle game with Drawn to Life slapped on it (and ironically enough this was released for mobile). Even if the gameplay concept wasn't boring, I'd still feel disappointed because this isn't what drawn to life is about. It's about going on an adventure and drawing various things in the levels like platforms, tools, etc. The fact that you get thrown into random levels which look like different locations removes the immersion for me personally and is why I haven't went back to playing this game.

It's a big shame because I can feel a lot of passion went into making the music and the art, and I can tell they wanted to make something original. However, if you want to make an original game then don't make it a squeal to Drawn to Life. I wouldn't be this upset if they didn't advertise it as the "next installment" because this feels more like a spin off than a proper squeal. I have no problem with new features getting implemented to make a squeal more distinguishable but there is a difference between that and changing the gameplay entirely.

Overall, I'd only recommend for die hard Drawn to Life fans though keep your expectations low. I am heavily considering just watching the story on Youtube instead.