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Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter
Lots of story with some gameplay in the mix... sorta.
November 13, 2009 | 1:49 PM PSTKombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is the direct sequel to Drawn to Life for the Nintendo DS. What makes the Drawn to Life series stick out from other DS titles is that you become a de facto art director for the game as you play it. The game starts with a village of Raposa (the indigenous species of the Drawn to Life world) being startled at the draining of color in the world. The village they call home looks like an empty coloring book and the antagonist from the first game, Wilfre, is the cause of the distress. The townsfolk call upon the player, dubbed "The Creator" to send a hero to stop Wilfre once and for all. That is where your drawing skills come in as you embark on a quest to restore color from the same development house as Scribblenauts.
What's Hot
By putting the players in the art design seat, there are multiple levels to the game on which it can be enjoyed. The first level is fairly obvious. It is fun to create your own characters and design far-out things, creatures and weapons as your embark on your journey. The only limit is the boxes you need to keep the lines in and your imagination. The tools to create with are fairly simple but a lot can be accomplished with some creativity and the time set aside to do a good job. There are multiple things to design in the game including all your weapons, different character forms, special platforms, town landmarks and power-ups.
When you are in charge of making design choices, you begin to appreciate the other level of the game, being a game designer. Since you draw everything, The Next Chapter puts other "character creators" to shame. It might be something that slips into your unconscious, but if you study your design choices, you'll realize they are influenced by a number of factors. It creates an awareness and appreciation for what game developers do on a constant basis that often goes underappreciated. There is an innate feeling of accomplishment when you look over your hero that you created who is conquering levels. It is hard to describe the deep connection you feel with the hero of the story, because it all depends on how much effort you put, or want to put, into it.
The developers at 5th Cell pay homage to many classic 16-bit titles. Without going into spoiling a lot of the levels and the game, you'll come across levels that remind you of Donkey Kong Country, Mario and other side-scrollers like that. If there are game to emulate in existence, those classic games are great inspirations. The platforming is solid and as you progress towards the end of the game, the levels get more interesting and challenging.
What's Not
The game makes heavy use of the DS touchpad for drawing platforms and whatnot. That can be a problem if you are on the road or mobile while you are playing the game. Bumps in the road or sudden movements can destroy a picture. The undo button only tracks your last movement so that can hose you if you aren't careful. It is a conundrum to have a game on a portable device that isn't friendly for portability.
The Next Chapter takes great pains to create an epic story. The cost for that is there are lines and lines of text before you actually get to some action. Most of the game, you'll be scrolling through the text and wishing there were some action to break up the reading. The story isn't bad; there is simply too much text. It might have been tolerable if the levels weren't so short. When the credits roll, and the story finally reveals itself, you'll sit wondering where the gameplay went. The story pads the lack gameplay and even the neat drawings you make throughout the game don't hide the fact that The Next Chapter is mostly a book with a few parts of action.
Final Word
I really would like to discuss the ending of the game. It deals with very primal forces and puts a fairy tale wrapper around it in a unique way that tells a good parable. The drawings you create make the game's name ring true and brings life to the game that is mostly a story. The levels are over in the blink of an eye and feel like stop gaps for telling the story. The Next Chapter has an incredibly neat feature that is overshadowed by the lengthy story that gets in the way of the actual gameplay.
What the Game's About
Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is the direct sequel to Drawn to Life for the Nintendo DS. What makes the Drawn to Life series stick out from other DS titles is that you become a de facto art director for the game as you play it. The game starts with a village of Raposa (the indigenous species of the Drawn to Life world) being startled at the draining of color in the world. The village they call home looks like an empty coloring book and the antagonist from the first game, Wilfre, is the cause of the distress. The townsfolk call upon the player, dubbed "The Creator" to send a hero to stop Wilfre once and for all. That is where your drawing skills come in as you embark on a quest to restore color from the same development house as Scribblenauts.
What's Hot
By putting the players in the art design seat, there are multiple levels to the game on which it can be enjoyed. The first level is fairly obvious. It is fun to create your own characters and design far-out things, creatures and weapons as your embark on your journey. The only limit is the boxes you need to keep the lines in and your imagination. The tools to create with are fairly simple but a lot can be accomplished with some creativity and the time set aside to do a good job. There are multiple things to design in the game including all your weapons, different character forms, special platforms, town landmarks and power-ups.
When you are in charge of making design choices, you begin to appreciate the other level of the game, being a game designer. Since you draw everything, The Next Chapter puts other "character creators" to shame. It might be something that slips into your unconscious, but if you study your design choices, you'll realize they are influenced by a number of factors. It creates an awareness and appreciation for what game developers do on a constant basis that often goes underappreciated. There is an innate feeling of accomplishment when you look over your hero that you created who is conquering levels. It is hard to describe the deep connection you feel with the hero of the story, because it all depends on how much effort you put, or want to put, into it.
The developers at 5th Cell pay homage to many classic 16-bit titles. Without going into spoiling a lot of the levels and the game, you'll come across levels that remind you of Donkey Kong Country, Mario and other side-scrollers like that. If there are game to emulate in existence, those classic games are great inspirations. The platforming is solid and as you progress towards the end of the game, the levels get more interesting and challenging.
What's Not
The game makes heavy use of the DS touchpad for drawing platforms and whatnot. That can be a problem if you are on the road or mobile while you are playing the game. Bumps in the road or sudden movements can destroy a picture. The undo button only tracks your last movement so that can hose you if you aren't careful. It is a conundrum to have a game on a portable device that isn't friendly for portability.
The Next Chapter takes great pains to create an epic story. The cost for that is there are lines and lines of text before you actually get to some action. Most of the game, you'll be scrolling through the text and wishing there were some action to break up the reading. The story isn't bad; there is simply too much text. It might have been tolerable if the levels weren't so short. When the credits roll, and the story finally reveals itself, you'll sit wondering where the gameplay went. The story pads the lack gameplay and even the neat drawings you make throughout the game don't hide the fact that The Next Chapter is mostly a book with a few parts of action.
Final Word
I really would like to discuss the ending of the game. It deals with very primal forces and puts a fairy tale wrapper around it in a unique way that tells a good parable. The drawings you create make the game's name ring true and brings life to the game that is mostly a story. The levels are over in the blink of an eye and feel like stop gaps for telling the story. The Next Chapter has an incredibly neat feature that is overshadowed by the lengthy story that gets in the way of the actual gameplay.
February 8, 2010
