Drawn To Life: Two Realms (Switch) Review

Unbeknownst to this reviewer prior to picking up Drawn To Life: Two Realms, fans of the Drawn To Life series have been waiting for a new game for over a decade. Right at the tail end of 2020, A mostly surprising revival has been gifted to those who’ve been so patient – though I’m not sure it lives up to the reputation or expectations that has been garnered over all those years.

Functionally, this game is a series of short puzzle platforming levels strung together with an overworld of characters and story. Much has changed since the “draw” portion of the game is no longer front and center alongside a stylus. 

Something about this game sits a little odd, though.

Having not ever encountered the series to date, first impressions were that these characters were pretty cool, the idea of these two realms seemed kind of neat, and there’s definitely some cute-but-also-heavy vibes just under the surface.

This would normally be catnip for yours truly, but I just couldn’t grab hold here. The game is trying to balance newcomers and passionate fans alike, but I’m not sure it works from either end. After digging around online, while fans did seem happy to be spending some time with these characters again, it’s like being fed your favourite dish by a chef who doesn’t understand what makes it so tasty to you.

Don’t mistake that for thinking the people behind Drawn To Life: Two Realms don’t know what they’re doing though. It is clear that those working on this love and understand this property quite thoroughly. It just feels more like the direction and resources they were given were quite limited, and there was only so much they could do within certain constraints.

Each puzzle incorporates 2D platforming and enemy placement in order to reach your goal. Usually that goal is “get to the end” or “defeat all enemies”, though other level types pop up from time to time such as “get this enemy into this area.” Occasionally in story levels and always in optional levels, you’re given the choice of where to place enemies – flipping them from being obstacles to tools with which to make use of based on their AI patterns and placement.

On paper there’s some pretty clever stuff here – rather than simply jumping through a level, you have to think about what enemies do and in what situations. When this works, it’s excellent. Coming up with a clutch strategy is satisfying, particularly when you feel truly stumped to begin with. The problem however is that designing these types of puzzles is extremely difficult, and the hits are far and few between.

Optional levels are particularly frustrating due to this. Instead of being of bespoke design, the handful of enemies you get to work with are chosen at random. It appears that they can mostly always get you through the level in one way or another, but there were definitely some that I struggled heavily with, only to come back to the same puzzle later and a new enemy set made the level a cakewalk. The game does give you one out if you’re stuck – you can “buy” extra enemies to place in a level if you so choose.

Therein lies the rub. This game feels like two disparate designs. One is the bones of a mobile experience, intent on offering up a free to play / pay to make easier model. The other is the story, something developed outside the design of the rest of the game, and used to stitch the rest of the experience together.

Of course this probably isn’t the case, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. Even though purchasing extra enemies costs very little and you do get plenty of cash to spend, it’s easy to imagine a few tweaks here and there creating an incentive to purchase coin packs. Walking around the overworld feels just slightly too slow – unless you pick up boost fruits scattered about the landscape. These only last a few seconds however. But what if you purchased a 5 minute speed boost for a few dollars… or a permanent upgrade for a decent chunk more?

This doubt only helped to worsen the feeling around levels that present quite large difficulty spikes. I’d be working my way through the story, enjoying the clever puzzles being placed in front of me, then all of a sudden one would come along and knock me on my ass. You know those Candy Crush levels that feel like walls, designed to get you to pay to get through them? Not exactly favourable comparisons.

One other thing that niggles at my brain is the narrative device used to explain your puzzle diving adventures. The game sets you up as the user of a very powerful book which must be used to help solve people’s problems. How do you do that, you may ask? Well, when someone is in a bad mood, you literally alter their state of mind to suit your will by jumping into their psyche and purging them of negativity(?!)

Maybe it’s just me, but controlling other people’s thoughts feels like a pretty obvious bad thing? The game obfuscates this pretty quickly, but it immediately stood out as horrific.

While some of the puzzles are extremely good, there’s just enough frustration and doubt lying in wait with Drawn To Life: Second Chapter. It’s a tough recommendation overall, but if the very specific idea of these bite sized puzzle platformer levels – or the pull of nostalgia for this world and its characters – pulls you in, at least taking the plunge can be had at a reasonable price.

Drawn To Life: Two Realms is likely to serve a niche, but unless you’re hankerin’ for more as a long time fan – or are really starved for some puzzle platforming – beautiful artwork and some occasional brilliance can only get you so far.

Rating: 2/5