The Darkest Kid Games | Drawn to Life Series Retrospective

[@heypeterReal]

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[@yazanyazon2530]

They won't go through the kids if this the one game is not is that

[@brandonfgx8498]

Ayo I just wanted to say thanks for making this video I never finished DTLTNC as a kid because I was scared of it My parents got it for me on Christmas and before making it halfway through the game I returned it to GameStop for another I've always looked back and regretted that decision but never went out of my way to learn about the rest of the story Thank you for bringing closure to a lingering thread in my life I teared up at the Real Life portion where the ending was shown The way you talked about it moved me as well That song and Wilfre's final form were familiar to me in ways I can't describe but it was so satisfying to final have a part of my life bookended in such an emotional way Thank you so much dawg And thanks to the 5thcell members responsible for such an emotional story in a kids game I just wish I was brave enough as a child to get to that ending myself Yeah that's all I got I'ma look up a playthrough of locks quest

[@frds_skce]

Gotta chase the bag

[@Ksanthecat]

(Hey dude, amazing video. I've watched it twice already :3) (But... is it my pc or your video is flashing black at times?)

[@based980]

no

[@TheSuperCasual2914]

It’s about time someone made a 3-hour video about Drawn To Life and not some 30 minute video about its ending!

[@heypeterReal]

This series has so little retrospectives on it, let alone long ones. I simply had to be the first to do it

[@TheSuperCasual2914]

@@heypeterRealalso, Mari is pronounced “Mar-Ee.” Like how Tiki would say Marth’s name, or how sea is kinda pronounced in Spanish.

[@MILDMONSTER1234]

People talking about the actual games and not just the ending twist? Wild Also DTL SpongeBob is unironically the best one

[@Lover_of_ebrietas]

​@@MILDMONSTER1234who buddy, dtl2 was peak.

[@monkeyofchaos13]

I remembered a friend of mine asked me about the game and my thoughts on it over discord and I begin typing and I exceeded the word limit so I moved it to a word doc and ended up sending her a 20 page word document about the drawn to life series.

[@patricklidstone5659]

It took me until watching this to realize that my copy of the game had censored the ending. Expecting to see a kid falling from a tree the whole video and seeing a car crash was genuinely a huge fucking shock

[@heypeterReal]

Someone getting jumpscared by the ending in 2024 is insane

[@NovaMischief]

Yeah actually wtf, I did not know this ending existed

[@justice8718]

@@heypeterReal The power of Jesus Christ, the messiah.

[@gumebe4349]

I had a downloaded ROM and had the uncensored ending. Was a genuine shock since I'd never played the game before

[@TrueLadyEvilChan]

Oh man, yeah I didn't even know there was a censored ending. I had the original version.

[@itsjustmenova]

It almost seemed to me that Jowee and Mike are the same person, Jowee being how Mike sees himself, and Mike simply being an observer, watching and going along with his own spiraling mind and imagination

[@justice8718]

Or Jowee was how God saw Mike in a grander scale of life.

[@Holyduck777]

I understand why parents would be pissed off, you said yourself in the video death is a heavy topic for kids, the end of life itself is so heavy even adults are crushed by it. That being said the ending is very beautiful and I hate that they had to change it.

[@uncreativename775]

The lion king had death. I feel like death should be a topic kids are exposed too. It's a healthy way to get kids to understand it is natural and apart of life. If you shelter it from them, when someone does die. They are more likely to break down

[@Holyduck777]

@@uncreativename775 I agree, death is a topic that is best learn when you're younger, but covering concepts like the apocolypse is a lot heavier a topic.

[@Pickoffarwim]

@@uncreativename775 eh, the lion king one was nowhere near as traumatizing as this.

[@MollyMargolisBillCipherIsBae]

@@Pickoffarwim That’s debatable. At the time, it was the first time a dead body was shown completely seriously in an animated movie. All other times it had been played up for comedy (like skeletons or the holding the flower to the chest gag), or - if serious (like in Bambi) - the death was offscreen or simply implied. Kids should be exposed to topics like these. Recently, I’ve noticed that a lot of kids’ media has become either very dumbed down, or sanitized. The truth is that life is hard, morality isn’t always black and white, and that it’s gonna hit you with something at least a few times. Some kids are already dealing with these things in reality. They really shouldn’t have to, and often have trouble really expressing the things they feel when they deal with such tragedy. Depictions of death and trauma in childhood media are not only informative, and teach children about how difficult life can be (and that it’s okay to feel sad), but in the cases where the kids are experiencing similar things (like a death in the family), it helps them to better understand what they are feeling, and may even help them verbalize it to the ones they love.

[@japes2398]

Seeing the original ending legit threw me into my first existential crisis at around 11 years old. The censored version is a disappointment but I don’t blame the parents for getting upset if other kids had anywhere near the same reaction I did after becoming so invested in the story and characters.

[@iamdarky2360]

I know the ending to this game was changed because it was ‘too sad’ but I had one of the original copies of the game with the original ending. Just a few years prior to playing this I had been in a car crash myself. While I was fine physically, the games ending ripped open the scab that was my mental trauma from the crash. I remember crying for literal hours, and afterwards tried to forget it even existed.

[@ZekeGibbs-v9u]

I hope you get better

[@3ftninja132]

I hope you're Ok.

[@Jellied_Slime_Games]

They changed the original? I never knew that, I only had the original and I'd never met anyone else who played it

[@ericquiabazza2608]

The fact that you are talking about it and remember BOTH event tells it help you process it I also had my traumas when was 8, and deal with it for 3 years alone, took 3 months of bullying and someone to support me for my mind to snap. Still lives scars in your mind, yet is better that carrying the lock completely.

[@diegodankquixote-wry3242]

The ending of this franchise scarred me as a child. Im glad someone is finally making a video like this on the Drawn to Life franchise so I can finally get closure as to *why* they did that.

[@Leonite105]

I feel the exact same! I went through the original and sequel BOTH as a kid and stopped at the end because I was terrified to even enter the level.

[@MaoKittyMaoMao]

ME TOO!!!

[@kayb5966]

SAME 9 year old me was not prepared for that ending

[@corvusdominus9835]

I ended up constantly playing the game over and over again to process what happened

[@TindraSan]

I feel like the parents complaining about the ending completely missed _why_ their kids were upset, bc I feel like the alternative ending would be even more upsetting. The whole world and story actually being a coma dream is one thing - it hurts but there's a weight to it and comas are kinda mysterious so it feels like it has more meaning, but it all being a normal-ass dream from a kid with a slight concussion feels like a straight up undercutting of everything the player was emotionally put through. The former might make the kid cry, but the latter will leave them hollowed out.. and I think that might be even more traumatizing in the long term?

[@its_myo]

lol. lmao even.

[@basil4634]

I don't how I would have responded to the original ending since I grew up with the alternate censored ending (which I didn't realize until now) but I remember being both deeply sad and very confused. I understood that their world and all the characters became nothing but I did not understand why or what happened after. I was completely lost! I was so troubled by it that I never spoke about the game and never replayed it ever again. I would think of the ending time and again and how it cut me in a way that I could not understand as a child. I'm glad to finally have some closure and agree the original ending is better.

[@kien9350]

Honestly, I was enjoy the trauma. Keep replay the song and let my tear flow

[@wolfy-woo]

​@@basil4634 I remember being about 9 or so, lying in bed at night, staring in bewildered awe and shock at the images of a car and what followed appearing on my DS screen. I remember not quite understanding _why_ *this* was the ending, but good god did I think of it for the rest of my life, and desperately wanted to talk to others about it, wanted to understand more. Even a decade later, learning one of my college professors used to be part of the same development studio had me asking if he had anything he could share about this ending, or knew anything. But buried beneath the shock, I don't think a game has made me feel so deeply melancholic even now. Sad, depressed, miserable? Sure, absolutely. But not this feeling. I only now realize after reading your comment that I kinda subconsciously avoided drawn to life afterwards just because of that shadow of melancholy. But even so, it's made me really appreciate the impact games can have on someone.

[@basil4634]

@@wolfy-woo "I kinda subconsciously avoided drawn to life afterwards just because of that shadow of melancholy. But even so, it's made me really appreciate the impact games can have on someone." Yes! this is how I felt for so long! I both avoided the game, by never looking up the ending or for explanations despite being curious, but I also couldn't help but admire the game for impacting me in such a deep way. I feel I have closure now and way more respect for the game. I'm even grateful now for the experience of what that ending did to me. I'm considering finally replaying the game as I still have it (though only the one with the censored version) and my old DS console.

[@jerssh]

I don't think Heather's half-dark face necessarily represents the bandages themselves, but the injury beneath them. And since its entirely possible for Mike to witness his sister being injured before getting knocked out, I think it would also eliminate the weird implications of him being able to (apparently) totally see his surroundings while comatose. I also think leads to a more cohesive symbolism for the blackness representing the injuries caused by the carcrash

[@Mirai_the_weeb]

I was the warrior cat artistic kid i made some gorgeous pixel art and used the templates+paint bucket to repaint and change the colors or edit the existing designs they could give you

[@Mirai_the_weeb]

The fact that the Wii one was a completely different studio explains why it was so weird, that's all I had other than the first one and second one on DS and I thought the Wii game was wack

[@fullofswine]

no same I was literally a warrior cats animation mf 😭 I would go all out on the designs in the ds game

[@l.v4684]

i was the undertale artistic kid. Absolutely loved (and still) to make my silly pixel art hero xD

[@WhereIsMySock03]

I was the Warrior Cat Artistic Kid and I LOVED the drawing aspects. I'd spend 20+ minutes on each drawing perfecting my cute little platforms.

[@Amber-np3iu]

Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter is my favorite game of alltime. It is still one of the greatest experiances that has ever stuck with me, and changed me as a person. It was a shame what happened with Two Realms but the first two games still are very very close to my heart, and I will almost always cry if I hear Real Life or Light of My Life again.

[@ThePekozanShow]

The ending to the next chapter is something i remember first seeing ironically on a car ride home with my mom deep into the night. At the time, I didn't fully understand why the cute and color characters vanished, and the real life art style made me feel.. confused. It kind of stayed that way until I got older, I was a pretty sheltered kid, I wasn't allowed to do a lot of things so I didn't really know much about the world, and some of the horrors it brings. Its something that only when I was a teenager did I begin to even comprehend, and understand as I became an adult. There is objectively no other video game that's had such a lasting impression on my mind, The game did not traumatize me as a child, but it definitely was one of my first exposures to concept of death, and acceptance.

[@holostarz]

listen. LISTEN. _wilfre looking like That because he's meant to resemble what the other cars headlights in the blackness of night looked like to mike and heather before impact._ wilfre and his shadows being animated to look wispy to resemble the black smoke from the car crash. the darkness that claimed their parents. that claimed half of heather's face. that almost claimed mike.

[@heypeterReal]

Oh wow, that's a good pull. I didn't even consider that

[@parafoxl7619]

OH LAWD Q..Q

[@heypeterReal]

Music in order of Appearance: Book of Life - Drawn to Life Luca - Final Fantasy X GTS Theme - Pokémon Platinum File Select - Super Mario Galaxy Provincial City Roland - Trails in the Sky Please... - Drawn to Life Empty Creation Hall - Drawn to Life Drawing Theme - Drawn to Life Wilfre on the Bridge - Drawn to Life Snowy World - Drawn to Life A Freezing Breath - Scarlet Nexus Frost Man Theme - Mega Man 8 Submerged Castle - Pikmen 2 Computers - Hylics Village Theme - Drawn to Life Under the Moonlight - Drawn to Life Frostwind - Drawn to Life Space Fantasy - Super Mario Galaxy Confrontation - Tales of the Abyss Chapter I on the Ground - Drakengard Besaid Island - Final Fantasy X Chapter XIII Closing - Drakengard Main Menu Theme - Godzilla Unleashed False Hope - Drawn to Life Sadness - Sonic Adventure Final Boss - Drawn to Life The End - Drawn to Life Mari + Jowee - Drawn to Life Shurrey Hills - Tales of the Abyss Balamb Garden - Final Fantasy VIII Level 1 - SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (GBA) Title Screen - Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Coloring - Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Ice Cap Zone Act 1 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Bikini Bottom Day Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Village of the Dog God - Shadow Hearts Covenant Holy Orders? - Guilty Gear X2 World of Ruin - Final Fantasy VI Trouble! - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Turtle Power - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Turtle Village - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter CreationHall - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Singing Sand - Hylics 2 Jowee and Mari - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Watersong Village - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Salem - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Courtyard - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Look Ma, I Fly Now! - Hylics 2 Sad - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Light of My Life - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Graaf - Emperor of Darkness - Xenogears Lavastream Village - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Ruins - Hylics Courtney Gears Battle - Ratchet and Clank 3 Omen - Xenogears Galactic Jungle Village - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Gathering Stars in the Night Sky - Xenogears The One Who is Torn Apart - Xenogears Map Room - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter CQD Bad End - Zero Time Dilemma Locke's Theme - Final Fantasy VI Wilfre's Wasteland - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Searching the Past - Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Trial End - Danganronpa V3 Memory 4 - Super Paper Mario Final Boss - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Tears of the Stars Hearts of the People - Xenogears Real Life - Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Shebat, The Wind is Calling - Xenogears Window (Instrumental) - Tyler, The Creator Beyond - Yume 2kki Monochrome Memory - Under night in-Birth Alone in the World - Wild Arms Map 1 - Hylics Black Fairy - Silent Hill 2 To the Gateway - Super Mario Galaxy

[@ellzrandom2392]

Dude genuinely thank you so much for the effort put into this video essay and Ur contribution to the (slightly dying) DTL fandom. DTL (series) is one of my special interests and I was So disappointed like everyone else at the switch game- I thought it'd kill the fandom off for sure.

[@Phoenix8764]

The Drakengard music for frustrating fish boss was so funny to me

[@noopa5229]

I remember crying so hard and being so confused at the end of the second game. I loved the series so much. Thank you for talking about it

[@Monsicorn]

I played through this game all the way through as a kid. When u mentioned how the mayor of water song ran away from her shame and wanted to die, it added a whole new layer to the ending of the game

[@sydneylakins2694]

Not me being called out for being a warrior cat girl when I was a teenager. Will it not haunt me? Is it with me until I’m ashes? Will I have to carry this into an afterlife? I’m terrified.

[@devin6420]

Unfortunately you'll never forget the warrior cats series

[@Sailor-Khione]

What timestamp did he talk about it?

[@wherearemypowers]

​@@Sailor-KhioneIt's 16:15

[@jakel2837]

In my memory the original series of Warrior cat books are really good. I refuse to read them again to confirm this

[@Reoko77]

Two realms couldve worked if they just ran with the dream option. The senario is mari, jowee and the others couldve come back in mikes dreams. A new villian is a nightmare based on PTSD and wants to establish insomnia cause of the accident he had. Maybe hes afraid of sleeping cause he thinks he'll slip back into a coma again. Everytime he sleeps, he goes to the village and the villagers are parts of his psyche trying to repair him. If theres a blocked route or a problem he couldnt solve in the dream, he couldve done something in the waking world to fix it AND giving more lore and character development about his real family. As he slowly fixes his PTSD by breaking those barriers, he sleeps better and longer, thus you open up more and more levels, slowly getting rid of the insomnia. Now of course it'll be on switch but it couldve been one of, if the not FIRST game to actually use the switches touch screen in game. They definitely couldve use the touch screen for drawing but if that was too much, do something else and work around it. Instead of drawing, use the scribblenaunts writing system idea if that wasnt copyrighted or use assets to create new things like what mario maker did. Brilliant ideas can come from limitations. There. I fixed a big chunk of Two Worlds's story and gameplay all while sitting on the toilet. I gave AND made more effort than the entirety of what we really got.

[@AndreSantos-xv9oh]

Finaly! Someone who sees the potencial that 2 realms had instead of writting it off (still valid tho). I think the game could have took an Omori like style, since it still would have the impact of Next Chapter's ending.

[@a_rat_named_mouse]

I remember doing a sorta rewrite of Two Realms with my best friend. While the story would have begun with all of the Raposa seemingly being alive, it would later be revealed that it is the imagination and dreams of a different kid- specifically Mike's daughter, Mariel (a nod to Mari). She knows about all of this because Mike proceeded to turn his coma dream into a children's picture book series, and he uses these same characters as material for bedtime stories for his kid. The story itself was much more light-hearted, with the human realm serving as the basis upon which the dream world of the Raposa and its stories are built. One of the first chapters involved a bully, who manifested in the dream world as the first boss of the game. Progressing through the levels of Chapter 1 would evolve this relationship, until you finally defeat the boss, giving Mariel the resolve needed to confront the bully in real life. The two of us tossed around a little over a dozen such scenarios, each being their own chapter and culminating with their own life lesson Mariel would learn. Nothing super concrete, but we felt it was fitting for a children's series, and still fit the setting and make sense within the truth of the Raposa.

[@AndreSantos-xv9oh]

@@a_rat_named_mouse Pretty cool! But would Wilfre appear or be referenced in your take?

[@a_rat_named_mouse]

@@AndreSantos-xv9oh Wilfre would have appeared as the antagonist for one of a few "final" scenarios, which dealt with heavier stuff- the one we felt fit most would have Mike become incredibly sick (maybe cancer). As all of the characters are Mike's daughter's interpretations of the original Raposa, her Wilfre would fill a different psychological role from the original. This Wilfre was more Mariel's mind attempting to rationalize a reason for very bad things happening, as well as giving her something to "fight back against" as one might a bully. This scenario would've also been much longer than past chapters, and would see both Heather (Mariel's aunt) in the real world and the Creator in the deam world play more active roles. Heather fills in for Mike as her guardian as his condition worsens, possibly teaching her more about religion and God. Because of this, the Creator takes on a more active role in the dream world, and it would be left to interpretation whether it's actually God or just Mariel incorporating another of Mike's characters into her dreams. Given that the ending sees Mike slowly make a recovery, I feel it would be implied that it actually is God. Ultimately, we'd mostly been spitballing ideas, more having fun thinking up am alternative story than actually trying to conpletely flesh one out.

[@AndreSantos-xv9oh]

@@a_rat_named_mouse Pretty awesome! You and your friend should have been hired for the writting of Two Realms.

[@bram_traa3780]

this game really has a permanent mark in my life. it brings up some of my deepest feelings and emotions. "the end" "'light of my life" and "real life" hit me more than any song can and will. I hope one day there will be a remake of the story because it just means so much to me.

[@TindraSan]

as a kid I drew some dramatic fanart of this game, since I never got past the first boss I quickly got very fanficcy with it and one of the pictures I drew was of Mari floatin all dramatically like she was ascending or something lol, her ears floating widely on each side of her head. My doctor uncle thought I'd drawn a uterus.

[@diegodankquixote-wry3242]

I think a sensible way a new Drawn to Life sequel could come and have it still be a coma is if Mike had returned to being comatose much later in his life (non-willing obviously). Prehaps Mikes life hasn't been particularly great, so he consciously embraces the coma, retreating back into the fantasy he created as a child. they twist could be how he fell into a coma again and what his current living situation is which could be foreshadowed as his current mindset reflected in this new coma world. That's at least I would have liked to seen.

[@ellzrandom2392]

It's odd but in a way I really wanted the next iteration to be in a similar vein to the game That Dragon, Cancer. Maybe not style wise necessarily, but a similar concept of coping with it all.

[@starplane1239]

Or a coma induced by age: his body unable to keep him concious, he goes under, each day ticking closer. Characters dont initially remember, but as things get worse, perhaps Mike himself remembers what happened and is happening, and by the end he accepts that his time has come.

[@midori_the_eldritch]

Or an older Mike bringing them to life from half remembered memories of his coma, wanting to share the comfort and good memories he got from them.

[@kirbylover5418]

I think a story could follow this world being rekindled by an older mike “drawing” the world into real life by becoming something like a professional comic artist, game designer, or filmaker. I think this could also emphasize the theme of embracing your own creativity, by telling children that they too can bring their worlds into reality, which imo is something important to teach children. I think you could still embrace some of the bittersweet themes of the coma (the impact this had on his ability to create, the way stressors from your life can bleed into artwork, struggles to create without parental support), but allow for something hopeful too. That says to the audience that you can create anything, even a charming little world of fox people.

[@MollyMargolisBillCipherIsBae]

What if he remembers what happened in his coma, and is dealing with something else, later in his life? He’s an artist of some sort, so his imagination is vivid enough that he’s able to put the whole story on paper somehow. Well, while dealing with this new tragedy, every night, he returns to that old world. Everyone there is surprised to still be alive, but they realize that every time he wakes up, they will cease to exist. They just have to trust that they’ll come back every time he goes to sleep. Wilfre could take advantage of their fear by trying to get them to stop him from waking (kidnapping him or something, somehow).

[@spoobini]

I remember being just passed a literal toddler, and picking out Drawn to Life thinking it was Scribblenauts. The music has always stuck with me, the mood has always stuck with me. Drawn to Life is not a happy town, they are desperate. I was like 7 years old man, I never thought about this until now. F**k

[@amandamakin1542]

Easy mistake to make confusing Scribblenauts with Drawn to Life; I heard they're the same developers.

[@jabberwocky3269]

I doubt I’ll ever experience something like playing this game as a kid again. The creativity mixed with the darker themes was mesmerizing

[@NekoSnicker]

Great video! I love this game and played it as a kid too. I always saw Wilfred as a representation of grief- Like Mike subconsciously did know that his parents had passed and Wilfred was his grief not wanting him to wake up and face reality. This is also why I think Mari sided with him, because she also had be heavily affected by grief and thus was more easily convinced. Hope to see more out of this series one day!

[@Vidaxer]

Drawn To Lifes ost is still one of the best osts I've ever heard. Just so atmospheric.

[@Merry_Magoland_OFFICAL]

ok but... why did your speech at the end almost put me to tears im just hearing about these games but like it feels like i had a childhood with them when i didn't

[@AmaryInkawult]

The ending of Next Chapter wasn't sad for me. And spoiler alert ahead: The way I interpreted it, the Raposa are a part of Mike's imagination. And while he survives, so do they. He is free to be his own Creator without the fear of fading now. And he has Jowee and Mari to base his new world on, or even remade anew as something new. They were always imaginary, they aren't truly alive, so they aren't truly dead. Its all up to Mike in the end. In Game God gave him that chance. And Wilfre was taking it away by killing him. If Mike dies, so does the Raposa. There wouldn't be a world left without his imagination. Of course its bittersweet, but a blank page is only a canvas for something new. That is what the ending felt for me. Mike is free to imagine without the danger of Wilfre limiting it. He can paint that canvas as we had through both games. The Raposa are only as dead as he imagines it.

[@jr7luckytanuki630]

Its so damn wonderful to see someone do an actual retrospective of one of my favorite childhood games. Still got the physical copies of the 2 main games and that SpongeBob tie in game too. Seeing this video as of now was wonderful for the timing. Always loved the "Light of My Life" song even as a kid and well the story tying together about two siblings. Being an older brother myself I still cherish this game. Hell I'll get personal about this. I lost my sister as of the month of this comment being posted. We both love drawing and creativity. (Im persuring online art as of a few years now.) So seeing this video made me reminisce about my sister. She was young, both of us in our early 20s as of now. I won't forget her, we both were lights in our lifes. Imma grow up without her now but just means I gotta try my best for my other younger little sister and make sure I keep that bond with my youngest sister as an older brother. Love your videos man and im pretty sure this video will be one of my favs for personal reasons especially to watch this video for me and my late sister.

[@jurtheorc8117]

From a random person on the internet: My condolences and wishes of strength to you and her loved ones. May she always be present in some way to help those still here, may you find, make and share good things in your own pursuits with strength, joy and wisdom where possible, and may you meet again as this canvas of life has been fully colored, and the brushes of your soul begins a new painting in a different canvas.

[@grumpytoadgaming9742]

I remember when I was younger, i loved drawn to life:the next chapter! Id play it at daycare, if play it on my way to school, id play it whenever i had the chance. However, I was never able to beat the shmup section of the galactic jungle. This frustrated me as a kid, and eventually I somehow got my hands on a second copy with a save file set all the way to wilfre's castle, only the final fight being the last level left uncompleted. I played it, saw the ending, and absorbed NONE of it since I had never beaten galactic jungle, meaning I never got to see any of the stuff when things got serious. No sock reveal, no return of Mari, no nothing. I saw the ending and immediately correlated the song "real life" to "you're living a real life, nothing in fantasy. Bad things can happen in real life, so be sure you live it to the fullest and appreciate whatever you may have." And so, I never touched the game until 13 years later. Now at the mature age of 20, I went on a one-week vacation to a cabin and thought, "why not bring my DS? I always do for the ride, so why not try out good old Drawn to Life? For old times sake?" And so I played DtL 1 and realized just how awful the game was compared to the second (but hey, as the silver lining I had finally beaten it for the first time), and eventually I finally popped in Drawn to Life 2. There I was, having the memories slowly ooze back and get completely washed away with the soundtrack and characters. A big fat smile on my face the entire time. Watersong was a lovely time, Lavasteam was a beautiful pleasure, and then finally came galactic jungle. Idk if I had been playing with my brain off as a kid, but I was able to see so much more and become more and more attached to everything. Finally, the sock reveal came and genuinely surprised me (I remember feeling a tinge of real hopelessness there) and eventually came the ending. Mari returns, revealing she had been working with Wilfre, and at that point I had been completely enraptured into the story. Then... the ending. I don't know how, but I don't remember ANY of the dialogue that was spoken in the end, and NOTHING about the heaviness of killing the Raposa. And once and for all, the ending cutscene came. I was absolutely stunned with what it all meant. I had lived my entire life believing that the raposa were fine, that it really all was still a colorful and feel-good story. And then came the knife, plunging into my back and twisting ever deeper: To be told that all of these characters I had gotten to know and love were never real. I remember sitting there, watching the cutscene and credits, going "no. No, this- this is all wrong. This ISNT how it ended, it..." and I just sat there in silence for twenty minutes. I've never felt such a wrenching feeling in my heart, and even thinking about it now two years later I can still remember how earth-shattering it all was. Safe to say, it stuck with me for a few months afterward and I couldn't get this betrayal out of my head. The fondest of childhood memories having a veil lifted to show them as the bittersweet tragedy they truly were. Everything I remembered came back and slowly became fuzzier and fuzzier as the game went on. Drawn to Life, you betrayed me. You led me on to love and care for all of these characters, and then you took it all away. And in some sick Stockholm syndrome sort of way, I love you for it.

[@mothiestman4995]

I'm a professional illustrator, so why do I think Peter's Samael design is so genuinely cool??

[@bucketmonkeys]

it looks like a foreskin

[@brandonfgx8498]

The Next Chapter's opening made me cry as an 8 year old I remember telling my parents to take it back despite me liking the gameplay It just scared me

[@riv7797]

It's always nice whenever I discover a new Drawn to Life video, especially when they're longer videos. I have great memories of this series on the DS and it's just nice to see people bring it up, whether it be the story, gameplay, or music. Not sure if you ended up discovering this since I'm only halfway through the video, but when you ground pound an enemy as the slime, you absorb them and temporarily get the properties of a solid circle, which allows you to move faster and you kill enemies you come in contact with.

[@Maggot-Milk]

you don't know how happy it makes me to see this game get more recognition online! This game series has been living in my head rent free since I was a kid. It was the first thing that really got me interested in pursuing art, and it was also the first thing that really got me thinking about existence. I didn't even know there was a replacement ending until recently, so I'm glad I can count myself among the kids who got their soul destroyed by this game lmao

[@freedomzero6430]

EXTREMELY glad that people still remember this series even after all this time, and not just about it’s messed up ending in the sequel specifically

[@shoobzy3431]

I love randomly stumbling across a channel I've never watched and seeing them upload a 3 hour essay 🔥

[@GuyThatExists]

So, I watched this entire video, and dont get me wrong, I'm very happy that this is putting more eyes on the series, but it seems like this video was more of you explaining how your first playthrough went for these games rather than an actual retrospective. I agree with a lot of your gameplay critiques and praises, and I really like the biblical analysis of the DS games, as it is 100% what Slaczka was going for. I also really enjoy the history on 5th Cell and the focus on the time between the games, as many people tend to overlook the impact that time can have on a series. The majority of this video is great, but there's a lot of bits a pieces that I do have gripes with, and I feel like I have to point them out, if not just to get my feelings into print: Its honestly a shame that the Wii game wasnt covered in this video. I understand that the game isnt as good, but why emulate the DS games but not the Wii one? It would have fixed your gripe about motion controls and opened another hour of content for this video, as the Wii game has a very interesting development history. Slaczka didn't do much on TNC either. He focused hard on Scribblenauts, and Tringali, 5th Cells co-founder (and DigitalContinue's co-founder), took the reigns for TNC in most aspects. This isn't to say Slaczka had no involvement, just not as much as you implied he did throughout the video. Now for all the Two Realms stuff, because I honestly feel like you did your viewers a disservice during this section: It feels like you just wanted to complain about TR rather than giving it a fair chance to be itself. I understand being upset at Two Realms (I am too), especially since there's so much that isn't explained, but a lot of what you said about TR and the time leading up to it was blatantly false or flat out pessimistic simply because it wasn't the DS games. Digital Continue had pitched multiple DTL3's to 505 in the time between the iOS port and TR, and TR was just the one that got approved. The budget was small (as seen in the advertising, poor QA, and mobile-first ideals) sure, but the game is in no ways a spit in the face to TNC's ending. The coma twist is not undone, nor retconned, just reframed. Nothing about the DS games is changed for TR. Spoilers for TR: the climax of the game (as well as Mike's arc overall) revolves around Mike confronting the driver of the other car in the accident, blaming the town for not supporting him in the aftermath, and dealing with survivors guilt. Yes, the Raposa aspect of the game needed a more work and polish, but it's not necessarily a bad evolution of what TNC gave us. The Raposa plot is wrapped up, and the Human plot needs to plant its seeds. You mention the lockdown but neglect to mention how that could have impacted development time at all. Im not saying that the lockdown is confirmed to have an impact on the game, but you have all the puzzle pieces to make a very educated guess on why development was as rocky as it was, yet you don't put them together. The lack of research you did for this video shines through to people who know the series well. So many of the inaccuracies or misinformation could be fixed by referencing the wiki, and I know you know it exists because you put the Two Realms' trivia section in the video. I love the message at the end of this video, but you can't spend 15 minutes being pessimistic and turn around on a dime stating you don't want to be pessimistic. I really don't mean for this comment to be rude, but seeing a video with this much love behind come out missing so much feels like a disservice to the series and the teams who put so much time into it. I really do thank you for making this video to get more people back into the series though, and I hope the outcome of this video is more people spending more time with the classics they love and learning more about the people that gave them their favorite games.

[@iferlyf8172]

Would you say TR's story is worth it then? You made me curious

[@erc3338]

commenting to hopefully bump this higher

[@pugjuice8462]

Thank you.

[@Zerolite0]

Commenting as well to try to bump this higher too, cause even though I've never played any of the Drawn to Life games(this video got recommended to me randomly and I like listening to long videos while doing things), the section on Two Realms just felt....Off. Petty and spiteful for not being the original ones. Kinda makes me want to buy TR first and worry about downloading the first two on my 3DS later to get the bad taste in my mouth that section left regarding the DS titles, as well as give it a fair shot like I usually do with games that interest me but people hate on, since this video basically outlined the plot of all the games except TR.

[@GuyThatExists]

@@iferlyf8172 It's definitely not as good as the other games, that much is true, but it's worth it to play it through to the end. Like I said, there's a lot of good story beats between the human characters, and there's an attempt to explore themes of survivor's guilt and how Aldark plays into the town's suffering. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to be desired in TR, but at $5, it's 100% worth it to play through as much as you possibly can. It's a puzzle platformer at its core, and the Raposa story beats don't make a lot of sense, but it's still Drawn to Life. It was made by mostly the same team and suffered under 505 Games, but it's still Drawn to Life.

[@taxenofhearts]

18:24 SHOCKINGLY YOU CANT THOUGH. When I was a kid I either used the armor and colored it purple manually, or I did my DAMNEST to try and replicate the blonde box art hero, who was surprisingly not a template. Now that I actually have done art for 14+ years after playing the original game id like to definitely revisit it tho and see if I can attempt to make him work again

[@macaronimatt5531]

Another deep cut topic, love the variety with your videos. So little discussion online with this one, super cool that you covered the spinoff titles also.

[@heypeterReal]

@@macaronimatt5531 i appreciate that. I try not to be too pigeonholed into outright horror games, but I cover a variety of games on Strange Gaming

[@RealmsCrossMyths]

I would like a "Scribbled to Life" type of game; • Scribblenauts notebook mechanic • Drawn to Life style drawing customized characters, creatures, objects, weapons, etcetera.

[@Aftokraftor]

Great video man I've been watching your stuff since the "Batman's Darkest Villain/Mario 64's Darkest Stage" days and I gotta say this video, the Hylics one and the Postal one have been some of my favorite content on youtube. You are an auto click if I see a new video from you I cant wait to see what you do next.

[@thatboyandhismusic88]

I'm about halfway through and I gotta say you've done a great job going through this series that always felt underappreciated.

[@DoesMahBlockLookBig]

3 hours documentary about a game i grew up with religiously? this is gonna be great

[@maidframe]

1:12:47 my man… that’s a turtle

[@IcyMizuki]

Man, it's nice to see a retrospective video on such an underrated video game series. I loved these games as a child, equally to Pokemon and Mario or Sonic. I can still recall the ending of Next Chapter being such a emotional moment in my childhood where I bawled my eyes out after hearing 'Real Life', even now the song really tugs at my heart a bit. As for the game play and story, the 1st game really did feel janky with the invisible hit boxes and mechanics, I don't think I truly finished that game cause I had such a hard time beating the 3rd boss as a child. Looking back at Next Chapter, the lack of villagers from your town dampens the impact of Mari's send off at the end, but gameplay wise, imo, I also remember the Wilfre battle being much more easier than the Giant Raposa battle, which I was stuck at for the longest time. Other than that, I feel like the series ending with Mike waking up from his coma comes off very bittersweet rather than disappointing. He loses his parents, almost dies, but he still has his sister there for him and he won against his coma. Also a little part of me hopes that Mari and Jowee live on in him as his creations. I would have loved a sequel or comics to Next Chapter with the Raposas being a way for Mike to come to terms with his trauma, maybe he would make the characters come to life in a drawing/story book sort of way, rather than whatever Two Realms was trying to do.

[@ne0ne0n]

ohhh my god finally a full video essay about this game. this is one of my favourite games ever and barely anyone knows about it, especially people my age (16) so hopefully people will actually watch this and play the game

[@Mad_Heretek]

The first Drawn to Life’s ending is the first time I ever cried in a game. The Spirit of The Mayor, and The Champion looking down from the cliff at the people they’ve left behind, knowing they have left their world in good hands, before they move on to what comes next… and the implication of The Creator, You, coming to the same conclusion as them at the very end, as you leave that world behind… It’s utter catharsis, and it’s a joyful sadness. Such a beautiful ending.

[@Bullwerker]

I think wilfre could also be interpreted as the part of mike that knows what happened and his actions is an attempt to keep mike "dreaming" instead of waking up and facing the trauma.

[@MCP_Blackout]

1:32:00 Yes... I really miss my mother... There are reasons I sing this song to myself every now and then for years now...

[@Jack_Evans]

was not expecting to see a 3 hour video going over this series i was so surprised and happy because i kinda forgot about this game that being said i only played the next chapter but its cool to know there were more games if anything this is just a reminder for me to add some of the music to my playlist considering that was one of my favorite parts of the game other then the art

[@JusticiarSinwe]

I loved this game as a kid! I was said artsy girl you described lol nobody else I knew played it but I spent so many school nights staying up to get my drawings perfect. The ending made me cry but I must have replayed the game a couple dozen times at because I loved it so much I memorized it in its entirety.

[@Ayoo_Arc]

I first played drawn to life 2 in 2014. It was a Christmass gift from a cousin who no longer had a ds so she gave it to me. 10 years later and I come across this video. The impact of what the game did to me was massive. Before I only played fps shooters or platforms or old retro arcade games. After beating DTL2 it opened the world of story driven games for me and that is something I always be grateful for. 10 years later all I mainly play now is story striven games and jrpgs/rpgs. I have experience many stories, some made me laugh, some made me cry. Some made me mad. So many emotions felt and I owe it all to drawn to life. It was the first game that really touched me and forever in my heart it will be. I recently got a steam deck going to add emulator to run Drawn to life 1 and 2. To experience this series again 10 years later.

[@luckyslob3359]

I always thought I was some new god here to replace the god that had abandoned the reposas. Kid me did NOT wanna be the one who abandoned those little guys like that lol.

[@cjthecomposer02]

Seeing Drawn to Life The Next Chapter gameplay is like a shot of nostalgia through the brain. That's the Drawn to Life game I grew up playing and I am heavily nostalgic for it.

[@riotking77]

Honesty to god bro, you’ve done a number on this one. Ughhh my heart is literally broken at that ending. So much to think about.. great work, fenomenal work.

[@mr.j3rs3y]

38:54 This followed by Wilfre walking with the Squidward walking sound made me laugh 😂

[@dishfishes]

Thank you so much for doing the work of making a video on these games. Seeing footage of it hit me with such a massive wave of nostalgia and childhood memories of playing these games 24/7 and beating them with my sister. Im so happy to see these games so appreciated and loved here. The creativity and storytelling in these games have stuck with me for over a decade, but I’ve never found the time to properly revisit them. Thank you so much for putting in the time and energy to make this.

[@Venandi_]

As a kid I was actually completely lost on what the ending meant, and it took me years to fully understand it. But I actually appreciate it more now that I do get it. Drawn to Life deserves more than whatever the hell that switch game was

[@MaoKittyMaoMao]

Nah you know what, this did traumatize me because I was like oh they won't even die, they cease to exist

[@TheMegaOne1000]

Thanks for making me emotional about a game series I've never even heard about, on a platform I've never owned.

[@Argalipete]

wait the drawn to life series has a new game on the switch? this is the first time i heard about this also my experience with the series is that i only played the first game and man was it fun to play. I love it.

[@mr.j3rs3y]

Just a fair warning. It wasn’t made by the same team as the first two games. The only returning person for the project was the composer. The fanbase agrees it was a disappointing nostalgia cash grab.

[@ZeldaGirl66]

I got the first game of this series lent to me by a close childhood friend of mine and fell in love with it immediately. I was a kid with an artistic flair who was already fond of pixel styles from making designs on animal crossing, so I was thrilled to be able to make my own creations to fit into the cutesy world of the story. I replayed it many times, making new designs each run. When I heard that a second game had come out I went to the mall all by myself to buy it with my own saved up money. I had the original ending version. ... I still remember the sickening horror and betrayal I felt as the ending played out. As a budding little escapist, the Raposa world and their individual stories and personality had become precious to me. Like my own little world as a "creator". I was too young to pick up on the nuances about Mike (Who I thought was just a gag character). I hesitated so much over lighting the eternal flame at the end, almost begging the game to suddenly say "psych! Just kidding!" It felt like the series was throwing away everything that was lovable about it, like it was all a lie, and making it about some random kid I didnt know. I was confused and upset by, what seemed to me, a total tonal shift. I even wondered if one of the developers had suddenly decided to dedicate the series to a personal family tragedy. The song "Real Life" that played during the credits seemed so cruel, and still haunts me to this day. Needless to say, after that I hid the game cartridge away and never wanted to look at it again.

[@Jebiwibiwabo]

23:29 I was the exact opposite, I always looked forwards to the drawing segments, seeing my art appear in the world was amazing to me, I am an art person though, so I understand why this wouldn't bode too well for non-art people.

[@ElynourRummyng]

I’ve been waiting for a video like this for soooo long thank you so much for creating this which is a work of art itself. Drawn to Life has impacted me so much and informed just the way I’ve thought about media since I played it as a kid and really fostered my love of storytelling and games themselves and it’s so rewarding to see someone finally give it the retrospective it deserves

[@bun8un997]

I didn't recall the game's box art, nor the music or even cutscenes... But that ending, Heather, the UI of drawing the mannequin. Everything just came back at once, and it hit me kinda hard. My family wasn't the richest, piracy is in my blood at this point 'cause of it, but drawn to life (The Next Chapter & the Spongebob one) were those few I *physically* owned. I don't recall what I drew, but I've spent more than two decades drawing nearly every day at this point so I'm not shocked, but I don't doubt that the game influenced me, even now I draw characters with one half of their face being in some state. Watching this video was a fun lil trip down memory lane, despite my spotty history with religion.

[@ryninja5788]

Man I loved the Wii version 😭was my childhood. Enjoyed the puzzles that require active drawing instead of everything just being canvases. Tho do agree it sucks as a way of drawing, but then again it also had free shape tools to help out in that respect.

[@ASaveFromDave]

I always cried playing both games. I was always socially awkward and found it very difficult to talk to my older brother who bullied me relentlessly. Seeing the enemies (the little strolling guys) walking next eachother with cheery music and looked cute and happy. Always made me feel sad as i view them as... brothers, and happy with eachother. I wanted that and never tried to hurt them at all when i was young. I remember beating both games and next chapter really messed me up in my thinking. You pointed out how sacrifice was very important and thinking of being loving for the future and wanting to ensure that safety and love was passed down. I was very emotionalal at this time and that message made me want to contibue on. To not give up and to have a future to give and continue for someone else. Yhe reposas not only dying, but not existing anymore still haunts me, and did when i was a child. The thought of not existing, but the opposite message is also there too, to live on with faith. There is a purpose. And as a child, having this question and answer proposed both humbled me, and guided me for years to come. This series is defining in its message, and handles the deep topics masterfully that no other game has made me cry, except drawn to life.

[@BruckerHouse]

Jesus christ that ending was so fucking brutal

[@Broomer52]

honestly as a christian this is an amazing biblical story while not being sanctimonious about it. The end sounds very much like the events of The End of Days. Earth as we know it exists because of the Devil. He rules the earth and does everything in his power to keep his power by exploiting the weaknesses of it's people. He makes his final hail mary moves on the final days in order to keep his kingdom. Once Satan is defeated God destroys all of creation and will bring forth a new world carrying the souls he's saved with him into it

[@michaelcarlton1484]

Thinking about it now, we actually don't know if the Mari and Jowee dolls were craft-made or plushies from an existing property in-universe that Mike and Heather were fans of, so it's possible that if they are from an in-universe series, they actually did potentially get together there. Not to mention that their names are clearly a reference to Mary and Joseph.

[@StockStilly]

This game fucked me up man *edit: next chapter specifically*

[@Vapor_Mech]

This game was such a large part of my early gaming experience, yet I always forget about it. Pure nostalgia for me.

[@Incog-e1z]

As the head of a small studio, I love watching videos like this. Helps inspire me.

[@nickobrien8043]

Dude the fact you have over 100,000 views tells me that there is a larger interest in this game! I know your not the first to write a retrospective on this series, but I hope you continue to get the ball rolling for other content creators to create their own retrospectives.

[@thunderrex59]

This game (next chapter) still messes with me, questioning the nature of imagination and what of the people in dreams that seem so real. I know it sounds dumb but i can't stop thinking about it.

[@Biggi87]

Damn, that ending of Next Chapter is a daring one. Especially for a kids game. Have to applaude that.

[@ManicPixieDreamGoblin]

An hour and 30 minutes into this video and I’ve cried 3 times so far I’m sure there’s more to come.This game had a chokehold on me as a kid I’ve played both at least a dozen times.I appreciate that you played the water song mayors full song I never skipped it and cried everytime.These games were so beautiful to me as a child and adult.I think about it so much.

[@atomikaI]

I REALLY love these games and really enjoyed this video too, I think it was a great analysis and did a lot of justice to a series that I absolutely loved growing up and even today. Here are some notes and thoughts I had while viewing: - About the hitbox complaint: I understand they might feel janky and see where you're coming from when you talk about the bounding box of the drawing vs what you actually drew, but surely you see how this is a much better solution than the alternative?? Imagine a kid who half-asses a drawing or just draws nothing at all, if the hitboxes followed that logic they might softlock themselves in a level or make it miles harder than necessary. - "I actually don't recommend using the snowshooter at all" STRONG disagree but I can at least see where you're coming from given how slow it seems. It's extremely useful against bats, snow golems, and those goo volcanoes. - The lack of map: I initially disagreed with you but you won me over. Maybe it's just because I've finished the game so many times and know where everything is off by heart but I just never saw it as necessary until I considered it from a new player's perspective. - Finally some acorn launcher respect. People seem to weirdly hate this weapon, but it's honestly my favourite in the game. - Dude, that Angler King footage was genuinely hard to watch. The boss is incredibly easy if you just keep your distance and abuse the homing of the starfish. You can also stay near the top of the water, where you can jump on the fishes heads and make a quicker escape if the boss comes for you. - Really disappointed you didn't play or talk about the Wii version. The drawing (which was very obviously a dealbreaker) in that game is actually completely optional, the game provides a template for every single drawable object in the game. Mind you the actual gameplay isn't that great either and is INCREDIBLY rushed and buggy but it's still a fun and interesting time. - "Very rarely is there an instance where one weapon is objectively better than another" except for the blaster which is like, completely broken and overpowered for basically the entire game lol - That Watersong segment and analysis was actually beautiful. - This is super nitpicky and pretentious but you mispronounced LavaSTEAM wrong for the entire video. - About "corrupted" music playing in the different Wilfre's Wasteland levels: I believe this is actually an emulator bug, not a choice made by the level designers. The levels in the actual game play their correct music. - I pretty heavily disagree with your take that Mari and Jowee are meant to be aged-up or alter-ego version of Heather and Mike. The common interpretation, and the one that I believe, is that Mari and Jowee are stand-ins for the biblical Mary and Joseph, which can be easily explained given the whole Christian metaphor of the entire game. It's not a stretch to assume Mike is probably religious and could have just conceived these characters himself to comfort him while in his coma. I do like your opinion that the actual personalities of the characters are based on people in Mike's life, though i guess this was sort of confirmed/retconned by Two Realms? - The part about developers trying to "gauge interest" with Two Realms killed me man. Actually depressing.

[@deadmenace7098]

I got insane chills from him talking about the ending for the second game, I didn't expect it at all from drawn to life lol

[@thisisntevenmyfinalform2025]

LETS GOOO I WAS WAITING FOR A NEW PETER UPLOAD!

[@SSJ4chaoscritter]

was about to point out that the flipnote kids were built different and then he dropped "not all of us were warrior cats invader zim obsessed art kids" and I felt like I had to raise my hands in surrender. that's literally exactly what I used flipnote studio to draw. those two things specifically. you got me!

[@jamzee_]

I still sometimes pick up my old ds to play these games. Probably been through it twice. Loved these as a kid and the vibe of the game.

[@badgamer8030]

I really didn't understand this game when I played it as a kid. Looking back, I was so focused on hating the angler fish and loving the wing that I missed the genuine story that was right in front of me. Thank you for making this video to allow me to see what I never could

[@tinyetoile5503]

As someone who only played the censored version (since that's the one that bundles both games together) I had the shock of my life when I learned about the original ending. Honestly, I think the thing that shocked me the most was the art style shift, of all things..? The contrast between the more realistic and cartoony styles of the two endings gave me whiplash. Anyways, DtL was my first fandom, so thanks for unlocking that core memory for me.

[@gddrevas9354]

22:02 I’m pretty sure by holding the r and l buttons on the back, you could have you camera pan a little in either direction

[@ShinyRaichu94]

Drawn to Life: Two Realms is more like "Drawn to Life: Nuts & Bolts"...

[@jvts8916]

@@ShinyRaichu94 that might be a bit too harsh... to Nuts & Bolts, given the sheer amount of freedom to build your vehicles, unlike the comically small number of tools in Two Realms

[@KingBassMcPoptarts]

Drawn to Life has been HUGE for me. I was one of those kids who loved to draw and did so all the time, and when I learned by chance of a game coming out that let you draw whatever you wanted as your player character, I was HYPED and asked for the game for Christmas in 2007, and was overjoyed when I found it under the tree that December. I played the HELL out of it and loved it so much that 12-13 year old me went full steam ahead doodling the characters and playing with fanfic ideas (albeit ones that never went anywhere, which given my age and the fact I was a REALLY foolish and misguided kid, was probably for the best). I remember being gobsmacked when I beat Wilfre and heard the ending song for the first time, totally not expecting it, and it still makes me think to this day. I sadly never got a hold of Next Chapter when it first came out even though I really wanted it. I lost interest in the series for a while but became interested again later down the line, and when I revisited and learned of Next Chapter's story and ending, it had me SHOOK. Sure, I hated the ending at first when I was younger, but as I've gotten older and matured more I came to appreciate it (and I feel like the censored version of the ending screws up the story by lacking the same impact and doesn't make sense!). When Two Realms was announced I was excited, but... yeah. I fired up my Switch and got ready to play after buying it, so excited to see this beloved series coming back... and yeah, I was sorely disappointed. Sure, there are definitely aspects of it that I do like, but more than anything it feels like they took the story I love and gave it one of the most lackluster continuations you can imagine. I feel like I walked into a concert hall expecting an orchestra, only to find just one guy playing alone: even though something good is there, it's not the awesome thing I was expecting at all, and I feel cheated. Two Realms is, to me, one of those tragic examples of a good idea with bad execution. I don't completely hate it, but this still isn't the comeback I hoped for. If anything new comes of the series after this, I agree that even if we don't get remakes of the previous games or any good new games at all, that maybe we could get a spiritual successor or an animated series; hell, younger me always fantasized about Drawn to Life getting an animated series. Sure, things look bleak, but maybe someday we will get the comeback for this series it deserves. In the mean time, I will just appreciate all the good the series gave us and entertain myself with casually making the fan content that the immature and unskilled younger me wanted, but the older and more skilled me can now produce.

[@TiggyMD]

Great video, but I don't think I heard you once mention Mike saying "Maybe I'll wake up soon" in the first game at all even though you put the footage in of that part!!

[@heypeterReal]

Must've forgotten it, its such a small line. Nice spot!

[@drancran9722]

Playing DTL1 as a 8-10 year old is something I remember to this day. I remember being stuck on Deadwood for a while, coming back and beating it. Same story with the Angler King. But when I finally made it to the final level I walked in with 23 lives. I lost about half of them making it to the final boss room and then found out how atrocious the hitboxes were on the scorpion. I never beat it on my original cartridge. This year, at 22 years of life, I emulated DTL1 and breezed through it (Deadwood still took a couple tries with those acorns), but I had the same exact experience with the final level. I had to cheese the hell out of it with save states just to get through the hitbox-hell scorpion- AT 22 YEARS OLD. I am confused how they expected an 8 year old to beat that level haha. Still an awesome game and I loved to see the polish that DTL2 brought with it- I probably played through that game 5 times as a kid and didn't understand the hard-hitting plot points until my teens. The spongebob crossover was an acid trip and I vividly remember leaving the cartridge at IHOP and being sad about it for years. Finding out that 5th Cell was behind the games that I loved most in my childhood, including Lock's Quest even, was wild. They released banger after banger. Unfortunate to see their fall from grace but they still have a good legacy. Phenomenal video all around!

[@rbxgemini]

What an absolutely FANTASTIC video this is.

[@SleepingChangeling]

The Drawn to Life 'Real Life' ending song will forever haunt my mind

[@mr.j3rs3y]

I grew up with the DS and 3DS. Great consoles. It’s unfortunate I didn’t know about Drawn to Life back then, I’ve only just learned about it within the last year or so. Very neat series! P.S. Ooh Wilfre and both final boss themes SLAP! The music as a whole is great!

[@lauravturner]

THANK YOU FOR REMEMBERING THIS DARK AF SERIES.

[@intemmie6166]

Thanks!

[@satasfried]

Literally shaking rn I recently replayed drawn to life the next chapter after spending many years trying to remember it after playing as a kid It genuinely stuck with me for over a decade and I bought a ds specifically to play it and honestly it was everything i remember and more The story, the art, and characters have stuck with me for over a decade and i have never played anything that gives me the ability to create within a game I love drawn to life sm TT-TT I have so much fanart at this point and no where to share I really hope this kicks up the fandom

[@thepicausno5561]

You drew him as Batter I understood multiple layers of that refference.

[@HK149.]

I feel like the perfect ending or at least perfect to me is getting most if not all of the original people back with the appropriate funding to make a proper third game with the same, if not better quality than the first two, and at the end with all the character celebrating after winning the day again it zooms out to show Mike much older drawing all the characters bring them back to life with stories he makes of them.

[@cambone1995]

Seeing this made me realize...I never finished this game as a kid. But I loved it so much, I just replayed it over and over until I got to the level I couldn't beat again. I'll come back for this video...(thank you!)

[@jonaw.2153]

Okay, after sitting down and watching the video in one single sitting I can finally say I really liked it. Drawn to Life kept me entertained for a long time as a kid. I loved the challenge some levels could give, and was deeply touched (even at a young age) with the story of Next Chapter. I grew up in a deeply Christian household, so the subtext definitely stuck with me. I never made it to the end of the first game, but did finish the Spongebob spin-off and played Next Chapter over and over and over again. There's something special about how the story changes what it means depending on when you play it. As a child, it was the story that made me grasp and understand the concept of death. Life fading from your own personal world. As a teenager, I read it as the story of how your imagination and creativity are what essentially breathe life in you, and how losing that is akin to dying. Becoming an empty, colourless husk, like Wilfre. I played it again a short while after my grandma had passed away, and that coloured how I saw the game a lot. It felt like a story of holding on to your loved ones, to want to sacrifice everything for your family and those you care about, and how much pain it brings when you realize you can't always do that. Sometimes, I play the game just up to the end of Watersong, just to see that one scene and hear that song. This is a great video. I remembered why I liked the game(s) so much.

[@maxithecartoon6681]

drawn to life: the next chapter was the game that got me crying a lot because it makes me miss My grandma I was close to her when I hear Light of my life even end credits make me started breaking down crying because I miss her so much and I hold this game close to my heart because she was the one that got me the game I remember showing what I drew on the game I miss her every day.

[@attemptedcomedy7801]

The xenogears, and hylics music is super sweet

[@Monkeyeatnana]

Oh my god thank you for making this. This was my absolute favourite and lingered in my memory but I couldn’t recall any titles or specific names. It just existed in my memory since I was so young