Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is the canon sequel to Drawn to Life, developed by 5th Cell, and published by THQ. There is a non-canon version of the game on the Wii developed by Planet Moon Studios instead of 5th Cell, known as Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii).
__TOC__
== Gameplay ==
Like the previous Drawn to Life, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is a platformer in which the player draws their own Hero to play as. New to the game is Action Drawing mode, which allows the player to draw directly into the game.
== Story ==
=== Raposa Village ===
The story begins when Heather (a recurring character from the previous game) has a nightmare about Wilfre returning and possessing Mari to help him drain all the color. She wakes up in Jowee's cabin soon walking out with her Pendant in her hands. She then goes to the Hidden Beach and finds a treasure chest, which opens, allowing Wilfre to return from the dead by taking over Heather's body. 
The next morning Jowee and Mari find out she is gone. They decide to call on The Creator to draw them another Creation Hero in order to rescue her. However, before they can draw one, the color drains from the Creation Hall, as well as the village around it. Wilfre then uses his newly gained Scepter to drain the color from the village and make portals to take the citizens to other villages. The remaining Raposa (Jowee, Mari, Pirate Beard, Mike, Isaac, Crazy Barks and Cindi) attempt to sail away in the pirate ship but are unfortunately stopped by a unknown thief who sails away on it. 
The Creator then sends them the Turtle Rock to sail around the world and rescue the villagers. The Hero is soon drawn, who defends the Raposa from a Baki infestation, as well as finding Heather's Pendant after Jowee loses it. The Raposa soon discover that the pendant is linked to their map, and shows them where to go. The map shows them a nearby island which Pirate Beard spends a night sailing to.
=== Watersong Village ===
The Hero, Jowee, and Mari soon board the next village named Watersong which almost appears to be a Raposa world paradise. They soon find out that the island has lost much of its color like their own. With help from the residents they manage to restore the first part of the city and travel to the next to find the villagers. 
They then meet Sock, a Raposa of another village who wishes to return. The team decides to take Sock on board the Turtle Rock and return him to his home. Color is soon restored to the Mayor Rose's mansion and Mari goes in to speak with her. 
In the meantime it is implied The Hero manages to restore all the color while Mari is taken to see the unable to speak Rose guided by her butler. The butler explains that Watersong lives on each mayor's voice and without it the village would cease to exist. When a nearby phantom opera Raposa named Salem found this out he decided to challenge her to a singing contest using a Promise Conch. The conch allowed Salem to make a deal with Rose: That whoever won the contest would be the world's greatest singer while the loser would not be allowed to speak for all eternity. Rose agreed despite a warning from her son Miles not to. Salem won causing Rose to lose her voice, which meant Watersong would vanish soon. Miles keeps on attempting to find the conch to save his mom but fails. Mari is then assigned to find Miles and return him to the mansion. 
Before Mari can reach him, The Hero finds him, forcing Miles to tell them -- as well as Jowee and Sock -- what happened to the village. They soon meet up with Mari, who shortly afterward, are confronted by Salem who warns them not to find the conch. Miles discovers that Salem had dropped a string of seaweed, which only grows in the Watersong's Abyss. They soon suspect the conch is there and find it, allowing Rose's voice to come back.
Rose, ashamed of of her vanity, tells Mari she will pass it on to Miles at her final festival, as she doesn't believe she is worthy to be the mayor anymore. She requests them to not attend the party so it will be less hard on Miles. Jowee and Mari argue whether it is the right choice to give up her life; Mari believes it is, but Jowee does not. 
Rose sings "Light of My Life" at her final festival, attempting to pass on her voice to Miles, but The Creator doesn't allow her to, claiming "more is still needed" from her. Shortly afterwards, Salem breaks into the courtyard attempting to murder them -- until The Hero comes stopping him along with Jowee and Mari. Salem soon reveals he was just a disguise of Wilfre's, who really wanted to destroy Watersong. Wilfre then releases the legendary pirate Baki Beard onto the village, whose plans are soon stopped when The Hero runs onto his ship and defeats him. The Raposa of Turtle Rock are celebrated, and head back to continue the adventure.
=== Turtle Rock ===
On Turtle Rock that night, Mari cries on the balcony thinking that the day proved to her that she shouldn't be mayor. Jowee cheers her up by making a promise using the conch that Miles gave him, claiming he will support her, volunteering to help Mari grow into a strong leader even if he fails.
The next day, Jowee finds her missing, despite a long search for her, even on Watersong. The crew theorizes that Mari was kidnapped by Wilfre, and hurry to the Map Room in order to find out where she is. The pendant leads them to Lavasteam, another island.
=== Lavasteam City ===
The Hero, Jowee, and Sock arrive to the next village, Lavasteam. However, they are soon spotted by the King Miney, and are forced to hunt for Banya Crystals. Sock manages to spot Mari running into an uncolored mine and The Hero tries to rescue her. Instead, the Hero finds Miney's brother, Moe. 
Moe explains that his brother was originally a kind and helpful mayor, but after Wilfre showed up disguised as Salem, he manipulated Miney, who went mad with power, enslaving the village to find Banya Crystals alongside powerful robots named the Robosa. Moe tells them that the inventor of the Robosa, Key, got stuck in the eastern area of the village, and might know how to shut them down. He then allows them to take the train there.
They restore the color to the eastern part of Lavasteam, as well as rescuing Key, returning him to Moe. Key explains that a key was made to deconstruct the Robosa which Miney uses to threaten them to work more. They soon get chucked in the Clockwork Tower Prison after Miney discovers their plan, but escape. 
When Miney accidentally drops the key in a lava river, the Robosa go amok on the village. While they still manage to make a new key, they are tricked into flipping the switch to activate The Giant Robosa, an unfinished Robosa prototype of Key's. It attempts to wipe out the village, though The Hero yet again manages to stop it, saving the village. While Miney apologizes saying that Salem told him, the Banya Crystals would have protected the village. Everyone forgives Miney and The Hero, along with their friends, return to Turtle Rock.
=== Turtle Rock ===
The crew get together to find their next destination a island further up in the world which they set sail for. Mari sneaks into Jowee's room and tears up The Book of Life, escaping off Turtle Rock by one of Wilfre's portals. Jowee becomes heartbroken, unsure if Mari is good or bad. The next day manages to convince the Raposa to keep going as they reach Galactic Jungle.
=== Galactic Jungle ===
The Hero, Jowee and Sock land on Galactic Jungle, discovering that the color is missing. They hear about The Council, a government that runs the village, and decide to help them restore the island. 
They ask the messenger of the law, Click, to take them there. Click hesitates at first claiming to see the council, residents must show help to them. The Hero then finds an important device for the council and Click then says he needs a photon blaster to power the elevator which takes them there. The Hero finds it, while Jowee and Sock get suspicious of Click, who then claims to have forgotten his ID. The Hero goes off to save one of the council's S.P.U.D. Rangers who, in reality, is a Baki dressed up as a ranger. 
Click disappears, forcing the team to reach the council using a rocket. They take out the council's defenses which attempt to blow up their ship. They find Click on a higher level of the village in space, who claims that before he can use the elevator -- but The Hero needs to power three generators which give it energy. Click goes missing again, forcing them to break into the council headquarters. 
After fighting the King and Queen, the three discover that the S.P.U.D. were lying about Click, who was really pretending to be the Council as a replacement for the previous mayor, who died without an heir. The villagers soon see that Click was only trying to protect them and elect him as the mayor. The team go back to the Turtle Rock.
=== Turtle Rock ===
When the crew attempts to power the map with the pendant, it fails, and Sock asks Jowee to give it to him who complies. He then runs off with it. The Raposa do not realize that Sock has run off with it, until they confront him, throwing the pendant into the ocean. "Sock" then reveals he was also a disguise of Wilfre. Wilfre escapes, and the crew decide to give up, and plan to head back to the village the next day. 
As Jowee takes a nap to get his mind off things, he gets a vision in his dream of Heather and Mari yelling the words "skraby zarc" repeatedly. He figures out that the words spell Crazy Barks backwards, who knows how to stop Wilfre. Crazy Barks then sails the ship using Sock's hat (which Wilfre left behind) to Wilfre's Wasteland, their final destination.
=== Wilfre's Wasteland ===
The crew all enter Wilfre's Wasteland, who are greeted by Mari, who reveals she abandoned the village in order to help Wilfre drain all the color from the world. Seeing how Jowee won't join her and Wilfre, they decide to kidnap him, taking him to Wilfre's castle to explain why she left. The rest of the villagers grow scared, and run back to Turtle Rock. Now abandoned, The Hero is then guided by a figure of Mari's dead father, The Mayor, to redraw the altars and retrieve the orbs to break the barrier of Wilfre's castle. 
When the Creation Hero manages to open the gates, Jowee runs out panicking, telling the now-returned crew that what he saw was enough to make him not join Mari. He asks Mari to reconsider her decision, which he knows is selfish, and soon convinces Mari to rejoin them and stop Wilfre. The Hero defeats Wilfre and the team returns to the village, where The Creator extinguishes the Eternal Flame, causing them all to vanish.
=== Real Life ===
The game then shows paintings revealing The Raposa World was linked to an event that happened in the Human realm, where Mike was revealed to be Heather's younger sibling. Their family won some Mari and Jowee dolls on the way back from a carnival, where their car crashed and rolled into a ditch, putting Mike into a coma and killing his parents. If Wilfre had succeeded in draining all the color, then Mike would have remained comatose and the Raposa would stay alive; if the Creator won, then Mike would wake up, causing the Raposa and their world to disappear. Since the Creator ends up winning, Mike wakes up in the hospital, reuniting with Heather, whose left side of her face is bandaged. 
In Drawn to Life Collection, the ending cinematic was changed due to a ratings complaint. In this ending, two siblings, again Heather and Mike, are playing outside catching fireflies. Mike climbs a tree in pursuit of one of the fireflies but the limb he is standing on breaks, causing him to fall. He lies unresponsive on the ground for a few moments until he wakes up unharmed after his mother and Heather pray for him. Like the original ending, Mari and Jowee dolls can be seen in the final frame.
==List of Villages==
===Watersong===
Watersong is the first village that the villagers visit. Its boss is Baki Beard.
===Lavasteam===
Lavasteam is the second village that the villagers visit. Its boss is the 6 phase Giant Robosa.
===Galactic Jungle===
Galactic Jungle is the third village that the villagers visit. Its bosses are the Queen and King.
===Wilfre's Wasteland===
Wilfre's Wasteland is the fourth and final village that the villagers visit. It has 2 levels to represent each village giving it 9 levels total, including Wilfre's battle.
== Reception ==
===Critical Reviews===
Critical Scores 	Critical Scores 	Critical Scores 	Critical Scores
Aggregated Scores	Aggregated Scores	Aggregated Scores	Aggregated Scores
 	72/100 	 	
Review Scores 	Review Scores 	Review Scores 	Review Scores
 	6.7/10 	 	
 	 	 	
 	7.9/10 	 	
 	 	 	
 	6.7/10 	 	
 	 	 	
 	5/10 	 	
 	 	 	
 	8/10 	 	
Like the original game, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter received "Mixed or Average" reviews, based on 21 total reviews, albeit more positive than the original game. Many critics complimented the expansion of the first game's concept, visual style and more refined gameplay and story, whilst criticism was skewed towards the levels' short length and the core platforming still being considered rather basic.
===Awards===
The game was awarded "Best Platformer" for the DS line of IGN's Overall Best of E3 2009 AwardsIGN Best of E3 2009 Awards (DS).
===Sales===
Sales numbers of the game are rather obscure, but according to THQ's fiscal year report, the game sold over 1 million copiesTHQ Fiscal Annual Report, March 2010. However, with the Wii counterpart selling more units and the versions not specified, it is speculated that the units of both are combined.
== Beta==
As with any form of entertainment, and especially with video games, many things were planned to be a part of this game, but were not implemented in the final release. A compilation of unused and removed features from this game can be found here.
== Trivia ==
* The game was originally announced on May 26th, 2009 in tandem with its Wii counterpart.
* According to Jeremiah Slaczka, "not a lot of time" has passed between the ending of Drawn to Life and the sequel. 
* There were originally six concept box art covers for Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter.
* One can skip any scene using the start button.
** This doesn't apply to scenes in levels.
* In the Drawn to Life Collection, the ending is different due to rating complaints for the original ending. Instead of getting in a car crash, Mike falls out of a tree. 
** This change can also be found in later prints of the game. 
** It is possible to check whether or not a copy of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter has the original ending by checking the cartridge code on the reverse side of the game cartridge. Strings containing "BDREN1J22" (NTSC) and "BDRPNOJO9" (PAL) are modified, whereas the unmodified ending can only be found on cartridges containing "BDREN0J20" (NTSC) and "BDRPNOJO8" (PAL).
* The Instruction Manuals for this game and its Wii counterpart are both stylized to look like the Book of Life.
* In the UK, THQ worked with a number of primary schools to trial using both versions of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter to help engage kids in art.https://www.mcvuk.com/business-news/publishing/drawn-to-life-conquers-the-classroom/ 
** A competition was also held to get participants' Heroes displayed on a billboard advertising the game, with ten regions represented.
* Much like the original game, the Australian release was also commemorated with a competition, this time involving contestants to draw their own Hero via a flash-based demo of this game's Draw Mode, followed by a short platforming game based on the Wii counterpart.
** The winning prize was a Nintendo DSi for themselves and everyone in their class, and a copy of the latter version.
* In the German localization, the game's title changes from "Drawn to Life: Mal-Held sein" for "Drawn_to_Life", to simply "Der magische Stift" (The magic pen) for "Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter". Due to this change it became fairly unclear, to those unfamiliar with the first game, that "Der magische Stift" is in fact a sequel.
* In The Art of 5thCell, Joe Tringali says, “The original ending for Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter was purposely done in a different style from the game, to reinforce the real world vs. the imagined world…”
* According to both Jeremiah Slaczkahttps://youtu.be/EoxNnnrowm4?t=339 and the story of Drawn to Life: Two Realms, the modified ending of The Next Chapter is not canon.
** Despite both later having doubts about The Next Chapter's age rating, the original ending was approved by both THQ and the ESRB prior to release.
*** Furthermore, 5th Cell had little involvement in the modified ending.
== Media==
<tabber>
|-|Misc=
TNCScreen.png|The top of the game's home screen.
DTLDSIcon.png|The game's DS icon.
|-|Instruction Manual=
Note: This uses captures of the Australian version. The manual may differ between regions.
TNC1MAN.jpg|Front and World of Zoo-donned back cover
TNC2MAN.jpg|Nintendo-related info and Wireless Communication Info
TNC3MAN.jpg|Wireless Communication Info & Contents Page
TNC4MAN.jpg|Page 4 & 5
TNC5MAN.jpg|Page 6 & 7
TNC6MAN.jpg|Page 8 & 9
TNC7MAN.jpg|Page 10 & 11
TNC8MAN.jpg|Page 12 & 13
TNC9MAN.jpg|Page 14 & Notes
TNC10MAN.jpg|Limited Warranty notice & THQ Customer Service numbers
|-|Prerelease=
DTL TNC NP.png|Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter's preview page in the October 2009 edition of the Nintendo Power magazine.
Beta1.jpeg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta2.jpeg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta3.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta4.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta4s.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta5.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta6.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta6s.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta7.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta8.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta8s.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta9.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta9s.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta9e.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta9L.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Dims.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta10.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta10s.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta11.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
Beta11s.jpg|Promotional Screenshot of an early version of the game.
|-|Australian Release=
TNCAUSCOMP.png|A promotion for a TNC-themed contest on the Australian website.
TNCAUSCOMPWINNER.png|The winning result of said contest.
|-|UK Release=
<gallery>
TNCBillboardComp.jpg|A promotion for a DTL-theme contest, with a billboard placement as the prize.
TNCBillboardWinners.jpg|The winners of all ten regions represented.
|-|Videos=
<youtube>edsMejQIDOM</youtube>
<youtube>38vo6KgTa3k</youtube>
<youtube>rKP77jeGJcE</youtube>
<youtube>xCHhjmrlWQg</youtube>A French Advertisement for Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter
|-|5th Cell & THQ Website=
|-|Original Ending = 
DTL2Ending_1.png
DTL2Ending_2.png
DTL2Ending_3.png
DTL2Ending_4.png
DTL2Ending_5.png
DTL2Ending_6.png
DTL2Ending_7.png
DTL2Ending_8.png
DTL2Ending_9.png
DTL2Ending_10.png
DTL2Ending_11.png
DTL2Ending_12.png
DTL2Ending_13.png
|-|Modified Ending =
DTL2_Ending2_1.png
DTL2_Ending2_2.png
DTL2_Ending2_3.png
DTL2_Ending2_4.png
DTL2_Ending2_5.png
DTL2_Ending2_6.png
DTL2_Ending2_7.png
DTL2_Ending2_8.png
DTL2_Ending2_9.png
DTL2_Ending2_10.png
DTL2_Ending2_11.png
DTL2_Ending2_12.png
DTL2_Ending2_13.png
</tabber>
== References ==
Category:Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter
Category:Games