Beyond the Ice Palace 2 - Switch Review
"Will probably please most Castlevania fans"
Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is a sequel to a game originally released in 1988! I can confidently tell you that is 37 years ago because I, being born in 1988, am 37 years old. Quick maths! Is this a record for the longest gap between sequels in gaming? I can’t think of anything to compete with this; however, send your answers on a postcard.
The original Beyond the Ice Palace was a platform game and the sequel, certainly based on screenshots and gameplay videos, seems to have aligned itself with the Castlevania series, with the gothic classic heavily influencing almost every element of gameplay in Beyond the Ice Palace 2. Let's dive in!
The Good
Beyond the Ice Palace 2 certainly scratches that Castlevania itch, if that’s what you’re after. You play as the Cursed King, who is on a mission to destroy demons across his cursed land. As you can probably tell from my brief scene-setting exercise, there is scant detail on story or lore, which makes Beyond the Ice Palace 2 feel like a standalone game rather than a sequel. That being said as a player, you’re under no illusions of the peril the Cursed King finds himself in, because at every turn there are skeletons, demons, and scary bosses all after your blood. The gameplay experience is certainly atmospheric and the music really adds to the Castlevania-like experience. It felt like I was playing on my Super Nintendo all over again!
If you’re after a challenge, then Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is the game for you. Surprisingly, I found the bosses relatively unchallenging/normal, but the general combat when you’re traversing from A to B is HARD. If you don’t have your wits about you, you’ll soon get overwhelmed as the screen fills with enemy projectiles and hazardous pits. At times the difficulty is almost unbearable, but then I reminded myself that this is a sequel to a game that was compared to Ghosts 'n Goblins when it came out in the late 80s. So if you pick up Beyond the Ice Palace 2 expecting a pleasant stress-free gaming experience, then don’t say I didn’t warn you!
The combat system in Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is quite simple but effective. The Cursed King has a chain-whip (obviously), which he can use to attack and traverse the environment. He can also use powered-up attacks to open certain doors and destroy enemy shields, and that’s kind of it. It is refreshing to have a game that doesn’t go overboard on the arsenal because I just find in those circumstances you only ever use 2 or 3 particular weapons anyway. Beyond the Ice Palace 2 keeps it simple and does it well.
TL;DR
- A faithful SNES-like experience
- Punishing difficulty, which some will love
- Simple but fun chain-whip action
The Bad
Despite all of the enemies and the foreboding in Beyond the Ice Palace 2, you’d think the Cursed King would be in a bit more of a hurry, but he isn’t! He is slow, very slow. That is perhaps in homage to the old games but it does make for a frustrating experience at times. With a player character so sluggish and heavy-on-his-feet, it just makes the difficult combat areas even more punishing, as at times you feel like a sitting duck and there’s little you can do to survive.
What adds to the combat frustration in Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is the chain-whip itself in some respects. At the start, a pop-up box boasts of being able to attack in all directions, whereas in reality you can only attack with the chain in the cardinal directions and diagonals. Some enemies, especially flying ones, are especially hard to target. I found myself whipping into thin air just to kill a simple flying bat-like enemy; sure, it’s not meant to be easy but in today’s age of gaming, it just felt dated.
TL;DR
- Sluggish player movement
- Chain-whip is limited in its directional attacks
Final Score: 7/10
It’s worth noting that Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is most definitely NOT a metroidvania, which the developers themselves haven’t claimed to be anyway, but I have seen many publications claiming that it is. That being said, it’s a solid platformer that will take you on a journey back to the good (or bad?) old days.
Beyond the Ice Palace 2 will probably please most Castlevania fans because it’s punishing and visually faithful to the series that has inspired it. Hopefully we don’t have to wait 37 years for another game in the series!
Thank you for checking out our Beyond the Ice Palace 2 Switch review, thank you to PQube for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:
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