Beyond the Ice Palace 2 from PQube, PixelHearth, and Storybird Studio brings us a solid 2D action platformer on Nintendo Switch. Learn more in our Beyond the Ice Palace 2 review!
Beyond the Ice Palace 2 from PQube, PixelHearth, and Storybird Studio brings us a solid 2D action platformer on Nintendo Switch. Beyond the Ice Palace was released by Elite Systems way back in 1988 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. It’s now 2025, and we’re getting a sequel! Many years ago, the Gods selected their new champion by launching a Sacred Arrow from the heavens to strike him. It was thanks to this that the hero managed to gain the power needed to finally defeat the evil witch in her ice palace. This led to the hero being proclaimed as King, which allowed the Kingdom to become a prosperous land of peace. Each year, the Gods launched the Sacred Arrow, and it struck their champion, which made everyone celebrate.
Unfortunately, one day, one of the Sacred Arrows was stolen from heaven. It was then cursed and launched at the King’s heart. As the arrow strikes its chest, the curse takes hold, draining his strength. With the King dead, the Kingdom was quickly overrun by a demonic army. Months later, the wise sages used their remaining energy to perform an ancient ritual aiming to resurrect the King. While the ritual succeeds in bringing the King back to the land of the living, he’s lost much of his power, and it’s up to you to now make the most of what the Cursed King can do as he wields the chains that imprisoned him, now turned into mighty weapons.
Once you break your chains and jump into action, you’ll be moving through each area by using the left analog stick or the D-Pad, jumping with the B button, and attacking enemies by pressing the Y button. You can use your chains to attack in all directions, which is certainly very useful. Press the R button for a slower but more powerful heavy attack. Press the X button to quickly spin the chains around you. Jump and then press the left analog stick or the D-Pad in the down direction to perform a dive kick. Pressing the down direction on the left analog stick or the D-Pad will allow you to perform a quick slide to move through tight spots.
You can grab onto some objects with the Y button and then pull them by pressing in the opposite direction on the left analog stick or the D-Pad. You can also use your chains to grab onto rings so that you can then use the chains to swing around as needed. Press the R button while hanging to perform a grab dash. Dash by pressing the L Button while on the ground or as you jump. This will allow you to avoid attacks.
Actions like dashing, spinning your chains, or using your heavy attack will consume some of your stamina. As you attack and defeat enemies, you’ll begin to collect energy. This energy will be added to the sphere that you can see in the upper left corner of the screen. Once the sphere is full, it will begin to glow, and you’ll be prompted to press the L and R buttons at the same time to activate Rage Mode. While in Rage Mode, you’ll deal additional damage to enemies for a short period of time.
As you destroy objects and defeat enemies, you’ll get to collect plenty of gold. You can use this to purchase items from merchants – more on this in a bit – as long as you manage to reach a Spectral Circle to deposit it! Spectral Circles allow you to quick travel between them and will also send all your gold to your stash, to which merchants have access when you desire to make a purchase. Failed to reach the next Spectral Circle? The. All of the gold collected between it and the last Spectral Circle you activated will be lost! You could also buy a Spectral Candle, which will teleport you to the last Spectral Circle or Guardian Throne you visited. Or maybe you should buy a Bracelet of Strenght, which will boost your attack.
Collect five Power Crystal shards and bring them to an Alchemist to create a Power Crystal. You can also find full Power Crystals. Obtain as many Power Crystals as possible so that you can harness their essence to boost your abilities. Sit at the Guardian’s Throne and spend Power Crystals to increase your max health; lower damage received while improving overall stamina and how fast stamina is recovered; increase your attack power so that you can deal more damage; increase how much health you recover by consuming food items; and increase the duration of Rage Mode as well as lower how much damage you receive while in Rage Mode.
And what can you purchase from merchants with your hard-earned gold? Along with being able to purchase Power Crystal shards that you can share with the Alchemist to create a Power Crystal and buying full Power Crystals right away, you can also buy items such as the Crown of Constitution, which will slightly boost your defense when equipped.
Beyond the Ice Palace 2 brings us a solid 2D action platformer on Nintendo Switch. Beyond the Ice Palace was released by Elite Systems way back in 1988 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. It’s now 2025, and we’re getting a sequel! Many years ago, the Gods selected their new champion by launching a Sacred Arrow from the heavens to strike him. It was thanks to this that the hero managed to gain the power needed to finally defeat the evil witch in her ice palace. This led to the hero being proclaimed as King, which allowed the Kingdom to become a prosperous land of peace. Each year, the Gods launched the Sacred Arrow, and it struck their champion, which made everyone celebrate.
Unfortunately, one day, one of the Sacred Arrows was stolen from heaven. It was then cursed and launched at the King’s heart. As the arrow strikes its chest, the curse takes hold, draining his strength. With the King dead, the Kingdom was quickly overrun by a demonic army. Months later, the wise sages used their remaining energy to perform an ancient ritual aiming to resurrect the King. While the ritual succeeds in bringing the King back to the land of the living, he’s lost much of his power, and it’s up to you to now make the most of what the Cursed King can do as he wields the chains that imprisoned him, now turned into mighty weapons. Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is out on Nintendo Switch with a $19.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This Beyond the Ice Palace 2 review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by PQube.
