Beyond the Ice Palace 2

First off, I played the game after the patch was released, so I have no idea what it was like before then. But basically I thought this game was great. Extremely awesome pixel art graphics that are closer in line with the look of old games like Actraiser or Symphony of the Night more so than many other sidescrollers on Steam. It starts a little slow for the first hour or so, but has possibly some of the most fun and satisfying mechanics I've ever experienced in a platformer. All the feel and feedback with your chains and using them to interact with everything feels incredible, even just ripping open doors and treasure chests, and once you get the double jump and some other moves the platforming with constantly grabbing onto hooks with the chains and double jump cancelling into the dodge and everything is just borderline euphoric. The inventory and upgrade system is also extremely satisfying. It's very simple, there is no excess filler loot, it's all just items and equipment that is very meaningful so every piece you get feels fun. I highly recommend this as long as you know that it's not a metroidvania, it's a mostly linear platformer with great graphics and mechanics, with a thin but satisfying layer of RPG on top. The game provides a cool line up of interesting and crazy bosses to fight, but if I had one complaint it's that the final boss could have used some more phases or something to give a bit more oomph to the climax. Great game however, I feel it's gotten somewhat lost in the saturated market and many players got the impression this was a metroidvania, but it's a very special game if what I've described is the type of sidescroller you're looking for.

Me: i just finished a very hard level with impossible jumps and very accurate evasion, i just reached the mid boss, i died here like a dozen, finally beat the boss, leave the boss room, no checkpoint, no warp gate, u still move along the level with even more impossible jumps. Me: dies after the mid boss, didn't reach a new checkpoint, so go back to the checkpoint at the beggining of the the level. Me: ''Hey, game, i killed the mid level boss, shouldn't he still be dead ? shouldn't there be a check point after the mid boss ?'' Game : ''Say what ? since when ? says who?'' And this is my story with the game, insane lack of checkpoints, nothing is kept after death, if u play for a long time and lose, doesn't matter before or after boss, if u didn't reach a checkpoint, badly placed checkpoint, u do it all over again, and all the gold u found on the way is like it never happened. HATE THIS GAME WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING, buy it now.

This game has an identity crisis. When it sticks to its roots as an old-school platformer, it succeeds—while the slower, less responsive controls might not be for everyone, there are moments in this game when it really feels like I'm playing as Richter in Rondo of Blood. If you're a fan of that gamefeel, as I am, there's a sense of coziness to Beyond the Ice Palace 2 that I really enjoy. Jumping, attacking, walking to the right—it's simple, but it works. However, BTIP2 isn't ACTUALLY an old-school game; it's a modern game modeled after one. And that means, despite its old-school ethos, the game does, in fact, have plenty of modern sensibilities: a stamina system, i-frame dodges, and more complex platforming underpin the game just as much as its retro feel does. And, unfortunately, these modern affectations don't really mix well with the old-school aspects. For example, the gamefeel is far too clunky to integrate timely dodges in a natural way, and the result is that set-ups for must-dodge attacks feel more like awkward jousting intermissions than any sort of natural extension of the combat flow. The worst offender by far, though, is the game's obsession with using grapple rings for... well, everything, including both combat and platforming. I like the idea of weapons that double as grappling hooks, and plenty of modern 2D games have well-executed grappling. However, those games are titles like Nine Sols or Metroid Dread, games built from the ground up to feel snappy and responsive. BTIP2's deliberate old-school pacing just doesn't accommodate the reactivity you need for grappling to feel good, and, since grappling is ubiquitous throughout the game, that means that frustration is, too. It's not so bad in the first few levels, since grappling is utilized more sparingly; however, once you get the double-jump, it's open season across both bosses and levels. Grapple rings are EVERYWHERE, and getting the game to recognize and respond to your intended inputs properly is a consistent struggle. There are so, so many moments where it looks and feels like you should connect with a ring, and you just... don't, and you fall, usually into a spike pit or worse. It's very frustrating, and, because the game is so stiff, it's very hard to recover and adjust your trajectory mid-air. Often, you're doomed the moment you leave the ground, and there's nothing you can do about it. And this doesn't feel like something that can be patched out; there's too much tension between the fundamental core of the game and the systems built on top of it. I found the first hour or two of BTIP2 quite enjoyable, to be honest. Had the game held up like that, I think I would've really liked the whole experience. However, once the cracks started to show, the whole game broke apart pretty quickly, and my sense of enjoyment fell off a cliff (just like the player character when your ledge grab won't register). This also happens after the two-hour refund window, so now I feel like I've wasted $20 on a game I have no intention to keep playing. Because of this, I definitely can't recommend the game to most people, and I can't recommend it at full price to anyone. HOWEVER, if you watch the trailers and feel compelled by the gameplay, BTIP2 is a game that might be worth rolling the dice on during a 50% or greater sale. That is only if—a big IF—you're a fan of Classicvanias or other old-school titles and are craving a nostalgia hit. Aside from that, unfortunately, I think BTIP2 is a whiff for the vast majority of players.

Это игра с огромным нереализованным потенциалом. Она обладает всеми задатками отличного ретро-платформера: великолепной пиксельной графикой, запоминающейся музыкой и верностью духу классики. Storybird Games явно стремились создать любовное письмо играм прошлого. Однако все эти достоинства меркнут на фоне главной и почти фатальной проблемы – ужасного управления. Для платформеров точность и отзывчивость являются краеугольным камнем, настолько серьезные недостатки в этом жанре - непростительны! Вместо того чтобы наслаждаться испытаниями и воевать с противниками, игрок вынужден постоянно воевать с собственным персонажем. Если вы являетесь преданным поклонником оригинала, готовы закрыть глаза на серьезные проблемы с управлением ради ностальгии и визуального стиля, или просто ищете очень сложный (местами – несправедливо) платформер, возможно, Beyond the Ice Palace 2 сможет предложить вам несколько часов специфического удовольствия. Но большинство игроков, вероятно, будут разочарованы этой игрой.Она прекрасна, но внутренние механизмы работают со скрипом, мешая полностью насладиться приключением. Полный обзор: https://enthub.it/story/38576-obzor-beyond-the-ice-palace-2-pikselnyy-blesk-i-razdrazhayushchee-upravlenie

There are some rough spots in the gameplay and platforming, but those are few and far between compared to the rest of the game. Really great art and music plus fun bosses really make this game wroth checking out. This is one of the rare cases where a long forgot IP was picked up by a new studio and it still ends up being really respectful to the original.

[h1][b]Review[/b][/h1] [b]Beyond the Ice Palace II[/b] is, although linear, an MV, aesthetically nice, with basic combat, a versatile weapon, and notable game design issues. No map, bad checkpoints, and erratic difficulty. [hr][/hr] [h3][b]The Highlights[/b][/h3] [list] [*]Really enjoyable pixel art. It looks to me very faithful to the old 16-bit era. It has a lot of resemblance to [b]Super Castlevania IV[/b]. [*]Your main weapon is a chain. The combat itself is not complex, but that isn't negative or amazing either. You can basically sling the chain forward or use a stronger charge but smaller in range, and also, by dodging an enemy attack, you project yourself behind them to deliver damage. Besides the combat, there is a wide usage of the chain in the overworld, so I argue it's positive. [*]The game is very linear; however, you acquire new upgrades and do backtrack to explore closed-off sections. Some people, and some mistaken [i]people[/i], would say that it's not a Metroidvania because of that, but I argue that the game has enough backtracking and upgrades that it suffices to be part of the subgenre. [*]There are these crystals that you can collect in the overworld, and with them you get stronger by improving your stats. Although I don't like the boost system as much, I like that it rewards exploration, and some of the secrets were very satisfying. [/list] [h3][b]The Drawbacks[/b][/h3] [list] [*]There is no map in the Metroidvania usual sense, like a grid-based map. What there is is a map that looks like the old [b]Castlevania[/b] "maps," where you see your character going through stages, rather than anything detailed. And you can only see this pseudo-map in upgrade stations. Although, with this map in the stations you can teleport to previous stations, so that's at least something. [*]Healing is archaic and impractical. You heal by collecting food items that appear randomly by defeating foes or striking objects. This wasn't good back then and is not good now. [*]Now, there is something that I can't let slide. There are runbacks that last about 2:30 minutes or even 4:00 minutes. [b]FOUR MINUTES![/b] And the obstacles to get there and the boss fights are no walk in the park. So I can only say one thing: this is f*cking ridiculous. This would be fixed if they had implemented better checkpoints and not a frustrating level design that unnecessarily punishes the player. [/list] [h3][b]The Neutral Ground[/b][/h3] [list] [*]Difficulty starts rather easy, at least in the first half. I died almost none in the overworld in the first half of the game, and I didn't die more than 4 times for the first bosses. But difficulty spikes in the mid-game; areas get pretty tough. I appreciate the challenge, but... the runbacks are nuts. Not only that, but the penult and last boss were quite easy, so... I don't know what to think of this. [*]The game is rather short; I'm not complaining. Short games aren't bad games, but with this price... it could at least have more to play. [/list] [hr][/hr] [h3][b]Conclusion:[/b][/h3] [b]Beyond the Ice Palace II[/b] is pretty, nice to the eyes, combat-wise not disappointing, and rewarding in exploration, but with some serious design problems... Lack of a competent map, difficulty inconsistency, a bad healing system, and the worst of all... [b]AWFUL RUNBACKS[/b]. Although it has bad design in some aspects, I did find the overall experience positive, but I can't recommend it as a full-price game; to me it's worth 15 dollars in a sale, if I'm being charitable. Given all that, my score is: [h2][b]5/10[/b][/h2]

O jogo tem potencial, mas infelizmente eu não o recomendaria por agora pois ele possui alguns problemas: - Possui bugs como o personagem deslizar após pegar um teleporte, e falta de colisão para alguns obstáculos. - A falta de um mapa é um tanto problemático, já que isso dificulta encontrar itens que foram deixados para trás (pelo menos eu não encontrei nenhum mapa, e um marcador e um mapa fazem falta em jogos que possuem exploração, por mais que esse seja um jogo mais linear até onde joguei). - O sistema de itens de cura poderia ser melhor, em vez das comidas curarem na hora, você poderia armazenar esses alimentos e usar posteriormente acessando o inventário. - Por mais que a pixel art do jogo seja bonita, a falta de animações para o boneco deixa o jogo um pouco feio em algumas situações. Por exemplo, algo andar na escada o personagem fica "no ar", e ele podeira ficar com uma perna em cada degrau... (Isso por enquanto foi o que me incomodou, mas caso o jogo tenha alguns updates que melhorem essas coisas esssa análise pode mudar)

very terrible control !!!!!

比较一般的作品，打完没啥记忆点，小问题不少，改键后游戏内按键提示还是默认的，需要一个个试过去，钩爪冲刺经常会失灵，遇到需要钩盾的小怪很难受，保存点之间很远，有一个夹着两场机制精英战，不大合理，最后的能力飞镖在一些位置判定有问题，经常钩不上。

Beyond the Ice Palace 2 es un gran juego de acción y plataformas con estética retro, lleno de detallados y sangrientos píxeles, una música muy bien compuesta y una narrativa de fantasía oscura que te engancha desde que sales del mundo de los muertos. Con una inspiración de los títulos más antiguos de la saga Castlevania, algo que no esconde, pero con la suficiente personalidad e innovación en mecánicas que le hacen tener un nombre propio en el género. Su mayor pero son los picos de dificultad elevados al final y la posición de los sitios de guardado que pueden frustrar a más de un jugador. Pero pese a esto, Beyond the Ice Palace 2 tiene muchísimas más virtudes que defectos y es un título muy disfrutable y recomendable para los amantes del género. Leer análisis completo en Retro Pixel Press: [url]https://www.retropixelpress.com/an%C3%A1lisis/an%C3%A1lisis-de-beyond-the-ice-palace-2[/url]