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Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Is a Glorious Return of the Eternal Night (Review)
From the moment you step into the world of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, there are no delusions as to what series this game is a part of. Developer Evil Empire understands that there doesn’t need to be any fanfare here, putting you in the heart of a collapsing France where darkness has taken hold. You are a Belmont, there is evil afoot, and you are there to stop it. What unfolds next is an immediate dive into a vast Metroidvania, with excellent and intentional design meant to engross you in endless exploration as you once again defy vampiric evils in a surprisingly open-ended experience.
Playing Belmont’s Curse is like seeing an old friend after many years, where all the best memories flood back of your time together. This game manages to capture the RPG elements that helped establish Castlevania as a different side of the Metroidvania genre that partially emerged from it. This isn’t a game with a linear loop, but rather an experience defined by a player’s journey of natural curiosity leading to them growing strong enough to face down sinister threats.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Beautifully rich world environments with hundreds of hidden details to investigate and discover. | Odd platforming choices in some areas that disrupt explorative pacing. |
| Robust combat with plenty of play style variety for all types of players. | Limitations to story content due to the game’s structure. |
| Well-paced progression that never feels too linear and is more attached to player choices. | |
| Engaging optional content that can turn a casual player into a 100% completion fiend. | |
| Memorable bosses that feel like grand encounters during the adventure. |
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Returns to Side-Scrolling Adventures Within a Classic Gothic Setting
Starting Belmont’s Curse immediately puts you into the shoes of Rose Belmont, daughter of legendary vampire hunter Trevor Belmont of the equally famous lineage. Trevor, the slayer of Dracula some twenty years ago, has been summoned to France to stop a darkness that has infected itself into the city of Paris, but there is a mystery here that both he and Rose recognize. From that point, it’s up to Rose to discover everything she can about the city, including who is terrorizing its citizens. The premise, like all the older Castlevania games, is quite simple, but this isn’t to the game’s detriment by any means.
Players automatically have great freedom over how they explore the 2D side-scrolling Metroidvania world they are thrust into. Developer Evil Empire shows you instantly how much they understand that the most interesting part of Castlevania is the exploration of unfamiliar places, and the progression that comes with your growing understanding of the environments you travel through. This makes it so that whenever you discover a new zone, it’s an exciting moment of a new discovery period starting. In the words of Trevor and Rose, “it’s not a trap, it’s a mystery to uncover.”
When Dracula’s Castle does eventually appear, it is by far the game’s biggest moment, both in the story and in gameplay. The world truly opens up the moment the drawbridge to the Castle lowers, as if an invitation to the “true” game starts hours into your adventure. The art style and environmental design of Belmont’s Curse is painted in striking and sharp patterns, like classical paintings that reflect the series’ most iconic imagery. Evil Empire’s visual presentation of the Castlevania world is sharper and smoother than the pixelated days of old, but it uses a pleasant modern brush to paint explosive fire effects, stylized hit sparks, and other cues that elevate the moment-to-moment gameplay.
One of the more impressive parts of Belmont’s Curse is its attention to detail in the gorgeous world it has created. The rooms of this game are often quite varied, but are full of little clues and hints you can figure out if you explore more. For example, you can interact with ghosts and statues, or read notes, to figure out information about how a boss has designed the area they reside in. By doing this, you can look back at your map and find secret zones in the ceiling, walls, or floor to uncover a new room with some fresh gear to improve your build.
Fast-Paced Combat Helps Modernize Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse With Satisfying Variety
Whether you’re in the streets of Paris or Dracula’s Castle, you’ll be fighting a wide variety of enemies at every step. Many classic enemies return in Belmont’s Curse, from flying bats, harpies, and gargoyles, to heavily armored knights and feral blood zombies that never truly go away. To fight these threats, Rose can wield one of seven different weapon types you find throughout the game, starting with a basic balanced Longsword but growing as you progress. Each weapon has its own play style, from the defensive stance of the Sword and Shield to the rapid Dual Swords whose have combo attacks dependent on precise timing.
Every weapon has a layer of mechanical nuance that encourages mastery with it, but players are also encouraged to use different tools for unique situations. Some bosses may be easier to fight with one weapon type, or perhaps you simply become incredibly skilled with one weapon. The choice is yours, and that’s what makes Belmont’s Curse‘s combat so engaging. Each of the seven available weapon types has four different weapons you can find as treasure in the game, with rarer ones having increased damage and additional skills. That being said, they are made even better with the Arcana and Relics you wield too.
Perhaps where Belmont’s Curse‘s gameplay shines the most is in its Arcana Tarot Cards, a gift from Rose’s mother that guide her path. These cards each represent different bosses Rose faces, and can absorb their power once defeated. Taking a boss’ power into an Arcana allows you to wield a unique spell tied to it, such as the classic Holy Cross from past Castlevania games, or new abilities, such as summoning pillars of flame, creating a huge stone fist, or ushering waves of blood to bleed enemies. Each Arcana has a purpose, and grows stronger if you invest in using them.
Arcana cards all have three different tasks on them called Works of Mercy, which represent arbitrary goals you can complete at will. Some may include defeating a number of enemies with the Arcana’s spell, while others could be finding two of the same weapon type or completing some goal tied to the boss the Arcana was from. Finishing Works of Mercy gives you one of three upgrades for the Arcana, based on your choice of how to improve it. This system adds tons of variety to your play style, giving you the means to create builds for Rose with certain weapon and Arcana combinations based on which cards you choose to upgrade fully.
Like the weapons, switching around Arcana for different situations is part of the fun of Belmont’s Curse. With over a dozen Arcana cards, including a couple of secret optional ones, the amount of abilities Rose can acquire are vast. Each Arcana cast is tied to limited Mana, which you’ll be upgrading along with your health as you find new secrets in different regions. On those same journeys to explore every nook and cranny of the world, you’ll also pick up Relics, or different modifiers that adjust gameplay as well. Rose can have three Relics equipped at a time, giving you even more room to make a build that best suits how you want to play.
Hyper-Mobile Platforming Takes Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse in New Directions
Arguably the most original part of Belmont’s Curse is how it handles its platforming, which takes a big departure from Castlevania‘s past and enters more into the realm of modern Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight: Silksong or Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Some bosses unlock traversal abilities for Rose after you beat them, the first of which is the Arcane Whip. This skill lets Rose aim and cast a golden whip forward, latching onto glowing Luminous Anchors of yellow or purple on the map. By holding down the input for this, Rose can swing using her momentum to other areas, crossing gaps and reaching new locations.
This can be done to enemies too, with each weapon having a special attack tied to timing a follow-up from the Arcane Whip quickly. Having a way to close the distance on enemies can be incredibly fun to do, making Rose feel like a highly mobile Belmont, much different from others in her family. As you progress, other abilities like the Arcane Whip open up more traversal options, such as breaking collections of stone or dashing through gaps without an anchor point to grapple to. In many situations, these platforming tools will be used constantly, helping you reach hidden treasures or unlock shortcuts in different regions.
Finding healing mirrors or elevators through these skills isn’t always easy, though, as one of Belmont’s Curse‘s weaknesses is how it handles platforming once each ability is unlocked. Many rooms are well designed to test your skill with each ability, but others have less intuitive qualities. For example, some rooms will be crowded with enemies and anchor points, leading to moments where you want to latch onto an anchor, but accidentally get pulled toward a dangerous enemy instead. Sometimes rooms are cluttered with traversal options with inconsistent ideas of momentum too, making it hard to time how abilities will work.
Belmont’s Curse makes up for this somewhat by having a generous system for failure, with Rose not taking too much damage from environmental hazards. The game will reset you to the nearest solid platform you were on if you fail a jump, giving you time to think about your next actions more. However, platforming can often be difficult in the strangest spots, especially if you are backtracking to a safe point or fast travel spot. Having to go through obtuse rooms again and again to reach some areas can get tedious, even if it doesn’t happen too often.
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse‘s Story Repeats Formula That Doesn’t Need Fixing
Despite its initial chapter being more of a mystery, players will likely anticipate the first twist of Belmont’s Curse coming from a mile away. That being said, this isn’t a point against the game, as it plays everything straight to put it in line with the tone of other Castlevania titles. Rose is a determined protagonist with a lot to prove, with a cursed arm courtesy of Dracula that could turn her to his side if she doesn’t defeat him first. Rose’s mission to grow stronger and stop Dracula is one players have heard countless times, but it’s within the other characters Rose meets that her story evolves into something intriguing.
For every boss Rose defeats, their Arcana card also manifests as a voice in her head, keeping the cast of bosses in the game at her side constantly. This leads to a fun dynamic between a surprisingly large cast of characters besides Rose, including ones with larger stories to uncover. Some bosses remain snarky and antagonistic toward Rose, letting her use their powers reluctantly or to prove some superiority. Others try to steer Rose toward the dark side, to embrace her anger and challenge Dracula before she understands the corruptible nature of her titular curse. At the same time, some bosses are freed from Dracula’s dominion when defeated, thus becoming staunch allies of Rose who support her willingly.
Finishing all Works of Mercy for an Arcana boss unlocks special dialogue with them, encouraging players to deepen their relationships with friends and enemies. This approach doesn’t derail Rose from the usual “find and kill Dracula” plot, but it does broaden the perspective of Dracula’s impact on these characters. Some are blind worshipers, others followers to pursue their own vanity, or those whose good intentions were twisted. Since the Arcana talk to each other too, it’s almost like a Disco Elysium dynamic were fun banter between bosses can be fun to listen to.
Overall, I wish there was more interaction with certain Arcana, in spite of the game’s simple plot. This small nitpick doesn’t take away from how lovingly crafted this game is, from its story to its level design and gameplay. It’s clear to me that Evil Empire deeply treasures this franchise, a fact many understood with their Castlevania DLC for Dead Cells some time ago. This title is not just a return to form for the series, but an evolution of its past through modern refinements that make it a perfect entry point for new audiences. I can’t recommend Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse enough, as its eternal night will hook into you like a vampire’s fangs and refuse to let go until the blood has run dry and the curse lifts.
A PS5 copy of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
