Castlevania Belmont's Curse Review, Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Top Features

Castlevania Belmont's Curse from developer Evil Empire is the long-awaited return of the 2D, Metroidvania-like trapping that put Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on all-time lists. 

Technically the 26th main entry in the historic series, Belmont's Curse picks up with Rose Belmont and finds itself in a new landscape where games like Dead Cells have pushed innovation interesting directions. 

It's a critical moment for the series, as Konami has brought other classic series like Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid back for an introduction to a new generation of players, too. 

Now, Belmont's Curse steps to the table and, on first pass, appears ready to retake the crown. 

Graphics and Gameplay

Castlevania embraces modern horsepower here with a sleek design that is captivating at a standstill or at the speediest of motion in combat. 

The result is immersive, with background details offering serious depth and storytelling while the bloody action and all the cool particle effects of battle pop. Sound design is, as expected, splendid as well, whether it's the punchy combat effects or the smooth background soundtrack. 

Exploration resumes as a major theme for the series after a brief hiatus as players move through an expansive map that sketches out not just a castle, but a surrounding city. It's not a linear romp, either, with paths unlocking as the player goes and a set number of keys required to open locks. 

As is necessary, the borderline iconic Castlevania whip returns as a weapon and traversal tool. It's a fluid thing, letting players swing across gaps or attach to ledges, making getting around feel fun. It's crackingly good in combat too, even if it just pulls an enemy close to get them in stabbing range.  

Good as it feels, that's hardly it, though. Players have access to different weapon types sorted into tarot cards. There are magical abilities in Arcana, with weapons of all types (short swords, spears, etc.) in the Armory. 

Comboing all of this together creates a symphony of controlled chaos that players can wield as they see fit across plenty of different enemy types. It can be tough, but shrewd management of the skill trees creates fun builds within the timing-based combat. 

Purists will always squabble over whether this is the right balance of new and old. But at face value, it's a super fun experience that sure feels like one of the top gameplay entries in the series to date. 

Story and More 

The scene is 1499. On the timeline, Belmont's Curse sits in the aftermath of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1989) and Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (2005). 

And it's all oh-so-Castlevania in the best possible way. 

The tale stomps on familiar grounds as the recent, splendid Netflix anime, with Rose helping Trevor Belmont respond to a summons to Paris. They split, chaos ensues. The vibes are immaculate, even if the story itself is window-dressing for the combat and world. 

Like others in the series, Belmont's Curse's leans heavily into the RPG side of things for progression. Experience leads to leveling up not just basic things like health and damage, but points for magic abilities and the overall effectiveness of attacks. The upgrades for magic attacks, like throwing out more than one at a time, can be profound. 

Build variety is rather deep. Keep in mind that, in addition to those RPG things, each item in the game has its own basic, grapple and charged attack, in tandem with the whip, so there are many ways to skin the, well, demonic enemies. 

No great shock here, but Castlevania nails the modern requirements with a strong options list and overall performance, too. 

Conclusion

It's only right Castlevania gets the Konami revival treatment too. 

Belmont's Curse is largely a success in that regard, though longtime players of the series might bemoan the art direction (not unlike some did for Metroid Dread) or the leaning too far in the Dead Cells way. 

Even so, it's a solid modern take on the historic series and so enjoyable and fun that those sort of complaints feel like nitpicking. 

True to itself and the eras it dominated, meaning no endless cutscenes and other tropes of modern gaming right now, Belmont's Curse is a landmark entry for the series that puts it right back up there with the best in its genre.