Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Review - Brutal And Brilliant

Published Oct 13, 2026, 3:00 AM EDT Belmont’s Curse successfully brings Castlevania back by understanding what makes the series great while not being afraid to evolve it. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Is An Excellent Comeback For A Long-Dormant Series When I previewed Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse earlier this year, it was actually my introduction to the series as a whole. Despite loving the genre that it’s half responsible for spawning, I’d never properly dived into any of the games and had only seen the anime. That changed after loving the two hours I played all the way back in July and desperately wanting more. Since then, I’ve turned into a Vampire Killer sicko who’s played through nearly every game in the franchise, with Symphony of the Night near-instantly becoming an all-timer for me. Castlevania is now one of my favourite franchises that’s helped distract me through some tough times, which has made Belmont’s Curse easily one of my most-anticipated games of 2026. As it turns out, what I experienced in my preview was just scratching the surface of what the brilliant and surprisingly brutal full game has to offer. Belmont’s Curse respects what made the Castlevania so great in the first place while also building on those strengths by learning from the many Metroidvanias it’s inspired over the past decade. I may be a recent convert, but I can still tell you with confidence that it's a hell of a comeback. Castlevania Finally Has A Story Worth Paying Attention To Outside of the anime, Castlevania has never really been about storytelling, which isn't a hot take for a series that can’t help itself from bringing Dracula back ad nauseum. One of the first and most surprising ways that Belmont’s Curse improves upon Castlevania as a whole is by putting way more attention into the plot, which focuses on newcomer Rose Belmont as she tries to rid Paris of a demonic invasion that, surprise surprise, results in Dracula’s return. Rose is easily one of the most interesting characters in the whole series, as she’s a young hunter who’s eager to prove her place in both the Belmont family and as Trevor and Sypha’s daughter. Despite her headstrong, passionate nature and the constant danger she faces, a curse from Dracula forces Rose to keep her emotions in check at all times, which becomes difficult when the quest quickly turns personal. Although I’m sure it won’t be for everyone, I really dig the painterly and bright style of Belmont’s Curse. The music doesn’t quite match the classics, but it’s still a solid soundtrack overall. It’s not just the newest Belmont that makes the story stand out, as the monsters she faces and ends up being accompanied by have a ton of personality that makes encounters with them shine. As well as having great characters, there are plenty of twists and turns that keep things from getting too predictable or stale. Although the bar may not be especially high, Belmont’s Curse’s more personal, dramatic, and well-written tale is a new height for Castlevania that I hope isn’t a one-off. Belmont’s Curse Is A Great Mix Of Symphony Of The Night And Modern Metroidvanias As great as it is to have a story worth caring about, what really matters for a Castlevania game is how it plays. Symphony of the Night and the many games that followed are clearly the main inspiration point, with Rose controlling like a more nimble Alucard and using the same simple but satisfying attack-and-dodge fighting style. Those combat mechanics are a bit more fleshed out thanks to a dodge roll, heavy attacks, more varied weapon types, and an Arcana system that acts as a great replacement for sub weapons. It would have been easy for Belmont’s Curse to just follow that tried-and-true formula, but there are a lot of lessons taken from modern Metroidvanias. Healing is now tied to refillable potions a la Dark Souls instead of food in your inventory, the map is mercifully a lot easier to read and lets you mark locations, and each Arcana has optional objectives that let you upgrade and tweak their abilities. Armour and accessories are no longer a thing, but I can’t say I missed them too much. It really just removes the busywork of equipping whatever has the best stats. Perhaps the biggest change, though, is that platforming is just as much a focus as combat, instead of solely serving as a way to access new areas. Rose can unlock a variety of new movement abilities, including a whip that lets you swing around to a holy light that can dispel certain platforms, and they’re used in an almost rhythmic way that’s reminiscent of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Like that wonderful game, Belmont’s Curse has some challenging platforming gauntlets that will truly test you, and it’s one of the best ways Evil Empire pushes the series forward. Speaking of exploration, Belmont’s Curse nails arguably the most important aspect of a Castlevania game - the map. While the early locations seem a little linear at first, Dracula’s Castle has an almost overwhelming amount of secrets, puzzles, stat upgrades, and hidden routes that all feed into the sense of discovery the series is so well known for. It's a brilliant cocktail of nostalgia, innovation, and that trademark “just one more room” feeling. Classic Castlevania Is Well Represented, Frustration And All While the exploration Castlevania games reign supreme, Belmont’s Curse also brings a healthy amount of ClassicVania vibes, which is most felt in how difficult the game is. You won’t be able to equip the Crissaegrim and go into autopilot here, as every single enemy in the game has the potential to kill you and needs to be taken seriously. Attack positioning, knockback, and actually bothering to avoid attacks are incredibly important to the more methodical combat in Belmont’s Curse and, as those who played the demo know, you will absolutely die if you’re not paying attention. This is mostly a good thing but, like with most ClassicVania games, there are times when the challenge borders on unfair and a little too frustrating. Boss battles are a great example of this, as most of them are wonderfully designed, but can be a hell of a roadblock. The best example of this is how annoyingly sparse save rooms, potions, and wall chickens are, which makes losing progress and having to backtrack a constant looming threat. It gets more manageable as you explore more and level Rose up, but the constant stress of finding a checkpoint can be a bit much at times. Even when Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse had me in Bloody Tears and praying for mercy, I never stopped grinning from ear to ear and jumping right back in to see what else was hiding in Dracula’s Castle. Thanks to an engaging story, stellar exploration and combat, and a near-perfect blend of new and old, Castlevania’s return just about makes up for the decade-long wait. Released October 15, 2026 ESRB Teen / Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence Developer(s) Evil Empire, Motion Twin Publisher(s) Konami Prequel(s) Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse Franchise Castlevania Number of Players Single-player Steam Deck Compatibility Unknown PC Release Date October 15, 2026 Xbox Series X|S Release Date October 15, 2026 PS5 Release Date October 15, 2026 Nintendo Switch Release Date October 15, 2026 Genre(s) Platformer, Action, Adventure, RPG Platform(s) PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X X|S Optimized Yes File Size Xbox Series 7.48 GB Pros & Cons Easily the best Castlevania story to date Combat is tight, methodical, and satisfying Focus on platforming compliments the excellent map High difficulty can sometimes get a little much Lack of checkpoints is painful