Discover if Castlevania: Belmont's Curse revives the franchise in our full review covering gameplay, combat, and Switch performance.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Review

Released on October 15, 2026, by publisher Konami and developer Evil Empire (with Dead Cells creator Motion Twin serving in an advisory role), Castlevania: Belmont's Curse marks the grand resurrection of the iconic franchise after nearly two decades without a mainline 2D entry. The weight of expectation on this project was immense, yet it has managed to deliver a triumphant comeback. Currently holding an 86 Metacritic score and an 85 OpenCritic rating, it stands as the highest-rated entry in the series in over twenty years since 2005's Dawn of Sorrow bringing vibrant, blood-soaked new life to the classic action-exploration genre.

In this brand-new chapter, players take control of Rose Belmont daughter of legendary vampire hunter Trevor Belmont and the powerful magician Sypha Belnades. Set in 1499 Paris, Rose finds herself fighting through a terrifying demonic invasion while carrying a cursed crimson mark on her arm that threatens to consume her humanity. This review evaluates whether this action-exploration Metroidvania truly lives up to the legendary Belmont legacy and delivers the definitive modern vampire-hunting experience.

A Dark Parisian Return

The story picks up 23 years after the events of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. Trevor Belmont and his daughter Rose arrive in a burning 1499 Paris that has been overrun by demonic forces. Soon after their arrival, Dracula's castle erupts from beneath the city, obliterating the Notre Dame Cathedral in a cloud of gothic ash. When Trevor vanishes while searching for the local bishop, Rose is left to venture into the ruined city and face the forces of darkness alone.

Rose’s narrative arc centers heavily on her internal struggle against the blood-red mark creeping up her arm. This curse originates from Dracula himself, passed down through her bloodline after her mother Sypha succumbed to its lingering effects following childbirth over twenty years prior. To avoid giving in to hatred and transforming into a mindless monster, Rose must maintain strict emotional control while hunting down the Dark Lord. This dark narrative journey is brought to life through several key elements:

Anime Connection: Visuals, character designs, and voice direction draw heavily from the aesthetic established in the popular Netflix animated series, with select cast members returning to pass the torch.
Historic Setting: The adventure spans across gothic Parisian catacombs illuminated by flickering green flames, eerie cemeteries, mechanical clock towers, and the labyrinthine halls of Dracula's castle.
Cast of Characters: The narrative weaves returning family lore alongside unique, memorable boss encounters, including Joan of Arc, Medusa, Carmilla, and Death (who sports a imposing redesign featuring a massive, ornate scythe).

Whip Mechanics & Combat

Combat in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is fast, fluid, and fiercely offensive, channeling the acrobatic agility of modern genre benchmarks like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The game blends classic whip play with high-velocity movement options, allowing players to pull off airborne combos, wall jumps, slide dodges, and parries. While Rose possesses a light shield for defensive parrying, the core combat design creates a compelling risk-reward tension: Rose's magical Mana pool is restored primarily by landing aggressive melee hits. This mechanic actively discourages defensive turtling and pushes players into constant, high-speed engagement.

Rose has access to an arsenal divided into seven distinct weapon categories: Sword/Longsword, Cestus/Fists, Greatsword, Spear, Dual Swords, Sword & Shield, and Whips. Each weapon category spans four strength tiers, and players are strongly encouraged to switch loadouts mid-combat such as reeling into a flying target with a whip before swapping to Cestus fists for a brutal mid-air uppercut combo.

Grapple & Swing: Use the Vampire Killer/Arcana whip to latch onto grappling points, swinging across vast gaps and hazardous platforming areas like a trapeze artist.
Enemy Closing: Lasso directly onto enemies mid-air to close distance instantly, unleashing high-damage close-quarters strikes.
Precision Traversal: Navigate tight precision platforming challenges filled with deadly spikes, spinning buzzsaws, and moving hazards to claim rare relics and gear.

Tarot Cards & Arcana

A central pillar of Rose's progression is the 15-card tarot deck inherited from her mother, Sypha. Upon defeating major bosses, Rose seals their souls into Arcana cards. Equipping these cards grants Rose active spell attacks, including boomerang spinning axes, summoned stone gargoyles, fireballs, and ground-smashing magical fists.

Beyond granting spells, the captured boss souls reside directly within Rose's deck, serving as an internal commentary team throughout her journey. However, there is a subtle narrative drop-off here: while early bosses like The Fallen, Joan of Arc, and Medusa engage in energetic, bickering banter inside Rose's head, later captured boss souls rarely chime in, leaving the late-game dialogue feeling considerably quieter by comparison.

The spell system features a rewarding upgrade mechanic known as "Works of Mercy":

Specific Challenges: Spells upgrade by completing targeted in-game achievements (e.g., "Kill 44 Skeletons", "Use spell 20 times", or "Find all rooms in the Clock Tower").
Tactical Variety: This system encourages players to experiment with underutilized spells, unlocking powerful secondary effects that alter combat effectiveness.

High Challenge & Traps

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse maintains an uncompromising difficulty level. Enemy AI is adept at timing strikes to catch players right out of a dodge slide or mid-jump, with towering Axe Knights and spinning possessed swords punishing careless movement. Coupled with Super Meat Boy-esque trap gauntlets featuring spinning razor blades and long distances between save points, exploration can quickly become a demanding test of endurance.

To alleviate map friction, the game incorporates several modern conveniences, including area completion percentage trackers, custom map markers to tag blocked paths, and a mirror fast-travel mechanic inside save rooms. By crouching in front of a mirror, Rose warps to a central hub to access other unlocked mirrors. However, this fast-travel feature comes with a minor caveat: the mirror warp sequence incurs a roughly 15-second load screen even on modern hardware like the PS5, creating noticeable pacing bumps during heavy backtracking.

Additionally, the game provides flexible, custom difficulty settings. Players who find the platforming gauntlets or boss runs frustrating can adjust damage multipliers or enable an optional checkpoint setting that allows Rose to respawn directly outside boss room doors after dying, eliminating tedious runbacks entirely.

Platform Performance

On current-generation hardware including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC Castlevania: Belmont's Curse delivers an exceptional experience with a locked 60fps framerate and crisp visual resolution that highlights the game's rich gothic color palettes.

However, the native original Nintendo Switch (Switch 1) build suffers from notable technical limitations:

Framerate Target: Capped at 30fps on original Switch hardware, lacking the 60fps fluidity of other platforms. (Note: Playing the Switch 1 build on Switch 2 via backward compatibility restores a stable 60fps, though visual clarity remains bound to the original build).
Visual Resolution: Displays a noticeable reduction in clarity, presenting grainier textures and lower-resolution environments.
Latency & Load Times: Features input delay during twitch-reflex platforming, longer loading screens during mirror travel, and occasional stability crashes prior to day-one patching.

Final Verdict

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is a triumphant, highly satisfying Metroidvania that successfully brings Konami's flagship series into the modern gaming era. Offering 12 to 16+ hours of content packed with rich exploration, secret-filled map design, and compelling boss encounters, it represents a major evolutionary step for the franchise. Mechanically, the game marks a deliberate identity shift away from traditional Igavania RPG tropes: classic sub-weapons (arcing axes, holy water, bibles) and lantern-dropped hearts have been replaced by Soulslike mechanics, including rechargeable healing vials at save points, Mana regeneration, strict dodge commitments, and custom Relic equipment slots.

While extreme purists may miss classic sub-weapons or balk at the intense platforming trap gauntlets, the game more than compensates with its fluid whip combat, inventive spell progression, and stunning gothic presentation. What is your absolute favorite Castlevania entry of all time, and do you feel Rose Belmont is a worthy successor to Trevor? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, and be sure to share this review on social media with fellow Metroidvania fans as we celebrate the return of the Belmont legacy!

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About the Writer

Jenny, the tech wiz behind Jenny's Online Blog, loves diving deep into the latest technology trends, uncovering hidden gems in the gaming world, and analyzing the newest movies. When she's not glued to her screen, you might find her tinkering with gadgets or obsessing over the latest sci-fi release.

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[REVIEW] Castlevania: Belmont's Curse