Few series mean as much to me as Castlevania. I’ve obsessed over the 2D entries in particular for decades, from the early classics through to some of the genre’s defining examples, with Symphony of the Night remaining one of the most significant and influential games I’ve ever experienced, and Super Castlevania IV still one of my favourite comfort games to regularly revisit. Which means I don’t say this lightly when I tell you that Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse absolutely belongs right among the very best entries the franchise has ever produced!
Set in a Paris overrun by monsters in the year 1499, which the game alludes to being twenty-three years after Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse on the NES, the story follows Trevor Belmont and his daughter (and main protagonist) Rose, as they battle the undead creatures pouring from a vast, impossible castle that’s erupted from the city. Wonder who that could belong to? Before long, Rose finds herself caught up in a conspiracy involving familiar Castlevania villains, legendary historical figures and no shortage of gothic melodrama. It’s classic Castlevania nonsense in all the best ways, and exactly the kind of Drac-fantasy adventure I’ll always lap up!
Which also goes for anything that plays quite so brilliantly. A good Castlevania will always excel in its movement and its combat, but I really think this might be the most fluid, precise and responsive game in the entire series, no doubt in no small part thanks to the developers’ Dead Cells legacy. Your iconic whip isn’t just a weapon this time, but a proper traversal tool too, allowing Rose to swing, climb, launch and propel herself to devastating effect all over the place, with an elegance that makes the expansive possibilities for exploration a joy in itself. Combined with a huge selection of weapons, relics and magical abilities picked up from defeated bosses, it constantly rewards experimentation but without ever becoming overwhelming or forcing you down a certain play-style. Even the new parry isn’t that offensive!
The world design is equally impressive. As a fan of the genre for as long as it’s existed, I’ve played more metroidvanias than I could possibly recall, but this is a masterclass in how they’re supposed to work, as well as a sublime evolution. Every new power opens up new possibilities, every hidden route is worth uncovering, and every corner of the huge (but rarely stressfully so) map teases another potential secret still just out of reach. And the pacing is exceptional, always giving you something new to uncover without ever losing momentum. Oh yeah, I should mention the difficulty. Or specifically, one of the most generous sets of accessibility and difficulty settings I’ve ever come across! You can tweak all sorts, from damage given and taken to respawning right outside a boss door or even preventing death entirely.
Which isn’t to say the default setting isn’t pitched perfectly challenging and without ever feeling particularly unfair, but if you are stuck on a boss and that run-back is starting to grate a bit, you can fill your boots! However you choose to play, the bosses themselves are fantastic too, dishing out exactly the kind of spectacle you want from a Castlevania, while also demanding that you make the most of Rose’s ever-expanding arsenal. Whether you’re squaring up against familiar old series icons, like Medusa and Death, or some of the game’s equal parts theatrical and merciless newcomers, like Joan of Arc, they each push you to learn new patterns, movement tricks and combat abilities in their own unique and generally very memorable way. Which also goes for the finger gymnastics required in some of the more complex platforming sequences!
I wasn’t entirely sold on the art style at first. It was a bigger departure from the series’ traditional look than I originally hoped for when I saw the first trailers, but the further I progressed, the more I appreciated just how accomplished and well-suited it is. The animation is absolutely stunning, stuffed with life (of sorts!) and personality, while the environments strike this wonderful balance between classic gothic Castlevania and something altogether more modern… In a very medieval way! Whether exploring burning streets, haunted cathedrals or monster-infested ruins, the game looks almost as spectacular in motion as it plays, and often filled with way more light, layers and careful detail than you might have noticed at mid-panic first glance! The later-game cutscenes are a real treat too, suddenly bringing an exquisite Japanese anime flair to proceedings.
Then there’s the all-important soundtrack. Castlevania has one of the most consistently excellent musical legacies in all of gaming, and this more than manages to uphold that reputation, even if without really breaking any boundaries, maybe apart from quite how much soundtrack is here! You’ve got all the haunting ambience and blood-pumping battle themes you’d expect, constantly reinforcing the atmosphere with enough familiar DNA to remain unmistakably Castlevania. We’re obviously a long way from the chiptune origins of the series nowadays, but that same melodic sensibility remains intact throughout, and hearing fragments and reinterpretations of classic themes woven into these larger orchestral and gothic compositions was a particular thrill the first time around. And the latest new take on Bloody Tears is awesome!
Belmont’s Curse was never going to bring with it the seismic importance of Symphony of the Night, and if (or, more likely, when) I end up doing one of my top ten countdowns for the series, nostalgia will probably always drag me back to some earlier favourites ahead of this one as well. But judged purely on what it achieves as both a modern metroidvania and also an action-platformer, this is about as close to perfection as Castlevania has ever come. And in a series overflowing with classics, that’s about the highest praise I can give it. This really is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played in a long time!
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