Almost twenty years after the final mainline 2D Castlevania recreation,the group behind 2023’s Lifeless Cell’s Return to Castlevania DLC has been given the keys to Dracula’s Fort for actual. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse goals to breathe recent life into this 40-year-old collection with a artistic mix of previous and new concepts. With a model new Belmont wielding the household whip, acquainted foes in your method, and trendy conveniences which have change into anticipated within the style, developer Evil Empire has largely hit their mark – however if you’re a longtime fan anticipating Belmont’s Curse to be a very devoted revival of the collection we performed again within the early 2000s, then it would be best to assume once more. This can be a totally different breed of monster you are searching, each for good and for unwell.
Belmont’s Curse picks up in Paris about 23 years after the occasions of the NES/Famicom basic Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (the sport Netflix’s unique Castlevania collection was primarily based on). This time, the Belmont accountable for dispensing ache to the varied creatures of the evening – together with large, dangerous Dracula himself – is Rose Belmont, the daughter of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades. Trevor leaves Rose on her personal to unravel what’s going on in Paris, and the story that follows over the following 10-15 hours is one which boils all the way down to what followers of Konami’s 40-year-old collection would count on: Dracula comes again, and you should kill him.
Belmont’s Curse does sprinkle some nifty twists into the cauldron right here and there, lots of which revolve round that titular “curse” and the mysterious set of Tarot playing cards Sypha left to her daughter earlier than her off-screen demise in childbirth. It’s a enjoyable story total, and I liked the nods and winks for devoted followers like me to catch, however I’d be mendacity if I mentioned plot was ever the explanation I fell in love with these video games.
Within the line of Belmont heroes, I might rank Rose pretty excessive. Whereas actually strong-willed and centered as she units out to show herself worthy of her household’s legacy, you may as well see she continues to be a bit tough across the edges. She could be impulsive at occasions, however learns from her errors – and whereas her powerful facade sometimes cracks to disclose a extra susceptible aspect, Rose by no means comes off as a damsel in want of saving. She’d be the one busting down doorways to save lots of you. She carries the spirit of Sonia Belmont on her shoulders nicely.
Very like the opposite heroes of those video games, a small solid of helpers joins her within the quest to place “Him” again in his pine field (critically, this recreation actually likes to lean into characters simply referring to Dracula as “Him”, capital H and all). Nevertheless, not like in earlier video games, most of those interactions occur solely inside Rose’s head with the souls of bosses she has vanquished, who now discover themselves sealed away in her Tarot playing cards. There are some enjoyable moments of bickering between the primary three – The Fallen, Joan of Arc, and Medusa – however I want that the opposite bosses would extra frequently chime in.
I additionally discovered myself lacking precise individuals to run into. Scenes like Alucard first encountering Maria in Symphony of the Night time gave a sense of life to the fort and its surrounding lands stuffed with demise. By comparability, the psychological arguments with Medusa are amusing, however simply don’t land in the identical method. Contemplating you begin out in Paris (admittedly, a violently burning one), it feels a bit odd that there isn’t a single store open or particular person left to speak to. It might have been nice to randomly hit upon Grant from Trevor and Sypha’s crew from Castlevania III someplace.
The map itself is split into massive, self-contained zones, extra akin to Tremendous Metroid than Symphony of the Night time, with a boss usually overseeing every space. These bigger zones are then related to 1 one other by way of the odd bridge or pathway, with particular ferryman doorways that you’ll finally uncover to permit for fast hopping between areas, together with the varied components of Dracula’s fort (and different even stranger locations). As somebody who tends to get misplaced or overlook issues in these types of video games, Belmont’s Curse adopts some trendy conveniences which are very welcome, together with share trackers for every space and varied markers that may be positioned on the map. I used these instruments liberally and incessantly to assist maintain monitor of blocked paths I nonetheless wanted a motion improve to get by way of or collectibles I might see however not attain.
One other particularly useful function (one you’re by no means clearly advised about, for some purpose) is that you’re additionally in a position to quick journey between the save rooms inside a given area, finished so by holding down and crouching Rose simply in entrance of the mirror for just a few seconds. It will take you to a small hub of types the place you possibly can select one other mirror to come out of. For a recreation that has simply as a lot backtracking and exploration as this style is thought for, it’s an ideal assist. Too dangerous it takes about 15 seconds from whenever you first crouch till you regain management of Rose within the Hub (not less than on PS5). Useful because it was, that load time received previous actual fast.
For essentially the most half, every Castlevania recreation has some kind of distinctive system or mechanic that helps differentiate it. The Aria video games, as an example had monster soul assortment, whereas Circle of the Moon had its mix-and-match playing cards. For Belmont’s Curse, it’s largely constructed round a magical whip potential and a protecting protect of sunshine – and to a lesser extent, the beforehand talked about Tarot playing cards, which grant Rose different magic spells that may be improved (she is Sypha’s daughter in any case).
The whip lets Rose swing from varied objects or pull herself in the direction of them. It may also be used on enemies, permitting her to not solely shortly shut the space, however, when timed together with her assault, ship stronger hits. Zipping from enemy to enemy or nimbly swinging out of the way in which of a charging minotaur felt (and regarded) so badass, no matter what number of occasions I did it. There are additionally some fairly difficult rooms that require precision to keep away from spikes and different hazards with a purpose to attain a reward on the finish, so platforming followers have one thing to sit up for as nicely.
The sunshine protect, however, is a much more defensive instrument. When completely timed, it permits Rose to parry and mirror some injury again on the enemy hitting her, and likewise grants her the power to cross by way of sure partitions and flooring. It’s a cool impact, however given how briskly fight often goes and what number of enemies are round, Belmont’s Curse feels extra tailor-made to retaining you on the offensive. A degree additional incentivized by the truth that the primary method you restore your magic pool, letting you solid extra spells, is by hitting enemies.
That mentioned, Evil Empire has included a number of adjustable settings, such because the injury you dish out, how a lot expertise you earn, and even the choice to keep away from dying altogether if you happen to’d slightly simply benefit from the story. I opted to maintain issues largely as they’re by default with solely a single exception, and it’s one I might suggest everybody make: you’ll be able to test a field that allows you to respawn simply exterior a boss room door if you happen to die as an alternative of again at a save level. To be honest, there did appear to at all times be a save room comparatively near the boss doorways, so it doesn’t take too lengthy to get again to the battle both method. However I a lot most popular having the ability to beat my head towards a wall lots actually shortly till it breaks, versus considering of higher methods to take it down between concussions. And hey, whether or not you’re keen on or hate boss runbacks, giving you the selection to take away them or not is a good little bit of flexibility to have.
No matter your settings, you’ll discover many basic Castlevania enemies alongside the way in which, all sporting a slightly beautiful and imposing refresh of their designs. Axe Knights tower over the comparatively minute Rose whereas flying possessed swords spin and shoot out smaller blades to skewer you. The bosses additionally look nice – Dracula’s right-hand man, Loss of life, sports activities maybe my favourite of his designs in the whole collection and what is perhaps the good scythe I’ve ever seen. However regardless of their sick new seems to be, there’s a surprisingly low number of enemies total, with some unlucky notable omissions. Fan favorites like Legion, the large ball of corpses, and even iconic monsters just like the wall-mounted skeleton dragon head are MIA, with Belmont’s Curse relying extra on palette swaps of creatures for the stronger foes you face in later areas. There are nonetheless a stable variety of totally different monsters, however in comparison with the bestiaries in different Castlevanias (even the GBA video games), this one is somewhat disappointing.
Fortunately, what I didn’t discover fairly as disappointing was really killing these monsters. Almost all of Rose’s preventing choices really feel good to make use of, with seven distinctive weapon sorts to select from: sword, sword and protect, spear, fists, nice sword, twin swords, and, in fact, the household’s signature whips. Every kind is available in 4 tiers of power, that are present in hidden chests or as rewards for beating the occasional boss. Up till I earned the magical Vampire Killer whip, which blew the opposite choices I had out of the water on the time, I discovered myself particularly drawn to the fist weapons. It was loads of enjoyable to drag myself to an enemy after which uppercut that foe into the air, pummeling them with quick and fierce punches that every do barely extra injury than the final.
Nevertheless, whereas the entire fight choices had been cool, the extra I performed of Belmont’s Curse, the much less it felt like what I affiliate with the Castlevania collection particularly. The large pillars are right here: you might have the fort, you might have Dracula and his iconic minions, you can be backtracking with new skills to entry new areas. However a lot else of what often units this collection aside inside this style has been smoothed over with Belmont’s Curse, which leaves the entire bundle feeling a bit like a very stable metroidvania sporting a superficial Castlevania pores and skin. Take Rose, for instance: chaining punches into air combos is loads of enjoyable, nevertheless it doesn’t actually really feel like I’m taking part in as a Belmont. Gone solely are subweapons just like the spinning bibles, hurled bottles of holy water, or arcing axes. There isn’t even a dagger to throw, which simply feels form of incorrect. She doesn’t even begin the sport with a whip.
In an identical vein, Belmont’s Curse pulls from the soulslike playbook and provides you therapeutic vials that recharge whenever you go to save factors (which additionally respawn enemies close by), eradicating potions to spam. Hearts from lanterns have been changed by sterile blue globs of mana, and now there are coronary heart piece-like collectibles that broaden your well being and magic bars whenever you accumulate 4. A majority of the RPG methods have been pulled out, eradicating a lot of the stats, and gear is now relegated to simply three slots so that you can put relics into – these have helpful however not essentially thrilling particular results, like lowering Rose’s most well being in alternate for dealing elevated injury. Heck, with all of the load occasions I bumped into, it could be good in the event that they not less than had Rose strolling by way of a hallway or one thing as a throwback to Symphony of the Night time as an alternative of a static mural. (To its credit score, that mural does look superior, however you possibly can solely stare on the similar image so many occasions.)
Revisiting the lands of Castlevania in Belmont’s Curse opened my eyes to how a lot this style has developed within the 18 years since Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia on the Nintendo DS – highlighted much more due to the great collections which were launched previously few years. We haven’t been missing in selection in relation to superior motion platformers like this whereas the collection slept, both, and I might put Rose’s debut as one other nice choice in that surprisingly lengthy checklist. However whereas I’ve had a enjoyable time with Belmont’s Curse, it additionally hasn’t fairly scratched that Castlevania itch in the way in which I hoped it could.