The last mainline 2D Castlevania game was 18 years ago. Gasps quietening, it’s finally time to find out if another dormant Konami franchise can return successfully, reengaging fans old and garnering the new. Developer Evil Empire composed of ex-Dead Cells developers has worn pedigree from the gargantuan 2d-action title, so the matter of course is the bare minimum, but translating the run-based gameplay into a Metroidvania isn’t the banker you’d expect. My first ever Castlevania had one too many unwanted hunts to be a stunning return of play.
Belmont’s Curse continues 23 years after the story of Dracula’s Curse, in that time a fair few Metroidvanias and one particular Insectoid has sieged the throne, but the ascent to the Dark Lord still has it’s place. An evil rampage in Paris acts as a harbinger of said evil, obliging the duties of vampire hunters Trevor and daughter Rose Belmont at the Church Bishop’s request. One protective father later and the two split to investigate the burning city handing us the reigns of the apprentice, setting up themes of Belmont identity, proving grounds and the ominous family curse marked by Dracula. Rose blame’s herself for the death of her mother Sypha, but she’s equally fired-up to fulfil the Belmont’s eternal charge to destroy the Master of Darkness.
We’re quickly roaming the medieval Paris painting a cataclysmic scene of turmoil and non-existent defence, streets are gutted with emaciated corpses and evil creatures run amok, festering threats at every corner. The gothic malaise is as putrid as ever: ecclesiastic buildings stiffen, lethal spires and smoked-red hues blanket the skies, Dracula looms. Close to a third, give or take of the game is located in city areas; horror-fertile sewers and ritual flooded crypts do a fitting job of corrupting the atmosphere to a climatic point of entering the iconic castle.
Evil Empire wanted to make this one stand out with the lynchpin of the whip, integrating it holistically with combat, traversal and obstacles, and it’s widely successful. Traversal with it’s it’s room based, puzzle-tinged methodology is the standout. It’s deviously ascends when forcing you to pull into enemies and floating hooks to finish a lethal sequence of hidden traps, spiky pits, dodging lunging beasts in one flawless go. The castle is where this philosophy flourishes.
Conversely, It’s a shame that the vicious lair accumulates sins most noticeably. The problem insidiously plagues throughout continuous combat rooms gnawing at health before Mirrors of Life, reaching a pivotal loss at the eve of enemy gauntlets. Mirrors of Life are health-regen checkpoints that punctuate progress and are gated by said rooms – oh so close! Due recognition, enemy attacks are fair and manageable in small groups of 2-4, servicing challenging desires – which Belmont’s curse absolutely lives up to in heritage with fantastical creepies – but there’s a gross overestimation of player skill versus current health in these gauntlets. They’re often overwhelming with simultaneous layers of attacks choking space, upping tiers of enemy waves and new enemies to learn. Many have an expanded mobility too next to Rose’s moves which worsens the gauntlets. After death, you can dodge most enemies upon retracing steps but bluntly, it’s demoralising. It stains the smart routes I best with wit and balanced persistence and no matter how untouched I was on re-arriving, I’d succumb until patterns were singed.
It’s a shame because the integral pillars are strong and the other changes are fun, like Arcana and weapon families, providing different playstyles and even on the fly remedies to struggles. Fear not, the iconic whip is gained early on with emphasis as a passive tool, but stronger versions can be found on winding diversions alongside gloves, spears and a sword and shield to list a few. Each family releases strong abilities when charging the attack: the gloves for example have increasing damage per successful hit, requiring prolonged exposure to surroundings, whereas shield minimises damage but is paired with a weak sword. I didn’t use all families but their varying application was clearly useful and fun for all scenarios. Still, the high-risk versus reward types are certainly the opposite of a panacea for gauntlets. I favour the whip with its balanced damage, hit frequency, modest spacing and a unbiased affinity with franchise legacy.
The next major addition is the Tarot Deck, a set of magic cards bequeathed by Sypha with a mystical purpose to aid Rose’s developing independence and curse. Arcana is essentially powerful spells tied to each card and Mana, one assigned to your current move set. Unlocking them means defeating a boss who’s spirit becomes eternally card-trapped, setting up a voiced ensemble of varying morality and personality, liberated of their evil to chime in at various plot-important beats. While a standard concept, the indispensable effects of spells can whittle the battlefield and unstick a jam. My go-to cross (of Joan of Arc – one of many greatly voiced but underutilised characters) acts like a boomerang, spanning the screen dealing damage upgraded through weapon-specific tasks and scraping the widths to ease my visual load. Another felt impact was a blood-sucking wave that deals numbers over time and enables a switch of focus from strong and slow enemies to long-range ones, strategically controlling the field.
The general score fluctuates like the game flow, immersion breaking with another weak choice. The overall quality of tracks is good to great but inconsistent, with spookiness and tension craft using choirs, bassy strings and church organs to underline the genuinely daunting tasks ahead and the pervasive doom of sacrilegious evil poisoning the land. The eerie theme that haunts the main menu – framing the hellish glow of Paris and the gigantic Notre Dame in frame-center – is ghoulishly elegant. But the modern leaning tracks with emphasis on regular beats, though qualified in their production, they fail to prevent shallower tracks from feeling unvaried and repetitive. There’s sincere intention here to enhance the adrenaline of fierce fights, but their result feels like a forced blend of old and new to revitalise and tribute the past.
The Tarot deck has a secondary function of clues that aid the exploration of the Metroidvania side, with mixed results. Finding an area’s boss means generally following the main path where spirits or documents hint at the location or route towards, all recorded in your tarot menu. Paris’ product is simplified through ‘hints’ of explicit directions, for the most part, with more linear maps with less abilities to incentivise wandering to begin with. And remember, Paris is a good chunk of the game’s map. Some pathways are even obviously critically coded with symbols for confident intuition. There there are some standout cards, one such I won’t spoil here so I’ll give a lean summary: bouncy constellation grapple points won’t reveal at a critical junction unless you see the same patterns from previous room – it’s pretty, functional and puzzling. Effective cards combine these traits with vague direction and subtle observance of the world and documents. I’m not sure if the full deck of characters contained more cerebral puzzles as the normal ending requires but three-fifths of them, but overall, Belmont’s Curse was definitely a more contained and streamlined example of wayfinding within the genre. The clues by and large can be ignored given the other signposting; it’s an underdeveloped system that counterintuitively dilutes the genre’s self-driven nature, for better or worse, depending on your mileage for getting lost.
When I finally reach them, the bosses are innocent victims of gauntlet frustrations by way of conflating my pain with repetition, but the deserving truth is, they’re all great. There’s nothing innovative and remarkable for the genre, or 2D combats hallmarks, but this is where the core loop throws some clever surprises: one boss switches location at the last phase for a pursuit and tight timer through a trap laden forge, another makes you feel ingenious if you face away from her Hellenistic stare, avoiding petrification. The fights are challenging tests of nimbleness, space-sapping, hit-greediness and eventually tempt a intimidate bond with the parry button to mitigate damage. Although pre-boss enemies could be promptly avoided upon retrying the boss, there was no loss other than the death of patience, weary of the gauntlet I felt no shame in turning on the ‘spawn outside the boss room’ setting. A personal grievance with one element of the game shouldn’t overshadow the brilliance of another.
The story’s themes and personal motivations setup didn’t realise my modest expectations. Forewarning: for people like myself coming from the stronger depth of the fantastic Netflix series should temper themselves, though the art style does ape the animation with distinguished quality. Rose finds a deadly conflict within the curse through lustful revenge which is literally teased and foreshadowed, yet it tapers off nor interconnects with the familial legacy or theme of regret. Rose’s conviction and purpose to rid the night of Dracula are voiced with fire though, and every other character gets a fine and unique showing. The boss spirits had the most potential: a god and devil balance on your shoulder tempting in brief chats courtesy of Joan’s pious core and another’s devilish glee. Despite the unfinished bloodletting, the dark quibbles and appropriately villainous vibes decisively cut.
Belmont’s Curse is a credible first bout at the franchise for Evil Empire but their chops are overdone at the climaxes of fun. The new fundamentals like the expanded whip have been tamed and imprinted on the game’s personality, then challenging apexes limpen the rope. I hope they get another chance to improve on the obvious and strengthen their assertiveness on the map by the dawn of Dracula’s new moon. The genre isn’t the frightfully skeletal showdown it once was.
