Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is a Gorgeous, Gripping rebirth of the legendary franchise

A few years ago, when Konami began revisiting its IPs and bringing out new games, Castlevania was notably absent. But earlier this year, Konami announced that it had brought Evil Empire, the team behind many of the Dead Cells updates and The Rogue Prince of Persia, on board to make a new game, with Motion Twin, the creators of Dead Cells, advising.

Now, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse has been released, and the franchise has been brought back from the dead in stunning, gorgeous detail, infused with energy and life thanks to jaw-dropping art, environment design, and animations. On top of that, Evil Empire’s excellent gameplay pedigree carries over to create a fantastic Metroidvania with very few downsides.

A Painting of Paris

Set in the cursed streets of Paris, 23 years after Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, Rose Belmont takes up the protagonist’s mantle. As the daughter of Trevor Belmont, she takes on the responsibility of finding out just what is happening in Paris and defeating the evil creatures slowly taking the streets and catacombs of the city over.

It’s a fairly standard Castlevania story and narrative, but there are some added mysteries when it comes to Rose herself, the Tarot Cards her mother gave her, and Paris more generally, which stops the dozen-or-so-hour journey from becoming bland.

As you traverse Paris, its castle, gardens, cemeteries, and catacombs, you are treated to a frankly stunning set of visual landscapes and environments. If there is one thing in Belmont’s Curse that sets it apart, it is the art design. The game is utterly gorgeous, injected with bursts of gold, green, red, purple, and more, which help bring some identity and visual flair to the traditional castles and gardens that you are exploring.

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There is never a moment when Belmont’s Curse doesn’t look like a painting.

This intense level of visual style is carried over to the enemy design and bosses, which all look as incredible as the environments. These fights are visual platters where the game’s gorgeous background, the combat flow, animations, and the visual effects all come together to create these incredible dances that look stunning and feel challenging and nail-biting. And, on top of that, everything is set to a distinctly Castlevania soundtrack that breathes life into exploration, combat, and gameplay. It’s a soundtrack I will be replaying when I am working or want some background music.

Sometimes, the sheer number of visual effects on screen from the backgrounds, weapons, boss attacks, and more can be a little much and make it hard to see attacks or really register what is happening mid-fight. But it was a small blight on the game and not a consistent problem outside of boss fights.

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Bosses and the unique visual take on famous figures and mythic creatures never gets old.

Snappy Swordplay

Beyond this aesthetic, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse’s gameplay is just as top quality. Combat is snappy with seven different weapon types to use, of increasing rarity and movesets that all feel distinct. From a heavy sword to pairing a small sword with a shield, spears, and even brass knuckles, each one has its own style of play, and once I found my love for the fist-on-fist action with the brass knuckles, I never really looked back.

Combat is responsive, dynamic, and constantly enjoyable, although you do have to spend some time getting adjusted to the flow and how it wants you to play because dodging and avoiding attacks isn’t easy. You don’t have the mobility you have in something like Hollow Knight to jump out of the way time and time again, so getting chipped is quite common here.

Belmont’s Curse is more about using your tools and weapons to get a leg up at the start of a fight and overwhelm a group of enemies and tactically dodging when it is best. But you get so many tools. On top of your weapons, you gain a whip early on that allows you to pull yourself towards objects in the environment or enemies, allowing you to perform Whip Attacks, which are powerful, charged hits that deal great amounts of damage and never get boring to use. The feedback, both auditory and visual, is excellent, and when you learn how to combo this into other attacks and special moves, you feel like a master at the game.

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Boss encounters combine the visuals and gameplay to create memorable and challenging fights.

On top of that, the enemies you face also grant you new combat abilities at a fairly regular pace. Once you beat a boss, their soul is infused into one of Rose Belmont’s mysterious Tarot Cards. This means the enemies you face are still with you long after you beat them, talking to you and granting you powers and abilities. These act as special moves that use mana and can be a wide range of attacks and effects.

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Special moves are varied in visuals and gameplay, helping to deepen and widen the combat options you have.

Some of these, for example, are a screen-clearing fire attack, a cross that boomerangs back to you, and a petrifying attack that freezes enemies in stone for a few seconds. The diverse selection adds depth to combat and lets you build beyond what you can do with your melee weapon. Each one looks gorgeous, as stated above, but you can also upgrade them with small boosts that help add a small sense of progression to combat.

Swinging, Sliding, Searching

The final piece of the puzzle is the exploration itself, which is just as fantastic. The game is divided into zones with contained areas, and even inner areas that you can visit within them, but no matter where you are, you can expect a wealth of upgrades that encourage revisiting locations and a challenge.

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Exploring and uncovering interconnecting paths and new sub-areas is as rewarding as any other game in the genre.

While these upgrades are meaningful, I wish they were slightly more interesting, at least early on. The whip is the only one that really stands out in the first few areas, and it takes a little bit for the game to really show what it has hiding under its belt.

But expect to be challenged early on. Even in the first few hours, the game is really testing you with some of the gauntlets, gaps between save rooms, and platforming challenges it throws at you. Belmont’s Curse really rewards mastery of its systems and mechanics, and mastering them is as satisfying as you would expect. I do wish you got a Fast Travel option slightly earlier in the game, as the lack of it does make exploring some of the vast winding locales a drag early on.

Either way, despite a few small downsides here and there, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is a fantastic little Metroidvania that doesn’t overstay its welcome. It helps that combat and gameplay are snappy, and the game is an artistic masterpiece that often stopped me in my tracks just to look and take in the visual design and work that had been put into bringing Paris to life. Intriguing bosses, a narrative, and characters help round out what is an excellent experience and an unmissable Metroidvania from 2026.