Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse proves that the Belmont family still has a place in modern 2D action-adventure games. Rather than simply repeat the formula established by Symphony of the Night and its handheld successors, Evil Empire combines the series’ gothic identity with movement and combat influenced by Dead Cells.
That blend gives this long-awaited mainline return a distinct purpose. Bright 2.5D art, a new card-based Arcana system and responsive platforming all build on familiar foundations without losing the atmosphere that makes Castlevania special. For Australian players looking for a tightly designed Metroidvania, this is a particularly polished option.
A new Belmont faces an old threat
The story follows the events of Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse, the adventure that was also loosely adapted by Netflix’s animated series. Almost 20 years after Trevor Belmont and his allies defeated Dracula, the vampire’s return once again puts humanity in danger.
Rose Belmont, the daughter of Trevor and Sypha Belnades, is still establishing herself as a vampire hunter when her father receives a warning about sinister activity in Paris. The pair travel to the city to investigate, but Rose soon becomes separated and must face Dracula’s forces alone. Along the way, a curse connected to her emotions threatens her future as she battles both the vampire lord and her own inheritance.
Paris burns in vivid 2.5D
Castlevania has never depended on subtle storytelling, and Belmont’s Curse is no different. Its strength is the theatrical mood: Paris has become a deserted, burning ruin, with red and orange skies, mountains of corpses and grotesque monsters arranged like panels from a dark comic book.
Every region has a strong visual identity, while the open world gradually expands beyond its more linear opening hours. Branching routes, hidden puzzles and worthwhile secrets make exploration rewarding without turning the map into a confusing maze. The critical path remains clear, so players are less likely to resort to testing every wall in search of a missing passage.
The map is not as vast as Hollow Knight: Silksong, but its compact structure is closer to Metroid Dread. It delivers a focused adventure that respects the player’s time while filling its hidden corners with useful discoveries.
Arcana Cards make exploration matter
Rose collects Arcana Cards by defeating major enemies and helping unusual characters affected by Dracula’s power. These cards unlock mana-consuming abilities, including fire attacks, time manipulation, freezing weaker foes for a speed boost and vampiric healing.
The powers are not equally useful, but many change how encounters are approached. Their importance extends beyond combat, too. Tracking down the cards reveals stories about damaged souls, redemption and forgiveness, with an optional route giving those themes more weight than expected. The game’s connection to the animated series also adds extra emotional significance for players familiar with characters such as Sypha.
Finding the cards is one of the adventure’s strongest incentives. Environmental clues point towards secret rooms and puzzles, while chests provide meaningful rewards such as distinctive weapons and accessories with useful passive effects. Players who enjoy searching every branch will find more than empty scenery.
Sharp combat and satisfying movement
The greatest pleasure of Belmont’s Curse is its moment-to-moment play. Evil Empire brings the precise feel associated with Dead Cells into a Castlevania framework, but combat is built around reading attacks rather than relying on an invincible dodge roll. Slides, backsteps, jumps and careful positioning are essential when space is limited.
Rose has plenty of ways to stay aggressive. A magical whip can pull her towards enemies and launch aerial attacks, while a parry lets her deflect projectiles with a holy orb. Upgrades eventually open up faster traversal, cancels and movement techniques that make both platforming and monster fights more fluid.
The presentation and controls are strong enough to make the game appealing even to players who usually approach arcade and retro-gaming news for the action alone. It has the immediate, readable rhythm of a classic arcade game, supported by a much deeper exploration structure.
A few rough edges
The main weakness is the lack of quick switching between weapons and Arcana abilities. Because different cards suit different situations, players will often want to change their loadout, yet doing so requires pausing and navigating a menu. Rose also has only three equipment slots, which means optimising for a difficult boss can involve more menu time. Thankfully, the menus respond quickly.
The role-playing systems are also more streamlined than those in older exploration-focused Castlevania games. There are seven unique weapons, each with four versions, but the first three tiers mainly provide incremental damage increases. That is less exciting than finding a strange weapon with a highly specific bonus, although every weapon type remains enjoyable to use.
These limitations are minor beside the quality of the movement, combat and level design. Players who enjoy refining an arcade setup can also browse arcade parts such as joysticks and buttons while considering how tactile controls shape a classic action experience.
Verdict
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse successfully updates the series without sanding away its identity. Its colourful gothic environments, responsive Dead Cells-inspired movement and flexible Arcana Cards create a confident new chapter, while the moonlit mood and memorable music keep it recognisably Castlevania.
It does not offer the most elaborate equipment system in the series, and changing abilities could be more convenient. Even so, the rewarding exploration, polished platforming and satisfying battles make those complaints easy to overlook. Anyone comparing options through an arcade machine buying guide will find the same lesson here: focused design and excellent controls can matter more than sheer scale.
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse releases on 15 October for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed on PlayStation 5 using a prerelease download code supplied by Konami.
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