Back in 2023, Evil Empire released Return to Castlevania, a DLC for its hit roguelite metroidvania Dead Cells.

That DLC apparently impressed Konami so much that Evil Empire was handed the reins to Castlevania's revival – Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is ample proof that was the correct decision.

Belmont's Curse tells the story of Rose Belmont, daughter of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, who heads to 1499 Paris to defeat the evil besieging it (spoilers, it's Dracula).

Rose is fairly one-note. Headstrong at first, after being humbled by her hubris she matures as she hones her skills throughout the game.

It's Castlevania – enter castle, explore castle, kill Dracula, you get it.

Thankfully, a strong cast of supporting characters play to Rose's strengths, so that while the overall story may be nothing new, the journey itself is. All are wonderfully voice acted, breathing life into an otherwise somewhat stilted tale.

But as a Castlevania game, there are two central aspects that matter more than any other: exploration and combat.

Initially, I was somewhat disappointed by both.

Exploration was quite linear, with few secrets or branching paths to uncover. Combat, meanwhile, was surprisingly easy, with the bosses quite lacklustre.

Thankfully, upon entering Dracula's Castle, Belmont's Curse really comes into its own.

The castle is home to a number of Dracula's servants, defeating each of whom rewards you with a new ability.

As well as combat abilities, some of them reward you with traversal abilities such as dashes, grapples and double jumps that are necessary for exploration, but also often very useful in combat.

While there are certain bosses that are clearly designed to be fought earlier than others, Belmont's Curse offers a tremendous amount of freedom.

The castle is full of puzzles to solve, and the majority of the bosses require you to piece together clues to reach.

Some are simple – check the constellations in the background and match the patterns – while others are cryptic in exactly the sort of way that you don't even realise the answer has been spelled out to you, before feeling like a moron when it finally clicks.

In a sense, Belmont's Curse has an air of Outer Wilds about it, in that you could theoretically blitz through the entire game in no time if you have the information, and how your playthrough unfolds comes down to what you come across and how you think about things.

At times, and in certain areas with particularly unwieldy map design, exploration can turn into somewhat of a chore, and drudging through these sections can become a pain, especially when backtracking thanks to a less-than-forthcoming fast travel mechanic.

But from a rocky start, exploration turned out to be my highlight of Belmont's Curse, and right to the end I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how to clear those last few corners of the map.

Like exploration, combat gets kicked up a notch upon entering the castle.

Enemy variety goes up, as does the challenge. Routinely, you are required to juggle landing your attacks on one enemy with dodging and parrying attacks from others, all while avoiding traps and spikes.

Learning to make use of your full arsenal of abilities in sync is key to survival in combat, and when everything clicks into place it is poetry in motion.

Which is why, again, I found so many bosses somewhat disappointing.

I found many to require little more than a cycle of dodge-hit-dodge-hit, leading to encounters that feel less a test of skill and adaptation and more trial and error.

Some bosses lean into the glut of mechanics on offer. One particular highlight sees a boss flee through a mess of traps and ledges, testing your platforming ability between phases.

Nearing its end, it prepares to explode, retreating back to the start and giving you 90 seconds to retreat back through these platforming sections to finish it off before it blows.

There are no bad boss fights by any means, but a real showcase of what the game is capable of like this has the unfortunate side effect of making many other bosses appear dull in comparison.

Furthermore, the open nature of exploration meant that I ended up fighting one or two bosses perhaps a bit later than I should have, effectively trivialising what may otherwise have been a more engaging fight.

I will say that, from a personal standpoint, Dead Cells has some of, if not the best 2D combat in gaming – setting a high bar for Belmont's Curse.

And while I understand that Evil Empire needed to adapt to the Castlevania formula, I do feel as if it could have flexed its muscles a bit more – ironically, out of the Castlevania bosses to feature in both Belmont's Curse and Dead Cells, I found their encounters in the latter to be superior.

Overall, this is a game with heady highs that had me hooked for hours at a time. When you finally begin to unravel its secrets, it's nigh-on impossible to step away.

But while those highs are certainly prevalent throughout, they serve to accentuate some underwhelming lows.

In these moments, I found myself wishing that the studio had pushed the boat out just that bit more. In some regards, Belmont's Curse never quite reaches its full potential.

But regardless of these nitpicks, I am always delighted when a game I've spent months looking forward to lives up to expectations, and here we have a prime example.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is a fantastic return for the series buoyed by stellar exploration, puzzles and a wealth of secrets to uncover.

Evil Empire was the obvious choice to bring the series back, and it has paid back that trust in spades, creating a game well worthy of Castlevania's 40th anniversary.

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse releases on 15 October 2026.

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