Game: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse
Developer: Evil Empire, with Motion Twin & KONAMI
Publisher: KONAMI
Genre: 2D Metroidvania / Action-Exploration
Released: October 14, 2026
Price: $29.99 · Midnight Edition $39.99
Platform: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch
Content note: rated T (Teen) by the ESRB for violence, blood and mild suggestive themes. Expect gothic horror imagery, monsters and some dark story beats.
🦇 How we reviewed it: on PC, via Steam. Belmont’s Curse launched on October 14, so we’ve also noted what players are saying a few weeks in, from longtime Castlevania fans to first-timers.
1499Paris
7Weapon Categories
12–23 hrsTo Beat
83OpenCritic
$29.99Price
🌹 Know this first: this is a real, brand-new 2D Castlevania. It’s developed by Evil Empire with Motion Twin, the teams behind Dead Cells, and published by KONAMI. It’s set 23 years after Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse and stars Rose Belmont, Trevor’s daughter. It’s $29.99 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch, there’s a free demo on Steam, and it sits at Very Positive among English Steam reviews (Mostly Positive across all languages) with an 83 on OpenCritic.
🔔 Medieval Paris, Where the Tolling Bells Herald the End
1499. Paris is engulfed in flames as monstrous creatures suddenly emerge from the shadows. Trevor Belmont, the hero who defeated Dracula, ventures into the burning streets with his daughter, Rose Belmont. Armed with the legendary holy whip, the Vampire Killer, they hunt the beasts bleeding from the looming castle.
Rose is soon swept up in the dark conspiracy that lurks beneath. Face Death, Medusa and Carmilla alongside new foes like Joan of Arc, then seal them into Rose’s tarot cards as Arcana and turn their powers against the night.
Symphony of the Night’s soul, Dead Cells’ hands, and a tarot deck full of bosses.
When Konami revealed Belmont’s Curse, the big question was whether the Dead Cells crew could make a proper Castlevania instead of a roguelite in a cape. They did. This is a full, handcrafted Metroidvania and the series’ biggest 2D comeback in years, stuffed with secret walls, puzzle rooms and boss fights. It isn’t flawless. The soundtrack underwhelms, the art style splits fans, and launch brought some bugs. But the exploration is the best the series has had in years.
Our verdict: “Rose Belmont’s journey through this 2D action-exploration sequel delivers satisfying combat and atmospheric exploration that honors the franchise’s legacy.”
What’s in the Castle
The opening few hours are fairly linear for a Metroidvania, as Rose investigates the burning streets of Paris. Once Dracula’s castle appears, the map opens up into a sprawling maze. Here’s what you’ll be working with.
🃏 The Tarot Deck
Rose’s mother made her a deck of tarot cards. Defeated bosses are sealed inside as Arcana, giving you new spells and traversal abilities.
🔍 Clue Hunting
Bosses must be tracked down. Clues you find while exploring point to where each one hides and help with puzzles.
⚔️ Seven Weapon Types
Swords, lances, fists, whips and more, each with its own special moves, plus rarer versions hidden around the map.
📈 Classic RPG Bones
Enemies give XP and levels, plus relics, health upgrades, hidden wall food and mirror save points.
Exploration Is the Star
🗺️ Secret Walls, Puzzle Rooms and Whip Swings
Belmont’s Curse is packed with breakable walls, hidden passages and optional areas, and one player estimated there are close to a hundred. Players single out the puzzle rooms in places like the library and Notre Dame. The Arcane Whip is the best traversal tool: you swing from anchor to anchor like a trapeze artist, and it doubles as an attack.
The Holy Light lets Rose pass through certain walls and also works as a parry in combat. One player listed five traversal abilities in total, adding Smash, an Aerial Dash and a Double Jump, and felt the first two remain the most satisfying. You can place up to 50 markers on the map, and the game marks major points for you. According to one player, nothing is missable, so every secret and ending is reachable on a single save.
Bosses Worth Collecting
💀 Death, Medusa, Joan of Arc and a Lot of Arcana
Classic foes like Death, Medusa and Carmilla share the stage with new faces, including a Joan of Arc who’s convinced she’s saving France. Bosses have readable patterns that change as they lose health, and some mix things up. One mid-game fight adds a timed platforming phase that can take a few tries. One player counted more than ten bosses, some fought more than once, and loved them all.
Each captured boss adds a spell, and one player counted 16 of them. Every spell can be upgraded by completing its own challenge, which nudges you to try them all instead of spamming one. The story ties straight into the classic timeline, and the voice cast includes Graham McTavish, Dracula’s voice in Netflix’s Castlevania, returning as the Count, with Abby Trott as Rose.
⚠️ Story spoilers (mid-game twist and endings): tap to reveal
• After the fight with Death, Trevor makes a sacrifice to protect Rose, and Dracula’s castle rises over Paris.
• A long-lost ancestor, Leon Belmont, turns out to have been cursed and joins Rose’s tarot deck.
• Rush to the clock tower too early and you can walk into a trap that triggers an early bad ending, credits and all. It even unlocks a costume, and you can carry on afterward.
• There are three endings. According to one player, the true ending sits behind optional objectives that demand strong platforming, and you’ll need to manually equip a key spell for the final fight.
Where It Stumbles
⚠️ A Few Cracks in the Stained Glass
1. The music. For a series famous for its soundtracks, a few players found this one forgettable. One called the Bloody Tears remix weak, and another heard crackling in the Library track.
2. The art style. Some players love the bright, painterly look, while others feel it’s too close to Dead Cells or Hades and find the cutscene portraits cartoony.
3. Uneven difficulty. One player found the opening hours a slog, with a first boss that soaks up damage. A couple felt Rose becomes overpowered late on, and one said certain endgame gear trivializes bosses. The optional platforming, meanwhile, gets very demanding.
4. Backtracking. Shortcuts are scarce and fast travel is easy to miss, so you’ll repeat platforming sections. Key items dropped after bosses are also easy to overlook.
5. Controls. One player noticed a slight delay on the whip swing, and another swapped the default left-trigger whip to a different button.
6. Bugs. Players report occasional softlocks, subtitles that don’t match the voice lines, typos, a few final boss bugs, and minor stutters. On Steam Deck, one player found the pause screen cut off.
🛠️ Patches and Tips
KONAMI’s Ver. 1.1.3 patch targets a black screen at launch on high refresh rate monitors. The studio says a full fix is still in progress, so contact support if the game still won’t start. If you hit a softlock, one player’s advice is not to restore your last save. If a boss is walling you, players point to the difficulty sliders, and Steam lists four accessibility features.
Things to Know
📋 Before You Buy
• $29.99 · Midnight Edition $39.99 adds a Digital Sound & Art Gallery, Trevor- and Sypha-style costumes and the Family’s Grace relic
• Bundles with V Rising and its Legacy of Castlevania pack · free demo on Steam
• PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch · Steam Deck Playable · 29 achievements
• Full controller support (recommended) · 11 languages, English full audio · ESRB T
• Roughly 12 hours for the story, 19 with extras, 23 to complete (HowLongToBeat)
• Minimum: Windows 11, Intel Core i5-8400, 16 GB RAM, GTX 1650, 10 GB of storage
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
| The Good |
The Bad |
The Ugly |
| Secrets EverywhereHidden walls, optional areas and puzzle rooms. |
Forgettable MusicNot the soundtrack the series is known for. |
SoftlocksRare, but they can stop a run cold. |
| Tarot ArcanaBosses become spells you can upgrade. |
BacktrackingFew shortcuts and hidden fast travel. |
— |
| Whip SwingingThe Arcane Whip makes traversal a joy. |
Difficulty CurveSlow start, easy end. |
— |
| Real Castlevania LoreA direct follow-up to Dracula’s Curse. |
Divisive ArtGorgeous to some, too Dead Cells for others. |
— |
The Verdict
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is the real deal. Evil Empire and Motion Twin brought their combat chops to a full, handcrafted Metroidvania, and the result is a castle you’ll want to scour wall by wall. The tarot system is a smart way to guide exploration and power progression, the bosses are a highlight, and the story slots neatly into the classic timeline. It’s classic in structure, and one fan even wished it took a few more risks, but it’s polished where it counts.
The weaker soundtrack is a surprise for this series, the difficulty curve is lopsided, and backtracking could use more shortcuts. The launch bugs are worth knowing about, but none of them sink the experience.
The honest read: if you’ve been waiting years for a new 2D Castlevania, this is it. Try the free demo if the art style worries you, then grab your whip.
For more game reviews, check out our full reviews section.
Score Breakdown
Exploration & Secrets9.0/10
Polish & Quality of Life7.0/10
Final Score
8.0/10
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse — Evil Empire / KONAMI
A brand-new 2D Castlevania that’s worth the wait.
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