Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is a modern love-letter with a dash of Hollow Knight

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse marks the full-scale return of the series after a long hiatus, and it was well-worth the wait folks.

This game was one of my highlights from 2026’s Gamescom so I was more than excited to dive into the full-game. My expectations were high and it hasn’t let me down. That said, how could I have any doubts when Evil Empire is at the helm?

The studio first touched the series with Dead Souls: Return to Castlevania, a cracking DLC that clearly earned the devs their stripes.

Evil Empire was clearly the right studio for the job as it skillfully tackled one of my biggest concerns with this new game; how do you modernise the series that started it all?

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is a modern love-letter to the classic trilogy

As we probably all know Castlevania helped create the metroidvania genre. Sprawling levels with respawning enemies and a variety of gadgets/upgrades have always been a part of the series, but the concept has been done to death in 2026.

Before the Gamescom preview I was keen to see what Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse would do differently upon its big return, and Evil Empire didn’t disappoint.

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse keeps that core gameplay experience the same while splicing in best-of elements from other fantastic metroidvanias. I drew comparisons to games like Hollow Knight: Silksong.

We’ll dive deeper into the core mechanics shortly, but there’s a greater emphasis on mobility in this new iteration. There’s a lot of dodging, wall-bouncing and grappling to be done, meaning it’s not enough to just mash the attack button and hope for the best, though that still works surprisingly well sometimes.

I’m also fond of the map size. It’s just large enough to feel compelling to explore without being bloated, which was my main criticism with Hollow Knight: Silksong.

The game’s obviously quite linear and yet my exploration was regularly rewarded with upgrades and secrets, and it also helps with mastery of the mobility mechanics I mentioned earlier.

What I’m still not 100% sold on is the artstyle. The backdrops look fantastic and seeing Paris set ablaze for the first time was an impactful moment for both the player and Rose Belmont, but the art direction for the foreground just isn’t my cup of tea. It’s not a deal-breaker by any means and over time it grew on me a little bit, but I’d preferred something a little more stylised.

Konami

When there’s a whip, there’s a way

The bread and butter of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is the combat. It meshes with the new mobility mechanics so well and makes every encounter a blast.

You get a steady supply of new weapons, abilities and gear. Weapon selection is purely down to preference as while some hit harder or faster than others they all do the same job in the end. I like to pride myself on turning as many games I play as a strength-build run of Dark Souls so once I acquired the heaviest sword I could find I was pretty much set.

Tarot Cards are a little more interesting, and you’ll find yourself switching between them far more than the weapons.

Rose’s Tarot Cards were given to her by her now-deceased mother, and when you defeat one of the main bosses you essentially catch them like a Pokemon. With their souls now residing in a card you access their abilities, which help in both combat and traversal.

The best example is The Fallen who you fight in the game’s demo. Defeating him gets you the whip allowing you to swing from hooks and yank yourself towards enemies. You also get his Holy Cross, which basically functions like a boomerang.

Now these are especially cool, because they’re not upgraded by some artificial in-game currency. Each one has their own unique upgrade requirements that can be completed through gameplay. The Holy Cross for example asks you to slay five enemies with a single-use of it.

Again, like the weapons this makes choosing your favourites very easy. Most requirements are pretty straightforward, though some are more like side-missions and require you to visit a specific part of the map.

That’s just the tip of the spear as far as new abilities go. It turns out you can teach a Belmont a lot of new tricks…

Konami

Lastly there are Relics. These are just equippable upgrades you’ll find in chests and they can do all sorts of things. Like the Tarot Cards I swapped these around quite regularly, but once I found a combination I really liked my build was pretty much finished.

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse’s boss battles excel in spectacle, but lack challenge

One of the most surprising things about my time with Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse was how little it actually tested me.

The Castlevania series has been notorious for its difficulty in the past and while I wasn’t expecting Castlevania III-levels of challenge, I would have liked a little more.

Like I alluded to earlier, once you understand the dodge it’ll be your best friend, and it goes really well with a parry you unlock later on.

The game’s also very generous with its health distribution. You get three healing potions when you start the game, but you can hold more, and sometimes enemies will drop them if you’re running low.

The famous wall chicken also returns, and looks as delicious as ever.

Enemies were never too much of a hassle unless they were all clumped together in a tight space, but even then after just a few hours it felt like I had an all-powerful build that’d carry me through the rest of the game.

Bosses were also oddly simplistic. They were well-designed, don't get me wrong, but again once I had a build I was happy with it felt like I was melting their health bars every time. I was still put through my paces as I learned what they could do, but no boss took me more than five attempts.

I’m sure on a replay I’ll probably appreciate the balanced difficulty, but on my first time through I found myself appreciating the spectacle of these titanic battles more than their combat prowess.

Konami

A story fit for a Netflix series

While the bosses were a tad underwhelming, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse pleasantly surprised me with its story. It’s nothing ground-breaking, but it’s certainly compelling.

It basically acts as a direct sequel to Castlevania III, but you don’t need to have played any former games in the series to understand its plot. You pretty much get a recap 20-minutes in.

What follows is an intriguing mystery that delves deep into who Rose Belmont is, who she wants to be, and what the Belmont family curse is turning her into…

There are plenty of juicy developments and I’m excited to see where the series could go next. Hopefully Evil Empire is part of it.

Ultimately the story should strike a chord with those who enjoyed the Netflix series.

Final thoughts

Overall I love Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse. When it was first announced I was simply thrilled that this legendary series was finally making a proper comeback, and after experiencing the sheer quality of this successor I’m convinced that it’s here to stay.

Evil Empire shows an obvious love and admiration for the Konami series and while I’d liked its difficulty to have a bit more of a kick, I think it’ll be fine for most players.

Pros: Progresses the series with bells and whistles you’d expect for a modern metroidvania, story was surprisingly good, weapons and accessories were nicely varied to suit many playstyles, Tarot Cards are an awesome addition.

Cons: Artstyle wasn’t my cup of tea subjectively speaking, most enemies and bosses are surprisingly easy

For fans of: Castlevania, Hollow Knight, Metroid

9/10: Exceptional

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse will be released on October 13 2026, for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 (version tested), PC and Nintendo Switch 2. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.