It’s been a long time since we got a completely new Castlevania, so I was very curious to see how Belmont’s Curse would actually play. The involvement of Evil Empire certainly made things even more interesting. This is the studio behind The Rogue Prince of Persia and a lot of the later Dead Cells content, and after only a couple of minutes with Belmont’s Curse, I could already feel some similarities. Rose Belmont moves fast, combat rarely slows you down and getting from one side of a room to the other can happen within seconds.
Don’t be mistaken though, this isn’t suddenly Castlevania turned into another roguelite. Belmont’s Curse goes back to large maps, exploration and abilities that allow you to reach places you couldn’t access before. I only played a small part of the game during my Gamescom session, but the combination already worked really well. It looks like Castlevania, has that darker gothic atmosphere you would expect, but plays a lot faster than some of the older games.
Meet Rose Belmont
Belmont’s Curse takes place in Paris in 1499, 23 years after Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. This time we play as Rose Belmont, the daughter of Trevor Belmont, who enters a city filled with monsters while Dracula’s castle hangs over everything in the distance. I didn’t see enough of the story to really judge where it is going, but I already liked Rose and the other characters I met during the demo. The character designs look great and fit perfectly next to the monsters and darker environments. There is still plenty of gothic Castlevania atmosphere here, but the game has a much cleaner and maybe even more colorful look than I initially expected.
It looks especially good in motion. Animations are fast, attacks are easy to read and Rose can move through an area without constantly stopping. That last part immediately reminded me of The Rogue Prince of Persia and Dead Cells, although Belmont’s Curse definitely looks like its own game and not just another reskin.
Sword first, whip later
I started the demo with a sword and immediately liked how quickly Rose responds. You can move through enemies, dodge attacks and chain hits together without combat becoming complicated. It only took a few encounters before I was attacking enemies while moving through the level instead of stopping for every fight. That speed also works well during exploration. Rose can wall jump and move around platforms very quickly, so getting back to an earlier section doesn’t feel like you are dragging yourself through an old Castlevania corridor. Of course, my demo was too short to know how this will work once the map becomes much bigger, but those first sections were fun to move through.
The whip came later, and this is where Belmont’s Curse started doing something I really liked. After defeating the first boss,The Fallen, Rose absorbs him into one of her tarot cards. Those cards are called Arcana, and bosses you defeat can give Rose new spells and special abilities. The Fallen also unlocks the Arcana Whip. Instead of simply giving you the classic Castlevania weapon and calling it a day, you can use this whip to grapple onto specific points and swing across gaps. You can even pull yourself towards enemies, which suddenly makes them useful for movement as well. Getting the whip immediately changed how I looked at the areas around me. Places that were impossible to reach before suddenly became accessible, and I could already see why these Arcana abilities are going to be important when exploring the full map.
The Arcana system might be my favorite idea from what I played. Defeating a boss doesn’t simply give you some experience points and another weapon. Rose actually seals that boss inside one of her tarot cards and can then use part of its power herself. That means boss fights can have an impact on what you can do afterwards. Some Arcana give you new spells, while others open up new movement options or allow you to interact with parts of the environment you couldn’t use before. It gave me a good reason to look forward to the next boss because I wanted to know what I would get after defeating it.
The boss fight itself was pretty challenging too. The Fallen certainly wasn’t impossible, but I had to pay attention and learn when it was safe to attack instead of simply running towards him and swinging my sword. It took some concentration, especially when the fight became faster, but I never felt like I was fighting against the controls. That’s probably the difficulty I want from this type of Castlevania. Make me work for the win, but don’t turn every boss into something that takes an entire evening to understand.
Not a roguelite after all
During my session, I actually started wondering whether Belmont’s Curse would use a more random structure because of how much it reminded me of Evil Empire’s previous games. That isn’t the case. The developers are building large, fixed maps rather than changing the layout after every death. There are save rooms and fast travel points, and new abilities will allow you to return to older areas and reach places you couldn’t enter before. So despite some Dead Cells and Rogue Prince of Persia vibes in the movement, the structure itself is much closer to the Castlevania games that helped create the Metroidvania genre in the first place.
I’m glad they went in that direction. The fast movement gives Belmont’s Curse a different feeling, but I still want to explore Dracula’s castle, remember a suspicious path and return later when I finally have the correct ability. The Arcana system seems perfect for that. There are also seven different weapon categories and Relics to find, so the sword I used during my demo is only one option. I didn’t get enough time to really experiment with different builds, but having several weapon types combined with Arcana spells could give combat plenty of variation later on.
A good return for Castlevania?
My time with Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse went by way too quickly, but I walked away feeling pretty good about this one. The graphics look great, Rose is fun to control and combat moves at a speed I wasn’t necessarily expecting from a new Castlevania. The Evil Empire influence is definitely there. At times, moving and fighting reminded me of The Rogue Prince of Persia or Dead Cells, but underneath that speed is a much more traditional Castlevania structure. The Arcana system also gives boss fights something extra since defeating one can change how you fight and explore afterwards.
I only defeated one boss and saw a very small part of Paris, so there is still a lot I want to discover. But if Belmont’s Curse keeps combining this faster combat with proper Castlevania exploration, I think putting the franchise in Evil Empire’s hands was a pretty good idea. Now I just want to see what other monsters I can stuff inside those tarot cards.