“Crimson Curse —Will Your Fate Bloom in Despair or Salvation Set 23 years after Castlevania Dracula’s Curse – follow Rose Belmont’s journey in an all new 2D Action-Exploration title from KONAMI, Evil Empire and Motion Twin.” – Steam Description

I remember the first time I saw anything remotely related to Castlevania. It was in an issue of Nintendo Power whose cover was dedicated to the sequel to Golden Sun. Less than 20 pages in was an ad for Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. A young me was absolutely captivated by Kojima’s Artwork and had to know more. I consumed the pages within and started stashing away what little allowance I could. Eventually I found my prize, the little gray cartridge that fit so snugly within my game boy advance. From there, I was in and I never looked back.

I’ve bounced around the Castlevania timeline like an unhinged Fleaman ever since so I can say with no exaggeration that when Konami announced a new entry with Belmont’s Curse, the first new entry in 12 years, I was absolutely vibrating with excitement. And to hear it had the dead cells devs pedigree behind it only heightened my excitement. Each new trailer and bit of information shared in the run up to release did little to tamp my expectations, only fueling the flames of excitement with each passing day. So now that I’ve gotten the latest timeline shuffling entry into my hands, did it live up to the hype? I think I can say that even taking my own love of the series into account, it certainly did.

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An Absolute Feast (of Wall Chicken)

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The first thing you’re hit with in Belmont’s Curse is the game’s overall presentation. The game is gilded with lavish background art like the sky of Paris, tinted with purples and pinks as the fires that ravage it twirl ethereal spirals of smoke into the sky. The color palette subtly mimicking the curse that ravages the right arm of Rose Belmont. Backdrops of deteriorating bricks, green tinged graveyards, and portrait laden interiors help propel the game’s incredible art design forward without hindrance. The Belmont’s Curse team absolutely understood the assignment, dotting the game with Easter eggs big and small to push even the most dedicated Wallachian lore hound to sit up and point in their best Dicaprio Impression.

On the music front, while I don’t think the soundtrack is going to exceed the caliber of SOTN or even some of the GBA and DS entries (don’t sleep on the Portrait of Ruin OST) it successfully manages to hold its own place through a mix of new tracks and modern takes on classics. The place in which this game chooses to introduce its version of Bloody Tears could not be more apt.

While a part of me does long for the pixel sprites of old, the character and enemy models flow and move with a slick energy that fits the game’s new direction quite well. It feels like someone transposed the way models moved and flowed in Hades from an isometric onto a side scrolling 2d plane. Even in moments where the game chooses to pan close and let the camera focus on the models that are so often only a small fraction of the screen’s real estate, the pieces hold up.

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New Blood

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Lets get this out of the way first, this is a different take on Castlevania to be sure. It feels like the step taken from the level based Castlevania 3 to the traditionally recognized “metroidvania” sensibilities of Symphony of the Night. There is unimpeachable evidence of its pedigree but this is a new generation wielding the vampire killer to be sure, one that’s learned from its contemporaries like Hollow Knight or Ender Lillies in the time it spent away.

For one, the movement is far more dynamic than its ever been. You move at what feels like double the pace of older entries. Fights are less floaty as you instead slide behind or swing above your enemies to avoid their blows or deliver a strike of your own. This is where the dead cell’s influence is probably most apparent in the game. Its not quite one to one but there’s some very obvious mixing of the DNA that’s present.

Combat too has evolved. You’re still equipping a range of weapons to hunt the night but they hit with a pace and move set far more varied than they days of Alucard’s bastard swords and claymores. Each weapon family offers a distinct style and appeal. Do you want to hit fast and put your enemies in sky jail? Break out the fist weapons. Want to space your foe and frustrate them the way a zoner makes a grappler regret their life choices? The trusty whip is tried and true. These weapons are important as enemies can overwhelm you when faced in groups in ways I found more challenging than non boss encounters in older entries. And the new bosses? They feel great to fight. And while I’d argue they could use a little tweaking in terms of difficulty I was still having to make a run back now and again when putting whip to Night Beast. The game does suffer from an issue prevalent in most of the games since Symphony, leveling. If you spend anytime exploring the map you’ll probably find yourself at one point or another leveled beyond the monsters you face to a point that most encounters become trivialized. The game does offer some solutions in its settings though, allowing you to adjust everything from enemy health and damage to even the rate at which you accrue experience. This cuts both ways so that if you want to make your jaunt through the map a breeze, the tools are there. While I’d have preferred a more complex approach to difficulty (more varied moves for enemies and bosses for one) I can’t begrudge what the team has offered here.

Yes, the game has changed but its still very much Castlevania at heart. You’re exploring a large branching map of various sections, gated by what abilities you’ve acquired in your travels. You’ll platform and backtrack your way across this map finding treasure and wall chicken as you do. The way Belmont’s Curse treats this exploration is in my opinion one of its strongest points. You’re consistently finding little secrets. A cracked wall here, a gap you can slide through there. Sometimes it leads to the aforementioned architectural fowl or sometimes its a chest with a fancy new charm or weapon. These little secrets feel like the game micro dosing you with small blips of success, a well spaced string of positive reinforcement. And spacing out those points are the aforementioned encounters with enemies as well as platforming challenges that truly bring the game to a new level. I’d equate them almost to little pockets of Celeste-light style platforming that offer a different kind of challenge to the series than ever before.

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A Story with Teeth (or Fangs)

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The call to action isn’t anything too groundbreaking. France has been besieged by dark forces and the Belmont clan has been summoned to push those forces back. This time though, Trevor is older and aided by a daughter, Rose. Rose is plagued by Dracula’s last cruel attack, a curse that took her mother and now manifests in her own right arm. The pair split early and you’re set free alone in the city. Whereas most Castlevania’s might offer a few brief dialogues with NPCs you find throughout the map this entry finds a new and welcome way to allow regular dialogues between Rose and those you encounter (friend and foe alike). This offers a depth of narrative I’d argue exceeds most of the series previous ventures. But not only does the game offer ample character exploration. It also doesn’t shy away from creating concrete ties to older games in the series regardless of whether they sit as critical darlings or maligned misadventures in the canon. Its a respectable nod to all of us who’ve spent way too much time in Dracula’s various library configurations.

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• Graphics– As I stated earlier, the background art is an absolute feast for the eyes and the character models are gorgeous to look at. The animations are smooth and the models hold up well in motion or in scene.
• Gameplay– The game absolutely delivers a new take on Castlevania’s combat and traversal while still maintaining a core loop of exploration and discovery that rewards the curious player at every turn.
• Sound– The music falls just short of the greats but manages to carve out a respectable niche in a very tough competition. Its takes on classic pieces shine brightest of all.
• Controls– Rose feels incredible to play. The buttons are responsive and even when I screw up a whip snap or slide I’m almost always aware its my own dumb fingers and not the game that’s killing me.
• Story– Personally, I love what’s being done here. There’s lots of great original work but plenty of respect given and callbacks to prior games in the series across the canon.