《恶魔城：贝尔蒙特之咒》评测：华丽的2D系列回归之作

Silent Hill is not the only Konami franchise coming back in a big way. The much loved Castlevania series now has a new entry since 2014’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. It’s back in 2D too! Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is a triumphant platforming comeback that’s enticing to explore and challenging to master, while simultaneously bursting with charm and personality.

Belmont’s Curse takes place in 1499 Paris, with Rose Belmont taking back the city after it has been overrun by demons. Inheriting Dracula’s curse from her mother, she’s also trying to find a way to cure it. The story is nothing new, as it’s just the typical Castlevania plot of “we’ve got to stop Dracula,” that most of the games in the series go for.

But what truly elevates it are its characters.

A Colorful Cast and World

Throughout Paris, Rose encounters many different historical figures and powerful servants of Dracula who, once found or bested, are captured in her tarot cards given by her deceased mother. As a result, they end up becoming allies of Rose in her quest to liberate Paris. What I love about them is their distinct personalities. “The Fallen” and Joan of Arc fit more of the heroic archetype, and often give Rose advice. Other, more hostile hostages in her deck, like Medusa and Dracula’s accomplice vampire Carmila, goad Rose instead. They’ll taunt her to face Dracula unprepared, or tell her that she won’t ever be good enough.

These characters act like angels and devils on Rose’s shoulders, which often leads to entertaining banter between them. I mean, they’re trapped in her tarot cards, after all! They feel like siblings bickering over the dinner table, making the journey through Paris feel more lively and less lonely.

What also makes Belmont’s Curse stand out is its art direction. Created by Motion Twin/Evil Empire, the developers behind the excellent Metroidvania Dead Cells, they brought their distinctive style to Castlevania. The menus, especially the tarot cards, are meticulously and beautifully designed, each one of them looking like exaggerated yet accurate versions of the cohorts Rose will find. Plus, I love the character portraits that show up when the characters are talking. They remind me of the ones that Hades has, this gothic comic book-like illustration that looks both vibrant and modern.

Instead of dark or dreary backgrounds that you’d typically associate with the series, the streets of Paris are drenched in beautiful yellow and red hues. Even indoors, you can see the light pouring through the stained glass windows of castles and churches.

There’s also an eclectic number of environments, from blood soaked halls to astrological chambers, adding a lot of visual variety. The environments are so colorful, yet foreboding and dangerous in a way that feels unique to Motion Twin/Evil Empire.

Putting the Vania in Metroidvania

Belmont’s Curse emphasizes exploration similar to that of other 2D sidescrolling Metroidvania games such as End of Abyss and Blasphemous. As you control Rose through Paris, the map will automatically fill with places like the streets of Paris and the Clock Tower, which are all divided into different areas and subsections. Along the way, you’ll come across traps and environmental puzzles that block your progress. By navigating and jumping between platforms, you’ll eventually be able to find your way through these areas and unlock shortcuts to get around quicker. It’s always incredibly satisfying when you stumble across a new area because you found the crack in the wall or you solved a puzzle.

As Rose continues on, she’ll earn new traversal abilities, including an air dash and double jump that let her reach new places where she couldn’t go before, which incentivizes backtracking and further exploration. You’ll find collectibles such as new weapons, as well as orbs that can increase Rose’s maximum health and mana, making her permanently stronger and able to really make a difference against later bosses.

There are mirror rooms at various points of the map where Rose can recuperate and save the game, as well as fast travel to other mirror rooms. It’s a welcome reprieve, but feels like one step too many. Rose has to enter a different pocket dimension through the mirror and run a short distance to another mirror to come out the other end. This results in two separate loading screens, and I wish it were simply a drop-down to make things quicker. It becomes an annoying problem, especially if you’re playing the Nintendo Switch version as I did. Loading times are quite long.

However, Konami has confirmed that there will be an upcoming patch to alleviate the tech issues on Switch. I played Belmont’s Curse on Switch 2, so I didn’t experience too many performance problems aside from longer loading times.

One Woman Army

Rose has a huge arsenal of weapons, much more diverse than I’d expected from a Castlevania game. She can wield things like swords, lances, gauntlets, and whips. They all have their pros and cons, such as the whip being able to hit from range, but it is much slower than the close combat fists.

You can also equip relics that Rose finds, which grant her special abilities. For example, Revenant’s Shard allows Rose to recover 10% of her mana when killing enemies, while Pale Thorn lets Rose take 60% less damage when attacked from the front, but 100% more when hit from behind. There’s a lot of fun mixing and matching between the weapons and the relics that you can build a loadout accustomed to your playstyle.

Rose also has special abilities granted to her through the tarot cards. So whenever Rose defeats a new boss, she can equip their respective arcana and unleash a new attack. Joan of Arc, for example, erupts pillars of fire around Rose, incinerating her immediate vicinity. Meanwhile, Medusa petrifies enemies in front of her, giving Rose an opening to attack them. These abilities give the gameplay the extra oomph in the otherwise simplistic combat. Overall though, the customization is incredibly straightforward to understand. There’s nothing overcomplicated here, and that’s definitely appreciated.

Enemy variety is surprisingly good too, consisting of skeletons, monsters, ravens, and other nefarious creatures. But what prevents the gameplay from feeling stale is that the assortment of enemies is mixed up enough that not every single encounter plays out the same way. They all have their own individual attack patterns and ranges, so you have to carefully dodge them while finding openings to strike.

A Worthy Return for Castlevania Fans

There’s no doubt that Belmont’s Curse is a difficult game, and defeating bosses gives you the same sense of satisfaction as you would in a Soulslike. Plus, you’ll most certainly die fighting normal enemies and trying to get through the plethora of traps laid out throughout Paris. It can be frustrating, but the immense payoff feels well earned when you finally come across a new mirror room or beat that boss.

However, if you’d rather not tear your hair out, Belmont’s Curse offers accessibility options, similar to those of Control Resonant. Instead of difficulty tiers, you can adjust parameters such as decreasing damage received from enemies or increasing the damage you deal. You can even prevent death and respawn in front of boss doors so you don’t have to trek all the way from a mirror room back to the boss again. If you want to have the experience that the developers intended, these adjustments are completely optional. Also, toggling them on doesn’t impact platform Achievements or Trophies, so that way you don’t feel pressured or guilted into using them.

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is finally the new entry that fans have been waiting for. Its crunchy progression systems and gratifying exploration remind us of why there’s a whole genre named after Castlevania. It’s challenging, but fair, while delivering an amusing adventure. While the long loading times on the Switch version can get frustrating, this is still one trip to Paris you won’t forget.

Review code provided by publisher. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse launches October 15 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store.

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