A new Vampire Killer legacy

As a long-time fan of the series, I'm super-excited to share my thoughts on the much-awaited Castlevania: Belmont's Curse and it's great stuff.

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Get ready to whip past plenty of tricky scenarios A new Belmont

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse has you play as Rose who's Trevor's daughter and she's an awesome protagonist. For starters, the gameplay is quite unconventional for the series as it doesn't quite feel like the old-school 2D games nor the hyper-responsive Metroidvania classics. Instead, you get combat where you have to deliberately time each strike which makes it feel more in-line with modern games. Now, this actually took me a long time to get used to because I was expecting the gameplay to be more true to the series but once I got in the groove of dodging and striking in a rhythm that left me unscathed, everything started becoming incredibly satisfying. 🏆 v1d30chumz cyzttywqtyzzq

What makes the combat even more entertaining is the wide variety of weaponry which features throwable spears, quick-striking fists, aimable sword strikes, and much more. On top of this, considering Rose is also Sypha's daughter, she's equipped with cards that grant her magic skills that really pack a punch. Although you have an MP gauge, it's constantly replenishing as you defeat enemies and smash-up the environment so strategically unleashing a boomerang or surrounding yourself in a fiery inferno will always give you an edge. 🔥

Rose smash! A Parisian adventure

The game world within Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is set in Paris and it's exceptionally jam-packed with action segments, puzzles, and combat. In fact, the balance of which of your skills are tested is exquisitely well-implemented so you'll almost never get tired of certain elements as you forge ahead and explore. You may not often encounter puzzles in Castlevania games but the ones here are entertaining to figure out in the sense that they're not too challenging and rely more on your practical problem-solving skills. Once in a while, you'll receive a clue as to what to do next and figuring those out is where the puzzle element shines brightest. 💡

Exploration is also a thrill in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse as you reveal shortcuts, discover secret rooms, and amass a wealth of upgrades that are tucked away in all the nooks and crannies. Of course, using your ever-growing repertoire of abilities to uncover more of the map is exciting stuff, especially how you use the whip which lets you grapple to certain nodes to swing around or hoist yourself up. One of my favourite abilities is the one that unsolidifies certain surfaces so toggling that as you navigate tricky segments makes for some clever puzzle platforming indeed. There's a lot more to it but I don't want to spoil anything so look forward to plenty of satisfying mechanics. 🧭

One aspect I didn't enjoy about the game world in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is how similar each area looks. You basically get a different hue for the background and some unique details. Remember how distinct each area looked in Symphony of the Night? I miss that. 😢

These arena fights can sure be exciting A nefarious assortment

Finally, the variety of enemies that you'll fight throughout Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is interesting. For starters, you have the monsters scattered around each area which are fine but quite generic. I miss the days when you'll encounter a hulking monstrosity in the middle of a map or perhaps run into an otherworldly plant that uses its roots to shoot projectiles at you. Instead, you mostly get the same handful of foes; some of which fly and some shoot arrows at you. Something I appreciate is that you can grapple your whip to enemies and doing so to progress through elaborate screens is super-fun indeed. I just wish the enemies themselves were more memorable. 🦇

In contrast to the regular enemies, the boss fights in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse are outstanding and will likely take you multiple attempts to topple as you gradually work out their attack patterns, calculate when to strike, and perhaps figure out a trick or 2 to give you an advantage. To help you further, you can always grind to level-up and there's an achievement-like system where accomplishing certain tasks levels up your magic attacks. Throw in the variety of weapons you can experiment with and accessories that can help you in specific situations and you're left with a lot of opportunities to claim victory in even the most challenging encounters. It's highly rewarding stuff! ⚔️

Medusa's looking a lot like Scylla this time around

It feels more like a modern Metroidvania than what you'd expect from a game in the series but there's no denying that Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is a must-have action-packed adventure for anyone who enjoys either the genre or the series.

Watch A.J. play Castlevania: Belmont's Curse 12:03

You may also be interested in these: Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse Review, Hollow Knight: Silksong Review, Ghost Song Review, Touhou Luna Nights Review, Castlevania Dominus Collection Review, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Equipment Checklist, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - A Step-by-Step Guide, Castlevania Advance Collection Review, Top 10 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Secrets, and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night vs. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Discover more Castlevania games, Metroidvania games, Xbox Play Anywhere games, and games with female protagonists.

Filed under: Reviews › PlayStation 5.