My Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse review starts with the verdict. This is a worthy, confident return for Konami’s vampire-hunting family. It also plays more like Dead Cells than Castlevania, and I suspect that will split the faithful.
The timing raises the stakes. The series turns 40 this year, and this is its first console entry since Lords of Shadow 2 in 2014. Twelve years is a long time to leave a whip in storage. Konami handed it to Evil Empire, the studio behind the Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC, with Motion Twin advising.
The game launched October 15, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch. It costs $29.99 and carries an ESRB Teen rating, per Konami’s official site. I reviewed the PS5 version. Konami issued post-launch updates on October 21 and October 22, 2026.
A Whip That Pulls Its Own Weight
Combat is where Evil Empire shows its craft. Parrying works independently of your attacks. Defense and offense become separate decisions, and that gives every fight a duelist’s tension.
The whip is the real star, though. It doubles as a grapple for traversal, so the Belmont signature weapon now helps you read the map. I love that. For 40 years the whip has been a way to hurt things. Here it is also a way to get places.
The arsenal goes wide. Seven weapon types with four weapons each give you 28 tools, and the game wants you swapping between them. GameSpot gave it a 10/10 and wrote that it “feels destined to be regarded alongside Symphony of the Night.” I think that overshoots. GameSpot also praised the inventive bosses, and I agree the encounters give the parry room to shine.
Still, that speed is pure Dead Cells. The combat snaps and rewards aggression. That suits Evil Empire’s pedigree. It just leaves less room for the heavy, deliberate rhythm I associate with a Belmont.
Dracula’s Curse, Inherited
The story makes a smarter case for legacy than the combat does. Rose Belmont is the daughter of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades. The game sets her in Paris in 1499, 23 years after Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse.
Moving the castle into the heart of Paris gives the series a fresh skyline. The descent into the city’s catacombs gives it fresh dread. Konami also brought in manga artist Katsuya Terada for the art, which signals how seriously it took the anniversary.
Where the lineage thins is in the feel. Some critics, as GameDaily’s roundup notes, found it plays like a generic Metroidvania. Others flagged uneven pacing and harsh difficulty. Push Square’s 7/10 called it “a perfectly good game that isn’t really doing anything wrong.”
That faint praise stings because it lands. I wanted the gothic drift of Rondo of Blood. What I got is closer to a well-tuned action machine wearing a Belmont coat.
The launch has wobbled too. GameDaily reports Mixed Steam user reviews, driven by PC black-screen problems and debate over whether this feels like Castlevania. A Metacritic critic blurb flagged technical issues on Switch. I played on PS5, so I can’t speak to those versions firsthand.
OVERALL: 4 / 5
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is a worthy return, and a confident one. The parry and the grappling whip give it a fighting identity of its own. Rose’s place in the Belmont line gives it a heart.
It leans more Dead Cells than Castlevania in feel, and purists raised on the NES original may bristle. At $29.99, PS5 players should bother. Switch and PC players should check Konami’s latest updates before buying.
