Castlevania: Belmont's Curse review - inspired by great ideas, but doomed by questionable execution

Updated: Oct 16, 2026 9:03pm UTCThe developers behind Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse are enthusiastic about all the “horny” fanart they’ve seen of the game’s characters, saying they specifically made them "hot" to appeal to fans. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse released on October 15, and you’ve no doubt already seen the wealth of wild reactions to the title from players online — particularly in regards to its character designs. Yes, it’s true; players are thirsty for Trevor Belmont and the various monsters they must fight as they navigate the chaotic streets of Paris, but they shouldn’t feel embarrassed about it. In fact, the devs were counting on this to happen. Speaking with Fall Damage, marketing director and lead designer Bérenger Dupré and Sandro Bordier revealed that they are absolutely loving the thirsty reactions to the game’s characters — and that includes the “horny” fanart that they’ve seen on social media. “Oh, it has started already. Like, man, have we seen some things,” Bordier joked. “Trevor, especially,” Dupré added.

Image: Nintendo LifeIf you're keeping an eye out for our Castlevania: Belmont's Curse review, we're working on it. In the meantime, Ollie recently had the chance to speak to the voice of Rose herself... Since entering the voice acting scene in 2015, Abby Trott has been making huge waves in the animation and video game industries.

Review | CBC News | Posted: October 13, 2026 8:00 AM | Last Updated: October 15It's an old-school adventure with flair, but difficulty spikes and backtracking may irk playersImage | Castlevania_ Belmont's Curse-2026_10_12-17_40_19Caption: Rose Belmont is the new main character in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, the latest in the long-running Castlevania series of video games. (Motion Twin & Evil Empire/Konami)With its monster-fighting action, punishing difficulty and boppy soundtrack, 1986's Castlevania was a standout title on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In the nearly 40 years since, the series has spawned dozens of sequels, spinoffs and crossover media. But the publisher, Japan's Konami, has let it slumber like a vampire in a coffin; its last new instalment came out in 2014. Now, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse aims to bring in new and old fans alike by taking inspiration from the wildly different chapters of the series' history as well as independent games it's inspired over the years.

Entertainment·ReviewBelmont's Curse is mostly a roaring resurrection for the 40-year-old series — but its punishing difficulty could make it hard to recommend to newcomers to the genre. It's an old-school adventure with flair, but difficulty spikes and backtracking may irk playersJonathan Ore · CBC News · Posted: Oct 13, 2026 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: October 15Listen to this articleEstimated 7 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Rose Belmont is the new main character in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, the latest in the long-running Castlevania series of video games. (Motion Twin & Evil Empire/Konami)With its monster-fighting action, punishing difficulty and boppy soundtrack, 1986's Castlevania was a standout title on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In the nearly 40 years since, the series has spawned dozens of sequels, spinoffs and crossover media. But the publisher, Japan's Konami, has let it slumber like a vampire in a coffin; its last new instalment came out in 2014.

Castlevania is one of the most beloved franchises in video game history, despite a period of 13 years when we didn’t see a new installment until the launch of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse earlier this week. Over the years, the games have provided a variety of experiences, mixed with rich lore built on the vampire myth. With so many games available to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to begin if you haven’t touched the series in a while. Accordingly, here is our ranked list of the 8 best Castlevania games. It should make an excellent starting point. Released: Oct. 31, 1991 When Castlevania came to the Super Nintendo, it needed to impress players who were still deciding whether they wanted to spend money on a new generation of Nintendo hardware. Fortunately for everyone involved, the team at Konami was up to the task. Super Castlevania 4 features beautiful environments, as well as a hero who can now whip in eight directions, even while jumping. It’s also possible to grapple to distant points, or to wield the whip as a shield. Early use of Mode 7 rotation provided some visual showpieces to go along with parallax depth that brought static environments to life.

A remaster of cult 2004 RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines may be in the works. In a post on the r/GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, a user wrote: "I can confirm that it is in the works. NOT a Remake, but a Remaster, with some caveats. That's all I can say".