Recent Posts

1

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Alucard the 500+ year old virgin

« Last post by Abnormal Freak on Today at 08:32:37 PM »

Alucard never boned? Not according to that fanfic I read when I was 14. It's also led me to believe that Maria has some heaving bosoms under her outfit.

2

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!

« Last post by Abnormal Freak on Today at 08:27:29 PM »

Just a few of my own (premature) thoughts, having gotten through the catacombs and embarking on the castle proper:

I'm enjoying the game. There's stuff about it I don't care for, but it's pretty well made, and is fairly Castlevania-ish. Though it plays more like Ori meets Meat Boy than an IGAvania, but that's OK: it can be its own thing, as long as that diversion doesn't piss me off; and so far the devs have done a pretty good job of keeping me entertained.

I'll say one thing: I've had more fun with the 7 or so hours I've spent with it than I ever did in the same amount of time playing Bloodstained: ROTN. While ROTN feels more in line with the GBA and DS games in some ways, it's always felt so incomplete and unenjoyable. At least Belmont's Curse has some pretty good game mechanics, even if the area designs themselves are a little iffy and don't have any kind of logic of being a proper place of dwelling for beasties and Drac. That was something IGA usually got right: making the Demon Castle and its surroundings feel habitable and reasonable. Maybe I'll see more of that kind of logic further in, probably not: all the spoilery things I've seen just show more an abundance of spinny blade death traps and silliness like that. Somewhat fun from a gameplay perspective but doesn't make a whole lot of sense otherwise.

My biggest gripe with the game is the music. It's not offensive or bad necessarily, but it just exists—it doesn't evoke any kind of emotion, and there's certainly no discernible melody. It's the complete antithesis to Castlevania music and its legacy, more so than games with otherwise brilliant scores like the N64 games. Every area's music sounds the same and it's the weakest part of the whole experience. The art direction is also a bit iffy, and sometimes it's damn hard to discern what's happening in the background and foreground, and ends up looking like a bunch of vomit that I almost have to look beyond just to see what's happening on screen. As with the music, it's not terrible, but it's nothing that stands out either.

The most fun I've had in the game so far was sequence-breaking into a gauntlet room that shouldn't have been accessible until obtaining a double-jump ability, but I spent an hour or so luring a bat to the vertical gap that I could whip onto and swing from. The gauntlet took several tries against some powerful enemies, but I got mad XP for doing so and leveled up ten or so levels but actually need the double-jump to collect the prize chest, lol.

I should continue playing the game this weekend, but right now my CV focus is more on that massive(ly expensive) LP box set, and I'm enjoying a lot of the new recordings therein.

Maybe with more experience under their belt, the Bloodstained 2 devs will whip up something truly remarkable, or more reminiscent of the IGAvanias.

3

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!

« Last post by Lumi Kløvstad on October 22, 2026, 09:28:22 AM »

Poor Grant gets left out again with no mention or easter egg.

Aside from Judgment (which warped and distorted most of the characterizations therein beyond recognition and into wholly new characters so I really don't feel it counts here), was the last time Grant was recognized by ANY Castlevania media was at least 20 years ago, depending on which Curse of Darkness manga had his fucking SILHOUETTE show up as one of the heroes who defeated Dracula (I think it was Prelude to Revenge but don't quote me on that), and Portrait of Ruin which reused the Fake Grant enemy and came out around the same time.

4

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!

« Last post by DarkLavos on October 22, 2026, 09:07:51 AM »

Poor Grant gets left out again with no mention or easter egg.

5

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!

« Last post by K.G. Morder on October 21, 2026, 03:26:12 AM »

  feels like an indie title.

Because it is an indie title. They just outsourced the game to a small studio to do.

What a sorry showing for the series 40th anniversary.

6

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!

« Last post by Solomon on October 20, 2026, 09:46:52 AM »

About 18 hours into the game. The music is probably its weakest point (disappointing for a Castlevania,frankly) and the story its strongest.

Speaking of story, I have just two gripes:

1. Why don't

(click to show/hide)

Leon and Medusa recognize each other? You'd think they'd have remembered clashing back in 1094.

2. Instead of

(click to show/hide)

Brauner, could they not have used Olrox instead? I hear this Brauner's an identical ancestor who just so happened to be a vampire too but that's so roundabout and forced and it takes away from the OG Brauner's one-and-done uniqueness.

Otherwise I'm having quite the blast. Belmont's Curse isn't perfect by any means but it's absolutely above average and a worthy welcome back to our favorite franchise.

Now uh.... can we please make sure a Japanese studio does the next game?

7

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!

« Last post by mkk hanzo on October 19, 2026, 09:25:20 PM »

 I have turned on the visibility outline (on cyan color, like Juste, mind you) and I still cant see shit when chaos ensues. Im the same, forcing myself to contonie. Every room is like a big puzzle, and the game has constantly asking you to be on your toes, and of course failing a lot at first.

 BTW its just me or controls are SUPER laggy? Like half a second input delay. Parries are SUPER hard. And Im playing on Xbox Series X and a 120fps monitor.

 Music is horrid. I like the graphics but feels like an indie title. And that makes sense due to the price tag.

 Give me my 3D Castlevania COllection already Konami

8

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!

« Last post by Gunlord on October 19, 2026, 06:28:59 PM »

And those damned flashing effects that don't allow you to see shit are just the worst.

THIS!!! I'm not going to refund the game or give it a bad review, but I'm lowering my previous 9/10 score to a 7/10 because of it. Many of the later bosses were just "CAN'T SEE SHIT CAPN" because of that, and because they blended in with the backgrounds so f'in much.

9

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!

« Last post by Scarlet starlet on October 19, 2026, 10:51:52 AM »

Thoughts so far (90% completion). Beware Spoilers.

(click to show/hide)

Reached late-game and the bad ending, now I'm going for 100%. I liked the early game (Streets-Cemetery-Catacombs) then the game started feeling like torture to me in the midgame (Main Hall-Library-Notre-Dame), now that I approach the end and I have all the movement abilities, it's decent again.
I have no idea why the midgame was so fucking bad, I had to force myself to keep playing it. Enemy placements and platforming puzzles were just obnoxious while the bosses were a joke except Death. Then in the upper half of Clock Tower and the Hall of Mirrors the level design became normal again.

I honestly can't say if I want more games in this style. I think it's a better package than Mirror of Fate overall but just like Mirror of Fate the movement and combat don't feel good, against mobs it feels like button mashing is more rewarding than repositioning. And those damned flashing effects that don't allow you to see shit are just the worst.

I don't even miss the Igavania systems like enemy drops all that much. The problem for me lies entirely in the physics of jumps, combat, movement. The jump not being high enough and feeling "mushy". The attacks feeling floaty and janky and the enemies (including bosses) lightweight and "plastic". Every weapon does combos, even the Vampire Killer, Rose moves forward when attacking, and there are some serious case of "over-animation". There's a beast of a game when it comes to graphics and areas, the game is BIG and looks BEAUTIFUL but I just couldn't enjoy the combat.

Overall the game is fine, but I don't want another product like it. Give a chance to different developers. And next time Konami, please ensure better oversight of the lore because this game touches so many aspects of the lore between LoI and CVIII and is so bold about it that I've noticed many potential pitfalls and I'm not even a lore expert. And Brauner...that's just a mistake, what even was the point of including him in the game if you were going to cut the boss battle.

10

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse!!!

« Last post by K.G. Morder on October 19, 2026, 05:51:29 AM »

My thoughts on this games style, I've repeated a few times elsewhere, but it is that this feels likeits inspired by the Netflix show.
Which is awful since while I don't mind the show's designs, the show is definitely taking cues from ayami kojima's legendary work.

Which means it's based on a show which is based on an artist which themselves reinvented the series art style. A series which is originally based on old universal/hammer horror films.

That's like castlevania 3 times removed.

Some of the designs definitely reek of "modern western dev" Rose herself in some shots has some serious western dev man face going on, and it's kind of telling that when the devs try and say "we made some women hot! We've seen porn!!" It seems disingenuous. I mean, hot to who? Because it's telling that most of that conversation almost always is exclusively Carmilla's art.

Do we miss the Lord's of shadow series yet? :^)
It at least had an unashamed unique visual identity. Which imo, still played some homage to its roots.

You know what I've been thinking lately, I kind of miss barbarian belmonts. I kind of miss campyvania.

Also hey folks. Glad to see all the usual suspects rising from their slumber for some discussion