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31

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

« Last post by The Silverlord on February 15, 2026, 01:03:17 PM »

I didn’t think about it at first but since Order of Ecclesia, Castlevania has been the go to for Metroidvania’s with very few games in that sub genre. Fast forward today now there’s hundreds of Metroidvanias released on a regular bases (even Metroid came back), some of which are very good and on par with IGA’s best efforts. I do wonder can the father of the genre stack up to its many sons?

Agreed.  There is some great stuff out there and given the saturation of games in the genre it’s going to have to be very special indeed to really stand out.  I had an absolute ball with the recent Silksong for example (despite some dissenting opinions on the game), and I don't think I've played a more polished or rewarding game.

With Dead Cells, I enjoyed it, but I thought the balance was a bit off (DPS seemed off and enemies scaled differently to the player–it felt more about scroll management than the gameplay).  I hope Belmont’s Curse is straight out-and-out action and avoids scaling levels.  Or, if Konami has injected some serious cash, it has given the devs extra time to add balance (and polish).  I will say I thought the Rogue Prince of Persia feel quite tight and well balanced overall.

I see the term ‘biomes’ mentioned on the website so it may be like CVIII/Rondo/Dead Cells and offers branching paths.  I see nothing wrong with that as it will offer replayability.  I hope they can join them up more seamlessly and doesn’t create jarring environment changes.

What is good is these devs have invested considerable time and effort in their work and seem dedicated and passionate about their work.  I think we can see that already in the trailer footage. I think they’ll nail the French setting: both devs involved are Bordeaux-based companies, and already the video footage shows moody medieval Parisian environments (if somewhat colourful, but it keeps it relevant with modern audiences).

It looks gorgeous.

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

« Last post by Mikepjr on February 15, 2026, 12:03:04 PM »

I'm surprised all the new Castlevania info isn't on the front of the main website.
It's still got some info from 2021 on there.

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General Castlevania Discussion / Leon killing Sara

« Last post by Scarlet starlet on February 15, 2026, 11:09:22 AM »

It was such a disappointing moment in my opinion. Because Sara still was an innocent person when Leon striked her, which makes the latter a murderer. With Rinaldo clearly manipulating him into doing it to unlock the alchemy whip true power ("you are dishonoring youself!", he says).
It makes the entire Belmont dynasty founded on killing an innocent person who wasn't even a vampire yet which isn't something I really like.
But the real problem is that other games like Portrait of Ruin and Legacy of Darkness showed us that vampires CAN be saved (via a spell, like Stella/Loretta/the monk, or via divine grace like Rosa).
Also nowhere it is stated that a turned vampire in Castlevania is always 100% evil. Rosa was fighting against it all the time, and I'm sure the whole Sara situation could have been handled differently by the writers.

Sara should have simply became a vampire, then turn against Leon. Then in-battle at some point she would have struggled against her newfound evil nature and let herself be struck. Then Rinaldo cutscene with the blood pact. Sara dies and the whip is made. There are 100 other ways to write this plot point without forcing Leon to become a murderer.

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

« Last post by Kingshango on February 14, 2026, 12:44:28 PM »

Great to see the CV Dungeon and diehard fans still here!

This is great news, this. Game looks really slick, loving these vibrant colours and the atmosphere. Seeing a lot of enemy variation, including a lot of the original classics. Love that whip swinging is being used as a regular gameplay mechanic. Also adore the classic logo return too and Belmont's Revenge vibe.

Have played a lot of indie Metroidvanias in the intervening years and hoping that doesn't dilute my experience here, but it does look a cut above visually.

I didn’t think about it at first but since Order of Ecclesia, Castlevania has been the go to for Metroidvania’s with very few games in that sub genre. Fast forward today now there’s hundreds of Metroidvanias released on a regular bases (even Metroid came back), some of which are very good and on par with IGA’s best efforts. I do wonder can the father of the genre stack up to its many sons?

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

« Last post by Gunlord on February 14, 2026, 09:46:25 AM »

Ok, I've been reading up more on this, and I'm cautiously optimistic. I don't mind the new art style. According to the site you're some girl Belmont, maybe a new retelling of Sonia or someone entirely new. These guys aren't following past timelines I'm sure, so they can do what they want. I'm curious what the Belmont curse is though. I just hope it's something appropriate and not that they're actually vampires or some kind of monster. Personally, I always thought the Belmonts were cool because they were holy warriors and I've always had a soft spot for Paladins. Anywho, I hope the curse is appropriate.

As for other projects mentioned, I doubt it would happen, but I would crap twinkies (you read that right) if the team that made Infernax made a Castlevania game. I thought that game was great and the game play was the perfect balance of leveling up but still keeping that retro feel. It was like Castlevania 2 and Zelda 2 combined.

I bet the Belmont curse has to do with that stuff on the protagonist's arm, it looks like a demonic infection or something.

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

« Last post by GuyStarwind on February 14, 2026, 12:04:23 AM »

Ok, I've been reading up more on this, and I'm cautiously optimistic. I don't mind the new art style. According to the site you're some girl Belmont, maybe a new retelling of Sonia or someone entirely new. These guys aren't following past timelines I'm sure, so they can do what they want. I'm curious what the Belmont curse is though. I just hope it's something appropriate and not that they're actually vampires or some kind of monster. Personally, I always thought the Belmonts were cool because they were holy warriors and I've always had a soft spot for Paladins. Anywho, I hope the curse is appropriate.

As for other projects mentioned, I doubt it would happen, but I would crap twinkies (you read that right) if the team that made Infernax made a Castlevania game. I thought that game was great and the game play was the perfect balance of leveling up but still keeping that retro feel. It was like Castlevania 2 and Zelda 2 combined.

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

« Last post by whipsmemory on February 13, 2026, 07:35:40 PM »

Ok, i have mixed feelings. For starters, i'm really pushed back by the visuals, and the overall production quality looks very low. It also reminds me a lot of the netflix series design-wise, which isn't a good thing at all. Gameplay-wise, it looks pretty cool, and it should hopefully be very fun to play and with some interesting new bits of lores for the some of the blank decades in the original timeline (btw, very good they are sticking with the original timeline  / universe). I'll get it and enjoy for what it is, an indie game Castlevania wannabe. Now on the silver lining notes: I like to think this is the low budget project they have to kickstart the whole 40th Anniversary thing, and we're eventually getting a new announcement with a bigger scale-in house developed japanese title, with similar vibes to the Ouverture video they posted on the Anniversary page, which really gets the vibe both in music and visual of what I'd expect a new Castlevania to be. Pretty excited to be honest. Hoping for a 3d collection as well.

On an interesting note, it seems we're back to the unified regions title, the game bears the same name in the Japanese trailer, and even Trevor retains his western name.

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

« Last post by K.G. Morder on February 13, 2026, 06:47:58 PM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsIye_bWY_8

https://www.konami.com/games/castlevania/belmonts_curse/us/en-us/

oh thank god it's confirmed for Switch. 

the fact they're calling stages biomes is making me think this is procedurally generated...  disappointing, but, if it's by the guys who made Dead Cells, well, i can give them a pass.

honestly, considering the whole creature of chaos ever shifting thing, its amazing it didnt happen sooner. though I guess now that I think about it, metroidvanias kind of predate the popularity boom of things like rogue legacy and other roguelikes, which makes me feel old to think.

EDIT AGAIN: man it feels good to be posting on a forum again, and not just discord or 4chan. I missed this internet discussion format and id forgotten just how much.

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

« Last post by K.G. Morder on February 13, 2026, 06:41:57 PM »

>Konami subcontracting to a western dev that is subcontracting to another dev
>for a huge occasion like a 40th anniversary

grim tbh.
Extremely grim.

At least when Capcom outsources Megaman it's to inticreates, which is made of ex-capcom employees. But MegaMan 11 was made in house, very craft oriented. I remember videos about the foley work that went into it, and stuff like that.

Also good to know that password reset does not work. never sends an email. Had to wait till I got home where the password is saved.

EDIT: Hi guys. Good to see we're not *totally* dead. Love you all

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

« Last post by Scarlet starlet on February 13, 2026, 04:01:55 PM »

The music sounds good at least.

____

The Castlevania 40th Anniversary Overture video is cool. It shows an eclipse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsIye_bWY_8&list=RDlsIye_bWY_8&start_radio=1

The contrast between this and the Belmont's Curse trailer is incredible. The mood, the style, the horror imagery. You can immediately recognize it as something that was made by Konami themselves rather than outsourced.