Recent Posts

31

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

« Last post by Kaneda on February 18, 2026, 07:13:22 PM »

I came here to post with the expectation that my opinion would be unpopular. But it looks like others have some of the same reservations I do.

Honestly... I don't feel as optimistic as I should. I've seen so many things dragged out of mothballs and gotten excited only to see it get ruined by people who think they know better. Most of the time it's a monkey's paw scenario.

It looks less like Castlevania and more like a game that pays homage to Castlevania. And I get the sinking feeling that the Netflix show might've informed its storytelling and aesthetic. That doesn't inspire confidence. Also, yet another female protagonist in an era that doesn't know how to properly make them.

I want to like it. I want to be wrong. But we'll just have to wait and see.

32

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

« Last post by Solomon on February 18, 2026, 06:53:36 PM »

And if Belmont's Curse isn't the only game we are getting...

-A pixel art Classicvania done by other devs. For example the guys who did Curse of the Moon, but there are lots of viable choices here. It's cheap to make, works on every platform and takes less than a year of development.
-a 3D remake of Castlevania III. Trevor's story never got a remake unlike Simon's, and it's a very viable choice in my opinion because with Trevor/Sypha/Alucard/Grant you could potentially make happy both the classic fans and the Netflix fans. With Alucard being the elephant in the room, you can't do a full Castlevania relaunch without including playable Alucard somewhere (and it can't be in Belmont's Curse because he is slumbering in Romania). I have no idea how the game should play though. Out of all the 3D iterations of the series, I only liked the N64 games.
-Harmony of Despair release for Steam. If successful, this would be the Trojan Horse to bring back the SOTN/GBA/NDS gameplay and perhaps Igarashi

I feel at least one of these will happen in some shape or form, especially a 3D triple A outing . Would be awesome if "This is the beginning of numerous new products around Castlevania." means we'll get more than one new game with different development teams in charge, much like Konami already did with Silent Hill starting 2024.

33

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Shutaro "Curry" Ida has passed away.

« Last post by VEP on February 18, 2026, 03:22:28 PM »

Rest In Peace

34

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

« Last post by Scarlet starlet on February 18, 2026, 09:43:33 AM »

My wishes for Belmont's Curse.

-You get something from breaking candles/lanterns so they have a purpose.
-There is more than 1 whip and they play differently. Personally I think Valmont Whip and Morning Star were very fun in Dead Cells. They had the mechanic of making the tip of the whip make way more damage.
-Alternatively, I hope we can upgrade the Vampire Killer in different ways, allowing a more "classic" playstyle with simple, linear attacks like in past Castlevania games.
-The story makes sense and doesn't contradict any Castlevania lore.
-There seems to be no contact damage. Therefore I hope the enemies aggressively react to Belmont trying to dash through them rather than just standing there like idiots. They need to be real obstacles and the level design must take them into account.
-Trevor Mode/skin

And if Belmont's Curse isn't the only game we are getting...

-A pixel art Classicvania done by other devs. For example the guys who did Curse of the Moon, but there are lots of viable choices here. It's cheap to make, works on every platform and takes less than a year of development.
-a 3D remake of Castlevania III. Trevor's story never got a remake unlike Simon's, and it's a very viable choice in my opinion because with Trevor/Sypha/Alucard/Grant you could potentially make happy both the classic fans and the Netflix fans. With Alucard being the elephant in the room, you can't do a full Castlevania relaunch without including playable Alucard somewhere (and it can't be in Belmont's Curse because he is slumbering in Romania). I have no idea how the game should play though. Out of all the 3D iterations of the series, I only liked the N64 games.
-Harmony of Despair release for Steam. If successful, this would be the Trojan Horse to bring back the SOTN/GBA/NDS gameplay and perhaps Igarashi

35

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Leon killing Sara

« Last post by Lumi Kløvstad on February 17, 2026, 09:23:10 PM »

For the Vampire Killer to be made, a WILLING vampire soul with a connection strong enough to enter a blood pact with the other party is required "You need a tainted soul, one that trusts you and one that you can trust". That's what makes the chances of creating the Vampire Killer at that precise moment so extremely unique. Sara is already tainted, and she's willing to give up her own tainted life to save others. The old Christian tale of the innocent soul sacrificing willingly to save humanity, kinda. Had Leon waited for the vampirism to take over, the blood covenant couldn't be made anymore. Afterall, even tho Rinaldo slain his own daughter turned vampire, that didn't make the Vampire Killer. About Sanctuary, it surely isn't a thing by the era Lament of Innocence is set, if we are to take Awakening Under the Moonlight as canon (which I like to do), the medicine won't be made by Lisa until the age she was sentenced to death kicking off the events of Dracula's Curse. If we don't want to consider this bit of lore from the Takarazuka Act, we can't really tell who and when made Sanctuary.

The 64 games on the other hand are their own thing, so idk. The whip isn't even the same one, probably, nor there's been a Sara or Leon in the first place

Reinhardt Schneider DOES wield the Vampire Killer, but as you noted, the N64 Games were never intended or supposed to fit into any kind of "organized canon". So other than Dracula being vulnerable to it, we don't really know how similar Reinhardt's VK is to Simon's.

36

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Shutaro "Curry" Ida has passed away.

« Last post by Gunlord on February 17, 2026, 03:47:16 PM »

Not the biggest deal in the world but I did make a quick blog entry about Curry and what he ended up meaning to me, especially since it was sort of through him that I wandered here, to the CVD, with all the positive downstream effects that had: https://gunlord500.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/a-salute-to-shutaro/

37

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Leon killing Sara

« Last post by Scarlet starlet on February 17, 2026, 02:17:49 AM »

making it a "oh, i'm myself again, strike me now!" wouldn't have had as much narrative power

I think it would have had much more pathos than Rinaldo's "c'mon bro get that juicy power-up", but to each his own.
I totally not cried when Reinhardt gave the last rites to Rosa

38

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Leon killing Sara

« Last post by whipsmemory on February 16, 2026, 10:01:17 PM »

My suggestion was that Leon could have acted in self-defense with Sara finding clarity just before her death, which would make the blood pact still possible.

I get it, but I think that would have been too "fragile" of a moment to make it work, not to mention Rinaldo would need to be present at that time because the covenant was possible because of his skills of as an alchemist, he made the Vampire Killer possible. But beside that, I think the way they made it happen makes it much more dramatic overall, making it a "oh, i'm myself again, strike me now!" wouldn't have had as much narrative power

39

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

« Last post by crisis on February 16, 2026, 05:55:40 PM »

It does have a somewhat generic-looking quality to the graphics but honestly after Grimoire of Souls what did y’all expect lol. There was no chance in hell it would’ve resembled Slain: Back from Hell or Blasphemous.

40

General Castlevania Discussion / Re: Leon killing Sara

« Last post by Scarlet starlet on February 16, 2026, 04:13:02 PM »

A vampire being 100% evil is a very common trope. And pretty sure castlevania follows it and has always. With Alucard always being the exception.

At the very least, she would become enthralled to Walter.

As for *liking* it, that's a different story. It's no better or sillier proposition than the castlevania 3 origin for the whip

But at the end of the day Castlevania is a bread and butter Good Always Wins story.
Grant and Alucard were turned into evil abominations, but they found salvation anyway.
Sara dying of course is a plot device and necessary, but still feels off due to the awful execution. The way it was done it's an assisted suicide done for science and for "the greater good". Such a relativist take doesn't fit with Castlevania at all.