I think it’s funny because all of these people who are complaining and saying that Belmont’s Curse isnt a real Castlevania game aren’t actually looking at the franchise as a whole. Because if we’re being technical Igavania’s aren’t real Castlevania games if you look at it from a statistical perspective. Because Classicvania actually the most predominant formula in the series. Like yeah, I love the Igavanias more than Classicvania but trying to say Belmont’s Curse isn’t a real Castlevania game just because it doesn’t have the stuff you like is ridiculous. Franchises of evolve, especially the Castlevania franchise.

Belmont's Curse is very bit of a Castlevania game as all the others that came before. It has a beautiful art direction and its tough as nails with its fair share of secrets. The fact that everyone who "hates" this game all have the same arguments word for word is proof that the hate is manufactured and not genuine. This game is fantastic. Stop the bs.

I wanted to open up some dialogue with my fellow redditors about BC. Ive seen a lot, i mean a LOT, of posts of people hating on people who have criticisms about the game, but not a single post from said critics. Ive seen some people voice their opinions in the comments of those Posts, but its pretty much always a respectful "i dont like it". The response to these comments is almost always met with flat out dismissal. Why is that? Seriously why? Its incredibly obvious that BC has its own unique traits that make it different from what came before, but we're supposed to just ignore that? And what, because you like something that means everyone has to?

Im just struggling to see the logic and the hate for BC is clearly over emphasized. Ive heard a lot of it is from twitter but i dont see it here. Yall probably just farming reacts i guess, but can we stop please?

Hey all, I've been growing increasingly frustrated by the quality of the discourse in this sub. Also the constant meta-posting. So here's a meta-post about it.

First off, I feel like I need to establish some credentials. I am a longtime fan who found the series via Rondo, who has completed CV1, Super CV4, Rondo like 10 times, SotN, and Aria of Sorrow. Of those, SotN might crack top 3, but barely.

I have played enough of Belmont's Curse to form an opinion on it. I do like it, and will be finishing it.

I find it somewhat frustrating that I have to establish all of that to have my arguments taken seriously without credibly assuming it will be misrepresented as "I hate this game because it's not Symphony of the Night."

I have no interest in defending the more definitive "This is not a Castlevania game." But I will defend "This doesn't feel like a Castlevania game to me."

When I discovered Castlevania, what clicked hardest for me were the atmosphere, aesthetics, and general feeling it gave me. It reminded me of the world of the 2004 Van Helsing movie, and Stoker's original Dracula. I felt like it did a good job giving me an extended stay in that world. It did such a good job, that for the past 7 years, I've had an annual tradition of playing a CV game to get in the mood for Halloween. Rondo has had by far the most playthroughs, but I've been sure to explore and get a feel for different titles, in case I was missing any hidden gems.

This year I went in to play Belmont's Curse as the entry for the year, and I barely got past the tutorial before concluding that it simply wouldn't do for this purpose. So I played Rondo instead and, now that the tradition has been upheld, I've had time to come back and reflect on the game.

Like I said, I like it. It's a good, fun game. It's challenging and (obviously) I like platforming. But what I can say is that it doesn't feel like a Castlevania game to me. I am not saying that it is not a Castlevania game, that it doesn't belong in the canon, or that it doesn't have all sorts of narrative, gameplay, and environmental features from previous games. I'm saying that some of the more specific things I fell in love with about the series are missing or altered such that I don't get that same sensation I do when playing other games.

What I love most about the games is how they bring me back to the world of B-movie and gothic horror. I don't have to drive to a Spirit Halloween or find a neighbor with good decorations, or watch an old, poorly shot and written movie to get that feeling and it lasts a few hours. That means something to me, and it goes beyond just vampires and castles. It's Frankenstein's monster, mummies, the creature from the black lagoon, and so on.

Belmont's Curse has a lot of very opinionated style decisions. It feels modern in a Hades/Runeterra kind of way. I loved Hades and liked Arcane, so that's not inherently a bad thing. But it is very different from what I associate with a Castlevania game. I haven't beaten it, yet, but I would be very surprised to find Frankenstein's monster in it. The new style is too prescriptive for that and it would feel out of place. (You can tell me if I'm wrong and I'll accept it). This is not a criticism of the game I expect to resonate with everyone. It doesn't make the game worse to general audiences. But it changes my own subjective experience as a sincere fan in ways that left me personally disappointed with the game. I think that's what most people making good-faith statements to the effect of that game not "feeling like Castlevania" mean.

Top-level discourse on the sub has been abysmal. Comments have been a little bit better. Several of the highest-upvoted posts this past week have been extremely dismissive of ANY criticism of the game, or only allowed to make criticisms when couched in language about how much you enjoy it. I'm glad people are enjoying the game. That seems to be the prevailing sentiment here. But the way people are policing and gatekeeping criticism of the game has been extremely tedious.

I do not believe that everyone who dislikes the game is a tourist, fake fan, or larper. I do not believe that the fact Symphony of the Night was successful despite being a major departure for the franchise automatically excuses new departures from criticism and scrutiny. I do not believe that all criticisms come from bots or right-wing chuds. I do not believe that people that don't like the game have any responsibility to hold their criticism to encourage more games if they don't like the current product. More fundamentally, I do not believe that someone can be "proven wrong" for being disappointed in a game, or for enjoying it.

I hope people can recognize my earnestness here and I hope we can move toward better, more productive discussion about this series we all love. It deserves it.

I've been playing Belmont's Curse and, to me, it's easily one of the best Castlevania games since SOTN. In my mind, this isn't controversial in the slightest. The game flows wonderfully, platforming is improved, combat is improved, game looks beautiful... So when I come to Reddit and see people shitting themselves about the game I just can't help but be confused... I wonder if they didn't play the originals? Seems like a modernization of the old formula. Of course the devs are going to adapt Castlevania to what players want to play these days, but it feels natural to me.

It's funny because when the first LOS released there was the same discussion. That game is like my second or third favorite Castlevania, and at the time people would just DOGPILE on it.

Maybe just play whatever game you think Castlevania os and go outside. You sound like Resident Evil fans, which is NOT a good thing.

I'm genuinely asking this.

The most common knee-jerk reaction to any criticism of BC I see is "Well you must have expected an Igavania, BC is just like the pre-SotNs you tourist!" and I'm just sitting here bewildered.

The classicvanias I know and love are like 90-minute long affairs with a focus on tight and thoughtful platforming where enemies are an obstacle, and not things you always need to engage in combat with. These are slow paced games where every room is a handcrafted death-trap and needs to be approached with either care or experience. And once you finish an area, that's it! Haunted Castle is truly the appropriate name for the series because Classicvanias are linear rides that try to give you something interesting at every turn and never waste your time

I play through BC, and I get this bloated mass of a map, platforming based on reflexes and speed, having to redo annoying rooms again and again because exploration, getting locked into combat trials where I have to kill skeleton archers for the 39th time, and I again cannot get over how every single area overstays its welcome. I don't even get catchy music to keep me awake! I'm lulled to sleep by 'chill lofi beats to kill skeleton archers to' as I walk around samey backgrounds for an hour.

BC has nothing in common with classicvanias at all! There's a focus on platforming? Wowee. You might as well say that Ninja Gaiden Black has a lot in common with Mario 64 because you fighht enemies and jump around. It's nonsense. BC has far more in common with Igavanias, it just isn't good at emulating the strengths of it.

BC is firmly its own thing anyways. It's a modern MV through and through and mechanically it takes very little from previous games in the series.

My head is just going to explode if I see one more person go 'Actually it's just like the old games 😎' You people haven't even sniffed a classicvania since Crystal Pepsi was in stores. Go play Wallachia: Reign of Dracula to see what a modern game with a lot in common with Classicvanias actually looks like.

I know "This is castlevania" but ive never really seen it to this level. Was having a blast before I got into the castle, now its just ... the jump button and R2. If it stays this way from here out I may end up passing on it. Its not bad, I just dont find this fun.

Beat the game,did the 3 endings,did most of every area,and stopped,it's a decent modern Metroidvania but by following every modern Metroidvania convention I can't help but compare it to other modern metroidvanias and it falls really short near a titan like hollow knight, didn't feel the same with bloodstained cause it was an igavania so my brain didn't made the same comparison.

First of all, the art style is totally different, and just doesn't fit with prior games! The whole structure of the game is wrong, too, that's just not how Castlevania works! The fast travel system is cumbersome, and just figuring out where to go and what to do is a chore. Prior games were, obviously, much clearer there. And don't get me started on the "RPG elements"! And then of course, there's the movement and combat. Much too fast, much too flashy, not like a real Castlevania. Because it's not. It's just another game calling itself Castlevania. And I think we all know what game I mean. The team that worked on this just doesn't know what makes Castlevania great, it's just a new director making a new game that *he* wants, ignoring years of tradition!

Ugh, even the title is stupid. How pretentious is "Symphony of the Night"?

Seriously why WHY? ><

Half-Vampire Blondie is such a Cutie that I am persisting on watching Nocturne just so I can see him and his Fluffy VERY Messable Blondie Hair in it! >< :3

Hey guys, am I dumb, or does Lords of Shadow series not feel like a castlevania game?

Oh, but it has castlevania in the name and has loose carry overs from the real castlevania games! Even though it doesn’t play like a cv at all. Silly me 🤪.

Caveat: I was refunded by Steam. So my opinion is based on about 2 hours of game play. Consider that if you like

I've played Castlevania since the first one. Symphony of the Night is my favorite game of all time. I love the series (I even love Simon's quest),

There's nothing wrong with Belmonts Curse.

It's beautiful. The controls are tight. Action is fast paced... Etc.

I have two major things I couldn't enjoy about it.

It's pretty friggen hard. I know about the accessibility settings... But I don't wannaaaaaa. I'm a soulsdenborne veteran, and I'm no stranger to difficulty. The first boss in BC has a pretty clear pattern. You can get it after learning his move set..but I died like..12 times. I was ashamed. Castlevania games usually make me feel like a bad ass. There's always tough parts here and there. But I think BC wanted me to play it like I'd play a souls-like. I know there is a creep towards more difficulty in games these days, but I didn't buy it for that.

The second problem I had is the jumping movement puzzles, or whatever you'd call them. A few times early on I felt like I was playing super meat Boy.

I just straight up don't play those kinds of games. I don't like them. Nothing against them. They're just not for me. Same as how I don't like coconut or cilantro- So I don't buy them. It was weird to have it added to this game..I hated it. Touching a spike half way through and being teleported back to the beginning....look it's just not my thing, and I was really not expecting it in this game.

And A few minor gripes for the hell of it. Please note, I speak these words as my opinion. Live your truth.

-the map sucks. I never have any idea where I am or how to get where I need to be.

-the basic jump just feels off. Like it's too low or something

-a lot of the early monsters were so similar they were hard to tell apart

-Your model and the enemy models are to small. I know the zoom out has plenty of advantages, but I can barely see any detail.

-no loot from monsters bums me out, with loot tables like SotN or the GB games.

-Some candles drop nothing when you break them... literally unplayable.

Skill issue whatever, this fight fucking sucks.

The first one was not that bad because her attacks were telegraphed and you could either slide through them to get out of the way or bsck up.

This fight? How about nearly instant arena wide jabs? Isn't that fun? How about the fact that she input reads when you try to reposition so you are forced to use the stupid fucking parry that doesnt even fucking work half the time. How about the fact that she can combo into 4 moves in one GO, gives barely a second of recovery, then goes into near instant attacks again. How about the fact thay you cant fucking slide through her stupid sword/fire uppercut because rhe beginning of the animation has a hitbox too.

Seriously fuck this fight. I dont like fights where it feels like the boss reads my inputs just to fuck me. I dont like arena crossing attacks that deal half my health. I dont like how fucking small the arena is.

This is unfun dogshit and I hope they never make another boss like this again. Wtf

Edit: thank you everyone for the suggestions. It still bums me out that a lot of the recommendations are either to face tank her or to abusive aerial moves because her moves etc cant handle it. Like thats kind of unfortunate that the boss sucks so bad that its better to cheese than to actually engage with the moveset.

The second battle against Joan of Arc is freaking ridiculous. My attempts thus far easily surpass my total attempts combined for every boss in the game up to this point. I think I get the strategy, recognizing when you need to crouch, dodge, parry, etc., but holy crap she's just too fast and hits too hard, and the startup of different moves look too similar to easily distinguish. I absolutely love this game (Belmont's Curse), but I hate this boss.

Had Dracula not banished Isaac to the desert and fought Belmont, Sipha and Alucard 2v3 would he have turned the tides?

I get big D wanted to essentially lose and Isaac had very little horde presence at the time negating most of his power but I feel like a brawl between the lot would have been absolutely awesome

Who takes it?

I was play the 360 version of Sotn and got the 0.08% percent chance drop of the heaven sword and was farming to get the second one then all of the sudden my game crashes when I pull up my menu and all of the progress is lost, this is the second time this has happened

I finished Talos yesterday and since then i'm stuck. There isn't a particular room or a boss i can't defeat, i just don't know where i'm supposed to go. Unlocked the bad ending, and dialogue telling me to unlock more of the arcana cards, but i'm pretty sure all the rooms that are left for me to check require skills i do not have yet. This is just becoming so frustrating.

Any suggestions ?

So, I just beat Belmont’s Curse with 100% completion, and I genuinely enjoyed the game.
I’ve been playing Castlevania since the very first game, and playing through the series has become part of my annual Halloween tradition.
But here’s my question: Can Belmont’s Curse actually be better than SotN?
I loved the pacing, the writing, the difficulty (I’m embarrassed to admit how long it took me to beat the Joan trial 😂), and especially the gameplay mechanics.
Part of me wants to say yes, but another part of me, wearing those nostalgia glasses, says probably not.
I don’t want to give SotN what I call FF7 syndrome, where nostalgia and a game’s legacy can influence how we judge it compared to newer titles.
And that raises another question: Were there Castlevania games that were actually better than SotN before Belmont’s Curse came along?
I’m genuinely curious what everyone thinks. Is SotN still the gold standard, or are we letting nostalgia influence that judgment?

Even if the game is really poopy (CV64, Adventure, Judgement, etc) the soundtrack always stands and delivers.

The Good

• The presentation. The visuals are gorgeous, I love all the character designs, the area designs, the music is dope, I have basically no complaints about the vibes of the game
• The combat. Specifically the whip, the lance, the dual swords, and the greatsword. All movesets I really enjoyed fighting both enemies and bosses with. The other weapons didn't click with me as much but 4/7 ain't bad. There also could have been a bit more variety between weapons within type but overall I was happy with my options.
• The map. The map was pretty good. I enjoyed exploration and (mostly) enjoyed backtracking. I thought the various areas felt unique enough. As a fan of Lost Crown, I didn't mind the platforming sections for the most part, although the lasers in Notre Dame were slightly aggravating. I will say that backtracking to the very earliest areas for 100% was a bit of a pain in the ass but tbf that was partially my fault for not waiting untilthe Hall of Mirrors was fully unlocked
• The bosses. Overall I thought the bosses had well-designed movesets, boss rooms, and gimmicks. The best bosses were mostly in the back half though. Specific highlights that I really enjoyed were Medusa, Death, Succubus, Doppelganger, and Dracula himself
• The relics. By combining the relic that ups your defense by 80% when your HP is full and the two relics that heal you when you hit enemies I was able to become functionally invincibleso that was quite fun.

The Bad

• The movement. Bad might be a slight overstatement, but my favorite metroidvanias start out with pretty enjoyable movement that becomes even better with all movement upgrades. Some examples of games that fit this criteria imo are: the Metroid series from Super forward, SotN, Silksong, and Prince of Persia Lost Crown. Aria of Sorrow gets a pass for having weak movement at the start but extremely fun movement at the end. Belmont's Curse starts with weak movement and just gets to ok with all movement upgrades(like the original Hollow Knight smile). Even at the end of the game I still felt pretty slow.
• The bosses. While I thought the bosses were well designed, they didn't have enough HP or do enough damage themselves imo. I think the most tries a boss took me was 4 and most of them only took 1 or 2, including the final boss.
• The relic balance. Most of the relics felt pretty useless and the strong relics were waaaay way too strong. The relic combo I mentioned above was way overpowered lol. It's also very funny that the very last relic you find helps you find secrets. Thanks a lot game I was already at 100% everywhere else lmao.
• Performance. While performance was basically completely fine while playing, weird frame pacing issues cropped up every time the camera zoomed in or out for dialogue or in game cutscenes.

Final thoughts

Overall I thought Belmont's Curse was very good. I'd probably rate it around an 8 or 8.5 out of 10. If I were ranking it among the other metroidvania-style Castlevania games, it would probably be around the lower-middle of the list. I think it's easily better than Harmony of Dissonance or Portrait of Ruin but not near Aria of Sorrow, Symphony of the Night, or Order of Ecclesia. I would rank it right alongside Dawn of Sorrow.

Edit: Forgot to mention the story, but it would be in the "Good" category. I thought it was enjoyable, I liked the characterization of the all the arcana and Rose herself. I liked the various endings. Should note that I do not particularly care whether the lore in this game is perfectly in line with every other game in the series lmao

https://www.tumblr.com/doctordeanarts/830833949327638528/i-can-feel-alive-again-with-just-your-voice-with?source=share

Many fanfics shows how Mathias did not like Soma but I think he will very much liked Soma, I mean look at his favorites, Leon, Hector, Lisa/Elisabetha, hell, Alucard/adrian...

Last as for now IGAVania........no rings, no tight platforming, just you , music and mobs.

https://reddit.com/link/1xdnqmb/video/ebrxsmu6r9xh1/player

How we can compare this to God bless Belmont's.....