Castlevania Belmont’s Curse Averages 85, With Two Caveats

10 out of 10 at Shacknews, 7 out of 10 at Push Square: three points apart for the same release. Castlevania Belmont’s Curse, Konami’s game developed by Evil Empire (the studio behind the Dead Cells expansions and The Rogue Prince of Persia), got its reviews on October 13. The average is high. But two complaints come up from one review to the next, uneven difficulty and a design that takes few risks, and they explain the gap.

An 85 Average and 98% Recommendations for Castlevania Belmont’s Curse

OpenCritic shows an average of 85 out of 100 and 98% of critics recommending the game, across 60 reviews at the time of our capture (the page listed 61 when we rechecked). In the visible list, TheSixthAxis gives 8/10, Push Square 7/10, COGconnected 90/100, PlayStation Universe 10/10, ZTGD 9/10, Gameblog 8/10, Everyeye.it 8.5/10 and TechRaptor 8/10. Outside that list, GamesRadar gives 4 out of 5, ComicBook 4.5 out of 5 and Shacknews 10 out of 10. The scales differ, so the comparison is approximate.

One calendar detail separates the sources. OpenCritic lists a release on October 14 on PC, while TheSixthAxis, RPG Site and Shacknews give October 15, on PC, Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series. We could not settle it: it may be a time zone offset or early PC access, and nothing confirms either. The same mechanics apply to every launch this week: a press score tells you what reviewers played before release, not what players will live with. Gears of War E-Day showed 87 with the press and 78% on Steam, and Star Wars Galactic Racer 88 with the press, with a keyboard bug on PC.

A Difficulty Every Reviewer Reads Differently

This is where the reviews of Castlevania Belmont’s Curse contradict each other. At RPG Site, Junior Miyai finds the start too hard: “the beginning is too aggressive, too frustrating, and the mid-to-late game is too easy, too frictionless.” He describes a brutal first half, with the stretch in Paris where enemies correct their aim on your jumps, then a second half where the game becomes “comically easy.” In his view, a late-game sword, some relics and a tarot spell make the player nearly untouchable.

TechRaptor (8/10, Robert Scarpinito) points the same way, with an excerpt shown by OpenCritic that talks about a somewhat inconsistent difficulty, sometimes to the point of frustration. The full page refused us access, so we only read that excerpt. Other reviewers have a different experience. Jason Coles, of TheSixthAxis, writes: “this is probably the hardest Castlevania game I’ve played, and I’ve played nearly all of them.” At Shacknews, TJ Denzer finds normal mode punishing, but praises a custom mode that lets you tune the difficulty in both directions.

The sharpest disagreement comes from FinalWeapon, which calls the game “just as hard as the series average” and writes that the challenge “shouldn’t be an issue.” Between the hardest Castlevania and an average difficulty, the settings chosen and the platform probably play a part, but the reviews do not always say. Three of them do describe a start that hits hard.

A Cautious Design, According to FinalWeapon

Rafael Martins Malaquim writes the most telling headline of the batch for FinalWeapon: “A Great Game That Plays It a Little Too Safe.” He praises a combat system he describes as a slower, more measured version of Dead Cells, an art direction and music true to the spirit of the series, and animations that telegraph attack timing. His complaint fits in one sentence: exploration and platforming offer “very few surprises for fans of the genre.” He sees in Castlevania Belmont’s Curse a reintroduction more than a true return to roots, while concluding that the game is “definitely a return to form.”

The same reviewer notes that the level system risks making the endgame trivial, which matches RPG Site’s finding. And caution has an upside that ComicBook highlights: Matthew Danielson, who gives 4.5 out of 5, calls it a “perfect entry point for new audiences.” A game that does not upend its conventions is also a game a newcomer can pick up without a manual.

Rose, Paris and Dracula’s Castle

The game stars Rose Belmont, Trevor’s daughter, who crosses a monster-infested Paris before reaching Dracula’s castle. Shacknews sets the action in 1499 and notes that Rose carries Dracula’s curse in her arm. Serena Cherry, of GamesRadar, gives 4 out of 5 and sums up the change of scenery: the series trades its usual stone ruins for “the burning streets of 15th century Paris.”

On the mechanics side, ComicBook counts seven weapon types, tarot cards won from bosses that grant spells, three equippable relics and an arcane whip for traversal. The hidden clues on the map, carried by ghosts, statues and notes, also win over Shacknews. ComicBook’s reservations target rooms crowded with enemies and backtracking it found tedious.

None of the reviews cited here advises against Castlevania Belmont’s Curse. Four of them warn that the first hours in Paris have to be earned.