Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Took Me on a Trip to My Early Childhood Video Gaming
Taking place 23-years following the events of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse has players take control of Rose Belmont to rid the world of Dracula once more. And as the daughter of famed vampire hunters Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, Rose will take on new challenges with her trusty whip, her father's sword, and her mother's magic.
Let me set the stage for a moment: You come home from school and run to your living room with only one thing on your mind: playing that hot new video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System or Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Little do you know, you're soon to be the victim of "Nintendo Hard" video game difficulty. And that trauma lingers like old battle scars. So, of course, I decided to relive that trauma by demoing the forthcoming Castlevania: Belmont's Curse at the Tokyo Game Show 2026.
As I walked the atmospheric hall complete with portraits of the Belmont family from the Castlevania series, I was instantly transported to the gothic horror of the game with an atmospheric silhouette of Dracula's castle as soon as I booted up the demo for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse. Ready to take on the horrors ahead, I steeled myself.
I entered said castle with Rose and thought, “This isn't too bad. The controls are fluid and responsive. The enemies aren't that tough, and the puzzles aren't too difficult to figure out.” Even the background of the Castlevania: Belmont's Curse demo, with its deep reds, greens, oranges, yellows, and blues cast in shadows, had me excited for the adventure ahead of me. And looking at the in-game map, I was overcome with nostalgia for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. So many places to explore, secrets to be found, a few places in the opening area I couldn't reach until I gained some new powers. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse was going to be an adventure.
But like a naive child, I played right into the hands of Konami, the producers of the Castlevania series. Lulling me into a false sense of safety with the gameplay, gorgeous visuals, and a handful of easy fights with skeletons, bam! I was at the first boss: a creature that appeared to be a werewolf. It came back in a wave. The frustration. The anger. The want to beat the boss no matter what.
Looking back, the boss wasn't that difficult to defeat. But it felt tough in the heat of the moment. That sense of bewilderment as my attacks did little damage, or questioning why the boss hit me when I clearly dodged, had my mind returning to the days when those were the most important questions in life. I needed a strategy. But what could I do when nothing was working? “Oh, right. Learn the attack patterns,” my brain screamed at me. But I was in a stupor, reliving my childhood, frustrated that I wasn't figuring out how to defeat the first boss.
Ready to give up after another loss, I took a brief second to calm down. I let my childhood trauma fade away and locked in. I was going to beat this boss. I saw the tells for each attack weren't difficult to grasp. And after one more death and a last bit of trial and error, I managed to get through that pesky first boss and explore Castlevania: Belmont's Curse some more… just as my demo time expired.
Based on this demo, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is in no way a difficult game for seasoned and calm players. But it's almost best played with a youthful exuberance while reliving those carefree days. And I want more of that. Thankfully, it's a short wait until the October 15 release.
discuss this in the forum |
back to Tokyo Game Show 2026
Convention homepage / archives
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.