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Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse has the ingredients of a modern revival, but its uneven controls and a few rough technical behaviors keep it from feeling consistently polished. In a 14 October 2026 review, PC Gamer’s Wes Fenlon described a game that can be responsive and satisfying one moment, then awkward or imprecise the next. The result is less a failure of ideas than a problem of feel: the whip, dodge, phasing and healing systems sometimes add friction where the action needs certainty.
Why the game feels off
The central issue is consistency. Belmont’s Curse presents itself with strong action-game fundamentals—slick animation, punchy hitstop, enemy reactions and attractive effects—but several inputs do not always produce the result players expect. That mismatch is especially noticeable in platforming and boss encounters, where a missed timing window can mean a death rather than a minor correction.
Fenlon summarized the problem as “a little slack” in the whip, preventing the game from becoming the wholehearted Castlevania return its presentation suggests. His assessment comes from approximately eight hours of play, at which point he believed he was approaching the halfway mark.
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Whip wind-up and grapple targeting
The whip has a lengthy wind-up when used for precision traversal. In spike-filled sections, the delay makes it difficult to time swings cleanly, even when the player has read the obstacle correctly. Grapple targeting is also unintuitive: the review says players can miss because the analog stick should be held toward the direction of travel rather than pointed directly at the grapple point. That behavior is easy to misunderstand until the game has already punished the attempt.
#1 Best Overall
- Classics that defined the Castlevania series.
- Includes the "History of Castlevania - Book of the Crescent Moon" ebook.
- This includes eight classic Castlevania games preserved on one disc with a full-color manual.
- The Castlevania Anniversary Collection on physical disc for the PlayStation 4. Also works on PlayStation 5. Region-free.
The forward slide dodge
The first dodge taught to the player is a forward slide. Fenlon found that it supplied so few, possibly zero, invincibility frames that it was more dangerous than protective in some boss fights. A dodge can still reposition Belmont, but players expecting a conventional damage-avoiding roll may press it at exactly the wrong moment.
Phasing is awkwardly bound
Phasing through walls and floors is assigned by default to the controller’s left trigger. Some sequences require a repeated pattern: hold phase, release it to wall-jump, hold again, then release to land above spikes. Because the left trigger is an analog input with a long travel distance, Fenlon argues that it is a poor fit for this rapid hold-and-release precision.
Rank #2
- Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse | Night One Edition includes: Main Game, Alucard Style Costume, Digital Sound & Art Gallery, Trevor Style Costume, Sypha Style Costume, and Family's Grace (Relic).
- Medieval Paris, Where the Tolling Bells Herald the End - 1499: Paris is engulfed in flames as monstrous creatures suddenly emerge from the shadows. Armed with the legendary holy whip, the Vampire Killer, Trevor Belmont’s successor ventures into the burning streets and the looming castle to hunt down the beasts. Can they save the city from the brink of destruction?
- Satisfying Whip Action - The iconic whip of the series is now more important than ever! Crack your whip to move around freely like a trapeze artist! Master the whip mechanics and be creative to pounce on your prey like a wolf in fast-paced combats!
- A Large Selection of Weapons and Abilities - The whip is not the only tool at your disposal. You will need to strategically plan your next move in combat and make full use of all the weapons and abilities to stand a chance!
- Environment Hazards That Will make you grit your teeth - Biomes are packed with secrets, traps and puzzles. It is not just about muscles, it's about brains too!
Other timing and feedback issues
Rose Belmont’s whip-pull attack can feel as though its timing window arrives too early. Healing requires holding a button for a relatively long duration; Fenlon sometimes believed healing had completed before dying. These moments make the game feel less trustworthy than its visual feedback implies.
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The opening hours make a poor first impression, but the experience becomes more inventive after the game reaches Dracula’s Castle. Fenlon reports smarter platforming gimmicks, directional clues pointing toward Dracula’s minions and a structure that asks the player to reason through spaces rather than simply clear a linear sequence of rooms.
Rank #3
- 17 Levels - Each one with its own atmosphere, foes and secrets to discover
- 5 Bosses - Made by the most sadistic of the devs, raised on the salt of the testers
- 150 or so weapons and skills - Spears, swords, bows, magic spells, shields, pets, frying pans etc; You name it, we got it
- Unlock the four original Dead Cells DLCs, giving you late-game content plus an entire new pathway to follow, with an alternative ending and tons of new enemies, weapons & outfits
- Battle through the corridors of Dracula’s Castle; Wield weapons against monsters to reach the throne room of the Dark Lord
That shift matters because it reveals a stronger identity beneath the early control frustrations. The castle’s puzzle-oriented navigation gives exploration more purpose and makes the game feel less like a collection of disconnected action challenges. Players who find Paris underwhelming may therefore see a substantial change in rhythm once the castle opens up.
Presentation: excellent combat feedback, limited early scenes
Belmont’s Curse draws heavily from the Netflix Castlevania series and includes a couple of the same voice actors. Its combat presentation is often effective: animations are slick, hitstop gives attacks weight, and gorgeous tarot cards serve as both special weapons and guides to bosses.
Rank #4
- 17 Levels - Each one with its own atmosphere, foes and secrets to discover
- 5 Bosses - Made by the most sadistic of the devs, raised on the salt of the testers
- 150 or so weapons and skills - Spears, swords, bows, magic spells, shields, pets, frying pans etc; You name it, we got it
- Unlock the four original Dead Cells DLCs, giving you late-game content plus an entire new pathway to follow, with an alternative ending and tons of new enemies, weapons & outfits
- Battle through the corridors of Dracula’s Castle; Wield weapons against monsters to reach the throne room of the Dark Lord
The weakness is in the early cutscenes. Fenlon criticizes them as static artwork presented through panning shots, arguing that the story scenes deserved fuller animation. This creates a noticeable contrast between the polished in-game action and the comparatively bare presentation between stages.
PC display behavior and a practical black-screen fix
Fenlon reported a black screen on first boot when using a monitor set above 120 Hz. After selecting the in-game 120 fps cap, he also saw the frame rate drop below that cap during cutscenes. These are observations from the review build, not confirmed permanent defects on every PC, and the review notes that launch updates could change the behavior.
Best Value
- LIMITED EDITION: Official Limited Run Games release #251 of the Castlevania Dominus Collection featuring Order of Ecclesia cover art for Nintendo Switch
- GAME FORMAT: Physical DVD-ROM release, not a digital download, packaged in standard Nintendo Switch game case
- CONTENT: Action-packed collection of classic Castlevania games, rated T for Teen by ESRB
- PACKAGING DIMENSIONS: Comes in standard Switch case measuring 6 inches high, 3 inches wide, and 2 inches deep
- REGION AND LANGUAGE: US release with English language support, compatible with Nintendo Switch systems
If you encounter the same startup symptom, the evidence supports this limited workaround:
- Temporarily set the monitor refresh rate to 120 Hz or lower in your operating system’s display settings.
- Launch the game and select the 120 fps cap in its video options.
- Check whether the game displays normally, then test a cutscene to see whether frame-rate changes still occur.
- If the issue persists, restore your preferred refresh rate and look for an official patch or support guidance rather than assuming the review-build behavior is universal.
No independent benchmark or patch verification is established here, so frame-rate behavior may differ by graphics hardware, monitor and game version.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse worth buying?
The answer depends on how much control precision matters to you and whether you are willing to push past a slow opening. The game is a better prospect for players who value atmosphere, animated combat feedback, Castlevania references and puzzle-like exploration in Dracula’s Castle. It is a riskier purchase for anyone who expects immediately reliable traversal, generous dodge invulnerability or perfectly readable timing windows.
| What the game does well | Where it falls short |
|---|---|
| Slick animation and forceful hitstop | Whip wind-up can undermine precision platforming |
| Tarot cards double as weapons and boss clues | Grapple direction is easy to misread |
| Dracula’s Castle adds inventive, puzzle-oriented navigation | Forward slide dodge may provide little or no invulnerability |
| Strong connection to the Netflix-era visual identity | Early cutscenes rely on panning static artwork |
| Potentially rich revival concept | Reported black-screen and cutscene frame-rate quirks on PC |
In short, Belmont’s Curse is not described as empty or irredeemable. It is a promising revival whose best ideas become clearer later, while several input decisions keep the whole package from reaching the responsiveness its combat presentation promises.
Quick Recap
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