Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Reviews Roundup

Aggregate scores

Those numbers put Belmont's Curse comfortably in “must-consider” territory for fans of the genre. The PS5 version carries most of the reviews, so its 86 is the most reliable figure. The PC score sits slightly lower at 84; it slipped from 85 in an October 13 snapshot as more reviews came in. Xbox's 88 rests on only six reviews, and the Switch version does not have a Metascore yet, partly because fewer outlets reviewed it before launch.

For context, Wikipedia notes that the most acclaimed game in the series, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, holds a Metacritic score of 93. Belmont's Curse does not reach that bar on aggregate, but individual reviewers repeatedly bring up Symphony as the right comparison, which says a lot about where the game is aiming.

Scores by outlet

Scores in the table are the numbers Metacritic lists for each review, converted to its 0–100 scale; where we know the outlet's own scale, it is shown in brackets. The takeaways are our short paraphrases of each outlet's verdict, so follow the sources at the bottom of the page for the full reviews.

What reviewers praise

• Movement and combat. GameSpot singles out flexible combat and acrobatic traversal; Game Informer calls the combat tense. Evil Empire's Dead Cells background shows in how fast Rose moves.
• The tarot and Arcana system. Turning defeated bosses into equippable spell cards is the idea most reviewers mention first, with GameSpot calling it the glue that ties the systems together and IGN Italia calling it clever.
• Exploration. Game Informer describes a map “chock-full of secrets”, TheGamer praises stellar exploration, and Jeuxvideo.com calls it exemplary.
• Presentation. Reviews widely praise the art direction, the Gothic Paris setting and the soundtrack, which mixes new music with a rendition of the series classic Bloody Tears.
• Respect for the series. Shacknews and IGN Deutschland both say it balances fresh ideas with classic Castlevania strengths, and Polygon says it wields series iconography “as skillfully as a Belmont”.
• Quality-of-life features. IGN highlights convenient map tracking tools, and Shacknews mentions options for adjusting the game's intensity.

Common criticisms

• It plays it safe. The most repeated complaint: in a genre now full of strong modern Metroidvanias, Push Square, VGC and Creative Bloq feel it does not do enough to stand apart.
• Less Castlevania feel. IGN argues it is a better Metroidvania in general than it is a Castlevania specifically, trading some of the series' signature charm for speed.
• Balance and frustration. RPG Site found the gameplay balance off, Push Square describes moments that feel unresponsive and lead to frustrating deaths, and IGN Italia mentions badly placed platforming checkpoints.
• Shallow weapon variety. IGN Italia felt the weapons were less varied than the seven categories suggest.
• Switch performance. Siliconera reports performance issues and weaker visuals on Switch and Switch 2 and suggests waiting for fixes on Nintendo hardware.

Differences between platforms

PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC run at 60 fps, while the Switch version runs at 30 fps, and so far the review scores follow that split: the three scored Switch reviews on Metacritic range from 70 to 80, against an 86 Metascore on PS5. There is no native Switch 2 version; a Switch 2 plays the Switch version, which Nintendo describes as behaving the same as on Switch. If you own several platforms, PS5, Xbox or a PC that meets the system requirements is the safer choice. Xbox buyers also get Xbox Play Anywhere, so one digital purchase covers console and Xbox on PC.

How long is Castlevania: Belmont's Curse?

Konami has not confirmed an official length as of 2026-10-14. The only figure in the reviews we checked comes from Nintendo World Report, which describes “a dozen-plus hours” of entertainment. Completion time in a Metroidvania varies a lot with how much of the map you clear, so treat that as a rough guide to a first playthrough rather than a promise.

Should you buy Castlevania: Belmont's Curse?

Yes, if you love Symphony-style Castlevania. The critical consensus is that this is a polished, faithful and fast new entry, and even the lukewarm reviews call it fun. At $29.99 it is also priced below most full-price releases.

Try the demo first if you are on the fence. The free demo covers the opening area up to the first boss, The Fallen, and your progress carries over, so there is nothing to lose. If you have played a lot of modern Metroidvanias and want something that reinvents the genre, the most critical reviews suggest you may find it familiar.

On Switch, consider waiting. With 30 fps, reports of performance issues and no Metascore yet, Switch players may want to wait for more reviews or a patch. If Switch is your only option, play the demo on it first to judge performance yourself, then pick an edition from our editions guide.

How we report review scores

We quote scores only from pages we have checked, always with an as-of date, and we link to the aggregator and to the reviews themselves. We never fold third-party scores into our own structured data or present them as this site's rating. We will refresh this page after launch as Switch reviews arrive and the aggregates settle, and log each update on the news page.