Castlevania Makes a Strong Comeback with 'Belmont's Curse' Following the success of the Netflix series, the Castlevania franchise returns to gaming with 'Belmont's Curse'. Developed by Evil Empire, the game introduces a new Belmont, Rose, and receives positive reviews for its art style and gameplay, despite some performance issues. Nine years ago, Netflix reintroduced the gothic horror world of Castlevania to a new audience with its acclaimed animated series based on the iconic series of video games. Loosely adapting the events of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, it followed Trevor Belmont, the last descendant of the disgraced Belmont clan of monster hunters, and his allies Sypha Belnades and Alucard, Dracula's dhampir son, in a battle to save humanity by defeating the powerful vampire and his minions in the Eastern European nation of Wallachia. While it quickly grew into one of the platform's most popular and beloved adult animated offerings, complete with a sequel spin-off in Castlevania: Nocturne, the games themselves remained dormant. 2014's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 was the last mainline release for some time, with no idea when Konami would resurrect the franchise.New Castlevania Game Belmonts Curse AnnouncedThis year, however, Dracula has finally arisen again. After being limited to collections of older titles and crossover expansions with the likes of Dead Cells, Vampire Survivors, and Dead by Daylight, Sony's State of Play presentation back in February revealed that Castlevania was returning with a new title, Belmont's Curse.Evil Empire, co-developers of Dead Cells and its "Return to Castlevania" DLC, were tapped to realize the dark fantasy franchise's next chapter in time for its 40th anniversary with a new style and a yet-unseen Belmont - Trevor and Sypha's daughter, Rose. Now that it's out in the wild, critics have spoken out and mostly agreed that it's a return to blood-sucking form.As of writing, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse sits at a strong Metacritic score of 84, putting it around the same ballpark, if a bit lower than the other "Metroidvania" titles in the franchise. It remains just ahead of the original Lords of Shadow and only one point behind the beloved Nintendo DS games, Order of Ecclesia and Portrait of Ruin.Castlevania Critics Praise New Art Style GameplayOn modern Xbox consoles, it sits even more positively at 88, which would put it closer to series high points, like Symphony of the Night and Dawn of Sorrow, though Nintendo Switch and PC are running a bit lower at 78 and 82, respectively. Most reviewers have praised the new art style, gameplay, and understanding of classic Castlevania implemented by Evil Empire, though there have been criticisms about the game's performance at times and uneven progression. More reviews are still rolling in.