Regarding the 2D exploration action game *Castlevania: Belmont's Curse*, which launched on October 15, 2026, the first-day ratings for the Steam version appear to be “Mixed” based on overall reviews.
“Something New” Sparks Mixed Reactions? The Latest Entry in the Series Finally Arrives
This title is the latest entry in the series and the first completely new, one-time-purchase game since 2014’s *Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2*.Set 23 years after *Castlevania: The Legend*, the game follows the adventures of “Rose Belmont,” the daughter of “Trevor Belmont” (known as “Ralph C. Belmont” in Japan), the protagonist of that title.
On the review aggregation site Metacritic, the PS5 version—which received the most reviews—has a Metascore of 85 (based on 54 reviews), which is only slightly lower than the 89 (based on 13 reviews) scored by the PS5 version of *Castlevania Dominus Collection*, a recently released bundle featuring classic exploration-based 2D action titles from the series plus bonus content.It tied with *Castlevania: The Stolen Seal*, another title included in the same collection, at 85 points (46 reviews).
As for *Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse*, which was released on October 15, 2026, at 1:00 PM,*Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse*, which went live at 1:00 PM on October 15, 2026. As of the time of writing (11:15 PM on the same day)—approximately 10 hours later—the overall Steam review score, based on 670 reviews, stands at “Mixed,” with 59% positive.
On the positive side, reviewers have praised the release of a new installment in the original exploration-based 2D action *Castlevania* series—which helped coin the term “Metroidvania”—and noted that the game runs smoothly even on PCs with limited specs.
On the other hand, among those who gave negative reviews, some reported issues when playing at high refresh rates, while others criticized the game balance—which, unlike previous exploration-based 2D action *Castlevania* titles, feels overly difficult—or expressed frustration with the abundance of mechanics that rely heavily on the “whip action.”
On the other hand, some users who gave the game a positive review actually cited these differences from past entries as a reason for their approval, so this aspect may also have contributed to the mixed reception.
Additionally, the number of concurrent players on Steam reached 17,896, setting a new record for a title in the series on that platform (according to the unofficial statistics site SteamDB).
*Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse* is currently available for PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
