Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Is $29.99 and Out Oct. 15. The Price Is the Real Surprise

I haven't played Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, and as of today I couldn't find a single full review of it. The game lands Thursday. What I did instead is the homework a buyer needs before pre-ordering: I read the hands-on previews from Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show, compared the two editions line by line, and set the price next to everything else launching this month.

The price surprised me more than any trailer did. A brand-new Castlevania, built with Evil Empire, the French studio behind Dead Cells' Return to Castlevania expansion, costs $29.99. In a month when Gears of War: E-Day asks $69.99 and Star Wars: Galactic Racer asks $59.99, that number feels almost shy. I like it. A lower price asks less of you, and it gives a game room to be good without having to be an event.

What's actually confirmed

The setup is a good one. It's 1499, and Paris is on fire. Trevor Belmont, the hero who beat Dracula in Castlevania III, walks into the burning city with his daughter Rose, and Rose is the one you control. According to Konami's announcement as reported by Gematsu, the story takes place 23 years after Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.

The new idea is the Arcana system. Beat a boss and its power gets trapped on a tarot-style card that Rose can use, which previewers say also opens up areas she couldn't reach before. Rose starts out with a sword and picks up the series' whip after the first major boss, according to MP1st and CGMagazine. Evil Empire's creative director told PlayStation the team is "very focused on combat," and the PlayStation hands-on report says the game steers away from roguelite elements like permadeath and procedurally generated levels.

That last detail matters if you're thinking about Dead Cells. Same studio, different design.

Why $29.99 is the story

Here's October's price ladder, using the launch prices from our own coverage of each game. I've kept the scale honest: the bar length is the price, nothing else.

• Kingdom Hearts Collection (Switch 2) Oct. 8$74.99
• Gears of War: E-Day Oct. 6$69.99
• Star Wars: Galactic Racer Oct. 6$59.99
• Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen Oct. 9$29.99
• Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Oct. 15$29.99

A price isn't a review, but it is a statement. Thirty dollars tells me Konami wants this played more than it wants it talked about. If the game turns out great, you got a bargain. If it turns out merely good, you didn't get burned. That asymmetry is why a pre-order doesn't feel reckless here.

It also changes who this game is for. At $69.99 a game has to justify itself against your whole year. At $29.99 it only has to be a good week. I think that's healthier for a series that spent years being remembered more than played.

What the previews say, and what they can't tell us

Press have now had hands-on time at Gamescom, Tokyo Game Show and a preview event in Paris, in sessions that ran from about twenty minutes to roughly three hours. The mood is consistently warm. CGMagazine walked away from Gamescom saying Castlevania is back and in good hands, and RPG Fan said Evil Empire's Dead Cells experience shows right away in how Rose moves.

My honest read: previews are friendly by nature. Event demos are curated to show the best twenty minutes of a game. That doesn't make them wrong, it makes them incomplete. They tell me the controls and the look are working. They can't tell me whether hour twelve is as good as hour one, and that's where games like this are won or lost.

Standard vs. Midnight: what the extra $10 buys

Both editions come with the Alucard Style costume if you pre-order, so that one isn't a reason to pay more. Here's the rest.

Midnight costs about 33% more. Ten dollars isn't much money, so this isn't about the money. It's about what you get: three of the four extras are cosmetic or collectible, and the fourth, the Family's Grace relic, is something I couldn't find any description of. I don't like paying for a mystery.

My call: if you'll play the soundtrack on repeat or you love browsing art galleries, buy Midnight and enjoy it. If you want to play the game, the Standard Edition is the whole game.

My five-question pre-order test

I built a five-question test for this story. It isn't scientific; it just keeps me honest about what I know and what I'm hoping.

1. Pass
   Is the price low enough to forgive a stumble?$29.99 is below most of this month's launches. If the game turns out merely good, you haven't been burned.
2. Pass
   Does the developer have a record in this kind of game?Evil Empire built Dead Cells' Return to Castlevania expansion, which several previewers cite as the reason they were optimistic.
3. Pass, with a caveat
   Are the hands-on impressions positive?They are, across Gamescom, Tokyo Game Show and Paris. But every session was short, and event demos are built to show a game at its best.
4. Not yet
   Can I read full reviews before the money leaves my account?As of October 10 I couldn't find any. That's the single biggest open question.
5. Check first
   Is the version I'd buy clearly defined?On PS5, Xbox and PC, yes. On Switch, confirm whether you're getting the original Switch build or something else.

Two clean passes, one caveat, two open questions. That's enough for me to say the Standard Edition is a reasonable buy at launch, and equally reasonable to buy once reviews are in. I wouldn't argue with either choice.

Do you need the older games?

I don't think so. The game is a direct sequel to Castlevania III, and previews describe an older Trevor traveling with Rose. Here's where it sits on the series timeline, in my own words.

1. 1986
   The first CastlevaniaWhere the whip and the Belmont family begin. This is the series' starting line, 40 years ago this year.
2. 1989
   Castlevania III: Dracula's CurseIntroduces Trevor Belmont, who beats Dracula. This is the game Belmont's Curse follows.
3. 1997
   Symphony of the NightThe exploration-heavy game many people mean when they say a Castlevania is "Castlevania-style."
4. 1499 / 2026
   Belmont's CurseSet 23 years after Castlevania III. Trevor is older, and his daughter Rose is the one you play.

If you've played Castlevania III, you'll catch more of the references. If you haven't, I'd still start here: a $29.99 new game beats a 1989 prerequisite.

Which platform to pick

PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Steam. All four launch October 15 according to Konami's announcement. If you play on PC, you can choose Steam or the Xbox app. I'd pick the one where your friends list and saves already live.

Nintendo Switch. The Famicast reports that Konami's Switch version is also dated October 15 and is the original Switch game, playable on Switch 2 like other Switch titles. One preview outlet listed Switch 2 as a platform, so I'd confirm the exact build on the eShop page. A fast action game depends on smooth frame pacing, and I don't have performance numbers for any platform yet.

My verdict: buy, wait or skip

That's where I land: Standard Edition, and I'm happy to be wrong about everything above it.

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