After working through Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse‘s platforming challenges, the author of a review for Kotaku says they’ve grown fond of the game’s soundtrack — an eclectic downtempo collection tuned to today’s musical zeitgeist, one that seems as obsessed with the Lofi Girl and her many siblings.
The sound team at Evil Empire chose this approach, which the reviewer notes makes Belmont’s Curse stand out sonically just as it does mechanically and visually. It avoids becoming grating in the way louder tracks can — such as the harpsichords blaring in the Long Library from Symphony of the Night.
The writer singles out Bone March, which plays during exploration of the Paris Catacombs, along with “Iron Clock,” the theme for the Clock Tower. They also praise “Stone Tyrant,” Talos’s boss theme — a fight they describe as physically punishing despite its difficulty.
The one exception, per the reviewer, is how Belmont’s Curse treats “Bloody Tears,” which they call the franchise’s signature theme — comparable to Dr. Wily’s Castle 테마 from Mega Man 2. Even the arrangement used in the Castlevania Dead Cells DLC earns praise.
In Belmont’s Curse, however, “Bloody Tears”” feels like a pulled punch. After a familiar run of notes signals that the melody players remember is returning, the beat drop instead fades into almost nothing — too orchestral and lacking the edge expected from other arrangements, blending into the background.
The reviewer concludes that “Bloody Tears” should energize players for the fight against Dracula, but this version instead puts them to sleep.
1 comment