Review - Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

“Castlevania: Curse of Darkness” is a 3D action RPG released on the PS2 and Xbox in 2005. Early 3D games in the Castlevania series existed in a very weird space; they were trying to blaze a trail from a traditionally 2D genre into a third dimension, but 3D models were still fairly low resolution and the controls were often clunky. As such, Curse of Darkness is cursed (pun intended) with this sort of video game adolescence, where earlier games excelled with 2D sprites and traditional mechanics, and later games did something similar but better. However, does that mean that Curse of Darkness offers nothing worth playing today?

My experience with Curse of Darkness began soon after it released on PS2. At a time when rentals were expensive and demos only existed for popular titles on quarterly demo discs, you basically had to make a decision off pictures from magazines and familiarity with the series. I played and enjoyed Castlevania games in the past, so it was a reasonably safe bet.

Although Curse of Darkness was markedly different than previous Castlevania games, it ended up being incredibly fun for circa 14 year old me. Not only was the combat fun and engaging, but the Innocent Devil system was basically Pokemon-lite. Castlevania and Pokemon together is a huge win for me, and I had a good time with it.

Over the years since, I played several ports and ROMs of old Castlevania games, but Curse of Darkness never made it to modern platforms. Probably due to its weird place in gaming technology and the lukewarm reception it received at the time, it was never worth investing the time and effort to re-release. I wouldn’t mind paying for it, but it wasn’t available on any online stores to buy. And PS2 era (I assumed) was too modern for my laptop to emulate.

When I got the fever for a Steam Deck, I specifically started looking into emulation with it. Everything I read suggested that the deck could handle even Nintendo Switch emulation, I’m sure the PS2 would be easy. The recommended emulation solution was EmuDeck, a software that handles everything from downloading and installing emulators, to setting up file systems to accept ROMs, and even adding those games into your Steam library. Interestingly, they offered both a SteamOS variant and a Windows variant.

I decided to check out the Windows version to familiarize myself with the system. If the file structures were identical, I should be able to just drag and drop the installation straight onto an SD card that I would put in the Steam Deck and carry right on where I left off. I loaded up some (mostly legally obtained) bios files, put a few ROMs in to test, and SNES games worked just fine. I wondered if PS2 might just maybe work, but I was hesitant to try. Why bother getting my hopes up when it probably wouldn’t run at all.

Eventually, I procured an ISO file of Curse of Darkness (I still own the disc, it’s cool), and dropped it into the ps2 folder. I kicked off PCSX2 and let it spin up. Surprisingly, the opening cinematic ran perfectly fine. When the title screen opened up, I used the keyboard to start a new game. I expected an immediate framerate drop to something slightly better than a slideshow, but it actually worked. I ran around a bit with the arrow keys, just to confirm, but this was entirely playable.

Playable is a loose definition when you’re using a keyboard for a game that was made exclusively to be played on a traditional gamepad. Fortunately, I had an old USB controller that I picked up in college to play GBC ROMs with. I plugged it in, configured the inputs, and it actually worked. I was amazed.

When I managed to get the game running properly, I vowed to finally steal Death’s Pulse. Curse of Darkness has a steal system that allows you to watch for particular windows in enemy movements and attack patterns and steal from them. Most bosses offer some valuable crafting material, and Death offers Death’s Pulse. This material is the only way to craft the strongest weapon in the game.

The first time I played Curse of Darkness, I was determined to steal from all the bosses and craft Death’s Scythe. In the fight with Death, I could see the enemy lock turn purple (the sign you can steal), but I could never actually get the steal to connect. I would grasp at nothing and fall back to prepare for the next cycle. I did this for hours. I fought Death so much that killing him was trivial. Eventually, I would kill him by accident because the invulnerability power that I use would deal slight damage over time to all enemies nearby. When this would happen, I reset the game back to my last save and tried the fight over again.

After multiple days, I gave up on my ambitions to craft Death’s Scythe and just finished the fight. Death is the penultimate boss, so there wasn’t much game left to play after that. I was disappointed, but it didn’t mean I hadn’t enjoyed the game. However, playing the game again as an adult, I was determined to get that scythe.

When that fight arrived, I prepared for a long battle. I was in no hurry to finish the game, so I could hang around and try it until I left with Death’s Pulse. The first few times, I tried old strategies that I remembered from before. Same as my first time, I could just never get the timing to work. Eventually, I decided to see if some other tactic would work better. I turned to GameFAQs, the best source for game strategies in the mid 2000s.

“Stay right in front of Death, attack him as much as you can, block his attacks, replenished your life if need be whack him again as much as you can and as soon as Death raised his hand and about to throw his big fire ball blast, use the Fairy ID "Tiramisu" - [Invincibility Vase] ability on Hector right away, pause the game right after you used it on him, go to the Sound menu option, lower the back ground music all the way down to zero, you might want to raise the TV's volume a bit that way you're able to hear the explosion. Listen carefully to Death's fire ball explosion's sound, as soon as the fire ball explosion is starting to fade away, quickly pause the game again and summoned another ID to cancel the invincibility on Hector as soon as you do that start mashing the (O) button and steal Death's Pulse.” Source: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/925894-castlevania-curse-of-darkness/answers/138334-how-in-the-world-do-you-steal-from-death 

Following these instructions to the letter, I was able to steal on the very first attempt. I’m not sure how anyone was supposed to figure that out, but clearly this person did, and I am eternally grateful that they shared this knowledge on the internet. After finishing the fight, I immediately gathered the remaining materials to craft Death’s Scythe. Unfortunately, it didn’t really live up to the hype and I actually preferred using the Chauve-souris. Still, I’m glad I finally figured it out and accomplished a feat that I regretted failing for years.

Story - 6/10

Castlevania games aren’t exactly known for their story in most cases, but the plot of Curse of Darkness is serviceable. Specifically, it’s interesting to get an inside look at a previous ally of Dracula, and not a Belmont. Hector and Isaac have an interesting dynamic with similar backgrounds that diverge dramatically. Furthermore, their presence in the Netflix Castlevania series actually gives them a little staying power.

Beyond this rivalry, there isn’t a lot of depth. Bad people want Dracula revived. Good people come to the rescue. It’s still standard Castlevania fare, but I am more than okay with that. Sticking with a successful formula is a good move, especially when you’re already making the huge shift from 2D to 3D. The story and characters will feel familiar and comfortable if you’re played any Castlevania games before.

If you rush through without really exploring areas or grinding out materials for the crafting system, it’s probably a 15 hour game. I spent 23 hours on it and didn’t even quite do everything. Some of that time comes from the slow movement speed and “long, empty hallways” as some describe the environments, but I didn’t mind them. There are plenty of monsters to beat up in those hallways, which is probably why we’re playing this game anyway.

Once you beat Curse of Darkness, you can play as Trevor in an alternate mode. Like most Metroidvania games, though, I’m pretty thoroughly satisfied after a single run through. I definitely don’t want to turn around and immediately play through the same game with a different character. Maybe in a year or two, I’ll go back and start a new run as Trevor. Just don’t expect to do multiple runs back to back with anything new to see.

General Gameplay - 7/10

As much as I dismiss the “long, empty hallways” criticism of Curse of Darkness, it isn’t entirely inaccurate. The vast majority of the game does genuinely consist of long hallways without a lot going on besides the enemies you have to fight. Each area does have different backgrounds and textures, but all rooms in the same area do look more or less identical. Without the enemies, it would be pretty boring to navigate these halls.

Fortunately, there are plenty of branching paths to explore, which is core to the Metroidvania experience. Lots of rooms have breakable walls for hidden items or secret paths. You are absolutely encouraged to fully traverse the map before you fight the boss of any given area, just to get all possible upgrades and items. Then, you fight the boss and proceed to the next area. Rinse and repeat. It’s a predictable gameplay loop.

The crafting system is absolutely a redeeming quality of this game. As you pick up any new crafting material for the first time, you also unlock recipes using that item. Then, those weapons or armor pieces that you craft can often be further upgraded into other items. Each time I got a new material, there was a temporary break to craft as much as I could with the new item before continuing on with the main objective. Some joke items seem a little weird in a medieval fantasy setting (a sports uniform???), but most of them are genuinely useful gear.

Combat - 9/10

The combat is where Curse of Darkness shines. There are different weapon categories, and these categories all handle distinctly with unique attacks and combos. As you try a new weapon and get a feel for the attacks, you’ll find certain scenarios where particular combos are more useful. Things like terrain and enemy behavior make certain weapons more advantageous, and you can swap as simply as opening your menu. No carry limits or restrictions on what you can take into battle. You can literally carry every weapon you’ve ever crafted or picked up with you and swap at any point.

Blocking and dodging are critical, and both are very beginner friendly. After you pick up a certain ability, dodging provides invincibility frames. Blocking can be as simple as holding the button, or precise tapping to trigger a perfect block. The perfect block staggers enemies, restores a little bit of your health, and for some enemies it’s the only way to open their steal window. If you’re willing to practice it, perfect blocks are a huge benefit in combat and make the game substantially easier once you get the timing down.

Oh, and there are Pokemon. Not ACTUALLY Pokemon, but they might as well be. Innocent Devils (IDs) as they’re called in the game are monsters that you can summon to fight with you. There are several different basic forms, and they can evolve into different versions with different abilities depending on what weapons you use. You can manually select abilities, or you can let them automatically fight.

As you’re fighting with an Innocent Devil, they will occasionally drop an egg, which you can then hatch into a new base level ID of the same type and use different weapons to evolve it through a different path. They gain experience as you fight and level up with you. It’s such a cool system and I hate that they haven’t done anything similar since.

Where a lot of Metroidvania combat is limited to swinging a sword and backdashing away, I think the combat of Curse of Darkness is simply art. You can get through the entire game using nothing but one weapon type and no abilities, but the option is there to really get into the weeds and try out new tactics to great effect. I love fighting in this game.

Difficulty - 5/10

This is one of those games where the difficulty is basically as hard as you make it. If you bum rush through without grinding levels or making a point to craft new weapons, it can be tremendously punishing. If you fully explore every new area, steal a lot of crafting materials, and craft all the new equipment that you have recipes for, you will quickly become absurdly powerful. Grinding is 100% an option to improve your chance for success.

What I found to be the best compromise was spending a decent amount of time exploring, but not necessarily grinding any enemies in particular. Once I reached a boss, I would try a few times immediately. If I was getting completely blown out, I would go back and continue exploring. Level up a few times, grind some crafting materials, figure out the best gear I could make with what I had available. Whenever I would come back to the boss, it would be substantially easier.

Graphics - 7/10

The visuals in Curse of Darkness are nice, but not specifically better than other games of that era. In particular, the enemy and character models are very detailed and look really good. The environments are really the weakness of the game. Walls and floors have the same boring texture across nearly the entirety of each area. It’s interesting for 5 minutes, then it all looks identical.

It’s hard to look at a 20 year old game objectively. We’ve had two decades of graphical improvements since. You look at Lords of Shadow just 5 years later, it still looks notably better than Curse of Darkness. I grew up on PS2, so there are some undeniable nostalgia goggles going on. If you’re going into a PS2 game today, I feel like you have to expect the level of graphics quality. Just know, it didn’t blow anybody’s socks off then (that I remember), and it’s definitely not going to be impressive now.

Music - 7/10

Castlevania games in general tend to have good soundtracks, and I think Curse of Darkness fits with the series. There are some noteworthy tracks, and a lot that just exist in the background. “Cordova Town” is probably my favorite theme. This isn’t a soundtrack that I frequently go out of my way to listen to, but it fits the theming of the game and doesn’t feel out of place.

My Take

The Good

The combat is fantastic, crafting is super in-depth, and graphics and music are solid for the era.

The Bad

“Long, empty hallways” dominate much of the game, and traversal isn’t very interesting outside of beating up on enemies.

The Ugly

Transition of the Castlevania series from 2D to 3D had to happen eventually, but it still feels very much like those adolescent years where the creators weren’t exactly sure how to make that change effectively.

Overall - 7/10

Curse of Darkness is something of a redheaded stepchild of the Castlevania series. It isn’t quite as bemoaned as Castlevania 64 (which I’ve still never played), but a lot of people didn’t seem to enjoy it. I can understand the sentiment, but I think the combat, the crafting, and the Innocent Devil system are really interesting and worth playing. It might not be for everybody, but I think any Castlevania fan or fans of the Metroidvania genre should give it a shot.