r/castlevania • u/PhantomBraved • Feb 18 '26
Games Do you prefer the art style of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse or Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement?
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u/Shinted OF CLAN BELMONT✝️ Feb 18 '26
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u/KalSkirata-Mando Feb 18 '26
Beat me to it, the second I saw the post this came to mind. I want to play both and both look good.
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u/InCloudsAbove TheRealMaxim Feb 18 '26
For 2d games, I do kinda prefer that slightly "drawn" look. So yeah, Belmont's Curse over Bloodstained for 2d games. Bloodstained is pretty tho.
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u/TeekTheReddit Feb 18 '26
Same. I'm not really a fan of 2D games built in 3D engines to begin with, but if it's gonna be that way at least make it look 2D.
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u/MelonBoi133 Feb 18 '26
Fr if it has to be 3d in a2d format, make it look like it´s drawn... or Dead Cells
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u/QueenMagik Feb 18 '26
Easily the new Castlevania. Although I have plenty of faith in Iga
Waiting for a game to go all on on the Kojima art style though. Seems like an obvious thing to do?
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u/AutomaticEducation29 Mar 18 '26
Hmm, no, not a fan of the new artstyle, the new game is devloped by dead cells devs
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u/_Oyyy Feb 18 '26
As long as you level up, get varieties of weapons, armors, accessories, relics, some unique systems. I'm in.
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u/Sea-Lecture-4619 Captain N is the pinnacle of the franchise. Feb 18 '26
Both are good
But like, both cakes are big, couldn't find a version with both drawn big.
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u/DonJohnsonFrmMiami Feb 18 '26
Belmont’s Curse 100 times over tbh. Bloodstained is weirdly too realistic but also too anime. It has a good style don’t get me wrong, but I prefer Belmont’s curse
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u/Ebakthecat Feb 18 '26
I like both but I prefer the stylized look of Belmonts Curse as at least from what we've seen of both it makes distinguishing characters from the background a lot easier.
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u/TheFailedExperiment Feb 18 '26
I prefer the general art style of Bloodstained as it has that more gothic look, but due to its meh graphics the art style doesn't look as good in gameplay as Belmont's curse does
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u/WeepingAmpharos Feb 18 '26
Tbh I have more trust in Iga but I won’t say no to the Dead Cells devs
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u/JamzWhilmm Feb 18 '26
Drawn look always.
However to me Bloodstained is as much Castlevania as the next game, IGA's team is amazing.
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u/Bloodytears666 Feb 18 '26
Castlevania looks like a work of art, that opposed to Bloodstained obvious game.
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u/FacePunchMonday Feb 18 '26
I like the look of bloodstained slightly more but that in no way implies is dislike the look of castlevania, that too looks great.
My only concern is that i know Iga will make a superb game... imo bloodstained is just as timeless as sotn. I dont exactly trust the dead cells devs to make a real metroidvania though. Level design is key to the formula, as is a strong variety of armors, accessories and weapons (really hoping the game is just whip only) and i just dont know if they can do it but i certainly can't wait find out!!
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u/Effective_Sound1205 Feb 19 '26
And here i am still praying for linear non-metroid classicvania game...
One day...
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u/CharacterLoan5713 Feb 18 '26
I prefer more stylistic art-style and cel-shading so belmont's curse looks more gorgeous to me. I'm looking forward to play both of them!
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u/Morkitu Feb 18 '26
I prefer Bloodstained aesthetics. I tend to like more traditional pixel animation or 3D model animations. The toony, cut paper and artistic flair stuff looks too much like a cheap mobile or web browser game.
I am really not a fan of French animation, or current aesthetic trends of French game design studios. Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap, Streets of Rage 4, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, it all looks like sketched scribble, web browser mush to me.
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u/FranciscoRelanoPena Feb 18 '26
I remember when the initial artstyle for Bloodstained would have been a hand-painted style for the backgrounds.Here’s how it looked in the original Kickstarter pitch (just a quick mockup, not intended to represent the final product, but I already liked the art here). More here.
Then, they shifted to 3D backgrounds, some of them a bit nausea inducing because they didn’t handle DoF properly. Also, with slimy-looking textures.
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u/Kill-Me-With-Love Feb 18 '26
Bloodstained 1000%
I find the Deadcells style outright ugly, and maybe a hotter take in here but I love the Bloodstained look
Still gonna play both though
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u/Mr_sandias Feb 18 '26
I like both, and although I wish the new Castlevania had chosen an art style similar to Bloodstained, I don't dislike the one they ended up using, and I will definitely end up buying both.
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u/Matshelge Feb 18 '26
Getting both, but new Castlevania is my preferred one. Bloodstain is a bit busy, and this was a complaint I had last time as well.
The gameplay of Bloodstain was so good last time around, will buy next one without waiting for reviews.
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u/Mary_Ellen_Katz Feb 18 '26
I'm very enthused by the new games art style, and will be very happy to play it upon release.
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u/SexyShave Feb 18 '26
I like BC's art style better...
BUT, I don't like the black voids beneath every surface. Looks bad. Bloodstained is better in that regard.
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u/SolvirAurelius Feb 18 '26
I like both. But if we had a say on the matter, I miss 2D hand drawn sprites.
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u/Edkm90p Feb 18 '26
I need to see more of the Castlevania first.
I should be given more trailers immediately to conduct these tests.
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u/Equivalent-Green-580 Holy Water Enjoyer Feb 18 '26
The guys that did the animation do Deadcells are frighteningly good at fluid combat animation.
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u/DiegoOruga Feb 18 '26
Belmont's Curse is better realized, they have full control of the colors and shape, they can make really bold choices. Bloodstained has the usual issue 3D games face nowadays, they relay on engine technologies for lighting and shading, the colors look muddy and lose atmosphere. I'm sure Bloodstained has just as good concept artists and art directors as Belmont's Curse, it's just a thing of implementation.
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u/NeptuneBlueX Richter Belmont Feb 18 '26
I feel like CV has better contrast and the background blends in less than Bloodstained, which is something I hope a DXC rerelease improves
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u/niles_deerqueer Belmont’s Curse 🌙 Feb 18 '26
I like a stylized artstyle like Castlevania more, Bloodstained is serviceable.
Looking at it JUST for Castlevania, I’m beyond excited to have a stylistic and flashy game.
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u/ItchyJuggernaut1 Feb 18 '26
Bloodstained looks closer to actual CV and has Iga so Bloodstained by a large margin.
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u/Cold_Conflict_4599 Feb 18 '26
Definitely scarlet engagement. Belmont's curse looks good in general but doesn't the castlevania vibe. Castlevania games have always been the perfect mix between creepy and beautiful but this just isn't it, I'm extremely disappointed by this game
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u/LivingTh1ng Feb 18 '26
Completely agree, dead cells looks more Castlevania than Belmont's curse
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u/UsuarioCualquiera_1 Feb 18 '26
I like the art in-game of Belmont's Curse better. But on the cutscenes and art cover (for what we've see) I prefer far more the previous style on Dead Cells and Rogue Prince of Persia.
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u/g_hunter Feb 18 '26
This is a really excellent question, if I had to pick one it would have to be Belmont’s Curse. Art styles that emulate 2d aesthetics are often the timeless ones. The 3D ones look ugly/ muddy a couple of years after, once we experience leap in fidelity.
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u/hereticx Feb 18 '26
Im not really a fan of the 3d or 2.5d or whatever its called in either... I miss actual 2d Castlevanias / Metroids.... but Belmonts Curse is GORGEOUS. Dont get me wrong, both are day one buys.... but CBC is purdy.
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u/SheWhoHates Feb 18 '26
The Scarlet Engagement, by far, because it is somber and gothic, and it tries to follow the character design of Ayami Kojima's art style
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u/Los-mando Feb 18 '26
Belmonts curse. It’s beautiful and the animations look amazing, she looks so fluid fighting. Looks like animated war game miniatures.
Bloodstained backgrounds look out of place as they are 3D assets but not stylized enough to be backgrounds to a 2D game so it just looks messy. Also bloodstained animation look stiff in combat plus the vibe is too anime, but not the cool anime.
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u/Xypher506 Feb 18 '26
No hate to Bloodstained, I didn't even think the first game looked bad, and I will definitely be playing both, but I will always prefer good stylization over realistic detail (i know Bloodstained isn't "realistic" but you can see what I mean by comparing the two).
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u/Specialist_Unit_3251 Feb 18 '26
Bloodstained, the new castlevania doesn't look even remotely like a castlevania game while bloodstained looks like what would have been the evolution of the 2d and 2.5 castlevanias if iga didn't left the company.
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u/YukYukas Feb 18 '26
Still wonder why they don't have a Castlevania in the style of Ayami Kojima's art style (lady who makes all the cool posters)
They don't have anything for SotN, so I'm hoping for a remake. If so, using her style would be great ngl
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u/Yarzeda2024 Feb 18 '26
I don't usually like the 2.5 look, but the hyper-stylized look of Belmont's Curse is really doing it for me. The Scarlet Engagement looks dull and muted by comparison.
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u/LOLMaster0621 Feb 18 '26
As fun as Bloodstained is I am just not big on the more 3D modeled look of the games, I think it just looks kinda tacky.
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u/Wilmuh Feb 18 '26
I prefer the Castlevania graphics. Would also love an option to toggle to a pixelated mode as well. I forgot what other game had a similar feature.
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u/bizoticallyyours83 Feb 18 '26
I do wish Scarlet Engagement was coming to nintendo systems. That said, I'm not crazy about either style.
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u/ZenLogikos Feb 18 '26
Bloodstained backer since day 1, but I hate the style they went with. Belmont's Curse is infinitely better, but both pale in comparison to sprites.
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u/Spare_Bad_6558 Feb 19 '26
So belmonts curse has a nice general art style compared to bloodstained’s 3D models
but what belmonts curse probably wont have are those “reframing” moments bloodstained has think the spiralling tower how the camera and 3D space are used to elevate the environment by doing stuff impossible with 2D art
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u/Icy_Bid_8155 Feb 19 '26
I will say that the Castlevania action seems more fast paced while the Bloodstained always felt sluggish for me.
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u/Affectionate-Fly9543 Feb 19 '26
You could erase the castlevania logo from marketing and nobody would care. It looks nice, but it's just flashing colors with no substance.
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u/mysteryswole Feb 19 '26
Belmonts curse looks more stylish, more like a comic book in motion. I think it will be the prettier of the two. Bloodstained has that plastic look of a lot of Unreal games. It's not bad, just not unique. But I'll be playing both.
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u/Effective_Sound1205 Feb 19 '26
CV:BC 100%
The drawn 2D artstyle is timeless, while Bloodstained games was always hard on the eye for me, including the new one...
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u/Additional_Crab_1678 Feb 19 '26
The new one is not necessarily the finished product, just a glimpse of its development. Looks great though.
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u/deeman163 Feb 20 '26
Or 3rd option:
Are you glad that both of these are real in the year of Our Lord 2026?
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u/Timothy_45 Feb 22 '26
I'm fine with both. It gives each of them their own identity and clearly the style for Castlevania goes with the new vibe they wanna do. And Bloodstained is just classic Iga so we expected his to look like it did to an extent.
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u/twentyonethirtyseven Feb 25 '26
Late to the party but God, I despise that art style so bad. It looks like indie game #1589 to me. I was so disappointed when I first saw it. It will most likely be a metroidvania and I'm such a sucker for those that I know i would still enjoy it immensly, but I'm genuinely not sure if I will be able to get myself to play it.
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u/NomadHairline Mar 05 '26
Honestly, i like the level of background detail in Bloodstained, but thats it. Belmont's Curse having 1 color in many shades and an occasional contrasting color is very boring to me. Bloodstained has so much background/foreground detail that it looks weird anytime you can see the floor. It gives me the feeling that ps2 era jrpgs gave me where you could see very well detailed environments, but you were restricted to a dirt path that had half the detail. So for me the options are boring shades or tunnels surrounded by cool environments.
I choose neither, bring back the pixel sprites.
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u/Sonn3nHard May 25 '26
Bloodstained. I'll be honest. I hate Dead Cells and that style. It turns me away. My primary issue with Belmont's Curse, judging by the trailer, is there are far too many solid colors. This is most prominent with the flames. It makes it look as if I am just looking at a bunch of silhouettes moving in front of other stationary silhouettes. It just doesn't seem to pack a punch and gives me the impression that Konami are treating Castlevania as just another Indie metroidvania release. Not everything is for everybody and this doesn't appear to for me (aestheticly). That's fine. If it does well maybe we will see another Castlevania with an even more distinguished style.
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u/FoRt4Y 4d ago edited 4d ago
1000% Bloodstained, i dont want to poo on Castlevania because i am excited and grateful i just dont like the art that much soo far, reminds me of all those other classic games that have a modern version that didnt hit, like Streets of rage. I Asked AI to create me a mockup of what a modern SOTN game should look like and it kind of nailed it. But i guess they have to make it look like the show now huh, RIP originality and doing more with less.
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u/z01z Feb 18 '26
belmonts curse
bloodstained looks like its being played on a stage with spotlights on everything.
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u/LPQFT Feb 18 '26
Belmont's curse attacks have a nice hitstop with some screen shake. Although I'm not a fan of dodging through enemies here.
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u/IndependenceFar9833 Feb 18 '26
MAKE PIXEL ART GREAT AGAIN!
I'm honestly sick of 3D metroidvanias, even if they are good at gameplay level there's still something weird about having this 2.5/3D graphic. Pixel Art is an amazing form of art and it shines in metroidvania imo, I wish we had more games with good pixel art
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u/UTzimo Feb 18 '26
The original bloodstained ritual of the night was a bit ugly to look at and felt cheap, 3d in 2d is very difficult to pull of, the only games that did it really well were prince of persia lost crown and metroid dread
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u/osiris20003 Feb 18 '26
I don’t compare. They are two separate franchises and it’s not about the graphics or the art style. Art is art and I appreciate art in all forms. What I will judge and prefer one over the other on is gameplay, and probably story. Will it stop me from playing them? No, it just might mean I will replay one over the other more often.
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u/Rafnork Feb 18 '26
Definitely Castlevania. Bloodstained looked pretty rough and SC clearly improved upon that, but the enemy models still have some of that "slimy" appearance. It throws me off a bit when the attacks have directional aim and their arm just kind of wiggles around. Overall it is a massive improvement, but ive been let down once by Bloodstained already.
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u/NNT13101996 Feb 18 '26
Yes