So Belmont's Curse had just come out and whether or not it feels like a Castlevania game is a contentious topic right now and having played roughly 33% of it (I suck at platforming hazards), I can confidently say that I like it, however, I can see why people don't feel like it's the series comeback that they wanted after over a decade of waiting, especially since it's western-developed.

I played Grimoire of Souls to completion, so I was already expecting a changeup when it came to gameplay and a departure from both the Classicvania and IGAvania styles.

Unfortunately, there can be no IGAvania without IGA in my opinion, so the next mainline Castlevania game is bound to be yet another deviation from the formula we know and love and while games like both Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon and its sequel show that Classicvanias can still succeed, I personally doubt there's a bigger market for them when compared to metroidvanias. Theoretically, Konami could outsource a new game to ArtPlay and have IGA direct again, something he said he was more than willing to do back in 2019 since he said he had more stories to tell, but it seems unlikely.

People always say they want a Soulslike Castlevania game, but reception to Belmont's Curse adapting modern difficulty and indie staples like the abundant puzzle platforming makes me think that people got what they wanted from Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and expected Konami to follow suit. Belmont's Curse is experimental, made affordably by an indie studio and sold relatively cheaply as only the first title in Castlevania's revival campaign and having played both Grimoire of Souls and Belmont's Curse, I see several similarities, though I feel Grimoire of Souls balanced the combat and the platforming much better than Belmont's Curse did, but that's just my opinion. People say Belmont's Curse is derivative of games like Dead Cells and Hollow Knight, but want it to be derivative of Souls, so a strange double standard to be had, though if Evil Empire got the chance to make another Castlevania game, I think their next game will be fantastic if they took criticism to heart and refined what they did well. Also, when the inevitable 3DVania comes out in the future, these arguments on whether a game is Castlevania or not will surely come up again whether it be soulslike or the rumoured character action by PlatinumGames, though I personally feel that NieR: Automata would be the perfect blueprint for a 3DVania.

A metroidvania game with simplified RPG elements can be done, Harmony of Despair, Grimoire of Souls, The Lecarde Chronicles II and Chronicles of the Wolf are proof of that and a game that refines the strengths of Grimoire of Souls would be a treat and people will be more open to it since the Grimoire of Souls was developed in-house by Konami and ex-Metal Gear devs.

In short, I feel that in the future, Castlevania games will continue to evolve and make drastic changes, such as the 3D games, the Lords of Shadow trilogy and Belmont's Curse and such experiments will be inevitable, though the last few releases of Castlevania being collections probably had people expecting more of the old in terms of structure. The next Castlevania game might be something completely different, but as long as it's handled well, I'm sure fans will be pleased.

Remember, Konami said that Belmont's Curse is just one of many Castlevania projects coming out and next year is Symphony of the Night's 30th anniversary, so for those who weren't satisfied with the latest release, more is sure to come. Let's just hope that Castlevania doesn't chase trends. I have a feeling that Konami and fans alike will be paying attention to the reception of both Belmont's Curse and Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement as a sort of test to see which direction fans prefer for the series. Anyways, that's my rant. I hope I was respectful to both sides of the argument.