The indie studio reviving Castlevania follows Clair Obscur Expedition 33's lead: "Being a French team, we were arrogant enough to set the game in France"

French developer Evil Empire is following Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by going all-in on injecting its culture into the upcoming Paris-set Castlevania: Belmont‘s Curse.

At the Triple-i showcase yesterday, we finally got another look at Castlevania: Belmont's Curse – Dead Cells DLC developer Evil Empire's take on the classic Konami series – and alongside new gameplay, the developers gave a brief commentary over the trailer to let fans know what to expect from the game. This helped give an idea of what the developers' intentions with the franchise are, and how it plans to bring its own spin on it, and turns out that is by being French.

Castlevania: Belmont‘s Curse Gameplay & Commentary Trailer - YouTube

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"Being a French team, we were arrogant enough to set the game in France," Evil Empire's marketing manager Matt Houghton explains, and being a game set in Paris, you'll be scaling Notre Dame, exploring the catacombs, and doing battle with a corrupted version of Joan of Arc, because France. Houghton also gives a sly shoutout to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, adding: "Only berets and baguettes are missing, but I think you've had enough of that already."

Elsewhere, the devs double down on the fact that the game is not a roguelike, with Konami producer Tsutomu Taniguchi saying "we drew significant inspiration from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" in a separate interview that aired after the showcase.

Notably, the developers behind Belmont's Curse are still playing very coy about who you'll actually be playing as in the game, referring to the character as simply "a Belmont." Fans have speculated that this game will be following a new version of Sonia Belmont who is the child of Trevor. The original version of the character featured in Castlevania Legends and the canceled Castlevania Resurrection but was struck from the canon by Koji Igarashi due to clashes with Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.

And the fact that Evil Empire is intentionally not naming their lead character only seems to further the theory that she's back. Well, and Sony seemingly leaking it over a month ago, but that's unofficial for now.

Dead Cells devs' Castlevania game is just "the beginning," Konami says there are "numerous new products" in the works