Welcome to our Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Trophy Guide, where you can find everything you need to 100% the game.
SUMMARY
- Estimated Time to Platinum: 15-20 Hours
- Difficulty: 1/10 (You can tweak the "Custom Mode" settings under Gameplay to make the game very easy).
- Missable Trophies: 1 (
Dialog Skipper - Awarded for getting to the normal ending in less than 4 hours). - Playthroughs Needed: 2 (You need to get the Normal Ending in less than 4 hours for the Dialog Skipper trophy. While this is very possible on your first playthrough, chances are you will have to play through the game again up to the Normal Ending, but this can easily be done in less than 2 hours).
ROADMAP
Intro
Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is the first mainline 2D Castlevania game in almost 20 years; however, the trophy list is very similar to any other modern metroidvania game. It has multiple endings, multiple collectibles and a few miscellaneous trophies, and you will have to explore 100% of the map. Luckily, nothing is missable and everything can be done after getting all endings. Realistically, you have quite a lot of freedom in how you want to get the trophies, since ultimately it all counts towards getting the 100% exploration trophy.
The game is set up in a way where you basically have 1 objective after the first part of the game, and that is to "find and kill Dracula". From here you can go after any of the 3 endings, which all revolve around doing specific things with specific Arcana. These are basically the "main" collectible of the game and will allow you to get new skills and progress towards the endings. Like we said before, nothing is missable and all 3 endings stay available no matter what you do. The recommended approach would be to get the Bad and Normal Endings out of the way, since you will still be unlocking metroidvania-style abilities during these, and then use those abilities to explore and get the 100%. After that, you will have everything needed to get the True Ending.
Difficulty is up to you. The game can be a challenge if you don't touch the Custom Mode settings under Gameplay, but if you do, you can make yourself not take damage, gain more XP to level up faster and do extra damage to the enemies. Obviously this will take some fun out of the game, but it does not disable trophies, so it's up to you how hard (or easy) you want the game to be.
Everything can be done in a single playthrough. The only trophy you may need to do another playthrough for is the Dialog Skipper trophy, which requires you to get to the Normal Ending in less than 4 hours. While this is very possible on your first playthrough, if you get distracted and do some optional things, you may have to play through it again. Luckily, this can easily be done in less than 2 hours, especially with Custom Mode.
Step 1. Bad Ending.
Play through the game naturally and get the Bad Ending. This ending will most likely come naturally: all you have to do is go through the room to the left of the Cursed Horologium in the Clock Tower area without deactivating it. This should happen anyway, since to deactivate it you have to go out of your way and get multiple Arcana until you have The Shadow Arcana, then interact with the clock while having The Shadow Arcana equipped. And even if you did do that first, you can turn the clock back on by interacting with it again with The Shadow Arcana equipped.
Step 2. Normal Ending.
After getting the Bad Ending, you will need the following Arcana to get the Normal Ending: The Builder > The Artist > The Occultist > The Shadow (see 
The hunt goes on for details). Then, once you have The Shadow, interact with the Cursed Horologium in the Clock Tower to deactivate it, allowing you to continue climbing to the Master's Quarters, where you can fight Dracula for the Normal Ending.
Step 3. 100% Exploration.
After the Normal Ending, the only ending left will be the True Ending. For this ending you will have to do a lot of optional things anyway, such as collecting HP Upgrades, Mana Upgrades and a few Relics, exploring an optional area and getting some more Arcana, so you may as well make the most of it and clear the whole map of collectibles to get the 100% for the Perfectionist Hunter trophy. To get the 100%, you will have to pick up every collectible on the map and find every hidden room (except the very small ones with healing chicken behind them, since they don't even register on the map). Make sure you also pick up the buffs and destroy the XP statues. You can easily identify which areas are not at 100% by looking at the colour of that area: if an area is yellow, it means you have everything in that area; if not, you must continue to explore it. You can use our Interactive Map to find anything that you may be missing. Of course, if you get bored of exploring, you can skip this for now, get only what is needed for the True Ending and come back later.
Step 4. True Ending.
After exploring the map enough and picking up everything, you should have what's needed to get the True Ending. Basically, you will need to do the following: Get The Judge Arcana > The Miser Arcana > The Whisperer Arcana > The Temptress Arcana > The Sage Arcana. Then, once you have those, finish the 4 challenges in the glass windows room on the western side of Notre-Dame by examining them with the correct Arcana equipped. This will get you The Self Arcana, which you must equip before heading to the Master's Quarters to fight Dracula. Then, at the end of the second phase, press to activate the Arcana's skill and trigger the True Ending (see Curse lifted trophy for details).
Step 5. Arcana Challenges and Miscellaneous Trophies.
After getting 100% exploration and the True Ending, chances are you only have the Arcana Challenges left and maybe a few miscellaneous trophies. You can view the Arcana Challenges by going to Equipment > Arcanas. Here you can see a small list of challenges that need to be completed to unlock new passives and upgrades for each Arcana. The great majority are simply for using their skills or defeating certain enemies X amount of times. Then there are more specific ones for exploration, but you will get these automatically when getting 100% exploration. Once you clear these and the very few miscellaneous trophies.
Step 6. 4 Hours Speedrun.
You will need to reach the Normal Ending in less than 4 hours for the Dialog Skipper trophy. The Bad Ending does not count, and while it is very possible to get on your first playthrough if you go straight for the Normal Ending without getting distracted, you may have to play through the game again up to the Normal Ending. Luckily, once you know what you are doing, you can easily get there in under 2 hours, especially if you turn on Custom Mode to make the game easier.
TROPHY GUIDE
Collect all the Trophies
Unlocked after obtaining all other trophies.
Defeat the Fallen
This is the first boss you come across in the game. It can be found in the Paris Streets region.
Defeat the Warrior
The Warrior will be one of the first bosses you encounter; she holds one of the three keys to the catacombs. She can be found at the top of the tower in the Paris Streets region. To reach her, first grapple onto the ring to the right of the tower to open a hidden path to the lift that takes you to the very top, where you encounter the boss.
Defeat the Prophetess
One of the first bosses you encounter. She holds one of the keys to the catacombs. You can find this boss in the Holy Innocents' Cemetery area by jumping into the middle of the fountain and then continuing down.
Survive the Judge's verdict
Head through the door in the northeast of the Paris Streets region to reach the Palace of Justice area. Here, jump onto the scales and interact with them. If you have collected at least half of the HP and Mana Upgrades (12 of each), you will survive and get The Judge Arcana and the trophy.
Defeat the Builder
The Builder can be found in the southeast area of the Clock Tower region and should be the first Arcana you go after for the Normal Ending, once you have the Bad Ending.
Defeat the Occultist
The Occultist is one of the bosses you must defeat in order to get the Normal Ending. She can be found at the very top of the Library region. To climb it, you will first have to activate the orbs around the spheres in the correct order to get the large orb to spawn, allowing you to jump higher. You can activate the small orbs in any order; just make sure you only jump on the correct ones. If you touch one that you are not meant to, just touch the ground and start again. Below you can find the correct patterns.
Defeat the Shadow
The Shadow is another one of the bosses that you must defeat in order to get the Normal Ending. It's found in the Notre-Dame region. To get to this region, you must interact with the Notre-Dame painting in the Main Hall region while having The Artist Arcana equipped (found by destroying the sculpture in the room above the Notre-Dame painting) and after picking up the Paintbrush key item in the same room where you defeat the Occultist boss.
Once inside, you must get to the Organ on the lower level and play 3 songs (see the screenshots below). These will disable the lasers on the middle floor, allowing you to reach the boss room.
Defeat the Miser
The Miser boss can be found by going through the Gate of Flesh in the Catacombs region. To open it, you will first need to find the 3 eye relics.
Thrilling Eye
Found in the sub-region close to the leftmost area of Paris Streets.
Oozing Eye
Found to the left in the Catacombs of Paris.
Trembling Eye
Found in the Holy Innocents' Cemetery region. Press the switch in the small gap at the top of the area to reach the lower area where the eye is.
Once you have all 3 eye relics, equip them and go through the Gate of Flesh on the left side of the Catacombs region to face the boss and get The Miser Arcana.
Defeat the Brittle King
This is the only truly optional boss in the game and is not needed for any ending. It can be found in the Notre-Dame region. All you have to do to face him is interact with the sword in the stone while having The Builder Arcana equipped.
Defeat the Temptress
The Temptress is one of the bosses you must defeat to get the True Ending. She can be found at the end of the Hall of Mirrors optional area. To access this area, you must go to the 4 Mirrors in the screenshots below and crouch in front of them until you get taken inside. Here, destroy the hanging stones to break the seals.
After this, you will have to go through the sub-region of the Main Hall to reach the Mirror in the bottom right corner where the Queen is trapped. Once here, crouch in front of this mirror to go to the Hall of Mirrors.
Once inside, you will have to find the correct mirrors to teleport around the region and get to the end, where you will fight the boss and get the Arcana. If you are having trouble getting through the area for the first time, watch this video guide we made.
Defeat the Self
You will encounter this optional boss on your way to get the True Ending of the game. See Curse lifted.
Defeat the Zealot
This is a story-related boss that you will encounter just before you reach the Master's Quarters as you climb to the top of the Clock Tower region after disabling the Cursed Horologium for the Normal Ending. See The hunt goes on.
Defeat Dracula
Obtained automatically when getting the Normal Ending. See The hunt goes on.
Unlock all blessings for every arcana
Arcana Blessings are challenges that need to be completed to unlock new passives and upgrades for each Arcana. The great majority are simply for using their skills or defeating certain enemies X amount of times. Then there are more specific ones for exploration, but you will get these automatically when getting 100% exploration. You can check your progress on these challenges through the Equipment > Arcana menus.
Find every weapon in the game
There are a total of 28 weapons in the game and they can all be found on our Interactive Map.
Find a weapon of each family in the game
There are 7 types of weapons in the game. For this trophy you must find at least one of each type. You can find all weapon locations on our Interactive Map.
Find a legendary weapon
Unlocked when getting your first legendary weapon. Each weapon class has 1 legendary. This trophy will actually come automatically when working towards the Normal Ending, since you will get the legendary whip after defeating Death in Notre-Dame. For the rest of the weapons, you can use our Interactive Map.
Why does Dracula bother to hide things there anyway?
Obtained when discovering the hidden area just before the final boss room in the Master's Quarters region. Press the 2 switches in the two small gaps on either side to unlock the hidden upper area where you will find a relic and a fast travel point.
Finish the game and get the bad ending
This ending will most likely come naturally: all you have to do is go through the room to the left of the Cursed Horologium in the Clock Tower area without deactivating it. This should happen anyway, since to deactivate it you have to go out of your way and get multiple Arcana until you have The Shadow Arcana, then interact with the clock while having The Shadow Arcana equipped. And even if you did do that first, you can turn the clock back on by interacting with it again with The Shadow Arcana equipped.
Finish the game and get the normal ending
To get the Normal Ending, you will have to disable the Cursed Horologium in the Clock Tower region, allowing you to continue climbing and defeat Dracula in the Master's Quarters region. To do this, you will need to interact with the Cursed Horologium while having The Shadow Arcana equipped. To get there, you will first have to follow these steps.
Once you reach the Clock Tower, head down to the bottom right of the area and defeat the boss to get The Builder Arcana.
After that, return to the Main Hall region and use the Smash skill obtained from The Builder Arcana to smash the sculpture in the room above the Notre-Dame painting. This will unlock The Artist Arcana.
Next, head to the top of the tower in the Library region by jumping on the orbs and making the correct patterns (look at the screenshots below). At the top, defeat the Occultist to get the Arcana and then pick up the Paintbrush key item in the same room.
Next, interact with the Notre-Dame painting while having The Artist Arcana equipped and the Paintbrush in your inventory to enter the Notre-Dame region.
Once inside, you must get to the Organ on the lower level and play 3 songs (see the screenshots below). These will disable the lasers on the middle floor, allowing you to reach the boss room and get The Shadow Arcana.
With The Shadow Arcana equipped, interact with the Cursed Horologium in the Clock Tower to disable it. Then continue left and climb all the way to the Master's Quarters to face the final boss and get the Normal Ending.
Finish the game and get the true ending
To get the True Ending, you will first need to disable the Cursed Horologium, so if you don't have The Shadow Arcana yet, see The hunt goes on and do that first.
After that, you will need to get 4 specific Arcanas.
The Warrior
You will already have this one, since it's one of the first you get and you need it to get any of the endings and even to reach the castle area.
The Judge
Head through the door in the northeast of the Paris Streets region to reach the Palace of Justice area. Here, jump onto the scales and interact with them. If you have collected at least half of the HP and Mana Upgrades (12 of each), you will survive and get The Judge Arcana and the trophy.
The Sage
First you must defeat The Temptress boss. She can be found at the end of the Hall of Mirrors optional area. To access this area, you must go to the 4 Mirrors in the screenshots below and crouch in front of them until you get taken inside. Here, destroy the hanging stones to break the seals.
After this, you will have to go through the sub-region of the Main Hall to reach the Mirror in the bottom right corner where the Queen is trapped. Once here, crouch in front of this mirror to go to the Hall of Mirrors.
Once inside, you will have to find the correct mirrors to teleport around the region and get to the end, where you will fight the boss and get the Arcana. If you are having trouble getting through the area for the first time, watch this video guide we made.
After defeating the boss and getting The Temptress Arcana, head to the tomb room in the Holy Innocents' Cemetery to get The Sage Arcana.
The Whisperer
First, you must get the Ferryman's Obol by defeating The Miser boss. It can be found by going through the Gate of Flesh in the Catacombs region. To open it, you will first need to find the 3 eye relics.
- The Thrilling Eye can be found in the sub-region close to the leftmost area of Paris Streets.
- The Oozing Eye can be found to the left in the Catacombs of Paris.
- The Trembling Eye can be found in the Holy Innocents' Cemetery region. Press the switch in the small gap at the top of the area to reach the lower area where the eye is.
Once you have all 3 eye relics, equip them and go through the Gate of Flesh on the left side of the Catacombs region to face the boss and get The Miser Arcana.
After defeating the boss, pick up the coin in the same room and then take it back to the Ferryman at any fast travel point to get The Whisperer Arcana.
Once you have all 4 required Arcanas, head to the room with the glass windows in the Notre-Dame region. Here you will have to equip the correct Arcana and then interact with each window. Each window will take you to a short trial you must finish. One is a boss fight and the others are small platforming challenges.
These are the Arcana you must have equipped for each window (from left to right).
- Orange: The Warrior.
- Blue: The Whisperer.
- Pink: The Judge.
- Green: The Sage.
After finishing all 4 trials, interact with the large middle circular glass window, defeat the boss and you will get The Self Arcana.
Finally, with The Self Arcana equipped, head to the final boss in the Master's Quarters region (just like you did for the Normal Ending) and defeat him. At the end of the second stage, press to use The Self's ability to counter Dracula's and trigger the True Ending.
Reach 100% game completion
Basically, explore every corner of the map, including the hidden rooms, and collect everything. The only rooms that do not count towards progress are the very small hidden rooms that have consumable chicken in them; these don't even register on the map. Checking which areas you still need to explore is easy, since once you have 100% in an area, the map will turn yellow. You can check out our Interactive Map, which has everything you need to get the 100%.
Finish the game in less than 4 hours
You will need to reach the Normal Ending in less than 4 hours. The Bad Ending does not count, and while it is very possible to get on your first playthrough if you go straight for the Normal Ending without getting distracted, you may have to play through the game again up to the Normal Ending. Luckily, once you know what you are doing, you can easily get there in under 2 hours, especially if you turn on Custom Mode to make the game easier.
Find every health and mana upgrade
There are a total of 24 HP Upgrades and 24 Mana Upgrades. Every 4 you find of each type will give you more total HP or Mana. They can all be found on our Interactive Map.
Destroy 666 candles
Candles can be found all around the game in the background and you will get this trophy naturally as you defeat enemies and explore.
Find every clues
Clues are collectibles that will give you a hint on where you can find certain Arcana. Each Arcana has clues attached to it, some more than others. There are a total of 40 and they can all be found on our Interactive Map.
Activate every mirror of life
These are the checkpoints where you get all your health and mana back. There are a total of 34 and they can all be found on our Interactive Map.
Cover 19.86km
Will unlock automatically as you play through the game, maybe even earlier than it should. I got this trophy even before reaching the Bad Ending.
Kill an enemy with the Fallen's arcana spell while having a whip weapon equipped
Equip the Fallen Arcana (the first one you get after defeating the first boss) and then equip any whip as your weapon. Then press to use the Arcana's skill and defeat an enemy with it.