Castlevania, a video game franchise created by Konami in 1986, is returning after a 12-year absence to mark its 40th anniversary. Originally launched on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the series follows Simon Belmont, a vampire hunter who uses a whip to battle the titular vampire Dracula in a sprawling, maze-like castle. The franchise last appeared in 2014 with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, a game that received poor reviews and left many fans wondering if the series had been "cloistered in a coffin," like other similar action-adventure titles such as Ori and Hollow Knight. The original Castlevania game, known as Akumajō Dracula in Japan, translates to "The Haunted Castle of Dracula." Its Western name was derived from combining "Castle" and "Transylvania," rather than being an adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. The Belmont family, central to the series, is entirely fictional, and the Japanese name for Simon Belmont was "Belmondo," a reference to French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo. In the early 1990s, Castlevania gained a strong following, especially with Super Castlevania IV on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. However, the franchise's reputation grew significantly with the 1997 release of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on PlayStation. This game introduced a groundbreaking feature: a single, interconnected castle map that could be explored in any direction, similar to the Metroid series. This innovation led to the creation of the term "metroidvania," a blend of Metroid and Castlevania. Despite its critical acclaim, Symphony of the Night did not achieve commercial success, and the franchise faced challenges on later consoles like the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It found renewed popularity on portable systems like the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, with several titles earning high Metacritic scores. These games were later compiled in Castlevania: Dominus Collection, released in 2024. In 2010, Konami took a risk by entrusting the development of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, a 3D entry, to MercurySteam, a relatively unknown Spanish studio. While the game was critically acclaimed and drew inspiration from Devil May Cry and Shadow of the Colossus, its sequel, Lords of Shadow 2, released in 2014, was widely panned. This period also coincided with a decline for other Konami franchises like Silent Hill and Metal Gear. Although Castlevania was not completely inactive during its absence, it was adapted into a four-season animated series by Netflix in 2017. However, Konami did not fully capitalize on the growing popularity of the metroidvania genre, which has seen success with independent titles such as Hollow Knight and Blasphemous. Now, the franchise is set to make a major comeback with Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, a new game featuring a new heir to the Belmont family. The title is highly anticipated and marks the return of the series after its long hiatus.