Belmont's Curse is a Metroidvania: the map opens up as Rose gains movement skills, and every boss is tied to a Tarot card. Spirits you meet give Clues that point to each card's boss; beating the boss lets Rose absorb its card and gain a spell. This part takes you from the start to the first boss and the first movement skill, the Arcane Whip. Paths you cannot take yet are marked Later so you can pin them on the map.
1. The Seine and the Sewers
Rose arrives in burning Paris with her father, Trevor, who gives her a deck of Tarot cards before the two split up. You start with a Longsword and one spell, Cursed Flame. Each spell has a list of tasks called Works of Mercy; finishing one earns a Blessing that upgrades the spell.
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1
Head right along the river
The first rooms are a tutorial for moving, attacking, casting and healing. Keep going right along the docks and through the door into the Sewers.
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2
Through the Sewers
The first zombies appear here, and they keep coming back. The tutorials go on with wall jumps and sliding under low walls, and skeleton archers shoot from the far side of gaps. At the dead end, wall-jump up to the lever above you; it opens the way up into the Undercity.
2. Undercity and Ruined Market
1 Clue · 1 book you come back for
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1
Climb, do not cross
In the Undercity there are paths to the left and right, but both need a glowing ring you cannot use yet. Climb straight up into the Ruined Market.
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2
The first Clue: A Lever for the Well
Work your way through the market, past a blue book you cannot reach yet, and up the wooden platforms onto the rooftop. A Spirit there says it trapped a soul-hunting monster and hid a lever near the barrels. This is the first Clue for The Fallen. Drop down into the barrel room under the Spirit, break the left wall with a normal attack and pull the lever behind it. The grate below opens. Break the glowing statue nearby for experience before you drop.
3. Central Sewer Drain to the Path of the Rat
1 Mirror of Life · 1 Clue · 1 book you come back for
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1
The first Mirror of Life
The long drop lands you in the Central Sewer Drain. The door on the left is shut, so go right, clear the enemies and enter the first Mirror of Life. Mirrors save the game, refill health and potions, and are where you come back after dying. Using one also brings back the enemies you killed.
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2
Under and around the Sewer Reservoir
The way right is blocked, so drop through the floor in the middle of the Sewer Reservoir. Cross the lower level, where platforms crumble if you stand on them and archers shoot from above, and climb back up on the far side. Before moving on, go left and pull the lever: it opens a shortcut back to the Mirror. A red book here is out of reach for now.
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3
The Path of the Rat
Continue right into the Path of the Rat and its bats, and take the stairs down. A second Spirit waits in front of a door: its Clue, A Monster Terrorizes Paris, tells you the boss's cross can be broken. The door leads to the Gate to the Catacombs and the first boss.
In route order
- Later DEF Up book Ruined Market, on an upper platform. Needs the Arcane Whip.
- Clue A Lever for the Well (The Fallen) Ruined Market rooftop, from the Spirit.
- Save Mirror of Life Central Sewer Drain, right of the landing.
- Later ATK Up book Sewer Reservoir, the red book near the lever. Needs the Arcane Whip.
- Clue A Monster Terrorizes Paris (The Fallen) Path of the Rat, at the foot of the stairs before the boss door.
4. Boss: The Fallen
Every guide gives the same key point: hit the cross. The Fallen throws a cross that flies out and comes back like a boomerang, and a normal attack (or a spell) shatters it, so it cannot hit you twice.
Two of the guides (named in the note below) describe the rest of the fight the same way:
- A three-hit claw combo. Do not trade blows from the front; dash or dodge through him and hit him from behind, then get clear for the last strike.
- Once he has lost about a third of his health he roars and starts swinging from the ring at the top of the arena, dragging his claws along the floor. Duck or slide under it, then jump when he slams down.
- He also throws out a golden whip that reaches almost across the arena and pulls you in. When he raises it, jump or get to the far side.
What you get
- The Fallen Tarot card, with the spell Holy Cross: a thrown cross that comes back to Rose.
- The Fallen's Key, the first of three keys for the sealed Gate to the Catacombs in this room. The other two belong to The Warrior and The Prophetess.
- The Arcane Whip, unlocked as you leave the arena to the right. Aim it to latch onto glowing rings (anchors) and swing, or onto enemies to pull yourself to them. It opens every "Later" spot above.
5. Part 1 Completion
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 16 October 2026 against IGN's Paris Streets walkthrough, Rock Paper Shotgun's Paris Streets walkthrough (part 1) and boss guide, Fextralife's Pathway to The Fallen and The Fallen pages, and KeenGamer's complete walkthrough. Everything on this page is in at least three of them, except the description of The Fallen's combo, his swing from the ring and his whip, which only IGN and Rock Paper Shotgun give (both are IGN Entertainment sites, with different writers). Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it, and what the sources do not describe is not on this page.