I just learned about this through GOG today, and the trailer looks fantastic! However, looks can be deceiving.

Has anyone checked this out yet? Is it basically just Dust: An Elysian Tail with a different look or is it more along the lines of Castlevania: SOTN through and through? Is it worth the money?

So I've played about 3 hours.

It's a good Metroidvania. It is also a really good SNES game. It has the 'damage sends you flying back until you land' thing from Castlevania, you level up and place attributes and pick perks. There is apparently some limited loot and crafting. You can triangle jump Ninja Gaiden style. It's awful pretty line art. I should also restate, it seems like a SNES game more than a modern downloadable game. Maybe it's because it's far less handholdy than a modern game (relatively tough, but that might be me being sloppy), but I get way more the sense that I've popped a huge cartridge with tons to see into the top of my SNES than I'm just playing a downloadable game.

I agree with all of this, but I'd also add that there's a nice depth to the combat at the point I'm at (around the same: 3 hours). The game gives you a very cool cancel mechanic that functions a lot like a combination between the Souls games roll mechanic and something like a fighting game animation cancel. It makes developing combos pretty fun and rewarding on some of the game's bosses.

I'm not sure if it's just me but the movement controls seem bad for platforming sections. Tapping the Dpad makes your character move way further than he should so I always end up falling off smaller platforms constantly. Other than that I've enjoyed it quite a bit.

I just started playing and really dig it. Not just the game-play but a lot of the art and sound design too

I haven't played a metroid-vania in quite awhile though, so might partially be the right game at the right time for me.

Been wanting to sort of check this out, but the whole, old school way the game handles you getting hit kind of puts me off. Sounds like it could be incredibly frustrating. Just how difficult is it? And any idea on the length and replayability (like new game plus and things of that nature)?