Tbh the game looks visually like the worst of both potential worlds to me, personally.
Too high definition to capture the retro aesthetic, but the architecture and structures are left in their clunky and simplistic state, so it all just looks kinda shitty and overtly video game. The neon light aesthetic doesnt help on that front either.
Sort of like a professional version of those HD texture pack mods that get released for old games and generally get disliked by the remaining nerds for fucking with the cohesion of the visuals.
The demo was great, good atmosphere, decent combat, good world building (of course, it's a remake of SS1). Excited to play the final build. Know that the team working on it really poured their souls into it so I hope it does well.
The floaty mele is a bit disappointing, but it's not really a mele focused game, so as you build up your powers and armory you'll rely on it less and less.