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Could call it Curse of the Moon 3. Another great Vania tribute, and while it takes a lot from the COTM games it includes mechanics from a ton of Inti's games. Some Gunvolt here, some Mighty Gunvolt Burst there, little Dragon MFD, and a bunch of Bloodstained. If you enjoy Castlevania and Bloodstained, get this. If you enjoy Inti's other games and aren't familiar with CV or BS, I'd still absolutely recommend this.
Graphics are excellent. Amazing pixel art throughout, very fluid animations. Environmental effects are impressive, including reflections on some floors as well as enemy gore splattering on backgrounds. Can't think of many 2D games that do this, let alone this well. Some backgrounds and tiles admittedly look simple at times but it's not a negative. The entire game oozes charm but is also a treat on the eyes.
Audio I'm uneven on. Sound effects are perfect, and this kind of sound design is missing from most games, AAA and indie. You get crunchy and satisfying slices and splatters when you kill an enemy, Giving the player rewarding feedback in combat is so important in making it engaging, and GG gets this. Footsteps sound different depending on the floor, cool for a 2D platformer. Weapon and monster sounds are all high quality too. I'm indifferent on the soundtrack. Its extremely well produced and fits the settings, it just doesn't really jump out. First stage and the cutscenes have the most memorable music. It's all good stuff, it all has effort put in for sure, but again it isn't too resonant.
Gameplay is tight. Controls are tight, mechanics are tight, progressions tight. Like Bloodstained you restart to the beginning stage once you beat the final boss, replaying the stages but with increased difficulty and new powerups that let you explore previously unreachable routes. Difference is on your second playthrough you get a base with all the students you saved. Oh yea you also got students to save throughout the stages. Won't find em all on your first playthrough since, again, you have new powerups that allow access to new routes. Difficultys also nice. Its just challenging enough, where the game is overally pretty easy but you still have to pay attention to not fall down pits or lose your health quickly. Dying will restart you at a checkpoint with the character who didn't die and you have a chance to find your other character to revive them. If you die again you lose a life. Boss and enemy patterns are all well thoguht out, have proper telegraphs, and are a joy to fight. And while you can sometime tank you shouldn't, since you'll regret losing that health earlier.
Seemed to learn from COTM 2, where yeah the game was extremely hard but for annoying reasons. They'd overwhelm you with enemies and boss attacks, which could be a problem if you don't have useful team members alive, and most of the difficulty was based on finding permanent upgrades Megaman X style. Checkpoint system was awful, sending you back tons of rooms for losing your whole team, which felt like padding. It was very not-Castlevania, and it made the game overly punishing if you didn't go out of your way to find all the upgrades. The game didn't feel as polished as COTM 1 or GG in terms of difficulty, just felt like "Hey they said the first was too easy? Let's kick their shit in this time". CV1 and 3 had their tough sections but it never got to the point that COTM2 did, where it felt like the game was wasting your time. IT felt designed against the player, not designed around mechanics.
GG feels like a direct response to this, where they present you with your challenge of enemy and platform placements before you carefully navigate those situations with your mechanics. It's breezy and fun but, again, never too easy. It's rewarding to look before you leap, wait for an enemy to finish their attack before going in to kill. Boss patterns are also perfect, and a few mimic Vania bosses that fans will get a kick from. Games always keeping your attention whether you're having fun or completing a challenging section. Only irritating this they kept from COTM 2 was it's checkpoint system, where you'll sometimes go back pretty far from death. Don't wanna discredit COTM 2- it's a great game, just not very Castlevania once you get far into it. Castlevania shouldn't be Megaman X, and it's difficulty should never rely on hidden stage upgrades.
Overall another great Vania tribute and another great game from Inti. I'd recommend this to basically anyone who enjoys platformers, but for fans of the series it's especially a treat. Safe to say we don't need Konami anymore. Inti and Iga have been providing new Castlevania games, and better than Konami could muster up now if they tried. Y'know, won;t just recommend GG, but also the three Bloodstaineds and the Castlevania collections. Can find em all on Steam, all pretty cheap, and all a ton of fun with incredible presentation.