My impression so far is that it plays amazingly well and that this would be extremely impressive for a full small scale team of 10-15 people. The writing is also much more interesting than one might have thought, if only because a very basic, serviceable story is required for this kind of game. But the writing goes a step further, and the gaming references are a lot more clever and subtle than you typically see.
Visually, one thing I have to commend Noogy on is how the same strategy Vanillaware uses in their 2D games is executed: using modular backdrop pieces to create a variety of locations while saving labor. The thing is, I think Noogy did it much better than Vanillaware here. There's a huge amount of careful consideration in how the scenery is constructed, getting the most out of it possible. Some areas are quite epic too.
If I had to criticize anything in the game that sticks out to me so far, it would be a short list:
1. I feel the combat could have used hitstop to make it feel a bit more punchy.
2. There probably should have been some kind of visual warning when health is very low, such as a glow around the player character, or at the edges of the screen. It's too easy to get wiped out suddenly due to the (glorious) chaos happening on screen.
3. Entirely separate from the discussion over art genre, I do feel the character art and design of most of the NPCs is not nearly as good as Dust, and yes, even Fidget, and the enemies. That's something that didn't get enough attention pre-release - forget the animal people, the enemies in the game are creative and very well designed. But there's definitely a drop in design quality between Dust and the enemies, and the civilians populating the world. Except for the merchant though; he's great, as well as the reference he's designed around.
Mind you, these points are incredibly minor compared to what a two person team has achieved.
