the controls haven't changed a lot, I think the main changes are being able to aim your ball in 8 directions (2 levels of power), to be able to spin slash in 8 directions, to be able to drop down the edge of cliffs easier, and lots of stuff like if you're halfway through the slash anim you can still uppercut, not having to wait etc.
And the keys are customizable, which was really the last hurdle remaining.
looking back at the first demo, it's awful.
Since then the first level has gotten significantly easier, both in the tiles, and the enemies.
But the main thing that helps is that you feel so much more in control over Twinsen.
I have had a couple of my friends play the current build from start to finish, just to see how they handle it, it took them all about 20 mins, longer if you want to find all the secrets and perform impressive combos, point is, while I only had one friend play our first demo, it took him 30 mins I think it was, just to get to the end of the level, he didn't even want to try killing them in reverse order