I could already tell from the videos that this was one of (if not your) best projects to date, and after a few playthroughs, I can definitely say that it is. You captured the atmosphere of the period perfectly with some of the best stage design you've ever done, and managed to make each character unique (even the ones with very similar appearances, like Ax/Kain and Tyris/Sara). You've done a fantastic job of incorporating familiar Golden Axe mechanics (magic, close-range combo/throws, etc.) whilst also updating it to your familiar, easy to play formula.
There's a couple of sections and enemies/bosses here and there that made me raise my eyebrow like "seriously?" In particular, the knights that you can't really knock down and who can swing their sword faster than the speed of sound and knock you flying (usually down a cruelly placed pit...) felt especially frustrating (this alone makes the fact that cheats are disabled feel really bad), as did the boss who has kicks and knees for days, but compared to your other games, it feels like you've done better at balancing the base difficulty

. I think including Hardcore Mode as a bigger challenge for those who want it was a great idea.
I haven't tested every character yet, but my thoughts thus far:
GILIUS: Pretty average. There were times he felt underwhelming, but also times where he fared just fine. He has some pretty nice specials and his magic is very good. One issue I think I had with him was that enemies swing their weapons so fast that trying to use his Axe Special usually winds up with him being interrupted before he slams down.
AX: Very well balanced. He felt competent with a fair few weapons and just overall was pretty fun and currently the best character I played so far, which is surprising because I never chose him in the original games, haha.
TYRIS: A little underwhelming, though it's hard to put my finger on why. She didn't feel especially good at anything (except her starting weapon, of course), nor particularly bad at anything, but I felt like I struggled with her a bit and I definitely enjoyed my run with Ax more and felt like he was clearly the better of the two. Her strength was always magic, but magic feels less common in this game than I hoped, so the one thing she is good at doesn't get to be used much.
TRIX: Surprisingly competent! He looked like he might be weak in the videos, but he held his own even better than Tyris did for me. I especially love his wand ability (the long-reaching thorny root), and his tomato(?) throwing special is pretty nice for long-distance poking. His ability to make traps wasn't always useful, since some weapons were spawned in places enemies were not likely to walk at all. but since (I think) weapons are chosen randomly when spawned, I imagine this can also just be down to luck.
DORA: Oh boy.... I wanted to make her my secondary main when I first saw footage of her, but god, she is the worst character in the game (so far). She is so slow at EVERYTHING she does. Her basic hits can be interrupted and it even takes her forever to turn her fat ass around just to face the other way (I get that it makes sense, since she's big, but from a gameplay perspective it really feels bad). The enemies are able to overwhelm her EASILY due to how fast they are by comparison and how easily they can surround her before she can react. She is supposed to be good with long-reach weapons but honestly I found it easier to use NO weapon with her, especially as her unarmed special is a million times better than her spear one. She is the only character that I actually quit my playthrough mid-way because it felt like trying to crawl through a tar pit. I hope this doesn't sound too harsh. She was just one of the characters I had the most hope/expectations for and she was massively disappointing. I am attempting a second run with her now in the hopes that I'll adjust to her but it's not faring much better.
I'll try all the remaining characters ASAP and post again in the near future
But seriously, congrats on the release and the oustanding work. You've made a lot of Golden Axe fans very happy I think

Knowing that you usually update your games over the years, I'm excited to see what other content you will add in the future. Take a well earned rest in the meantime!
Oh! One random thing; I noticed Sara do some kind of dodge/flip in your videos of her, but when I messed with her briefly, I couldn't figure out how to do it. Is there a command I'm missing? Or is it an old animation not in the game anymore?