I remember not liking dd16 version very much, but this one did not leave me frustrated (almost).
There's no reason to just spam dash everywhere, you don't even need to touch WSAD.
Hitboxes are pretty bad and combined with the lack of any hitflash are pretty annoying.
Owls are virtually unkillable, since they're flying in a weird pattern, but your weapon doesn't have a wide enough arc or something.
Keep at it, it might turn into a decent Castlevania clone.