I didn't play the original Gauntlet or any of its follow-ups, so this is coming from a fresh perspective, and I won't be drawing any comparisons between this game and earlier iterations of Gauntlet.

This game is simple, but robust; four characters, each having a more-or-less unique play style (the warrior plays sort of like the valkyrie, but I'm getting ahead of myself). I was skeptical when I heard Arrowhead were making this game; I liked Magicka, but I couldn't bring myself to play it for very long because it was quite buggy, especially the multiplayer, and the singleplayer got old partway through the game. The humor was also extremely hit-and-miss.

This game has the tightness and polish that Magicka sorely needed. As many would say nowadays, this game just "feels" right. I was using a PS4 controller to play this game, and it played excellently. I have not tried the keyboard and mouse configuration, but while being a member of the "PC master race," I believe one of the PC's greatest strengths is to be able to use a wide array of peripherals -- not just keyboard and mouse. Skilled players can weave through seemingly impossible crowds of enemies, staying just out of melee range while getting into good position to use their abilities.

And that's the thing I appreciate the most about this game: when you start becoming good at it, it feels quite good. This is especially noticeable with the Wizard, probably in my opinion the most powerful, but also the hardest character. Arrowhead have clearly revealed themselves to be avid D&D fans at this point; two games featuring ALL-POWERFUL MAGES AND JUST LOOK AT ALL THESE ENEMIES FALL BEFORE MY ARCANE MIGHT. Those of us who have played 3rd edition know exactly what I'm talking about, and Arrowhead made it quite explicit with the cheeky reference to Gary Gygax in the Wizard's dialogue. Other characters are no cakewalk either, but the Wizard demands that you memorize each of his spell combos before you can even begin to play him properly. It's a similar system to Magicka's spells, except you only have three elements to mix (mapped to the face buttons) and you only need to mix two at a time, resulting in far fewer unique spells than Magicka. However, they're also radically different from each other, unlike most of Magicka's spells.

The Warrior can also be difficult; he is a melee powerhouse with little-to-no defense, instead relying on his brute strength to cut down enemies before he's cut down himself. He has a lot of hitpoints, but the combination of melee and no defensive actions means you'll probably get hit a lot. He is extremely efficient at killing the dreaded Summoning Stones, though, even moreso than the Wizard. I think the Warrior deals the most raw damage-per-second, if his foe stands there and takes it. In a solo game, the player will find himself using the Rush maneuver often, which allows the Warrior to charge through enemies, knocking them away like leaves to a rake. His light attack swing is very wide, which actually makes the Warrior effective when cornered, allowing him to stunlock all enemies in melee range until they die while his back is protected. This doesn't work as well in later levels, where the enemies are more varied and have more potent abilities.

The Valkyrie is a master of mobility and defense, using her Spear Thrust to charge forward and deal damage, or quickly escape. She can also block with her shield at any time, rendering her invulnerable from a side. She can throw her shield like Captain America, which deals a lot of damage, and bounces between enemies as long as they're close to one another. It also hits enemies on the return path. She's possibly the most versatile character, perhaps even the easiest to solo the game with. I ended up soloing the game with the Warrior and Wizard, though.

I didn't play the Elf at all beyond the tutorial, but playing him is a lot like playing a twin-stick shooter. The player uses the left stick to move and the right stick to shoot arrows like some kind of green machinegun. He also drops bombs and later gets an ability that allows him to shoot bomb arrows, and shoots powerful sniper shots (he has to be still to aim them, though).

I think the biggest issue with this game would have to be the nature of the encounters; they all have the same basic setup. One or a few mage enemies support a horde of melee enemies, who all protect a Summoning Stone, which slowly summons reinforcements. This has the potential to get old, but the enemies do vary enough to keep it enjoyable. Later, the mages can channel into the Summoning Stone to have it summon faster, which might result in the player being overwhelmed if he does not kill the mage responsible.

It also helps that, every other stage, the game has a "gimmick" or something to throw in the mix, just to change the levels up a bit. Don't fret when the same gimmick is used more than once early on -- they change completely later.
Overall, this is quite a solid game that's worth sitting down with a few friends when you get that itchy "gotta kill 243 orcs" feeling.