I remember seeing some dev notes on reddit a year ago and it felt like a total Hollow Knigh ripoff. Same moveset, same tools, same everything. Is this still the case?

Are you telling me that it is excusable for a company engaging over 400 people over many many years in a production of a videogame to not playtest their game and make players pay for testing it?

Dude, Early Access is okay if you are an indie games company with limited resources, NOT an AAA producer with infinite budget.

no.