You say that, but I feel like everyone's forgetting the fact the MoF already IS about bridging that gap.
-2D perspective
-Metroidvania style exploration
-Darker atmosphere
-More platforming
-Traditonal Belmonts
-Heart sub-weapon system
-The CASTLE
To say Cox isn't listening with Mirror of Fate is absurd. The fact of the matter is everyone is going bonkers over one video taken by a non-professional, because, OMG, a skeleton took 3 too many hits.
Let's ignore the fact that throughout that video, there was maybe one or two real combos. He also spammed area attacks on melee enemies, never sync blocked, refused to use shadow magic, and over all played like a novice, if LoS is any measurement. And saying this to a Castlevania community, I'd think people would understand the attitude behind "play poorly get poor results". That, or Cox really is spot on with his Metroidvania assessment.
But that's honestly beside the point. This game was never supposed to be a Classicvania or a Metroidvania. Sure, it has elements, but at its core it's supposed to be a 2D rendition of Lords of Shadow, and what Lords of Shadow was most praised for was its combat, so reducing enemies to 1-2 hits with weak attacks would be entirely against the design philosophy. At that point, there really wouldn't be much point to combat other than being a platforming obstacle, which I know is what some people desperately want.
You don't have to like everything about MoF, and if you really are completely put off by the game's direction you have the right to be so, but at least understand that too much more "listening" and eventually you have a game that MercurySteam wasn't trying to make in the first place.