There was a lot more timing and commitment involved in CV1. Attacks were faster, you were able to backdash to cancel the attack, and etc. in AoS and SoTN so a lot of CV1's distinctive combat elements were absent. Gotta be nitpicky about these things.
And in place of a backdash, LoS had a dodge. Not much difference. And while the Metroidvanias did have faster attacks than Cv1-4 (or slower depending on what weapon you used), it was still just the same animation each time you attacked. Some weapons had a second move, so I suppose you could say that you could sometime do two moves.
As far as saying that Cv1 required "a lot more timing and commitment", I'm gonna have to say that that is flat out ridiculous. Destroying your enemies in LoS required a lot more timing, as well as overall gameplay skill if you wanted to do it well and not get you ass kicked multiple times (like Ninja Gaiden for the NES compared to Ninja Gaiden for the XBOX). If all you had to do in LoS was hit the same button to do the same attack repeatedly, a-la Cv1, then your argument would be valid. But LoS, as with all action games, requires you really pay attention to what your enemy is doing, and react accordingly. Sometimes dodging, sometimes blocking, and sometimes doing a combo, but never just simply 'SLASH' it's dead after one or two hits.
From previous posts, I gather that you hate action games. Not everyone has the skill to play them, so I can understand why you don't like the path the series is on right now.