Yep. Even just true rogue mode (there's a brutal mode, and arena/brutal arena too) is quite a bit harder than the free demo. It's very cool though.
Just got a freeze blast shotgun/flamer, and a rail gun, after accidentally ditching my twin bouncer but died next level on the boss (hierophant, lvl12). There's some pretty fun weapons, and plenty of challenge on offer. Especially considering this is the easiest of the "proper" modes. Great game, no IAPs other than a $2 purchase for the whole game, small 4.5mb footprint, and fun gameplay without a whole lot of early level grind/slog until the fun bits. It's all pretty fun from the word go.
Seem to be accidentally using my dash most times after energy recharges, but that's mostly just because I'm using that bit for my adaptive control movements. I'll get used to using a different bit of the screen eventually, or just use locked controls. Controls are pretty tight otherwise, and you can tailor them to your liking sensitivity-wise too.
I even got the "take no damage" achievement for one of the bosses. Nice.
(Got to lvl16. Damn the Shrapnel is a good all-purpose weapon. Makes stuff explode when they die (including temp walls), so it sets up death chains beautifully. Mostly too short of a range for bosses, but great for everything else.)