Been trying it out on some vocal busses, where in addition to the leveling promised in its name it also adds some level-dependent and mostly pleasant harmonic distortion (push the Input knob up until you're seeing 6-7db GR and compensate with the Output knob).
Not only is it a possible substitute for an optical compressor, you might also want to drop this into places where you'd normally think of a tape sim. Although personally, I am not a fan of tape sims as a master effect and haven't tried VLA on the 2-bus yet.
It also does interesting things to a drum bus. Instant Ringo-izer. Play with the "Emphasis" control to vary the amount of pumping. This is just a highpass filter on the compressor sidechain. The "Brilliance" control is a high shelf filter on the audio. For drums, I liked it better turned down from the default position to reduce harshness on cymbals and hats caused by the plugin's distortion. It left the hats sounding kinda clank-y, though (I said it was "interesting", not necessarily "better").
If your drums are panned wide, the L/R sidechains can be unlinked using the "Stereo / Dual M" switch. Unlinking stereo compressors and limiters is all the rage these days, but I still prefer a mono sidechain on a drum bus.
Some of the controls' purposes are not immediately obvious by their labels. There is no "ratio" setting for the compressor, for instance. And you have to read the manual to figure out what the "TRAFO" switch does (enables the transformer emulation, thickens up the low end a little when engaged). I've yet to figure out what the "Amp" knob really does.
Definitely one of the more fun freebies to come down the pike in a while. Whether it earns a place in the go-to toolkit or not remains to be seen.