Have about 30 hours in one and yes it's a big 172. Doesn't cruise much faster either. But it is the ultimate bush plane. It has to be the easiest turbine to fly next to the caravan. It'll stop in a couple hundred feet take off in not much more and carry 18 or 19 pax. If you want to check one out and go for a ride I would suggest going to a skydive center. Any dropzone near a bigger city will have one and they'll take you up for probably nothing if you say you're a pilot, at most $20.
I hope they do make more. Really cool on floats too!