love the game - the healing system is a major flaw

The healing system feels somewhat self-defeating because it encourages aggressive play, while the burrow mechanic pushes players toward a much more passive approach. Since burrow is relatively slow and its i-frames come out late, it often feels unreliable as a defensive option. The game seems conflicted about how it wants players to engage with combat.

The reason Bloodborne's rally system works is because the entire combat design supports it: movement is fast, defensive options are responsive, and players are rewarded for immediately counterattacking after taking damage. The healing mechanic reinforces the game's aggressive, reaction-based combat philosophy.

In this game, however, aggression often feels heavily punished. Getting up close can result in taking massive damage, which undermines the intended risk-reward dynamic of the healing system. Instead of naturally encouraging offensive play, the mechanics can create hesitation because the tools needed to support that aggression don't feel equally effective.

This disconnect becomes even more noticeable in the late game. Once healing resources and survivability scale high enough, encounters can sometimes devolve into simply tanking damage and healing back to full. At that point, the healing system stops encouraging skillful aggression and instead becomes a way to brute-force mistakes. Really strange design decisions. Anyones thoughts?