Shame you didn't enjoy it but literally none of this is true. You can beat the entire game without parrying or blocking if you choose, I mostly dodged with the odd parry here and there. That boss has 5 spots to attack that you can hit in-between it's moves, an armour set in that area even gives you legs and a chest piece that decrease your stamina usage and when dodging if you don't like parrying. It's also pretty easy to change weapons and respec (Just 500 scrap) to try something different if you want.