Thank you, the feedback means a lot.
As for why the MP mechanic existed, it's mainly because copy-pasting the hp bar to save time was just way too tempting. My bad there.
About the areas where you are forced to wait, those parts were intentional because I wanted to make the player focus on something else while they were waiting, such as examining how the enemy they are seeing on the screen is behaving (This is evident when you see the first Red gel), or to plan their next step. Sometimes "waiting" is the punishment for screwing up a jump.
In the end, I didn't do a good enough job to convey that, so the error is on my part as well.