Hey Zackartto! Thanks for the feedback. Definitely some good thoughts there.
FYI the bridge is not endless, there are eight spans before you banish the Forest King. Perhaps a progress bar or something would help dispel this perception.
We do have a gatling mechanic something like your suggestion (if I follow). If you hold attack from leap or from guard you will perform a slash, if you continue to hold attack the gun will spin up into "half gatling". This is significantly faster than holding fire from cold and once you get it down it's the only way to start shooting.
We're currently doing a push to improve the communication of these mechanics. It's definitely quite opaque!