Thank you so much for your feedback! :) You bring up a really interesting point. You know, I was actually just think about this 1 hp topic last night. I'm actually on the same page as you with the feeling of tension and hopefulness that goes along with the 1 hp and the portals fullness, and I'm pretty sure I can come up with an elegant way of dealing with the frustration people are having with the 1 hp while still maintaining the sense of fragility and tension that goes along with the 1 hp. I was thinking something like - it's a probably a bit more wild than people would expect - having multiple phases of the aether flies life cycle (separate from the portal), with each one having a slightly different gameplay mechanic. When the player is playing really well, they progress to the next phase, and when they get hit they get bumped back down to a previous phase. Something like that. The vision of it in my mind seems really cool, though I'll need to do some testing to make sure it's actually FUN lol. Either way, I'm seriously considering your idea with keeping the 1 hp (and there will definitely be checkpoints).
Thank you so much for your kind-hearted and detailed feedback, it really helps me out and I TRULY appreciate it! :)