Thank you for replying!
I'm still a bit iffy on no checkpoints but your explanation makes perfect sense! If you were to add more attack & defense cards (particularly the former as that is how you kill enemies) and make balancing changes, the game would be more fun and the gameplay formula would be received significantly better. You're definitely on the right track for the update!
(I guess I misremembered some of the Dream Self cards, haha. I remember always getting Movement cards from them so much, and barely any Attack cards...)