Might be your problem. Certain enemies that are easy to use a Hades Reverse on are great for blocking, but a lot of them aren't. Minotaurs I never block. My primary strategy for the average enemy in general is to keep my distance, get some quick hits in, then roll out to evade any counterattack. Rinse and repeat. If you have time for a heavy combo, great; if it seems like you can extend your combo beyond a few hits, then do so; and if it seems you've got a nice moment to do a Hades Reverse, then take it; but be ready to roll out whenever you see something coming that's hard to block or when multiple enemies are bringing the offensive at the same time (which will generally fuck up your Hades Reverse, making an attempt at blocking useless). Position is everything, and I think this becomes even more apparent in the second game. Blocking definitely has its uses (again, even more so in the second game), but rolling is essential. Note also that rolling will extend your combo timer just a tiny bit, which is really the only good way to get a good combo going up into the hundreds. I don't think it quite gives you the full one-second reset of the timer that an actual hit does, but a roll will keep your combo going just that much longer, helping you evade attacks that would otherwise break your chain if you blocked or got hit, or if you *ran* to evade and hence let the timer expire.
