Are I-Frames actually a thing?

[Dusk]

Or is dodge actually completely useless? Or is it pretty much you always have to do the double-tap dodge? Cause holy hell, there's brutal, and then there's just ridiculous. And no, I'm not lagging. inb4 get good, I've played plenty of games like this.

[AtomHeartDragon]

I don't think you can complete the game without dodging a lot.
Some attacks are effectively undodgeable and need to be blocked/parried (especially ranged ones), but against some you can actually move out of range or past the enemy to avoid them completely, it helps if you keep your equipment light.
Some attacks need double dodge to clear the area of effect.

You can use the "tells" (attack type indicators, enabled by default) to determine what you should do, but I've found the game much more enjoyable without as they do their best to turn it into simon says and disincentivize actually reading the enemy and the situation, or enjoying the actual combat, for that matter.

[Silavire]

There are no i-frames, so the dodge acts only as a mobility tool. There's plenty of unblockable stuff that you can't simply walk away from. Sometemes you are locked in a corner and you need to get past the enemy somehow. Sometimes you avoid the attack and the enemy is opened, but you won't have the time to deal any damage if you just walk to it.

But you're right, there's plenty of stuff that is just stupid and can't be avoided at all if you are positioned incorrectly.

[AtomHeartDragon]

Even without i-frames there is plenty of attacks you just can't block so the only option is to be somewhere else.

[Thagomizer]

The lack of i-frames annoys me in this game. There are plenty of times where a couple i-frames would have been the difference between losing half my health or being fine. It feels crappy to get hit by an attack that feels like it should have missed, or to be in a spot where you have no options.