The parry button is a core concept of the game that you are interacting with multiple times in a round of combat.

To say the late game is "parry or die" is analagous to saying the late game is "attack or die", "level up or die", "use potions or die", "learn builds or die", etc

Yeah. You have to interact with the core mechanic.

No, it does not convey your actual opinion at all, in fact.