The Crimson Binome
Hero
A related issue may be that the definition of "damage" has changed.In 5e the reasoning for sneak attack is not the same as in 3.x, it's not about hitting soft or vital spots.
In earlier editions, damage measured only the ability to inflict physical trauma. The only way to inflict damage was to physically impact their body. The only things that increased your damage were those things which made you hit harder, or made your hits hurt more by striking vital places. Healing was relatively slow because, even though you're an action hero, there's a limit to how quickly anyone can shrug off being stabbed.
In 5E, damage doesn't measure anything in particular. You can still do more damage by hitting harder (+Strength), or by striking vital places (finesse weapons), but you can also do damage by demoralizing the foe (psychic damage). No matter how badly you're injured, you can get back to full after a short rest, which places a hard limit on how much physical injury is actually being inflicted.
Fifth Edition suffers strongly from the 4E problem, where the game mechanics don't seem to relate to anything tangible within the narrative. A hit (within the game mechanics) is not necessarily a hit (within the narrative), and damage (on the character sheet) is not necessarily damage (to the body).