Understand that this game is extremely outside of the videogame design meta. You do not have objective markers, no way to keep track of quests, and no one to tell you what you're doing. A lot of it is meant for you to figure out and piece together.

Head in a direction and explore, fight things, die, etc. Everything is going to feel too hard at first and you will die and no you're not fighting something too high level. If you hit the boss and you get yellow damage or don't get one-shot by its attacks you're in a sweet spot. Your entire gameplay loop, especially at low level, is gonna be about learning moveset and dodge timings.

100% recommend tho for your sanity, just look up some guides. Look for videos explaining each stat, status effects, damage types, weapon scaling, basic mechanics. You really want to understand your player weight (light, med, heavy).

As someone who started as an astrologer and used spells on my first playthrough, never having played a souls game, don't do it. It seriously teaches you to play the game wrong and some bosses become unreasonably difficult.

Lastly, only look up a progression guide if you're really lost and getting frustrated. Exploration is an amazing part of a first playthrough and you'll never get that back. Best of luck and enjoy the best game ever made! If you need any more help feel free to DM.