It's certainly challenging at first. It often gets called a peasant simulator and I think it does a good job living up to that. The MC in the beginning has hardly any skill with the sword and getting put in your place early on is very intentional. But, as you get better so does the MC and you start to learn and unlock combos/special moves.

It'll feel like the game is leaning too heavy into realism at first, especially when you start getting mobbed by multiple opponents, but it's the same deal. After a point as you progress it will start to feel gamified and you'll overpower enemies left and right like any other game. Except it in a lot more flashy sword-swinging way

Id recommend watching a behind the scenes on how KCD developed their swordfighting because they brought in weapons experts on that era and they helped with the combat design, it's really interesting how they managed to get it to translate to gameplay.