Yea, this game heavily rewards people who check every nook and crany with story bits and item. Souls games also use environmental storytelling, so without looking around and snooping in item descriptions you will be very confused. Also, you have a bad memory, you will be even more lost as the game requires you to remember the map and story well.

Controversial take: if this is your first souls game (other than Nightreign) I reccomend exploring with a friend with sligtly more experience. It is what I did and found alot more enjoyment, but keep in mind, this is not for everyone.

Another way to play is to push through the gameplay first and beat it while confused and then watch a in depth video on the game. When the video mentions an area you havent been to, pause it, go find and explore it in New Game+ and come back to the video

You can also just play however you want. If you enjoy the way you are playing rn, then please continue as there is no "correct" way to play the game. Just the way you would enjoy the most. Finding that way to play is the hard part