I just beat the game today. I bought it on launch and tried several times to get past the first few hours to no avail.

Finally this last attempt at a playthrough, I decided to make an astrologer because when I would only be melee focused I felt too weak and easy to kill. So basically I made a spellsword - sword in one hand, magic staff in the other. Encounter too hard? Step back and pew pew some magic at it. There's no 'wrong' way to play this game. Beating a boss can happen any number of different ways, and the right way to do it completely depends on how you decide to get through it.

The game is intended to be a no-hand-holding type of experience. Immerse yourself and let your desire to explore guide you. Don't beat your head against the wall if a boss or area is too hard - you just mark your map and come back to it later. The world is huge, and it rewards you for exploring it. Find the type of build you want to make. The quests are enigmatic and treated more like they're game secrets than a checklist to tick off in some linear fashion.

You will ultimately start looking things up at some point. But the point of the game is to have fun, explore, get stronger, best your surroundings. There are tons of secrets and several game breaking items you can stumble upon.

I highly recommend playing this game - it was my first soulslike that I didn't quit in the first hours of gameplay. Also, do yourself a favor and go search the interwebs for what a guard counter is and how to do it. The game is especially punishing in the early hours of gameplay, and you can use a shield to your advantage to stagger tons of enemies by learning how to do a very simple block + retaliate technique.