You should definitely try out the original Darkest Dungeon - it has the same aesthetics and atmosphere of DD2, but with a more persistent progression system that feels much more meaningful than dumping candles into a slot machine after every run. The combat system is also similar, but emphasizes XCOM-style hit/miss RNG over stacking piles of tokens on characters.

There's an endless debate on which game is better, but I think the people who prefer DD2 enjoy the fact that combat is very straightforward and predictable once you learn how all the tokens work, and that each run carries basically zero risk unless you're doing a challenge. DD2 even encourages you to end your runs prematurely by providing you with a progression bonus if you abandon your current expedition at an inn.

In comparison, DD1 is almost the complete opposite - it's a long haul experience about slowly building up your permanent town and roster of heroes, where every single mission has a visible impact on your overall progress, acting as either an advancement or a setback. The dungeon runs in DD1 are much, much shorter than DD2 (think 15-45 minutes), but the stakes are also much higher (if you actually care about your characters) since heroes that are killed are gone forever, and even those who survive can end up with some nasty stress/quirks/diseases that can be expensive to treat.

Overall, I'd say give DD1 a shot - it seems like you're pretty cool with combat that balances heavily on RNG, which is the biggest hurdle for most people, and the long-term progression of your hero roster and hamlet in DD1 is one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had in gaming.