Managed to storm the Stormgate and won.
I guess this game aint for me. I just feel like I'm wandering around aimlessly and never really making any progress. Much prefer Dark Souls 3 and BB. This whole find the map fragments to make the map actually helpful is also shit.
The more I read, the more I agree with you. I like a certain kind of difficulty but, the nature of some of these things described, I just feel like FROM developers are trolling the players.
It reminds me a lot of Breath of the Wild in structure although I suppose all these games have their roots in Metal Gear Solid V.
Overall I find this game more fair than previous Souls games I've played. The game structure is quite simple.
You play a few story beats until it becomes too difficult and then you explore the surrounding area for better items/weapons/spells/items/health upgrades.
Most is optional so if you find yourself stuck at a boss you can't beat, you can simply turn away and look for a different challenge that better matches your level or skills.
With the horse you can pretty much zoom past any enemy you don't want to fight.
A lot of tactics are viable. Spamming magic attacks or arrows from a distance, swinging a giant sword or summoning a wolfpack to soften up and distract enemies.
Although there's certainly still some 'git gud' element to this game, I would say that things like strategy and understanding the systems goes a long way.
Big enemies are often easier to beat on horseback, lots of enemies can be stunned with elements (i.e. fire) and at the start of the game that is as simple as attacking with your torch.
In most encounters (I got blown to shit by a ballista for example) the solution was not brute force but adapting my strategy. In case of the balista, I could simply sneak around it and kill the weak enemy controlling it.
Also most enemies are slow and you aren't easily spotted when sneaking around so you can take some time to scout and find out what the weakpoints are in their formations or simply run away.
Shields are surprisingly helpful in this game too both for close combat as well as ranged attacks as are crafting items (make sure to buy the cookbooks and pots from the merchants).
The mistake I made (and why I couldn't get any traction at first) is that I didn't spend my runes or sold my loot.
Early on you just gotta sell most of your loot and spend runes on levels, armor and items. That allows you to beat the first few caves which rewards you with a number of strong weapons and summons.
Also the map fragments are actually marked on the map when you first enter a new area. It's the signpost sort of thing. Just run up with your horse and collect it.