It is indeed a rather difficult game. Honestly don't expect to do very well on your first run (I certainly didn't. Grabbed unsuitable edicts and put myself in an untenable position), and use it to start to figure out mechanics. New game plus is a rather useful and important tool, because you get to keep any titles you earned, and thus the passives they provide. This means you'll definitely be in a better position as you try again with a better start, and knowing more about how everything plays together.
You can very quickly get overrun by bad passives if you don't carefully reload your save if you screw up in combat as well, so look over the passives list, learn what to do and not do, and avoid getting ones that will tank your run (can't be more specific than that, don't know what kind of build you're trying for.)
