Ok yeah, I guess that pretty much confirms the game is not for me then. I don't see the point in artificially manufacturing an experience where its impossible to win on your first try even if you make reasonable choices. If I lose I want to feel like I deserved it because I was equipped with all the right tools to win but made a mistake anyway, not because the game dangled a cool roleplaying option in front of my face that I was excited to play only to find out it was intentionally designed to punish me for making the "wrong choice". That just seems masochistic.
I disagree about having "buttons to tap and mana to manage". There are countless examples of games where the combat is still turn-based and tactical rather than twitch-based, but don't randomly punish the player for no reason.
As far as realism goes, the character would not be adventuring anyway unless they got some basic training first, so I'm not sure I buy that argument.
I think the creator needs to make it more obvious on the tin what the gameplay experience is actually like.