Actually I think (like you) that you put enough contextual help. The difficulty, I think, comes more from the quantity than from the lack of it. I think that is kind of tricky also, because your descriptions are fun and part of the narrative of the game, so removing them removes narrative at the start of the game also, but maybe you just need more slow pacing and some way of like making sure the player has to do some action (and learn to do it well in the process). Idk really, just guessing lol. (Im a Philosopher so this was like the first game I tried!)
I loved the thoughts descriptions and everything about the concept. :D