Oh my, haha. If you want to go down that route, I probably wouldn't start the tutorial level with such a tough approach. I mean, I didn't even know how anything works yet, what my options are, etc... After dying there was not much of a learning aspect. I just thought "Ok, I died fast. No idea why or how... guess I'll just skip everything then." Then I died again. And I was out of options, lol.
I did make use of some power up ring that would empower my next attack I think. And the health potion. The ring of frost spell I didn't even had a chance to use. At least not in combat, because I died so fast.
The bats I thought would be easy, because they were the second enemy type I encountered and generally bats aren't something I'd expect to be tough opponents.
I guess high stakes can make sense, when you know what you're doing. But it can be equally annoying depending on what you want your game to be. For instance, I like games like Dungeon Siege, Divinity or the WC3 Rexxar Campaign. But I'd save often because losing a lot of progress would be a chore. However, repeating a single encounter could be enjoyable. Then again, sometimes I'd want to play hardcore for the higher stakes and permanent decisions. It all depends.