I recall checking out the demo a while ago and I remember dying over and over again, within minutes. Everything was killing me, and with no effort whatsoever. Getting captured felt like a death sentence unless I had a guide open up next to me.

Is it still this brutal? Is there a bit of guidance? Or did they scale back a little on the "everything kills you" mentality?

Because the game does look cool but I'm not a fan of a too brutal/hardcore/un-intuitive gameplay experience.

its still same game just more options later on in terms of equipment

its not meant to be an easy game overall

its pretty hard i suppose, only needed to learn where to get food to start learning more about the game 
i recommend trying to avoid as many fights as you could until you get to level 15 in which you can use high quality weapons which are good enough to let you sneakily
kill most enemies one by one

honestly its not that hard when learn know how to use mines and tavern keys

It's brutal, but like everything, it has its tricks to make things easier, both with money and food. Also, from level 10 to 15, combat becomes more strategic instead of just hit and run

Id say it is quite brutal tho its not borderline impossible its really fun going through the painful missons and encounters it makes it rewarding, hard earned.