Is it just me or is gothic 3 painfully difficult?

So.. I'm just starting out playing gothic 3 and I really like it, but the stuttering is a big technical issue that bugs the hell out of me..

ANYWAY, So I've played for a couple hours and I find that Its IMPOSSIBLE to hit anything that attacks me. I swing with my sword and the wolf, or whatever I'm fighting, dodges every time.. Then, the wolf attacks me with a combo of 4+ hits and kills me.. SO, I found myself a scythe and just spam the attack button and that works okay.. I can get the wolf to back up into a rock so it can't dodge my moves anymore. But I found a lot of packs of wolfs that I instantly die cause they all just gang up on me and own me.. Did any of you have this issue while first starting out?

So.. I'm just starting out playing gothic 3 and I really like it, but the stuttering is a big technical issue that bugs the hell out of me..

ANYWAY, So I've played for a couple hours and I find that Its IMPOSSIBLE to hit anything that attacks me. I swing with my sword and the wolf, or whatever I'm fighting, dodges every time.. Then, the wolf attacks me with a combo of 4+ hits and kills me.. SO, I found myself a scythe and just spam the attack button and that works okay.. I can get the wolf to back up into a rock so it can't dodge my moves anymore. But I found a lot of packs of wolfs that I instantly die cause they all just gang up on me and own me.. Did any of you have this issue while first starting out?

SLUSHiNaToR

You are very weak when you start. Don't engage enemies stronger than you. If possible engage enemies and have them follow you to a NPC, and the NPC will dispatch them for you. (you still gain the experience)

I recommend you find a strategy guide if you find fighting difficult.

As people have already said you ussually start of quite weak in all the Gothic games so it's neccessary to be a bit tricky when fighting the bigger monsters. I always carry a bow in the begining even if I don't intend to train the skill. If you can find a spot where the monsters can't reach you can slowly peck away at their hp without risk.

Fighting with a sword is very difficult at the begining especially against wildlife which will knock you down (there is a reason hunters in the middle ages didn't hunt with broadswords). Use your sword when fighting orcs not boars and wolves untill much later.

The great thing about the gothic series is that sense of character progression you feel. I remember when I finally got the fire reign spell in the deserts to the south, I could kill whole camps of orcs at once without them touching me.