The most common thread I have seen is that the game is hard but fair, tough but not cheap. Well, I find that the controls and camera lead to a lot of cheap deaths due to not being able to actually target your enemy properly or accidentally walking off a ledge because the camera gets swung around at the wrong moment. I chose the "royal" as my character based on recommendations and the magic blast power (forget the name) is basically useless unless you can target an enemy as there is no reticule and the direction of fire seems based on a point somewhere near the end of the animation sequence that gets trivially moved off target. Targeting using a standard sword is also twitchy and even when totally surrounded with a monster closet of baddies in a section of 1-1 after falling off a ledge the sword did not seem to actually find any of them much of the time - the targeting seemed to become somewhat confused. I survived via multiple taps of "o" but the whole sequence did not strike me as fair.
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1345043&postcount=80
Combat control is smooth and easy. R3 targeting needs some pre-planning and practices. Need to play a few more rounds to see if I can switch target easily. Every small enemy is worthy and fun because the combat feels natural and impactful.
Targeting takes some getting used to but it's not a big problem for me. Usually I plan my route of attack. In subsequent levels, you'll have enemies distracting you off the cliff. It's better to kill them first before crossing the ledge.
The Soul Arrow's range is limited. You need to get closer to the enemy to target it. The game won't let you off so easily with a long range weapon until later in the game. It's rather scary to try to close in on a fierce enemy to fire Soul Arrows. This prevents you from cheesing the monster too easily. I love the tension.
Later, you can use a bow which allows you to target enemies further away, and using FPS view (with a reticule) too; but not now. Note that the crossbow does not have a reticule also. You need a normal bow for that.
If you start as a hunter, you'd get a normal bow at the beginning though. However you'll need to spend Souls to buy arrows. Royal is great not only because of Soul Arrow and MP regen ring. It has a low Soul Level, so you can level up quicker and adjust your character stats early to suit your play style.
The targeting works very well for enemies in general, especially when you face a fast rolling skeleton later. Your character will swing around automatically to hit the nimble enemies. If enemies are bunched together, they will all take damage when you swing at one of them.
The menu interface is a minor annoyance with its forced use of the D pad. Also, having to lock on with R3 seems like a bad choice since your movement also relies on that stick (which means that your position gets changed). The targeting system also has a finite distance which seems too short considering that you can see the enemy clearly. The character animations also seem to be non-interruptible which leads to death while taking health packs which is the definition of cheap.
It's how the game is designed. Once you know the rules, you'll have to plan your attack around the rules. The tension are all built around known rules. Whether you accept them or can manage them or not depends on you. There are enemies who can heal themselves too (and yes, they'd be stationary for you to hit). So in that sense, it's fair. There is no advantage given to them or you in the actual action.
Also, note that a character who is out of stamina may not respond to your action. Along the way, you may have to adjust your melee style and pattern based on enemies and your equipment. The game has a sense of weight built around the equipments you use (and your character stats). If you wear a light armor, you will be quicker. The starting Royal is not bad, but not the fastest either.
Targeting range depends on weapon type. You're only a level 1 character facing low level monsters. You may not want to expect super-human ability.
The Soul Arrow is already a one-hit kill weapon for most enemies in 1-1.
Another camera issue is that when moving in tight spaces it is pulled too far back. There is a spot early on in 1-1 where you have to walk through a doorway which has monsters waiting out of sight. Even after you know its coming, the camera makes it difficult to react properly because it is hard to swing it around to get a decent enough view to target and then attack.
Sometimes, the game will intentionally design enemies in places you can't see to get you into trouble. The only safe way is to lure them out. In a new area, I always proceed extremely cautiously around corners or through a door. Usually, there'd be blood stains and player messages to warn you anyway.
On a separate note, the manual is absolutely useless on how saves work in this game. I played the game for 2 or 3 hours so far, read the manual and still have no idea what I need to do (if anything) to save my game progress. That's a core enough thing that I should not have to Wiki it to find out.
Yes, the game is in need of a thick manual. The deluxe edition has a guide that is extremely helpful. Demon's Souls is a very deep game. Concepts like World Tendency online/offline is specific to the game and requires explanation and experimentations.
As for saving, I found it without problem. It's the last icon when you press > (Start). You return to the exact same spot you saved the game. So you don't have to worry about restarting from the last check point. The game also autosaves whenever you die or make a change.
EDIT: Regarding enemies hiding around corners, there will be a spell for you to rid them later. Now they are only low level monsters, might want to use the opportunities to tackle them. You'll need to face the bosses some day.