I had never played any FromSoftware title before i picked this game up on a buzz of recommendations from End of Year best game lists. I purposely didn't read any how-to or spoilers posts and dove in. No clue why but i went Bandit class. I had no idea what was going on and hung out looking at birds and beautiful scenery. I was weak and snuck around everywhere. Slowly i got used to the mechanics and progressed by just going everywhere i could. Only after dying countless times, making mistakes and wondering why I was levelling so slowly did i venture to the Reddit (now lemmy) EldenRing community. I steered away from obvious spoilers and gleaned a few tips and tricks (wish i had levelled vigor and not balanced stats out though i did concentrate on dex) However one thought kept returning. Perhaps I'm not very good at this game. Ive only just started hanging out in the Lake of Liurnia after going the Weeping Peninsula route and im 250+ hours in and only level 40 something. Im not complaining. I love this game. It fills me with a sense of wonder and satisfaction that I've rarely found consistently in other games. But i do have a nagging suspicion that perhaps i still have hundreds of hours of game learning to go amd that I'm still scrub. ( those peaky imps will always get me or a pack of wolves and I was overjoyed to finally beat the Tree Sentinel) Im still amazed how balanced and thoughtful this game is. How it teaches you as you go along by not making things easy but when you're ready you can progress. And i love to just wander about and see what's what. Sometimes hours just me and Torrent just cruising. What do you think? Am I under levelled for my hours. Does it matter? (I kinda think not) Is this usual for a first time FS player?
Everybody plays at their own pace, but I think less important than levels is what weapon you've chosen to play with. Some beginners choose terrible weapons and don't realize they're accidentally making the game much harder (for example people who play with knives or whips). You also want to make sure you're upgrading your weapon, a lot of merchants sell upgrading material which helps a loooooot.
Otherwise, just have fun exploring the world. It's no rush.