Since you haven't gotten a proper response I'll bite: Yes, it is a crafting survival game. Your progress is marked through the entire game by a helpful raven that will provide tips on how to proceed, but for the most part the game is extremely easy to follow. You start with basic crafting recipes, and move from wood to flint to bronze and so on. The progression is unique in the fact that it requires travel. You'll move from the starter area, to the dark forest, and so on. The worlds are randomly generated so you get a pretty unique experience every time. I've done 4 playthroughs and have never struggled or become frustrated due to being unable to travel to get to the next area. If you were to have issue there's a bounty of info in the wiki, just be careful of spoilers.
Honestly this is one of those games I will def rebuy for friends because the game was worth $30 when it came out, and now I feel is worth 60. There is a ton of content to enjoy, and they've legitimately kept a pretty good pace at development until the last 2 biomes, but obviously that's of no consequence to you as you'll get everything all at once.
My one and only gripe is that the further bosses cannot be soloed easily at all. They're meant for 2+ people. Now, this isn't necessarily a game over as there are hardcore ways of doing it, but it will be slow, require cheesing, and in my opinion is an absolute slog. To remediate THAT though you could also opt for a console command if things get too overwhelming.
I hope you give it a chance. It's a great experience, and of course who doesn't want to run around as a badass Viking?
I actually understand because at first, when Ashland's was first released, it was absolutely horrible. Getting there requires a special boat which may have been your issue, but once you got there it was super super hard to make any progress. Did another playthrough this year and it was definitely a more balanced experience.