Like the breh above said, you gotta be patient. nikkas is not on that bullshyt this time around, they can clap your ass up quick if you go in thinking shyt is sweet starting out.
Get a different armor because the default armor's abilities and even its upgrades are very situational, and imho, aren't that good for 75% of the gameplay.
Charms also boost you up really good.
Learn attack patterns. Different enemies have a set of attacks. Basic Saito Outlaws have very basic attacks for the most part, the only people I be forgetting about is the brutes because they like to do the giant red swings or the 3-combo red glint.
Ronin/Samurai are easy af imho, the only thing you might have trouble with is the blue glint attack where they do a bunch of feints rushing towards you before swinging, so you might end up parrying it wrong.