I love the game so far, but one thing I'm disappointed in is that it is not as brutal in the beginning as all the reviewers said it was.  I was under the impression that, even on lower difficulties, you had a 50/50 chance of making it to the 20th turn because of monsters roaming around everywhere.  I love that sense of danger... if you've ever played Demon's Souls or Dark Souls, you know what I mean.

Is the problem that I'm playing on Normal difficulty?  I usually do this while I'm first learning the rules of any game.  I'm not looking for an experience where the computer opponents wipe me out every time... I'd like them to play at a level similar to myself.  I just want brutal monsters that wander around, making the entire world dangerous for all players.