Vintage Story is often presented as "Minecraft for adults" but I really think that does a disservice. It shares some visual and mechanical style but the formats of the two games are very different. Minecraft is a goofy sandbox to build things in. Vintage Story is a cozy slice-of-life game that relies entirely on its pacing.
The first phase of the game is about securing food, tools, and shelter. This is a fun scramble. Wolves are scary, knapping sets the tone, and new players are faced with stark differences from Minecraft. It's also the first opportunity to see how much game knowledge matters.
In Vintage Story, resources are plentiful but they initially feel very constrained. An experienced player is able to look at any landscape and see the possiblity. They know that mushrooms will regrow where you found them. They know that harvesting a ton of meat and hide is wasteful. It's not just "are there cattails and clay?". They see not only what is before them but what could be, in later seasons or with some work.
The contrast between this view and that same player's initial newbie perspective is where I think the game really shines. Nothing has changed about the worlds you're playing in. You have changed. You have grown.
The pacing of Vintage Story is quite unique. Most survival games either go hardcore, "you're going to die in the next 30 seconds!" or tediously slow in the name of "balance". This game leans towards the slower side but not for balance.
Knapping basic tools requires you to click through a little voxel pattern. Forming clay into molds is similar. Smithing involves pushing and pulling voxels to match a pattern. These are all slow processes with few options to speed them up. It would be all too easy to conclude that the goal was pure tedium in the name of "realism".
However, it is the "copy layer" option within clayforming that opened my eyes to the purpose. It's not about stealing your time or punishing the player. It's about reinforcing the laid-back cozy vibe of the game. You spend all night doing small crafts because there is no urgency. Tomorrow is another day.
Yes, winter will come and you may not "progress" without a pickaxe, but.. do you need to? What is the actual cost of taking another day to get those molds fired in the kiln? You hang out and work on your house a little. You water the crops. You literally just live a day in the life.
Vintage Story is 1000x more Harvest Moon than Minecraft!
There's some idea out there that Vintage Story is a hard game. The devs even describe it as "uncompromising". However, I don't think this is accurate at all.
Food : Non-issue. Berries are plentiful and will feed you until you get to clay. Mushrooms regrow in the same spots and often (basically daily). If you use either of these food sources, you will be well fed until you reach grains that allow for bread and pie.
Where people go wrong is in walking around at half HP. You use up way more satiety when injured and so your food can be greatly extended by avoiding damage or using bandages to heal. Eating a meal also stops your satiety from lowering for a bit.
Combat : Relatively simple - pointy end goes in the other man. Most surface enemies will die from 3 spear throws. If you carry 3 spears, it's easy to kill most things without ever being in danger. Armor is impactful and will further reduce the dangers.
You also run faster than most enemies. Staying on the move is a viable strategy. In a worst-case scenario (temporal storms), building a 2-high wall around you will keep you safe from all threats. Don't sleep on healing items (cattail + horsetail)!
Travel : The one difficult area of Vintage Story, and it's largely optional. Travel is spooky because you leave all your infrastructure at home. You have to trust that there will be berries out in the world. You have to find safe places to camp. If you do happen to die, your items are dropped and you return to somewhere far away.
Making no mistakes for an indeterminate amount of time is inherently difficult. I'll give you that one!