Hey there! Yeah, I've put a lot of work into trying to make it a good RPG without being too complex. It's a work in progress, but I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far.
Building Vitality is always a good idea, for any build, if you want to make the game easier. Good regen traits, better damage mitigation, it's just hard to go wrong with.
Agility for Glancing Hit works too, it's better when it works but more unreliable lol.
I personally tend to use a sword and board or greatsword build when testing cuz I'm kinda like you, I like being tanky with ok damage.
Dipping into magic gives you a lot of options, starting with Earth magic is nice for cheap buffs. Not necessary, but having some magic (the stat) lets you view more magic teaching scenes, which people seem to really like.
Builds can definitely vary based on your party member, each of them has their own build (some are a bit customizable) so it's hard to say what you would enjoy the most, cuz it depend son who you end up wanting to adventure with.