Starting on very light or light difficulty lets you really focus on taking in all the story beats which is definitely the way to go your first time through. Pay attention to how the environments change when you reach seattle, there's this really specific progression across multiple days where the areas shift noticeably. You'll notice three key spots where big story moments hit: near the park entrance when combat intensifies, during the tense farm sequence, and especially in santa barbara where things get pretty chaotic

Your best bet is sticking close to cover during fights and learning the dodge timing, since enemies telegraph their attacks with specific animations before swinging. Watch for that wind-up especially from the bigger infected types, they'll lean back slightly before charging which gives you about half a second to move. The chapter select feature makes it super convenient to go back later for collectibles, so don't stress too much about finding everything first time through

During the multi-day seattle sections, you'll want to keep an eye on your resources particularly around day two when encounters get more frequent. There's usually good supplies near truck wrecks and abandoned stores but watch for patrol patterns, they often circle back through areas you've already cleared. Manual saves are definitely your friend especially before big story moments, since the autosave can sometimes put you in awkward spots if things go wrong. The game really opens up once you get past the initial tutorial area just take your time getting comfortable with the controls before pushing forward too quickly