I don't even really understand the genesis of this debate. The controls for attacking are quite simple. R1 is a weak attack. R2 is a strong attack. There are some subtleties like the post-roll attack and the post-backstep attack but these are things you don't need to worry about in the beginning of the game. I had no idea about the post-roll attack for awhile but I discovered it naturally at some point.

I think it's a lot cooler to discover things like this in context than through a tutorial. And I think this example is something of a microcosm of the game itself. The self-discovery of the game is rewarding to me. I don't chalk it up to poor game design but if you're not into this sort of thing I guess I can understand where you're coming from.