For me, it was Eonwe.
Negotiation, Battle, Eonwe goes down, take rewards, crash
Rinse and repeat
Seems like whatever was done to prevent people from leaving and returning to get a decent graft is causing a crash
As far as evaluating how it is for new players, I really doubt I can do that. A new player likely isn't going to take 10 shills over a new card 80-90% of the time, and I can't bring myself to take cards that will only hinder my deck.
To try and evaluate, I started a game with Sal, with all decks disabled, on prestige zero. I took the rarest card available every time, to simulate a brand new player. Day one was pretty easy. I got past the first boss without crashing. On day two, I went to work for the Admiralty, and I accepted the tax collection quest, because I wouldn't know not to as a new player. I lost all resolve by the second merchant negotiation.