Combat in Genesis is not like most MMORPGs. Instead of automatically attacking like in many other games, it is intended that combat is much more action-oriented, a combination between a first-person shooter (in this case, a third-person shooter due to lack of a first-person perspective) and a fighting game like Tekken.
Players use the keyboard to navigate and the mouse to aim, and have a variety of attacks that can also be blocked, avoided, or otherwise defended against with an additional set of skills that the players must strategically employ. Essentially, combat should be a lot more interesting and skill-oriented, rather than have the outcome pre-determined by the level of the player (levels do not exist in Genesis).
In general, combat is not the main focus of Genesis, but one of the many activities one will encounter in the world. Much of the game will involve succeeding in your profession, gaining political power, finding love, and pursuing whichever ambitions strike your character's fancy. Everything in Genesis is turned into a strategic game. For example, farming works a bit like the Harvest Moon series (although there are many original concepts thrown in). So even if you aren't in the heat of combat, there are still a lot of fun things to do that will challenge your mind and even your reflexes. If you think day to day life would be boring, you probably never played The Sims.