Is this game hard to learn coming from CK3?

[donda]

Title. I have around 2800 hours in CK3 so I would say I know the mechanics pretty well. I know there are some new things but since this is also a newer paradox game are there some similarities?

[eaerion]

Europa Universalis (both 4 and 5) lets you learn with your own pace. You can play and have fun without using all the mechanics and introduce them only when you feel ready for that. I had multiple "god, do that's how it works! I gotta try it with a new run" moments though I never felt crippled by not using those mechanics in a first place. So yeah, some of them are complicated and "hard" but you are not forced to use them and the game is ok without them. In EU5 you can even automate those you don't like.

[KroganCharr]

It is different. Europa Universalis V is heavily focused on micromanaging your economy, that is the bulk of the gameplay. You will find that most of the things you can do in Crusader Kings 3 is either not in EU5 at all, or heavily reduced. That said, there are some things that will look similar, like that you have a cabinet that you can fill with characters and then send those characters to do things, either providing a bonus to your entire nation or working to shift a specific place in your favor, much like the council in CK3. However, I'd say it's more different than similar overall.

The upside is that most of EU5 can be safely automated, so you can focus your learning on one thing at a time. Also, it's been a while since I last played, but when I did the AI was very bad, so even if you're also bad because you don't know what you are doing yet, you'll likely be mostly fine from foreign powers. The biggest threat to a new player is going bankrupt, because the economy is the core problem of EU5.