It seems incredibly complicated at a glance, but as you say a lot of the details might as well be inconsequential unless you're somebody obsessed with min-maxing your game experience.
After finally jumping in I found that yes, it’s more complex than other games, but the core systems that actually drive the game forward are fun enough and you can disregard the rest until you’re ready.
Each play-through of Stellaris I’ll say something like, “okay now this time I’ll actually engage with that espionage mechanic that keeps popping up…” etc.
In case of game like CK you start with already running empire, which means you need to take care of everything at once.
The advice is so taken to heart that the tutorial for CK3 starts in a slightly modified Ireland, which used to be referred to as “tutorial island.”
As an example, a beginner might never realize that they need to redesign the starting division templates in HOI4 unless and until told - and this is a common issue on threads in r/hoi4.