See I don't really think Elite scratches my space pilot itch very well, and so I don't really recommend it to people and I don't think it's because it's too complex or challenging - in fact the exact opposite. I found elite dangerous extremely shallow, missing nearly any engaging game loop that I could sink my teeth into. Granted this was 3 years ago but I've watched the content updates and they haven't seemed very large.

I like the flying but the combat seems rather dull with very little progression or optimization capable. Like comparing ED to something like an ARPG or a Dark Souls, there just isn't good itemization or "character" building last I played.

I liked the trading but there wasn't a ton going on around the logistics sim to make it really exciting, like flying place to place wasn't hard and interdictions were rarely challenging and the ship ladder felt kinda small. Mining also felt like the only other thing to do and again, not even a heavily compelling minigame.

They introduced planet side first person shooting stuff and that looked appealing as a new mechanic but it never grew into something that got me to return.

I guess I'm saying to anyone considering it but worried about complexity, give it a go it's still a fun sim for most people for at least a couple dozen hours. Some people will find hundreds of hours of fun. I personally, and I think a lot of people, will find it lacking though from a space game perspective and there is still a massive hole in the market for a real AAA space sim game to come fill.