Definitely. I'd love to get into grand strategy games like CK and EU, but the complexity and the huge learning curve turn me off. My gaming time is extremely limited, i'm not sure i would want to spend several hours just to learn how to properly play the game.
I thought i was the only who hated reading manuals. I already read too many things at work, i don't want to read more stuff when i get back home.

Hm, what about the magic? Seems like they added lots more variety and new spells with the latter two games. Most of the gameplay mechanics have gradually been improved throughout the series. If anything, spell casting has always been rather static and not as fun as melee combat ( plus you're reliant on lock-on targeting all the time) even in Demon's Souls.

It's hard for me to pick my favorite Souls game, since they all have weaknesses and unique strengths. For me the strongest aspect of the original Demon's Souls is the soundtrack -- much more original and memorable than in its sequels. Dark Souls 1 had a good soundtrack, but in DS2 it seems rather generic.

Plus, it seems like Demon's Souls also had the best, and most memorable boss fights. Pretty much every single boss had a unique design and combat mechanics. They did a lot of recycling and re-recycling in the sequels.

Ck2? Try Ireland in 1066. Take your time, forge a claim or two, marry off your children, and watch things go wrong. A hundred years of that should get you sorted more or less. Arumba LPs are helpful too; the guy knows the game backwards and forwards. Endless Space has a weird logic to it...it took me a while to figure out what's important as far as buildings and research.
Me? I've been on the brink of actually playing A.I wars for a while...just can't quite...ooof.

Blackguards isn't so bad. It's easy enough to get into, and you can successfully play the game, even if you don't understand every single stat and skill mechanic. I would know -- I'm not really familiar with the Dark Eye/DSA rule set, but I almost finished Blackguards 1. I think I was in the last chapter or so, last time I played. :P

lol this game would probably give me a stroke. i see can just see the blood shooting out of my ears as I rage quit.

hahaha, i'm watching this let's play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWtsrPIgzvU

D&D based RPGs. I've actually stopped playing some of those the moment I had to define my character or party because I felt that I couldn't possibly do anything sensible there without reading a D&D rule book. And the last thing I wanna do is start a 100 hour long journey with a broken build. :P

Yes! Baldurs Gate series, Fallout 2, Icewind Dale and other Infinity Engine-like games. I have absolutely no idea how the mechanics work and I've tried learning them. I always feel like I'm building my character wrong and missing items and side quests and optional content. I've tried playing them a few times now and always quit a couple of hours into it.

Weirdly enough this did not happen with Planescape Torment and the original Fallout, maybe because they are less open world and more hub based so I feel like it's easier to explore everything and be certain I'm not missing anything.

Yup! all the time. Aside from the obvious Demon's Souls/Dark Souls games many times aside from those...

Strategy games mostly, like Company of Heroes, I want to play it but I know I suck at RTS games sooo... I don't...

For the longest time Fire Emblem Awakening when I had perma death on, I was to afraid of messing up and killing someone I just never played... now I play all the time...

And right now, literally right now, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate edition... I want to play but I'm intimated by it haha.

EDIT: and Darkest Dungeon... it's fun from what I've played but so hard...

It should be enough to just read parts of the manual for whatever game it might be to get an idea of the things that are important for the specific game. The forums for the individual games can be quite useful too for this type of intimidation relief. It can take a handful of hours to really get a good feel for a game and figure out all the intricacies of the engine, but be patient and stick with it, and don't be afraid to get help if you need.

If you want to be sure you're getting all the content/quests/items that you want to/need to, use a guide. I really like www.gamebanshee. for the mentioned games as they are very thorough for checking all the details.

I love games that are in-depth and complicated.

Yes, Dark Souls, because a lot of people say is soooo hard game. But when you play some hours, you enjoy it a lot :)

Yeah, I've attempted to play Dwarf Fortress from time to time... it sounds like it's so cool once you get the hang of it but it's really not very accessible, control-wise or "am I really going to remember how to do all this" wise.

Tsar: Burden of the Crown also comes to mind for seeming kind of like Warcraft II but with way more buildings/options etc. to have to remember hotkeys and purposes of. The tutorial was practically a mini-campaign of its own in length.

Monster Hunter Tri.

I love the concept of this series (this game in particular), I love the extremely inventive monsters and the fantastic, fluid animations... but the learning curve feels almost insurmountable, there's just so much you HAVE to know to and manage to be able to survive.

For some reason after playing Amnesia:TDD I got anxiety with horror games. After all these years loving the bloody genre, I've started to get anxious just seeing people playing it. I saw some gameplay of Alien:Isolation and felt genuinely terrified.

I still want to play those games, nonetheless:

F U Amnesia.