Not at all. Victoria II is the game with the most hidden stuff I've ever seen. Just the fact that there are lists and articles devoted to the function of only one aspect of its economic side (production and factories) is already proof enough that Victoria II is a game that just doesn't let people to play it easily.
My friends who have picked the game often say "the game almost plays itself" or "I don't feel like I'm doing anything", because usually there's zero feedback of your actions. It's the old CK syndrome where you pick an option in an event, but can't see what has been the result (you know, 50% chance of X, 10% of Y, but you con't know which one won until you check the character out), but up to eleven. Vicky has the hardest, most cruel learning cliff I've ever seen, and only now I feel like I know what I'm doing, instead of just trusting the game to follow my lead and correct the mistakes I do inadvertedly.
The production and world market menu is so unfathomable that most people don't ever look it up. Vicky is a game that, if you want to play it (not play it well, just play it, instead of just allowing it to run and play itself), requires the attention and detail of an accountant and the patience of a prospector. And I don't mean it's not fun, it's just another kind of fun. In my case, I like Vicky because it's probably the only Paradox game that really, truly captures the essence and flavour of the era. Its slow pace and game-changing political systems (playins laissez-faire is radically different than playing communism) and its relative resistance to massification do show that Paradox made its tighter, most-flavoury game, and that they know it.
Still, Vicky remains, to me, a brutal game to learn. To master? Probably HoI or CK2. But Vicky is the hardest to learn.
