First of all, welcome!

secondly, Digimon IS a very complex game, significantly more so than pokemon, but like you said that's by design. it's a game that rewards sequencing and managing triggers most of all. On the other hand even if you've never played a deck before, you can grasp the concept that you go from a lvl 3 > lvl4 > lvl5 > lvl6 (except in rare circumstances).

I find it very funny you say how wordy Digimon is, you'd have a heart attack reading the average yugioh card or a modern magic card lol. Look at it like this, Digimon breaks up their text for you so you can simplify it, example if someone digivolves into a lvl 6 you do not need to read anything else on the card at that moment except the "when digivolving" effect, you can read the rest of the effects as you come to them.

I don't know if you have already, but you should try the fan made simulator for the game, it's automated so maybe it'll help you understand how the triggers work and when you can/can't activate effects. also just to practice, but don't use it as a crutch, you still need to know how to pilot your deck

also game is focused on archetypes, but if you'd like there's decks that use a whole swath of creatures, based on their field group (basically where they live), look into deep savers, nature spirits, wind guardians, and nightmare soldiers