I wouldn't say Unreal Engine is unreal to use, I think it is just very overwhelming to get into. Other options (Unity, Godot, etc) have more linear educational route, imo. There are many educational options for mid-level and professionals, but newbie hobbyist resources are all over the place and made by hobbyists.
UE is very powerful and seems to offer a lot of freebies for something that you'd have to buy with Unity etc. I've made a choice very long time ago mostly due to free access and realism quality. Doing 2d games is still better with something else entirely. Unreal Engine is built by those that use it to make AAA games, so they constantly update the engine for their own benefit, so it is a safe bet for me.
I would suggest to try and explore it more, look at State of Unreal presentation videos for inspiration... I think it offers both a good career route and fully fledged tool for solo indie. It just takes a lot of time to figure it out at initial stages and what exactly to concentrate on.
Thank you regardless, congrats on your first as well :)
I checked your title, nice visuals. I'm going to vote on it later, after I play it fully.