>>96502851
Get the basic set and play around. You can find it online, and its simple to set up. It should be pretty easy for a fellow 3.5 chad.
I'm just starting with it, but so far seems pretty easy to get into. It's also a fundamentally different game than 5e, it's a combat game, 5e is not, or at least not in the same vein as 3.5e. I can tell you there are no multiclasses, instead each class has subclasses. Both player cores are 90% build autism.
For combat I really enjoy the fact that it's usually really clear what your character can do in combat (great for GMs too because its easier to teach), and so far I'm enjoying the 3 action round. It simplifies the combat in a good way, it's a kind of simplification that actually gives you more tools because everything you do have is viable, and because the devs can tailor each action to the class, if that makes sense. It can feel gamey, yes, but it's a game, so for me personally it's a positive. There are very few arbitrary restrictions to what you can do too, which is another thing that takes a lot of cognitive load off your shoulders. Want to spend 3 actions attacking? Go for it. Want to cast 3 spells? As long as you have the actions for it, you can.
I don't have experience with higher levels but people also say PF also holds up a lot better for levels above 10, and is just more balanced and easy to homebrew. I've also heard other people say the tags can get out of hand, but I'm not sure.
Other bonuses are their business practices aren't complete dogshit, there's no D&D beyond style trash and they actually sell proper PDFs. That's what ultimately pushed me to try it, and I'm really glad I did.
