Generally, the same trends you see in 5e apply to PF2 as far as useability. Martial characters tend to be easier to build and play than spontaneous casters which tend to be easier than prepared casters. I just think the differences aren't nearly as stark.
My advice is to just make a character concept-first. Any character you want should be fine. Making sure you have your concept figured out is really important because it will eliminate a lot of options from consideration, and decision paralysis can be a real thing.
I find that a Dragon Barbarian is really good for newer players, they begin simple with rage and attack and you can slowly make them more mechanically complex by gaining breath weapons, wings and become a fricking dragon.
But more important, make a character that have a concept that you find interesting, if you have a 18 in your main stat at lvl 1 it's really hard to mess up.
For a brand new player I'd suggest avoiding the Alchemist but given you have experience I'd concur with Coldermoss.
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I highly recommend talking to the other people in your group about character creation. If the group is starting from scratch, a "session 0" where you make your characters together can be a great way to make sure that your character fits in with the rest of the group and is providing necessary and useful skills.
If the group is already established, you will probably want to find out what kind of characters are already in the party.
Also, so far there don't seem to be many concerns about how classes scale in relation to each other. So I don't think there are any real "trap" options. If you pick what looks fun and build it with a cohesive vision I don't think you can really go wrong in P2e.
Except Mutagenist Alchemist. It's still an Alchemist so it's fine on a fundamental level (especially at higher levels), but what Mutagenist gets isn't up to par with the other specializations.
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A few of the major differences between D&D5 and PF2:
Ranged Weapons - Not nearly as powerful as it has been in other editions.
Spell Casters - Get fewer spell slot than in other editions, but their cantrips are now pretty powerful. Compared to D&D5, PF2 spellcasting is a bit more awkward to use (spell slots have to be managed, spells don't auto-scale to slots as easily).
Dex to Damage - Restricted to a limited number of weapons for a specific Rogue racket. Everyone else has to use Strength.
Actions - You get three actions per round, but moving is now an action and your opponents will normally get three actions each round as well, so low level combat can be very brutal if/when the dice turn against you.
Size - There are no inherent bonuses or penalties for character size, so halflings and half-orcs move the same speed and use the same gear.
At its core, it's still the same game, so character builds are generally similar.
I'll add that ancestries are more flexible than 5e races. You don't need to worry about using the handful of them with inherent boosts to your key stat, like elves and wizards. You just generally want to avoid a penalty to it, but even that can be made up for.
This means you can make almost any concept work.