The area in the UE4 version (which was a demo starting area, just for reference) isn't going to be accessible initially in the UE5 version because it was, per the devs, originally intended to be toward the game's midpoint. Instead the UE5 version is starting off in the actual starting area. That means that the currently accessible map, quests, and NPCs will, for the most part, be inaccessible (and likely unimplemented) on launch.
The big reason we're getting the UE5 version now rather than last winter is that they wanted to launch UE5 with pregnancy, and the faction tied to pregnancy (and more specifically, the place you go when you have a kid) is not in that starting area. And they decided to hold off on release until they could sufficiently detail the relevant area, faction, and quests.
All this is detailed in their devlogs, most of which get bundled into steam announcements and/or have been copied into this thread at some point or another.