I’ve been revisiting anno 2205, infamously the ugly duckling of the Anno series of RTS games. I don’t mind so much the fact that it’s different, lacks customisation and random map generation - I’m bothered because the game is so slow to progress through on challenge settings, and it feels like a game designed just to artificially waste your time; in other anno games, you can always pull tricks to dig yourself out of economic crisis - selling off assets and surplus goods, completing quests for other parties, or taking loans. 2205 is very very confined in terms of what you can do to financially recover in the early game and forces you into a lot of military events.
You can turn off the most punishing aspects of the parry system if you just want to experience the story. It’s legit one of the most moving and engaging stories I’ve ever seen in a video game so if your only complaint is the difficulty it gives you an easy solution in the settings. I found it hard but worth learning, but you can make it much less intense if you want.