This is an oldie, but Lords of the Realm II. I loved the first two, but had trouble with the third and ended up giving up, assuming it was a me problem.

Nope, the community pretty much unanimously hates it. It’s not a terrible game per se, it’s just very different from the first two, throwing out everything most people liked about the predecessors and not exactly succeeding at the new mechanics.

I’ve decided to build my own take on the best parts of all three, we’ll see if I ever finish it.