BattleTech is out to get me. The turn-based tactics game from Harebrained Schemes—the studio that cut its teeth on resurrecting “Nineties Cool” franchises with Shadowrun Returns—has now revived the world of MechWarrior in absolutely savage fashion. The studio’s latest chosen universe blends grounded combat between ostensibly humanoid robots with medieval politics transplanted to the final frontier. It is, to put it mildly, entirely my jam.

Which is exactly why I’ve let BattleTech endlessly brutalize me for the past few weeks.

BattleTech is very difficult, although not in the ways you might expect. The game sets you up as a mercenary in the middle days of the same universe as MechWarrior, but instead of piloting multi-ton titans, the player now assumes the role of a mercenary leader. It’s through the uneven responsibilities of a small, violent business owner that BattleTech challenged me the most.