Pragmata Review
Androids Dream of Lunar Escape
Fifty-seven years ago, man landed on the moon, marking one of the greatest human achievements. Humans have not returned to the lunar surface since 1972, but what if they had maintained a permanent presence? In fact, what if there were a whole lunar colony, with all of the technological advancements of our modern era? Enter Pragmata , Capcom’s newest original game, which brings players to a massive lunar space station where spacefarer Hugh and android girl Diana must confront a hostile AI known as IDUS and its legion of rogue bots to escape its clutches and get back home. Being well-rounded in most respects, Pragmata is boosted significantly by its sublime, crisp visuals, delightfully unusual combat system, tight level design, oppressively lonely and sterile atmosphere, and an enjoyable dynamic between its two main characters, making for an outstanding experience.
The game’s outset sees Hugh arrive at a seemingly abandoned lunar outpost with his three comrades, but when a moonquake hits and disaster unfolds, Hugh is the only survivor. After suffering a near-fatal fall from a significant height, Hugh is saved by a mysterious girl who heals his wounds. When he wakes up shortly thereafter, aggressive bots attack Hugh and the girl. While Hugh's bullets uselessly ricochet off their armor, the girl manages to expose their weak points by hacking them, allowing Hugh to neutralize the bunch. Realizing something is clearly wrong at the station, Hugh joins with the girl, who reveals herself to be a sentient android codenamed DI-0036-7, though Hugh decides to name her Diana. Together, they set off to figure out what’s gone wrong with IDUS, the central AI, and venture out to communicate with Earth and escape.
Pragmata ’s plot is quite good, mostly being fueled by the stellar partnership between Hugh and Diana. As they explore the station, there’s a sincere sense of camaraderie between the two as they learn more about each other and work together. Diana is so adorable and endearing, with all the traits players would expect from a young child: excited, bubbly, and incredibly curious. While she has a few uncanny, inorganic moments that remind players she’s an android, her growth arc is remarkably compelling as she learns more about humans and their intricacies. This balances extremely well with Hugh’s steadfast, blunt personality, making their emotional connection a definite high point. Pragmata also weaves in themes about the dangers of AI, unchecked corporate power, interdependency, and loneliness. All of these are executed well, though the game suffers from a few predictable twists, which is a bit jarring given its short runtime.
[caption id="attachment_188510" align="aligncenter" width="640"] High-five! Teamwork makes the dream work.[/caption]
Where Pragmata shines brightest is its unusual hybrid combat system, blending third-person shooting with real-time puzzle solving and RPG mechanics, with the latter heavily influencing damage and character progression. Essentially, Hugh keeps a whole arsenal of firearms at the ready, all anchored around his primary weapon, with regenerating ammo, which is further supplemented by offensive, tactical, and defensive guns with limited ammunition, though these weapons periodically respawn in the field, either as enemy drops or from breakable crates. The entire arsenal feels fantastic to use, and Pragmata ’s gunplay is tight, snappy, and responsive. Hugh also has a jetpack on his suit, and his thrusters allow him to quickly dodge attacks or even recover from being knocked down by a heavy blow, which, despite the bulk of Hugh’s suit, feels fluid, smooth, and fair. While there is no lock-on mechanic, Diana does an excellent job of alerting players of impending danger or off-screen attacks, ensuring players have fair warning.
However, firing at the metallic robots is useless on its own, dealing negligible damage — this is where Diana comes in. When Hugh aims at an enemy, a grid of squares known as a hacking matrix appears, and players use the face buttons to directionally navigate from a preset point to a green “OPEN” square (also signified by a power button symbol), which makes the enemy vulnerable and drastically reduces its defense. On the grid, though, players can also pass through various nodes that Diana can equip. These can increase damage dealt, lower the enemy’s defenses, hack multiple enemies in proximity at once, or apply various status ailments, including halting movement or overheating the enemy, allowing for a high-damage critical strike. Various error nodes or other interesting detrimental squares appear too, adding a layer of challenge that constantly keeps players on their toes and weighing important split-second decisions: is it easier to simply beeline to the OPEN square, or is it possible to navigate around the grid and dodge the insta-fail error nodes for maximum offensive output? Like Hugh's non-primary weapons, hacking nodes have a limited number of uses, meaning players also have to weigh when and where to use them, though these also spawn in the field.
[caption id="attachment_188511" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Diana navigates the hacking matrix while Hugh unloads bullets into a bot.[/caption]
Together, the gunplay and hacking synergize extraordinarily well, even if it takes a bit of getting used to at first. Bobbing and weaving through hordes of bots while solving puzzles feels incredibly smooth, and Pragmata ’s combat does wonders at making Hugh and Diana feel like a superstar duo. But what really pushes Pragmata ’s combat from great to exceptional are its RPG mechanics and the various ways players can augment each character. At the hub area, known as The Shelter, players can utilize Upgrade Components found throughout levels. These allow Hugh to upgrade his HP and defense, as well as his primary gun’s damage, stagger rate, ammo, recoil, or heat gauge buildup, whereas Diana can strengthen her hacking damage, OPEN duration, or heat gauge buildup.
On the other hand, using lunafilament – this game’s version of experience, essentially – allows players to upgrade non-primary weapons, Diana’s hacking nodes, and innate abilities. Players can also equip Mods, further altering the pair's attributes to suit their playstyle, enabling an astonishing degree of adaptability. Want to lean into Diana’s hacking and utilize her ultimate multi-enemy hacking Overdrive Protocol more? Go for it. Want to focus on Hugh’s gunplay and mowing down bots? Totally possible. Long-range build? Absolutely. Up-in-your-face assault build? That works too. There are so many possibilities, and the extent to which players can customize their build makes the odd gameplay hybrid all the more accessible and fascinating.
[caption id="attachment_188512" align="aligncenter" width="640"] 3D-printed New York City melts in on itself, creating a bizarre landscape.[/caption]
Throughout its various levels, Pragmata is generally a joy to navigate, with plenty of platforming sections and mini-game puzzles scattered around, requiring the use of both Hugh’s boosters and Diana’s hacking abilities. Exploration often grants excellent rewards or leads to interesting lore and backstory about the station, as well as finding visual spectacles that litter Pragmata ’s world. That said, the game could use some more variety later on, as the collectibles become just a bit rote. The Shelter serves as a great hub, with collectibles known as Read Earth Memories gradually filling its perimeter with holographic, childlike Earth-based settings, much to the ever-curious Diana's amazement. Also present are numerous, substantial Metal Gear Solid -like VR simulations, with preset challenges that test the player’s movement, skills, or combat expertise in exchange for various rewards, which are always worth it. It also bears mentioning that despite its odd combat and intertwining mechanics, Pragmata controls extraordinarily well.
Pragmata is truly a sight to behold. Taking place on the Moon, the desolate isolation of the lunar surface and its vacuous atmosphere are conveyed flawlessly, but it’s within the station that the true magic unfolds. Essentially, the entire lunar base and all of its components are made of a material called lunafilament, a somewhat fragile yet versatile material. With the station operating as a giant 3D printer, entire facsimiles of Earth-based locations can be created between the crisp, white, and sterile halls that connect the base’s various nodes. Most impressive is the game’s first zone, a bizarre recreation of New York City that is all topsy-turvy and mish-mashed together. The 3D-printing errors and general dysfunction of the zone perfectly evoke the often-chaotic results one would expect from an AI-generated video or image. The overall visual direction does wonders at elucidating the game’s themes, and it just looks absolutely jaw-dropping at every twist and turn.
[caption id="attachment_188509" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Aw… she’s just too adorable![/caption]
While not quite as memorable as its visual design, Pragmata sports a solid, effective score and great voice acting. Sad, melancholy pianos amplify the isolation of space and the lunar surface, punctuating quiet moments well, whereas some pounding, synth-heavy tracks back the game’s chaotic battles to great effect. While most of the voice cast is at least effective, Pragmata hits where it matters most. David Menkin turns in a great performance as Hugh, but Grace Saif as Diana is even more notable, with an exceptionally charming voice that makes her innocent joviality and moments of vulnerability so emotionally raw and effective.
Sporting a relatively short runtime of fifteen to twenty hours, Pragmata doesn’t overstay its welcome and is a briskly paced adventure that does everything a game needs to do. Its bold and stunning presentation and smart, compact level design make it so fun to navigate. Hugh and Diana have a truly wonderful, organic, and beautiful relationship, evident not only in the sturdy – if sometimes predictable – plot but also in its exceptional hybrid combat system, where facing down and overcoming hordes of AI bots feels incredibly rewarding, further fueling their bond. Pragmata proves that when you shoot for the moon, you land amongst the stars.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
The post Pragmata Review appeared first on RPGamer .
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