Pragmata is a video game from Capcom which was released last week on all platforms (PlayStation 5, XBox Series X/S, Switch 2 and Steam).
Pragmata is an old-school third-person action-adventure game with an interesting hacking mechanic, beautiful graphics and two fantastic main characters, the astronaut Hugh and the young android girl Diana (D-I-0336-7). There’s no doubt that the game will become a classic and will still be talked about in 30 years, just like people today are still talking about Deus Ex or Planescape: Torment.
- Gameplay: 9/10
- Graphics: 9.5/10
- Story: 8/10
- Characters: 10/10
- Overall: 9.5/10
You play as the astronaut Hugh who has just arrived on a lunar research station where the Delphi corporation conducts research on the wonder material lunafilament. All robots were created using it, including Diana. Naturally, everything goes south very quickly and Hugh has to fight against the security robots under the command of the rogue AI IDUS.
The absolute highlight of the game is the android girl Diana and Hugh’s interactions with her. She’s an incredibly adorable cutie pie! She behaves like a seven-year-old child, one with l33d hacking powers that is, and Hugh is a fantastic “adoptive father” for her. Their interactions are full of warmth with heartwarming dialog lines and extremely cute animations. Only a person with a heart of stone wouldn’t love to have a daughter like Diana.
What separates the game from other action games is the hacking mechanic. While you’re shooting, you also have to hack the enemy robots using Diana’s hacking powers. For that, you have to move a cursor towards the target field in a grid full of obstacles and bonus fields. To make this possible at all, the enemies move slowly and take a lot of time to carry out their attacks. But it’s still quite challenging to shoot, evade the enemies and hack them at the same time. Playing on standard difficulty without aim assist (on a gamepad) was really pushing me to my limit at times. Fortunately, subsequent tries after a game-over get easier once you learn where and when the enemies appear, how they attack, and how to use the layout of the room to your advantage.
I recommend to play the game on a controller. But some of the special training sessions that require high precision are easier when aiming with a mouse.
The game also has great graphics with beautiful and highly detailed characters and environments. A moon base is certainly not the most diverse location, but the developers really gave their best to add as much variety as possible. Some locations and scenes are truly breathtaking and among the most beautiful ones ever seen in a video game. However, sometimes one may still get a bit lost in the similar looking hallways.
Last but not least, there’s a safe room where you can save the game, upgrade your weapons and abilities, dress Hugh and Diana in new outfits, engage in special training sessions, and give gifts to Diana like balloons or a slide.
If you take your time to find all the secrets and admire the beautiful scenery, the game is also a lot longer than the 10 hours sometimes given. You can easily have fun for 20 hours if you do everything the game has to offer.
I have not encountered a single bug so far!
If you like action-adventures, you should definitely get Pragmata, even at full price. Developers who release such a quality product should be rewarded for their hard work, after all!