Pragmata Review – Moon Of Gold

There is no doubt that it’s been an amazing year for Capcom. From bringing back hype for the Resident Evil franchise with Resident Evil Requiem, to elevating other series to new heights with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. Capcom continues its streak of high-quality titles, this time by taking the risk of a new IP with Pragmata. Pragmata is not only successful in bringing a fresh take to action gameplay, but also establishes itself as a strong new franchise for Capcom, one that lands at exactly the right time of gaming and human history.  

In Pragmata, you play as Hugh Williams, a systems engineer sent to investigate the radio silence from The Cradle, a base from the Delphi Corporation on the moon. The Cradle is administered by the AI called Intelligent Direction Unification System (IDUS), and when Hugh just discovers that this AI has gone rogue, a moonquake leaves him injured. Hugh is then saved by a Pragmata, a child-like android that Hugh decides to nickname Diana from its official D-I-0336-7 name. Hugh and Diana team up to put a stop to IDUS, and the dynamic between these two is what carries the entire game, both in narrative and gameplay.  

While the story might seem simple with your typical AI gone rogue tale, the bond that builds between Hugh and Diana is simply wholesome to witness. Hugh isn’t a fan of Artificial Intelligence and robots; he says that all they do is bring problems that engineers like him must fix, especially when they are given too much control (ring any bells to our real world?). Pragmata androids, however, were created by a scientist for medical purposes, personal reasons in a way, but still a better goal than Delphi’s corporate greed. So, with Diana, Hugh is grateful towards her and treats her innocence with respect throughout the entire story. It feels fresh to have a paternal story where the chemistry clicks from the beginning, instead of the typical bad-to-good relationship dynamic in most father/daughter stories. 

This duo is what brings the innovation and what makes Pragmata a standout in the action genre. While you play mainly as Hugh and carry the action/shooting side with him, when you aim your weapon, the hacking UI by Diana appears. Each complements the other, so to do meaningful damage to enemies, you will have to use both. This blend also translates well to the story in terms of connecting with Diana as a companion. In contrast to other popular companions like Ellie in The Last of Us or Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite, here you have some control over Diana’s actions, and it makes you care for her even more.  

The antagonists keep the moon world feeling lively, and it is impossible not to feel retro-game influences throughout. Some sounds and visual effects from enemies and items transported me to the PlayStation 1 era of video games. While some of the enemies and bosses might feel similar, with even the protagonist having some lines like “You again!?”, the mixture of shooting and hacking keeps the gameplay engaging till the end. For future entries, though, having different hacking puzzles for enemies would be a welcome addition (I swear I was hallucinating that hacking UI every time I closed my eyes). Similar doesn’t mean it’s repetitive; the hacking keeps getting new additions with each upgrade and mod you receive. I was even motivated to continue a challenge mode that is unlocked after completing the story and do some achievement hunting. New Game Plus and an additional harder difficulty are also unlocked after the first playthrough. 

Space and the moon also play an important role in Pragmata. Most of The Cradle is built with an advanced 3D printer replicator that uses lunafilament to build anything possible. Lunafilament is a new type of resource found on the moon, so of course, humans need to go and mine it! Yes, it is as dangerous as it sounds, with a big part of that printed fragility being part of the gameplay obstacles. The way hacking is incorporated into this level design keeps exploration fun. For example, you need to reach a high area, so you hack a terminal with Diana that moves obstacles, while using Hugh’s suit trusters to maneuver your way up. However, the level design falls into the same territory as the enemies of feeling too similar, specifically at the end stages. However, the game knows its length, and just when you start noticing this similarity, it reaches its conclusion. For me, it was around 15 hours, but it can be way less if you ignore side content. 

It also helps that the level design is accompanied by one of the best art styles and visuals Capcom has delivered. The artists did an amazing job of combining the futuristic, clean structures with other space and nature elements. I was also very surprised by the game’s performance. Even with high settings and RTX settings enabled, Pragmata was still able to reach high frame rates. The characters’ hair physics is probably one of the most realistic-looking I’ve ever seen in a game, and it’s even more impressive to see how these high-quality assets interact with both physics and the environment. Seeing Earth from the moon’s point of view in such detail brings the best out of the game’s sci-fi elements, and also helps the dramatic purposes of the story. 

Pragmata hits too close to home for me, both in my connection with the characters and in how its themes apply to our real world, especially with events like the Artemis missions taking place. The corporate exploitation and dangers of artificial intelligence are present, but so is the beauty of space exploration and our moon. While the game was delayed multiple times by Capcom, somehow the world aligned to make this the perfect release date. Thankfully, we are here to experience both the fictional and the historic tales of our moon. In Pragmata’s journey, humans discover a rich mineral on the moon, but our protagonist and we find our hearts there. 

Walter reviewed Pragmata on PC with a provided review code. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and our score will not be changed.