Pragmata

Intro

Pragmata is game I’ve long had my eyes on. It was unveiled a few years ago and then Capcom (the developer) went silent. It was initially announced for the PS5 and PC. This was a curious predicament for me, because I had no intention of buying a PS5, and I do not game on my PC anymore. I do have a Nintendo Switch 2 (and a Nintendo Switch), but I never expected it to come to this system. Last year they showed a follow up trailer of Pragma at The Game Awards, and with it a surprise announcement for a Nintendo Switch 2 release. How exciting. I would finally be able to buy a current generation action game for a Nintendo console. I had all but written these off, and it wasn’t much of a problem as I have been gaming less in general, but this was a pleasant surprise.

Of course I bought it, but the real question is how did it turn out?

Review

To start Pragmata has a simple story. Hugh (the main character) is stuck on the moon after a disaster and needs to go back home. He meets an android (Diana) who will help him get him back, and the two bond together in a father/ daughter dynamic. Since the story is so simple, the binding agent is Hugh and Diana’s evolving relationship. There are tons of light hearted moments that wonderfully crafted and make you root for this unconventional guardian / child relationship.  It’s clean and it works.

The gameplay is very fun and engaging. It’s very reminiscent of the 2000s Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 shooters. It has a very arcade feel to it and it is difficult to put it down. The controls are very responsive, save for very rare moments where the context shifts from the game world to the VR training modules (which can require 3 drinks of black coffee level twitch timing to complete). The gameplay loop might sound simple but it’s very engaging. Hugh shoots. Diana hacks. Hugh can’t damage the robots until Diana sufficiently weakens them, after which you can use one of your many options of guns to do. The mechanics themselves are tight, engaging and very stimulating. The mix of puzzle and shooter works surprisingly well in real time combat, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat for each enemy encounter. The game constantly throws new mechanics, upgrades and situations at you, even past the ending (yes there’s a nice chunk of post game content). It is constantly trying to show the player new things. The level design of the game is fantastic. It leads you to explore the surroundings and mechanics in an engaging way without being overly fussy or in your face about it. You intuitively know where to go and what to do without constantly being treated like a 4th grader. It’s a nice change of pace to have the development staff not treat their audience like children!

The game threads the needle on difficulty. Most of the game has a good level of challenge, with some spikes here and there. Even though the endgame gets a bit tougher, it’s not frustrating and you’ll know what you have done wrong in the event of a game over. This is not a “Dark Souls” type of difficulty. It’s more akin to a 90s beat ‘em up level of challenge. Hard enough to keep you invested, but not hard enough to make you feel powerless.

Finally, the game has several locations that are all very inspired. I didn’t think they could do a lot with the moon motif, but each area is very unique and stands on it’s own. Each level has some present, but mild back tracking and challenge rooms to break up the pace. As you upgrade Hugh’s abilities, you can traverse levels more quickly or become more powerful (typical video game stuff). There is also a hub location called “The Cradle” which you can visit via checkpoints or at the start / ending of a level. In the cradle, as you progress the through the story, Diana decorates and plays in the space which gives you opportunities to gift her items you find in the campaign, or just to talk. There are several other features to the cradle that I won’t discuss here so there can be some surprise if you choose to buy the game.

Outro

My only real gripe with the game is that it could have used more locations. Overall, as I played the game I struggled to find things that were bad or poorly done about it. It’s very polished, and runs very well on the Switch 2. You get some occasional slowdown in the latter game, but it’s not usually prolonged and recovers pretty smoothly. The game took me about 18 hours to complete (and an additional 4 hours of so from the post game content so 22 hours altogether). Pragmata is a very creative and near flawless game with a strong identity, unique ideas, and engaging gameplay that I definitely think you should buy.

-Until next time-