Pragmata review: Capcom's surprise new hit

It’s always easy to make a game from a property that everyone knows about, and Capcom is no stranger to popular IP’s. Mega Man, Street Fighter, Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, and Okami, to name a few. These IP’s are what make Capcom so well known in the gaming world, so bringing in a new IP could cause it to underperform. Fortunately, this is not the case with Pragmata. Pragmata proves that not only are original stories wanted, but they can stand on their own two feet to give the players a new experience, unlike what they've played before in a Capcom game. 

 

The story of Pragmata showcases an unlikely bond between Hugh Williams, a lone engineer who's on a mission to inspect a moon base filled with revolutionary technology, and Diana, a child-looking android known as a Pragmata armed with hacking abilities, becoming an unlikely pair as they must find out why the moon base’s AI, IDUS, is turning on them. Through multiple sections of the moon base and hordes of destructive machinery, both Hugh and Diana work together to solve this mystery. The story itself seems very straightforward and admittedly too short, but it gets the job done at explaining the lore of the world, the story that’s told, and showcasing a genuine bond between our two leads. 

 

The gameplay is very straightforward, as through 6 zones of the moon base, you must find a way to combat the rogue machines who are trying to kill you. Luckily, you have the combined might of Hugh’s weapons that are found all over the base, and Diana’s hacking that reveals the enemy’s weak points. It’s a mix between a shooter and a puzzle while in combat, and fans of Resident Evil should feel at home with the combat. But as for the actual exploring, there's a mixture of an eerie atmosphere and space punk wonder that even simple conversations between the two feel like they've known one another for far longer. I would have liked to spend more time exploring the moon base, but I believe the game showed just enough without dragging on. 

 

When not on your main journey, take the time and rest at the Shelter, which acts like the main hub of the game where you can use resources found all over the game to upgrade Hugh and Diana with new abilities, new skills, and new weapons that make surviving alot easier. You can even replicate some childhood favorite activities that Diana will appreciate by collecting them in the game’s levels. They don’t help much in combat, but it is nice to see Diana happy with exploring new concepts that are foreign to her. And every once in a while, Diana even gifts you a drawing that you hang up. The Shelter even houses a challenge mode that not only improves your skills but also rewards you for different objectives you complete. And the Shelter even gives you alternate outfits for both Hugh and Diana, which are just cosmetic, but fun to wear.

The game’s graphics are an impressive feat, even for a Capcom RE Engine game. You can tell what the colors are supposed to be, even in a dim environment. The enemies look horrifying enough to want to defend yourself from. Everything has been given alot of detail, which might be the reason why this game was initially delayed a few times. 

 

The sounds in this game feel both mechanical and horror as you hear different threats along the way, and the weapons you use to defend yourself also have that wild sci-fi feel to them. Despite this, the main voices of Hugh and Diana are so well cast that they both easily bounce off each other, giving that father/daughter dynamic feel to their words, through their adventures and through their downtime at the Shelter. It’s impossible not to get sucked into their banter. 

 

In conclusion, Capcom has another success in their midst as Pragmata has been an absolute joy to play through, especially since it’s an original story. Sure, there is the fact that the game’s story is pretty short, as I only beat the main campaign in 10 or so hours, but it’s an unforgettable experience that I wanted to soak in every last detail I could. Through its characters to play as, to the lore you find throughout the story, surviving space horrors, and even forming the bond between Hugh and Diana as they survive the base together. This, plus all the extras found in the game, is not only my favorite game of the year so far, but a legitimate contender for Game of the Year. 

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​9.5/10