PRAGMATA review

Capcom has always had a way with storytelling. From their highly acclaimed Resident Evil series to games like Monster Hunter, you always know you're in for a good time when you see that iconic Capcom logo. Their latest entry, PRAGMATA, is a new standalone game that takes us beyond Earth to our own moon, which is fitting given the recent highly successful Artemis II mission. Senior Editor David Flynn and I have been locked in, playing the game on Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch 2. (You can check out David's Switch 2 impressions of the game here.) This is an exhilarating game that combines a beautiful story with a unique and engaging combat system like nothing I've played before.

You play as Hugh as he explores a base on the moon that focuses on the research and development of lunafilament, a mysterious substance that has a variety of applications, including infrastructure via 3D printing. Unfortunately, the facility is in shambles after the systems that were built to defend it turned against the occupants. It's up to Hugh and his new PRAGMATA friend, Diana, to figure out what went wrong, and to escape and return to Earth. The story that unfolds is full of deep emotions. Hugh grapples with the pain of losing his crew after their arrival at the facility while also doing whatever he can to protect the childlike Diana, who helps Hugh navigate and fight off any threats.

PRAGMATA are more than just robots, which are also found throughout the facility. A PRAGMATA is a fully sentient humanoid that can express emotions and articulate thoughts and opinions after receiving new information. Diana is full of excitement over working with Hugh and finds joy in conversing with him, particularly when he's talking about his life back on Earth. You'll find various REMs (Read Earth Memories) throughout the base, which can be displayed back at the Shelter and give Diana little glimpses of what people do for fun on our pale blue dot, like watching tv, building sandcastles, and playing different games.

PRAGMATA is a third-person action-adventure game that combines shooter gameplay with hacking and RPG elements. Hugh finds and equips himself with various weapons and support tools that help him take on the many different hostile robots he encounters throughout the facility. Each is able to be leveled up by collecting lunafilament from defeated enemies and caches scattered about. He's also able to jump, hover, and dash around in his fancy spacesuit. Diana helps him by creating vulnerabilities. Aiming at a robot brings up Diana's hacking matrix, where you have to navigate around a grid, hitting special effect nodes on the way to a green node that opens up enemies to critical damage. There are also blocked nodes and red nodes that have to be avoided. The action around you continues at full speed, and you can even continue shooting while trying to navigate the grid, but if you take damage or hit one of the red nodes, the grid resets and you have to start over.

This multifaceted combat system keeps you on your toes and makes for some insanely fun gameplay. Combining strings of special nodes to link, confuse, stun, and otherwise weaken the robots and then following it up with a barrage of bullets and rockets made me feel like I was on a power trip as I melted robots left and right, all the while dodging their feeble attempts to defeat me. Diana shouts words of encouragement and even provides audible queues when you're being targeted, need to move, or when to strike. Hugh and Diana together are a powerful duo. After a good brawl, they can head back to the Shelter to regroup and get some shiny new stuff.

The Shelter is a part of the facility that acts as a safe haven for our heroes. I've already mentioned the REMs, but this is also where skills, weapons, and other goodies can be equipped and upgraded, including Diana's hacking abilities. There aren't any crazy skill trees to have to follow; you pick and choose the specific things you want to unlock or upgrade without having to pass through stuff you don't particularly care for. There are also training simulations you can hop into to try to hone your skills. Completing the simulations gives you more lunafilament and other bonuses. If you want to take a break from all the action, you can play Hide & Seek with Diana (she's not that good at it), read up on the different robots, and even change your suit.

The Shelter is accessible via the many tram access points found throughout the facility. You can easily drop in and out of a level whenever you need to without losing any progress, as long as you're not in the middle of a boss fight. This means you'll never have to worry about running out of health restores or ammo before heading into your next big encounter. It's a huge breath of fresh air to not feel like I'm being punished for using my inventory. Even dying in the game doesn't really cost the player anything other than time. You 'respawn' back at the Shelter with a slight scolding from Diana to let her 'handle it' next time, and then you get geared back up and head back to the last tram access point you unlocked and continue right where you got merked at.

Each area is designed for multilevel gameplay with the ability to return at any time to take on new challenges. As your skills evolve and Diana grows stronger, new secrets can be unveiled, more difficult foes can be vanquished, and more rewards can be gained. Even after the credits roll, you can return to any area of the facility to continue digging, or you can launch into any of the new modes that become available, including a New Game+ mode if you want that extra bit of spice.

Have I mentioned this takes place on the moon? Most of your time is spent inside the facility, however you do occasionally venture outside onto the almost zero gravity lunar surface, trying to avoid the lunar digger that gives some real Tremors vibes (if you know, you know). The game's release being so close to the Artemis II mission felt very fitting, and I wonder if it was intentional. PRAGMATA has been added to my short list of games that make me excited about space exploration and technological advancements. While we are likely still decades away from having a more permanent human presence on the moon, though obviously not in the capacity seen in this game, knowing that it's something we are slowly inching towards is really cool.

While the game did have some performance issues on the Nintendo Switch 2, I'm happy to report that such issues were absent on the Xbox Series X, with only a couple very negligible stutters experienced in my playthrough. There also isn't that much in the way of load times, even when going between the Shelter and other parts of the facility. I also noticed that there aren't any points in the game where you're squeezing through tight spaces going between areas, which is how many games mask loading new parts of the map. The whole experience was seamless, from start to finish.

This isn't a particularly long game, clocking in at around 10 or 11 hours to complete the story, with an additional hour added if you're a treasure hunter like David. Without giving away any hints, I will say that I saw the ending from a mile away, I just didn't know how we would get there, and the journey to that point made it well worth sticking it out until those credits rolled. In the end, all I could think about was how Capcom have done it again with capturing my heart and soul.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a New Game+ to attend to.