PRAGMATA Review

PRAGMATA is the newest IP from CAPCOM, one of the biggest video game companies in the world.

The moment I saw gameplay from PRAGMATA, I was LOCKED IN. It's categorized as an sci-fi adventure game, but it's much more than that. It blended multiple elements from different genres and they all work together to create an incredible game. In order to weaken robots, you hack them. To deal substantial damage, you shoot them when and where they're vulnerable. You can create builds with a variety of weapons and hacking upgrades that suit your playstyle. The space station environment although a bit linear, is diverse. The father/daughter relationship of Hugh and Diana tugs at your heart the more you're with them. With new IPs, it's understandable to be a bit hesitant with them. For me, it's a game I knew from the jump would score well and surprise people.

Gameplay:

One thing I love about PRAGMATA is how it forces you to adapt, depending on the situation. Weapons that aren't primary units break if your ammo hits zero. The weapon you grew attached to might not be around or might not fit the scenario and you have to use something else. PRAGMATA doesn't leave you lacking, there's always a solution. Every enemy doesn't have the same hacking pattern. Some it's a straight shot. Some are more difficult and require patience and multitasking to get through. You do reap the fruits of your labor by dealing more damage to them!

The variety of weapons was awesome and they all have their specific use cases. The weapons aren't all offensive either. You have offensive weapons like the Shockwave Gun and Charge Piercer which specialize in close-range and long-range respectively. You have weapons that provide tactical support like extra damage from hacking like the Code Generator or locking enemies in place with the Stasis Net. You even have defensive weapons like a Decoy Generator to distract enemies or an Impact Barrier to cast a protective bubble around you like a bubble shield from Halo.

With these weapons, there's hacking nodes to pair with them. Confuse the big dog enemy with a Confuse hack or better yet, combine Confuse with Multi-hack. Now, multiple enemies are attacking each other. Maybe you want to overheat robots and leave them out of commission so you get a free follow-up. Do that with the Heat hacking node. To add icing on the cake, you have mods to equip which are like buffs to elevate your build. If you're someone that doesn't like to get close to enemies, there's mods to increase damage from long-range as well as increase the hacking distance. The same thing applies for close-distance, someone who values hacking damage over gun damage, etc.

The builds you can create are endless.

Story (No Spoilers):

The game starts in familiar territory like any space game. You're stuck in a space station on the Moon and you have to find a way off. You travel through different areas and they all feel diverse. There's holographic capsules that fill you in on previous history of what happened at the space station before Hugh even got there and all of this is SO key to the story! What I did not expect was the emotional connection between Hugh and Diana. There's a reason why PRAGMATA was donned "DadSpace". Diana is an AI robot with the appearance of a child. Hugh is a support engineer who was adopted and doesn't have any children of his own. The deeper you get in the story, the more you see they pair extremely well together. The more you notice they learn from one another.

Extras:

Every area has a completion percentage which helps you see what you're missing. I thoroughly enjoyed collecting the Earth Memory items because of what they provide for Diana considering she never lived the life of a kid. Just imagine some things a kid would love to experience and you have a good idea.

The training simulations provide a way to gain rewards for extra parts for upgrading your suit, Diana's hacking ability and your weapons. It's a challenge because you don't set your loadout and you don't have any upgrades. It's whatever the game gives you and it's up to you to make the most of it.

While these aren't required to do, they add more value to your playthrough.

Issues:

I wish when we looked at the map, our location was accurate. When I move, my location should update. Keeping it in the same place as the save point for the shelter doesn't help. The platforming takes a bit to get used to, especially during the training simulations. It makes sense why considering you're in a space suit and it's most likely heavy, but it's a small gripe wanting to do one thing and the game says "NOPE!"

PRAGMATA: Final Verdict:

PRAGMATA is one of my top games this year. To think it was in development hell and came out the way it did is incredible. CAPCOM continues their streak of releasing sensational games and living up to the name "CAPGOD" in 2026.

PRAGMATA - 9/10 - MUST BUY