Following the successful launch of the new Resident Evil franchise, Japanese publisher Capcom followed up with another game just six weeks later. This time, the company decided not to recycle old franchises, but to release an original title. It was an action adventure set in a sci-fi setting, Pragmata. We played the new game and are ready to tell you why the gaming community has jokingly nicknamed it “Dad Space.”

Setting and plot

The events of Pragmata take place on the lunar station “Cradle,” owned by the Delphi corporation. Communication with Earth is suddenly lost. To investigate, a group of engineers is sent to the station, one of whom is the protagonist, Hugh Williams. A series of events leads Hugh to become trapped on the Cradle, but he encounters a humanoid android named Diana, who resembles a little girl. Forming an alliance, the heroes decide to reach the shuttle and evacuate the lunar base together.

In terms of setting, Pragmata doesn’t bring anything radically new to the genre. A closed research station far from Earth, a deranged AI, hordes of enemies, and a protagonist yearning to return home—all of this has been depicted numerous times in both games and films. But the way the game’s individual parts are logically interconnected deserves praise.

The fact is that the entire operation of Delphi’s lunar base relies on lunar fiber—a fictional material mined from deep within the moon. Lunar fiber can mimic the properties of other materials, transforming into anything. Using this property, Delphi created 3D printers that can print virtually anything: from simple robots to entire cities and elements of the base itself. This is a narrative hack that perfectly explains any oddities and conventions in the game.

Hugh and Diana’s relationship

Despite the well-written lore, Pragmata places less emphasis on the world itself than on the relationship between humans and androids. In fact, the emotional component is the game’s core. As the player progresses, they witness the development of Hugh and Diana’s relationship through short cutscenes and random dialogue.

Hugh, initially skeptical of children, eventually becomes attached to Diana and begins to feel something akin to parental feelings for her. He tries to protect the girl from the dangers of the lunar station, while simultaneously teaching the android about human emotions, the “soul,” and life on Earth.

Diana isn’t just a “machine,” however; she’s curious and capable of experiencing emotions. Thus, Diana’s appearance and behavior resemble a “child,” while Hugh serves as the “parent.” This technique allows the developers to build emotional baggage in the player to enhance the climax.

The game’s gift system is especially noteworthy. Throughout the game, Hugh periodically encounters special items that he can give to Diana—”Earth Information Accumulators,” or EIAs. These are replicas of real objects from Earth, crafted from moon fiber. Delphi cared about the mental well-being of its employees and wanted to give them a sense of “home,” even hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Earth. According to the lore, even pets can be created this way.

Diana can interact with each NZI. If you follow her around the “Shelter,” you’ll see amusing scenes of her sliding down a slide, drawing childish pictures, swinging on a swing, lying in a tent, playing with a ball, and so on. In short, the developers have prepared a set of animations for Diana’s interactions with each NZI, further reinforcing her “child” archetype.

Combat system

In Pragmata, combat and story are seamlessly integrated. The enemies are durable robots, and Hugh simply can’t penetrate their armor with a regular gun. Diana comes to the rescue: she can hack enemies. But Diana herself is helpless—without Hugh, she can neither move quickly nor defend herself. Thus, mechanics intertwine with the plot: at first, the heroes need each other simply to survive, but gradually their bond develops into something more than just a hacker-fighter tandem.

Now, let’s talk specifically about the combat system. Pragmata has two levels of gameplay: shooting (Hugh: moving, dodging, firing) and hacking (Diana’s main task). And they work not in sequence, but simultaneously.

In the heat of battle, the player is forced to shoot, dodge, and navigate a mini-puzzle—the hacking matrix. By default, robots are protected by armor, making shooting them nearly useless. To inflict real damage, players must hack their defenses using Diana. In practice, this involves navigating the matrix to a green cell. Only then does the enemy become vulnerable—but only briefly.

Scattered throughout the matrix are additional nodes—plotting a route through them activates useful bonuses. For example, initially you only have blue vulnerability nodes. Passing through them extends the time the robot’s armor remains exposed. These nodes also slightly increase the damage Hugh’s weapon deals to an unprotected enemy. So, the longer and more winding your route, the longer and more powerful your attacks—but you’ll also have less time to think, because the battle never stops.

Over time, yellow nodes open, and passing through them activates additional effects: for example, you can briefly lure enemies to your side, completely stop them (stun them), overheat them to deal critical damage, or make them more vulnerable.

Since Hugh is in charge of shooting, he has a wide arsenal of weapons of four types:

• the main one is a pistol or automatic rifle (unlocked later);
• attacking – shotgun, railgun, rocket launcher, laser;
• Tactical – Stasis Net (immobilization), Assault Blaster (knockback), Sticky Mines (easier hacking);
• defensive – a clone that distracts enemies, a barrier, a swarm of drones.

In combat, you can quickly switch between all types at once and combine them. For example, you can immobilize an enemy with a stasis net, hack them with Diana, and finish them off with a shotgun blast.

Pumping system

The leveling system in Pragmata is divided into two fundamentally different branches.

The first is passive skills. These include Hugh’s health, weapon damage, and hacking efficiency (how quickly and powerfully Diana cracks armor). To upgrade these stats, you need to collect “Upgrade Components.” They’re scattered throughout the levels—sometimes right under your feet, sometimes hidden in hidden corners. They aren’t awarded for killing enemies, so you’ll have to explore the levels carefully.

The second branch is weapons, modifications, and abilities. Everything here is tied to two resources: moon fiber and pure lunite. Both are also found in locations, but there’s an important difference: moon fiber also drops from defeated robots. This means that while passive skills require you to check every corner, weapons can be upgraded simply during combat—kill enemies and earn resources.

It turns out the developers encourage two playstyles: exploratory (for upgrading the base) and aggressive (for upgrading weapons). And a perfectly leveled character will require both.

Overall, the leveling system in Pragmata is simple: if you get kills, level up your health; if you like your shotgun, upgrade it. There’s no advanced build system, so even a beginner can figure it out. However, you can still combine weapons and hacking nodes. For example, you can find the “Heat Transfer” mod for Hugh’s suit, which, when combined with the “Heat” node and the rifle, allows you to quickly “overheat” robots to deal critical damage.

Level design and game length

Pragmata is a relatively compact game consisting of six large locations and a hub (the “Vault”). Checkpoints are scattered throughout each zone, connecting individual parts of the location and allowing quick travel between them. The game is structured like this: reach a checkpoint, return to the hub, and if you run out of resources, level up and proceed to the next checkpoint. This continues until the location is completed. Only upon entering the “Vault” are all previously defeated enemies restored, much like in Soulslice games.

Pragmata’s locations are linear, but they feature branching paths where you can find collectibles, notes explaining the world’s lore, and equipment upgrades. In short, the game encourages exploration without forcing it—you can simply follow the story.

Graphics and performance

From a technical standpoint, Pragmata offers no shortage of issues. The graphics, powered by Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine, look excellent even at minimum settings. However, for those who appreciate picture-perfect visuals, ray tracing is available, making reflections on various surfaces look incredibly realistic.

We tested Pragmata on a laptop with an RTX 3060 graphics card and a Ryzen 7 6800H processor. At Quad HD resolution with DLSS set to “Quality” and medium-low graphics settings, the game runs at around 70-80 fps. The game feels smooth, and even during intense combat scenes, the frame rate doesn’t drop. In short, Pragmata runs satisfactorily even on relatively old hardware. For higher-quality graphics and a stable frame rate, you’ll need at least an RTX 5060—the minimum entry level for a gaming device.

Results

So, what’s the bottom line? Pragmata isn’t a AAA title like Resident Evil Requiem, and you shouldn’t expect the same quality from it. However, it is a rare example of an original game that is simply well-made in every aspect. It’s memorable not so much for its mechanics or graphics, but for its engaging characters.

Pragmata is short—a leisurely playthrough will take about 10 hours. But in those 10 hours, the player will at least experience an unusual gameplay experience and a touching story. Speaking of the story, at times we caught ourselves thinking Pragmata was Capcom’s clever project to increase the Japanese birth rate, because Diana is so beautifully written. It’s not for nothing, after all, that Pragmata is ironically nicknamed “Dad Space.

Pragmata will appeal to you if you appreciate compact, yet richly plotted games without needlessly padding the running time. It can be completed in a few evenings, so it won’t take up much time and will leave you with a thrilling experience. The only drawback is that you can’t purchase it on Steam, as it’s not available in the Russian region. But those who want to will find ways, and there are plenty of them.