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Replaying Pragmata's 30-minute demo in preparation for this feature, I'm mindful of its eight possible endings.
Exploring why Pragmata's unique dual-protagonist gameplay and hacking mechanics may polarize players, yet offer a fresh, risk-taking experience.
Key Takeaways
- Pragmata’s dual-protagonist system and hacking mechanics create a unique but potentially divisive gameplay experience.
- The game demands high mental engagement and coordination, which may not appeal to all players.
- Its narrative and thematic depth offer emotional and philosophical layers uncommon in typical shooters.
- Pragmata challenges conventional genre expectations, positioning itself as a fresh, experimental title.
- Players’ enjoyment depends on embracing the game’s complexity and symbiotic character dynamics.
Summary
- Pragmata features eight possible endings influenced by player choices and playstyles.
- The game’s core design revolves around the symbiotic combat between two protagonists, Hugh and Diana.
- Diana’s hacking mechanics are integral to combat and add a complex layer requiring multitasking and real-time coordination.
- The sci-fi setting is familiar but intentionally sterile, reflecting the game’s underlying themes.
- Narrative is clear with orthodox storytelling, focusing on the relationship between Hugh and Diana.
- The dual-character control and hacking-shooting interplay may be polarizing due to their mental and mechanical demands.
- Players who prefer straightforward, autonomous combat might find the game’s complexity challenging or off-putting.
- The hacking system interrupts traditional shooter flow but offers a unique psychological flow once mastered.
- Pragmata explores deeper themes like identity, humanity, and artificial life, potentially appealing to players seeking emotional depth.
- The game is positioned as an experimental, risk-taking alternative to repetitive AAA titles, aiming to stand out in the genre.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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Which I only discovered as existing a month and a half after my first run.
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The resolution you receive, illustrated by Diana's cute crayon drawings, is determined mostly by how you play.
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Finish enemies using only Diana's hacks, control space to handle multiple threats at once, take down the final boss without taking damage, thus relying on Hugh's maneuverability.
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Exploring the idea of whether Pragmata is for everyone or not, this level of systemic flexibility could suggest two opposing truths.
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One, that Pragmata will indeed be universal thanks to its range of play styles, or two, it might not be for everyone.
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Precisely because the hack, shoot, destroy interplay forming the core of its design can't be ignored here.
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If Hugh and Diana's symbiotic combat was just a gimmick, that would imply a needlessly flashy, wholly unnecessary system.
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Yet, eight possible demo endings suggest a fully realized system.
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This is a game with meaningful mechanics, even if there's a heavy chance that they'll be polarizing.
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First though, it's worth rebuking any suggestion that Pragmata's sci-fi tone is inaccessible.
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As what's been shown so far is surprisingly familiar.
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Sterile white corridors, rogue AI, advanced weaponry, these are well-worn genre staples at this point.
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If anything stood out about the demo setting, it's how clean the lunar facility appears.
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Almost to the point of artificiality.
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But, as subsequent preview footage emerged showcasing a 3D print Time Square replica, it became clear the moon base's sterility is intentional.
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Demonstrating tangibly the game's underlying themes.
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Narratively, too, the game isn't as opaque as it first might appear.
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The demo, for instance, establishes clear story beats immediately, leaving longer-term questions simmering in the background.
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You know, like orthodox storytelling.
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So, if you bounce off Pragmata, it likely won't be because of any perceived ambiguity.
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It'll be for deeper, more mechanical reasons, like the game's full commitment to its dual protagonist setup.
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You see, the central relationship is where Pragmata begins to separate itself.
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As much as Hugh and Diana's dynamic feels unconventional, they're mechanically inseparable.
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And the game makes it clear that they're more than just narrative partners in this game.
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As every encounter builds around their cooperation.
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Controlling them both in tandem might initially seem like a novelty to be sure, but theirs is a relationship which informs everything beyond combat.
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Things like pacing, theme, mood, and more.
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Now, if you're the sort of player who prefers autonomy or the joy of controlling an individually powerful character, then Hugh and Diana's mechanical bond might not resonate with you.
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Ultimately, if the bond doesn't land, then a huge part of the experience risks falling flat.
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But, actually operating in combat, the one-two punch of hack and shoot, is where Pragmata could really draw the line.
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Now, at a glance, the game is just another third-person shooter.
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In practice, however, it's two distinct interrelated layers, each demanding real-time coordination.
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You're continually utilizing spatial awareness to manage Hugh's positioning, movement, and firepower, all while simultaneously engaging with Diana's hacking mechanics.
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Now, if the mental load is too great, then friction materializes.
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Not everyone wants to really think this much in the middle of combat.
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And not everyone will have the dexterity to comfortably manage both sides of the process at the same time.
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But here's where it flips.
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Once the process becomes intuitive, then Pragmata starts to offer a different kind of power fantasy.
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Not one rooted in brute force or even razor sharp gunplay, but in mastering a certain kind of psychological flow, like forming chords on a piano without looking at the keys.
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It's satisfaction that's earned through patience and practice.
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Yet, the journey from friction to instinct may be where some players actually fall off.
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And the greatest risk, perhaps, to players dropping the game before intuition takes over, is in Diana's hacking system.
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Now, it's easy to look at hacking and assume it's a momentum breaking device.
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But, as I've already alluded here, hacking is a core component of Pragmata's combat loop.
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Where you're forced to engage with both halves of the system in order to succeed.
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Yet, despite transitions between hacking and shooting designed to be as free-flowing as possible, there's still a chance it'll actually split opinions in this game.
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Look, in all honesty, Diana's hacking does interrupt flow.
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At least if you're comparing it to the pace of other traditional third-person shooters out there.
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Pragmata does not allow you to endlessly just run and gun.
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Hacking is an unavoidable extra layer in this game.
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And yeah, that's kind of the point here.
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You see, these puzzles are solved in real time, with both Hugh and Diana facing greater exposure the longer it takes you to navigate to the matrix's shutdown command.
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You can move through colored nodes to activate various bonus effects too, all while shifting Hugh's position through your peripheral vision.
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Many will thrive on this multitasking.
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Yet, it's inevitable that others may find its constant interruption to be exhausting over time, especially as the hacking puzzles escalate in complexity.
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However, here's the other thing.
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It's hard to imagine Diana's hacking system catching anyone off guard.
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The game's marketing has been transparent about what it is and how it works.
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So, if anything, the real question isn't what the system does, but how deeply can it evolve, if at all?
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And will players be willing to keep up, if so?
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Orbiting the complex sci-fi gunplay are further questions, centering in Pragmata's story, which looks to be telling a more personal tale than first appeared.
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The relationship between Hugh and Diana is the nucleus.
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With potential for it to echo the parent-child dynamic seen in games like The Last of Us.
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Identity, humanity, and artificial life are further thematic emblems shining under the surface.
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But at this stage, it's unclear how far the game will explore these topics.
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If it does, it could create another point of division, as not everyone comes to an action title looking for slow-burning character drama or philosophical introspection.
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You might just want immediacy, spectacle and dopamine boosting explosions.
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And that's fair.
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However, a surprisingly emotional core could be exactly what elevates Pragmata's overall experience.
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So, by this point, you've probably realized that Pragmata is experimental.
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What initially appears familiar is eroded by its dual character structure, layered combat, the integration of hacking into every encounter.
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And the symbiotic relationship between Hugh and Diana, which may blossom into a nuanced friendly father-daughter escape.
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These elements alone make the game a hard sell.
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You see, there's comfort in convention, and there are preconceived expectations which games need to satisfy in order to succeed financially.
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In recent years, disdained and proliferated sequels and fatigue and annual sports and shooting titles has grown.
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The consensus is that studios are becoming increasingly risk averse, where big budgets often yield well-trodden tropes.
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Simply reskinned and sold back to us.
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It's a whole topic for another day, of course.
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But positioning Pragmata inside the wider conversation frames it as an antidote to the repetitive experiences.
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That increasingly dominate the AAA space.
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So then, maybe the divisive elements outlined in this feature are precisely what makes games like Pragmata so compelling.
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Its mental demands commit the game to something that isn't easily reducible to genre shorthand.
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Pragmata could turn out to be the exact type of experience players have actually been craving.
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Something which takes risks to actually stand out here.
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Much of its promise might be the result of the genre's golden touch in recent years, but if it lands, it could pave the way for more risk-taking projects out there.
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Pragmata might not be for everyone, at least not yet.
Topics:Pragmatadual protagonisthacking mechanicssci-fi gamethird-person shootergameplay analysisGamingBoltexperimental game designmental engagementvideo game narrative
