Pragmata

Pragmata is an action-adventure played from a third-person perspective. The player can control Hugh and Diana at the same time, as they look for a way to escape a crumbling lunar research station while fighting off hostile robots controlled by a malevolent AI. Hugh wields a variety of energy and electricity-based weapons and can utilize a hip-mounted jetpack to dodge attacks and reach distant areas.

As most robots have metal plating that makes bullets ineffective, Diana must use her hacking ability to open weak points that Hugh can shoot. In each hacking puzzle, the player must guide the cursor across the grid to reach the target tile, evading obstacles and toggling optional bonus nodes which may bring additional combat advantages such as increased weapon damage for Hugh. The puzzles are solved in real time, meaning that Hugh needs to dodge and evade hostile attacks during each hacking sequence.

In the near future, the Delphi Corporation revolutionizes manufacturing with the invention of the "lim replicator", which can 3D print anything the user desires as long as they have a suitable blueprint. Lim replicators require a special material called lunafilament to function; to obtain a steady supply, a mining outpost called the Cradle is established on the Moon. To streamline operations, the Cradle is nominally overseen by an artificial intelligence called the Intelligent Direction Unification System (IDUS) and a massive robotic workforce.

Delphi Corporation systems engineer Hugh Williams is sent with a support team to investigate why communications between Earth and the Cradle have been cut off. However, when they land, they find the facility mysteriously devoid of human activity. The Cradle is then struck by a sudden moonquake, separating Hugh from his team and knocking him unconscious. He is revived by a child-like android girl, Pragmata D-I-0336-7, whom Hugh dubs Diana.

Development on Pragmata took place over the course of six years at Capcom. The game was originally announced on June 11, 2020, during Sony's PlayStation 5 reveal stream, as Capcom's first original franchise in eight years. Based on Capcom's 2021 annual report, Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku wrote, "One reason why the game looks so different from other Capcom titles is that it's the brainchild of new development staff". After its 2020 reveal, Pragmata spent time in development hell and was delayed indefinitely.

Director Cho Yonghee said that, although the game's core concept didn't change during development, the team had engaged in extensive trial and error, particularly around the game's puzzle hacking. World building was supervised by Shōji Kawamori, who worked on the Macross series.

Pragmata received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic, with 96% of critics recommending the game on OpenCritic.

Pragmata received praise for its story and the relationship between protagonists Hugh and Diana. Tom Regan in The Guardian's four star review called Pragmata a "beautifully made, heartfelt single player adventure" that is able to pull off "its father-daughter relationship with surprising deftness". In a review for Hardcore Gamer, Adam Beck called it "a heartfelt experience not only about the human experience, but also parenthood". He called Diana the "heart" of Pragmata while criticizing Hugh for not having a significant character arc throughout the game.