Pragmata - Switch 2 Review

Capcom has been treating us Nintendo Switch 2 owners well lately! The year began with Resident Evil Requiem day and date (alongside entries 7 & 8), and just a few short months later, we received their new IP, Pragmata. This new game is in a similar vein with third-person shooting action in relatively tight corridors but is set in space where Hugh and android companion Diana must defeat the threatening AI IDUS and make it back to Earth alive. Diana offers the primary gameplay hook with her ability to hack enemies via a grid system, leaving AI enemies to take more damage from Hugh’s weapons while providing additional status effects.

The Good

Shooters are a dime a dozen. They’re so commonplace, especially in the AAA landscape, that I feel like it can oftentimes become a crutch for developers who want to focus more on story than on innovative gameplay. Pragmata’s gunplay offers a unique twist with its hacking system, allowing Diana to hack into each enemy’s mainframes to damage and temporarily stun them, thus allowing Hugh’s guns to have more impact. The hacking puzzles are simple yet effective: you have to guide your way through a grid, going through the glowing squares and additional hacking nodes, with the goal being to reach the indicated end square, all while without hitting a danger square, forcing you to start again. To initiate the hacking, the player must hold down ZL and use the ABXY buttons to navigate. And what makes this more frantic is that this all happens in real-time, which creates a whole lot of tension when various enemies are coming at you.

I first thought that the bond that grows between Hugh and Diana was going to be another Atreus (God of War) or Navi (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) situation where everything that came out of her mouth was excessive hand-holding and annoying quips and, while she’s not entirely innocent of these things, Capcom certainly knew to tone it down, leaving the perfect amount of input from the character. I was about to write “secondary character” then, but she’s really not; Diana is just as important, if not more so, than Hugh. Hugh provides the brawn and sensibility and Diana provides the hacking, allowing Hugh to traverse this mysterious outpost he otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Being a small girl, she has the innocence and, at times, the wild card nature about her that are both sweet and endearing. If anything, the duo remind me of Banjo and Kazooie… you know, if Kazooie was an endearing AI cyborg instead of a foul-mouthed featherbrain.

One big conversation piece regarding the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Pragmata has been the performance. Most who played the demo said it ran well, despite the aliasing of Diana’s hair, but Digital Foundry seemed less impressed. I’m not a tech head by any means, but playing primarily handheld, the game runs (for the most part) at 60 frames per second and, while it’s clear in some areas Capcom needed to make some graphical sacrifices, none of it seemed too out of place. It all comes down to what’s more important for you as an individual and whether native handheld gameplay is worth the trade-offs.

TL;DR

• Hacking provides a fun twist on the shooter genre
• A companion character done right
• Fairly solid performance

The Bad

While the combat is innovative and provides a point of difference, it does feel awkwardly chaotic at times. When there are multiple enemies to attend to, all with their own mechanics and behavioural patterns, and the player is there trying to solve a grid-based puzzle, it can feel like patting your head while rubbing your belly. I’ll admit that there are some weapons to help with this, like being able to summon a clone to redirect enemy attention or fire a grenade-like projectile with the Riot Blaster to knock surrounding enemies to the ground, as well as the Multihack mod, which allows you to hack multiple enemies within a certain radius. It still makes the combat feel cumbersome when you’re being overwhelmed in numbers.

While Hugh's and Diana’s friendship is sweet, its growth feels rushed at times. What I mean by this is that very soon after meeting, Hugh and Diana are having heartfelt conversations that you’d expect from two people 4-5 hours in. I can understand that this is one of the biggest draws of the game, but it creates some odd pacing and rushed emotion. Or perhaps my mounting years are stifling my emotions… who’s to say?

And lastly, while I can commend Capcom on the quality of this port for about 90% of the game, it’s certainly not without its technical hiccups. Especially in the latter half, there are some fairly noticeable frame rate dips, along with some textures (or, in this case, lack thereof). The fact that I played most of this game in handheld mode while travelling truly is a testament to Capcom’s RE engine and familiarity with Nintendo’s hardware. However, and while this can be improved on later down the track with patch updates and the like, there are still some trade-offs that are, to some, deal-breakers.

TL;DR

• Innovative gunplay can feel awkward in tight situations
• Rushed story pacing makes the duo’s relationship feel forced at times
• Infrequent yet noticeable performance challenges

Final Score: 8/10

What’s a Pragmata? Nothing. what’s a Pragmata with you? … I had to throw that joke in somewhere.

Pragmata is a poignant game that tells a heartwarming story wrapped up in a science fiction horror action game. And while that could have described a handful of past games, Pragmata’s hacking mechanic sets it apart from its previous competitors. As the credits rolled, I found myself itching to go again, and that’s a huge compliment from me as I rarely play games more than once. And yet, while I enjoyed my time with it from start to finish, its minor annoyances keep it from being a 10, and the performance for the admittedly impressive Nintendo Switch 2 port then keeps it from being a 9. And while an 8 is a great score in a review, it is perhaps the most optimistic 8 I’ve ever written.

Thank you for checking out our Pragmata Switch review, thank you to Capcom (via Five Star Games) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

• Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out)
• Bel Cubitt
• Bobby Jack
• Jack Caven
• Nintendo Maniacs
• RedHero