After years of delays, Capcom has confirmed the release date for their astronaut and girl action adventure Pragmata. The game will launch on 24th April for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and… Switch 2! Oh, and there’s a demo out today for PC, coming to other platforms soon.
Hugh the astronaut has popped over to the Moon to figure out what’s gone wrong at a big lunar base. After getting split from his team, he’s saved by the android that they eventually settle on should be called Diana – short for the less catchy DI02367. The two form a fast bond, not least because Diana can hack the very angry androids with a quick puzzle minigame to enable you to deal damage. This new trailer shows off some big set piece moments that will push that concept as far as possible.
We went hands on with Pragmata earlier this year, writing in our preview of the curious blend of hacking and shooting gameplay, “Hacking enemies becomes a vital part of combat right away, as it’s used to open up their armour and expose weaknesses for you to blast away at with Hugh’s guns. This is far from a simple button tap, or even a button hold, but rather throws up a minigame for you to complete to launch the hack at the targeted enemy. Thankfully, it’s not the most mentally taxing of tasks (at least initially), as the grid appears and you simply need to fill blocks to paint a path to the exit point. Along the way, you’ll want to also pass through marked nodes that will power up the attack, while avoiding those marked as a hazard. It’s very simple stuff, but what makes it feel different is that you need your thumb on the left analogue stick in order to move Hugh and Diana away from any dangers, so directional inputs are instead mapped to the shape or letter face buttons.”
There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding Pragmata, though now there’s a little bit less that when it was announced half a decade ago. First revealed for PS5 in 2020, the game was meant to release in 2022, was delayed to 2023, and then was delayed again with no further date. We finally have that firm release date, which is very nice, and PC players should check out the Steam demo.
