What Games Are You Playing?

Pragmata and nvidia has decided gatekeep path tracing for those of us who own an amd gpu.screw you nvidia😡🖕🏻 it's the same with resident evil requiem that don't own yet.
 
With my PC now fixed I thought I would have a nostalgic play through of Mass Effect Trilogy. Oh Bioware where did it go so wrong 😢

After this going to have a Witcher 3 new game+ playthrough. Only occurred to me the other day I've never played this game modded looking forward to scrolling through nexus mods to see what the modders have cooked up.
 
With my PC now fixed I thought I would have a nostalgic play through of Mass Effect Trilogy. Oh Bioware where did it go so wrong 😢

After this going to have a Witcher 3 new game+ playthrough. Only occurred to me the other day I've never played this game modded looking forward to scrolling through nexus mods to see what the modders have cooked up.
18+ mods are age gated you need to give them some of id since there uk based.
 
I finished Pragmata today.

If anyone sees something sexual about the new game by capcom Pragmata you need help and your hard drive looked at and the devs did not have bad intentions and not all the people who have the game are kiddy fiddlers. it just attracted a small minority of people that are.reddit admins delt with the subreddit that kicked this off.
 
Pragmata

PRAGMATA_DIANA.jpg

Despite being a game overrun with robots, Pragmata may have more heart than any other Capcom game. You feel it in the gameplay, which meshes combat and puzzling together so seamlessly that it speaks to the countless iterations it must have taken before the developers perfected it. You feel it in the level design, which entices you to explore every inch of its puzzle-box-like locations for the countless upgrade items hidden throughout. But most of all you feel it in the growing bond between stranded astronaut Hugh and inquisitive robot girl Diana.

As dad fiction goes, Pragmata is the antithesis of The Last of Us. Where TLoU presented two deeply flawed, wounded and broken people learning to open up to someone again, Pragmata features an impossibly adorable super-daughter who is curious about everything. If TLoU was about the pain of family, Pragmata is about the joy. This is seen most clearly in the shelter, the hub area where you return between levels. At first this is a sterile place where you just heal and upgrade your gear, but slowly you find hidden items that unlock various toys and objects for Diana to play with, turning it into more of a home. There's also a lot of optional dialogue in the shelter, where Hugh and Diana discuss everything from the latest weird robots they've encountered to why people bother making sand castles.

Once you go back to exploring, the back and forth between the two of them continues as they plan for what they will do once they escape the moon and reach Earth, inbetween discussing tactics to handle the enemies being thrown against them. It all blends well into the exploration and combat in a way that never got old.

Combat, too, remains engaging throughout. The cramped confines of many encounters, combined with the need to complete puzzles in real time to hack enemy shields, places an emphasis on positioning and spacial awareness. New enemy types appear at regular intervals, punctuated by a handful of large-scale boss fights and climaxing in a memorable set piece for the finale.

It's been a long wait for Pragmata due to the many delays, but the end result was worth it.
 
I’ve since returned to Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster with IV and V.
IV was a very solid experience the second time around (played the PSP version a fair while back) whilst V was the weakest of the SNES-era FF titles but had some unique quirks to it. I’ve decided to also revisit VI and finally finish off the Pixel Remaster collection.
 
I've been playing some VNs (picked up the humble bundle for them) and completed Hi-Fi Rush at the same time. It was fun! I've always enjoyed rhythm games and so a rhythm and beat em up was a great combo. I enjoyed it.
I've moved onto FFVII Rebirth now though. I had some steam credit from my bday and so I decided it was finally time. I also picked up FFXIII which I've heard mixed things about so eventually, I'd like to give it a go and judge for myself.

As for Rebirth, I got used to the mechanics pretty quick as they're very similar to Intergrade and I only finished that last year so it's still pretty fresh. The only thing is, those minimum recommendations are truly a minimum. I thought I'd be able to get away with it and just lower the graphics but no. Nope the game doesn't even run because my graphics card is truly getting too old now 😂
I have resorted to playing the game on my steam deck because that's better than not playing at all. Yes the graphics take a major hit and you can tell this game is supposed to be frigging stunning even with the potato graphics. Thankfully though, the experience is still pretty decent and I'm already getting used to it. Plus it's kinda nice to play in bed rather than at my desk all the time.

I'll probably be playing this for the next two months. I don't think I'll be a completionist on this one though, especially not on the deck. Maybe when I finally upgrade my computer I'll give it another whirl to 100% it and appreciate how it's supposed to look lol.
 
RESIDENT EVIL requiem_20260304203913.jpg

Game #13 - PRAGMATA (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: 16.04.2026 - Started: 23.04.2026 - Finished: 04.05.2026 (Story), 05.05.2026 (Post-Game Content)

It's not often you have Capcom come in with a new IP over the past decade. Their previous ones were released a few years back with strategy-based Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess and third-person co-op shooter Exoprimal, and both didn't explode in popularity like their most known franchises. For me, the former didn't receive a physical release so it wasn't a priority to pick up and play, while the latter was more multiplayer focused despite attempting to appeal to Dino Crisis fans.

I'm mentioning those two because Capcom were also developing another new IP, one that was in development hell for a long time called PRAGMATA, which was announced during the PlayStation 5 announcement showcase in June 2020. It took six years, but it was well worth the wait.


PRAGMATA to me felt like playing a classic third-person shooter that's sci-fi themed from the seventh generation era of gaming, in fact my first thought process was comparing this game to Dead Space but replace the cosmic horror with AI robots and a companion that provides a new gameplay mechanic during combat.

I've never seen a game play like this before, and its thanks to Diana, the companion who tags along with you on your journey, and her hacking abilities. In short, this game is both an action third-person shooter and a puzzle shooter at the same time.

PRAGMATA_20260503181251.jpg

When you aim at any enemy, your regular weapons won't do much damage so you will need to rely on Diana to hack through their defences so that you're able to take them out. Diana's gameplay works by displaying a mini-game on the right-hand side of the screen in a grid box using X, Square, Triangle and O to move around almost like the classic Snake game on mobile phones.

These grid mini-games, done in real-time, will have blue icons where if you manage to reach them before hitting the green icon (which ends the mini-game), you can deal more damage against the enemies. There's also yellow icons that you can find along the way to offer additional boosters like the ability to confuse enemies into dealing friendly fire, freeze them into stasis, burn them out i.e. exhaust them, and more. You also have to watch out for red icons that will halt your progress.

Hugh, our main protagonist, can wield different types of weapons that will unlock over the course of the game. His main weapon, the Grip Gun (and later the Pulse Carbine) have infinite ammo but at the cost of reloading taking its time which is why you want to take advantage of the other weapons in your roster, like the Shockwave Gun (which is this game's shotgun), Charge Piercer (this game's rifle/railgun), Stasis Net (to freeze enemies in front of you) and a very interesting weapon the Hacking Mine gun where if you use it correctly you can deal tons of damage towards multiple enemies and bigger opponents during your progression. A few defence weapons are also available. I've tried a majority of the weapons and they're pretty neat but you want to alternate to what works with your style.


The level design was also pretty engaging. While the game was linear for the most part, there were areas that give you the opportunity to explore your surroundings such as locating secret paths that reward you with items that help upgrade your equipment and mods which was pretty addictive to collect.

You will also encounter red doors that open up challenging rooms where you need to defeat tons of enemies or bigger opponents in a small area. I failed on a few but upon succession they reward you with tons of bonuses. Speaking of items there's quite the variety you will find in the wild and from defeating enemies like Lunafilament, which are these blue box like items, you can use to upgrade your other weapons as well as hacking modules and mods to assist with combat and progression.

In terms of other items you uncover during your playthrough are yellow hologram cubes that were scattered around which you want to collect so you can upgrade your health, Grip Gun/Pulse Carbine power and Diana's hacking abilities. There's Cabin collectibles which are fun to discover, which you will notice from the sound he makes, and there's REM collectibles which is a great side plot for Diana to learn more about Earth and the interests that humans take part in.


PRAGMATA features a main hub that you will use to go in-between each area of the map, upgrade and prep your gear, and have a quick chat with Diana or Cabin, the latter of which offers you bingo sticker mini-games and training missions. These training missions are really good and help test your skills in a lot of areas including defeating enemies in specific ways or reaching a target before the time wraps up. They can be pretty easy but there are some that were quite challenging if you're not careful. If you really like these training challenges there's more that you can unlock in post-game content.

The boss battles were pretty spectacle in its design. They do make you think about how you fight them in each area, for example if there's a new weapon introduced you probably want to include it in your roster against these opponents. The final boss in particular doesn't hold back so you want to be really well-experienced with the weapons and hacking modules you have in your possession, and if you feel you can't do it there's always the option to revisit previous areas to further upgrade your gear, or just switch to a lower difficulty if you want to focus more on the story.

PRAGMATA_20260502201854.jpg

PRAGMATA's story is an interesting one because the general premise is pretty simple by design, and what makes the game special for me was the journey from start to finish thanks to the dynamic Hugh and Diana have to each other. It's like a father and daughter bond and I don't want to spoil anything else because I feel a lot of how these two get along is best experienced yourself. The ending in particular was really special and is definitely one of the better endings I've experienced in terms of the characters, plus the final fight was pretty fun in terms of epic-ness. The music was also wonderful with really peaceful piano pieces which adds to the adventure vibe and tone of the game.

As much as I really enjoyed the experience, the game isn't by means perfect. The hacking mini-game is fun but it can be a bit sluggish at times especially during fast-paced moments where enemies would just go off-screen which breaks the flow. The health pickups that you can use are pretty slow and can easily be voided which was annoying during boss fights or tense segments so I wish they sped that up. The main weapon's reload was pretty damn slow even when upgraded which is a shame but I suppose it's to make the game feel more balanced. And the map itself I do think could have been expanded on in terms of knowing exactly where you are in an area, but the rest of the game was pretty polished in general.

My playthrough on Standard difficulty was 15 hours 18 minutes with an additional 4 hours for post-game content which was pretty fun. In terms of trophies, it's surprisingly easy to get a majority of them, however you will have to start a new playthrough to get the Lunatic difficulty which is unlocked upon story completion so it's similar to Resident Evil's trophy lists. I have all except for Lunatic but I'm happy to settle with what I have.

PRAGMATA is a great game and a cool new IP for Capcom that I hope they will revisit in their catalogue. Thanks to their Reach for the Moon Engine the game ran really well and is said to be the same for Nintendo Switch 2 users as well.



I haven't decided on my next game but I will probably take a break to focus on the anime backlog for once. I do want to finish some more before the quarter is over though.
 
As much as I really enjoyed the experience, the game isn't by means perfect. The hacking mini-game is fun but it can be a bit sluggish at times especially during fast-paced moments where enemies would just go off-screen which breaks the flow. The health pickups that you can use are pretty slow and can easily be voided which was annoying during boss fights or tense segments so I wish they sped that up. The main weapon's reload was pretty damn slow even when upgraded which is a shame but I suppose it's to make the game feel more balanced. And the map itself I do think could have been expanded on in terms of knowing exactly where you are in an area, but the rest of the game was pretty polished in general.
Most of these felt like intentional design choices to me, rather than a lack of fine-tuning. Like PN03, Pragmata is designed to be played in a very specific way. Attempting to force it to play like a typical fast-paced run-and-gun is a recipe for headaches. While the hacking is the headline mechanic, the moment-to-moment gameplay is as much about spacial awareness, positioning, and crowd control. The weapons and abilities that impede enemy movement are all about creating those moments to complete a hack or heal up. And the slow reload encourages weapon-swapping to vary up tactics, since weapons continue to reload while you have a different one equipped. I do agree that the map was a pain though.
 
Back
Top