Through its dual protagonists Hugh and Diana, Capcom’s upcoming sci-fi action-adventure game Pragmata combines third person shooting with puzzle gameplay. Although this premise presented an opportunity to go down the two-player co-op route, the developers ultimately decided that would clash with their vision for the game.
During a joint media interview attended by AUTOMATON Japan, Pragmata’s director Cho Yonghee and producers Naoto Oyama and Edvin Edso talked about why they ended up going for a strictly singleplayer system, despite the “co-op” nature of the game.
“We did consider the idea [of a two-player system], but our primary goal with Pragmata was to deliver a new kind of gameplay experience. We leaned fully into the ‘busy-ness’ and fun that comes from one player simultaneously dealing with both the action and the puzzles, and that led us to the game’s current form,” Oyama explains.
By contrast, if they were to split the roles of combat and hacking between two players, the developers think this would have diminished the entertainment value of multitasking between Hugh and Diana’s contrasting playstyles. In a way, Pragmata will have you cooperating with yourself, as Oyama explains that, “Exploration, not just combat, is built around the concept of Hugh and Diana working together. For example, Diana can hack open a path that Hugh then traverses using his thrusters or hover abilities, or if the area is too big and the player gets lost, Diana can scan the area and highlight the correct path. Their cooperation is designed to be indispensable.”
In terms of difficulty, Capcom is looking to provide a satisfying challenge for core gamers, while also making sure casual players aren’t left out. This will partly be accomplished through the difficulty ramping up in stages as the player gets used to the TPS-hacking mechanics, but the developers say they’ll be providing an even closer look at how Pragmata is balanced as the release date nears.
Pragmata is set to launch in 2026 for PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X❘S.
