[[2026 Games]] ![|500](https://static1.thegamerimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/sharedimages/2025/06/pragmata-tag-page-cover-art.jpg) ## 2026-05-23 Close enough, welcome back **The World Ends With You**. **Pragmata** is taking me longer to get through than I expected for two reasons. The first is that I like to backtrack to find all the items and stuff. That alone is vastly upping my playtime. The second, and possibly stranger reason, is that it’s a game that feels like it demands your attention. This is not a “second screen” sort of game. You wanna focus, take in all the dialogue, the beautiful environments, and the brain-bending combat that feels like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. That’s awesome, but it’s also exhausting for a bad bitch with [[ADHD]]. So I have to consume the game in bursts, lest I risk getting burnt out or avoidant. I know this all sounds silly if you’re neurotypical, sorry. But the fact that I’ve managed to do this multiple times for **Pragmata** is a testament to its quality. I was worried the dynamic between Hugh and Diana would have that played out, boring “Sad Dad” vibe to it, where Hugh has to warm up slowly to Diana until the end of the game. Instead, this feels like the first “Cool Uncle” game. Hugh takes maybe two minutes to go “holy shit a robot kid!” before instantly locking in and vibing with her. I appreciate that, because it gives more time for their chemistry to shine. And they have it in spades, which is great. Their dialogue is cute and well-acted, so I find them believable as a pair. This game falls under the umbrella of “[[PlayStation 2]] games released in 2026 somehow.” It’s linear and gameplay-focused. The combat system of hacking with Diana and shooting with Hugh has that typical [[Capcom]] [[Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain|goop]] to it, to the point where I actually wish the game was *longer* so I could enjoy it more. Really hoping it gets some sort of “horde mode” or **Resident Evil-esque** Mercenaries add on, given it seems to have been quite the success. I particularly like how all the weapons but your main have limited use. There’s no point in holding on to them, which subsequently means there’s no point in holding back on using them, picking up more, and adapting based on what drops to fight against the AI robots trying to kill you. Should have more thoughts when I’m done, but for now, a recommend from me!