u/Automatic-Fox3059

Hello guys! Beware that it's a long post 😁

I finally managed to play Pragmata and finished it a few days ago. I had my eyes on this game for a very long time. I just love space stuff and also thought Diana was adorable. But by the time the game first got released I was pretty burnt out from gaming or basically any type of entertainment (for many reasons) This game, while not that revolutionary in terms of story (which isn't a bad thing, I'm not complaining or anything) managed to help me love gaming again. I just loved Hugh and Diana's relationship. At first, if I am being honest, I thought the relationship was rushed, and thought Hugh warmed up to Diana way too quickly considering how distrustful he was of androids. As the game progressed, I realized that Hugh doesn't have a reason to be cold to Diana, and I'm happy half of the game wasn't dedicated to a "trust her" arc. Hugh is a chill dude, while he says that kids aren't for him, he really doesn't see why he should be mean to Diana. I think the fact that she is the first human looking android and has the appearance of a child has influenced him too, but Diana was nothing but helpful and kind from the beginning, so being mean or grumpy wouldn't make sense. I can recall two games with emotionally distant father and father figure that I played (tlou and gow) so this was a good thing imo.

I also want to point out that my dude wasn't wrong about not trusting androids. I mean look at Eight. She completely misunderstood Dr.Higgins (may he rest in pieces fr that man sucked) last moments. That whole situation felt like giving ai a prompt with a vague sentence in it and the ai does something else entirely bc it misunderstood what you want. Seeing how easily other androids can be used and manipulated to attack and kill you, I think Hugh was right about them. Diana was an exception and her meeting with Hugh also helped her to be the way she is. She learned a lot about humans and earth when she interacts with him. I assume that if Eight somehow found her first she wouldn't be like this, I think she'd still resist destroying earth but Eight would have an easier time with her overall.

Also I LOVE the "they saved each other" trope. Hugh would be dead without Diana. And even though I consider Hugh a well adjusted man who doesn't have a lot of emotional problem, I think Diana was a new light in his life and he was willing to do anything to save her. And god knows what would've happened to Diana if she roamed the cradle alone. She'd either be attacked by other machines or Eight would have gotten to her and the Diana that we now know wouldn't exist.

I want to talk about Hugh's parents. As we know, Hugh was adopted and he was loved and supported a lot by them. And you can see their kindness reflected in how he treats Diana. He's supportive, he keeps telling her to be herself (which was a contrast to how Higgins treated her and Eight), whenever she puts new clothes on he's like "you go girl", which was really adorable to me btw, she asks a lot of questions and while Hugh keeps saying that her lips flap too much or that one Diana is enough for him, he never really shuts down her curiosity. He is gentle but he can be firm when it comes to important stuff, like dealing with Eight and telling her that she should be stopped and no matter what. He also kept telling Diana to be ready if Eight didn't listen to her which I think helped Diana a lot. In the end Diana is a kid and coping with what happened to Eight must have been hard for her bad would have been harder if Hugh didn't tell her to be ready for anything. She is smart to know that Eight is a danger but she's still a child.

I love how much agency Diana has. Both in gameplay and in this story. You basically can't do shit without her. I tried but dealing with the bots without her is a nightmare and doesn't work. So she isn't a companion on the side, she is the key factor to your success. In the story, where she was injured and we wanted to go and find a way to help her, she insisted on coming with us, she learned to make her own choices and Hugh, again, was supportive of this even though he was hesitant to take her with him.

The first painting that Diana gives us is accompanied by her thanking us for talking to her all the time. This really broke my heart bc I can tell how much she appreciated it and I wonder if she had anyone to actually talk to and spend time with. Of course Eight was there but she clearly didn't care enough to at least protest Diana getting shut down. So I assume they weren't that close but that's just my interpretation. Dr. Higgins never really saw them as anything other than pragmatas so he's out as well. Seeing her interact with the stuff we get her in this shelter was eye opening as well. She clearly didn't know a lot of them (by "knowing" I mean actually playing with them) despite being a child so I assume no entertainment either. Same could be said about wanting pretty clothes like Higgins wtf is that ugly jacket 😭💀 Anyways, if it wasn't clear already, I have daddy issues so that's why I over analyzed Hugh's actions and words. I could be wrong about some of my points.

Now, the final part is about Eight. Although she's the main villain of the game, I felt INCREDIBLY bad for her. While Diana has Hugh, a new purpose, a new dream, Eight had nothing. He only had a man who saw her as anything but herself. I was actually thinking about the second game being about Hugh and her, since she's the opposite of Diana, seeing them interact would be interesting but ig that's a nope now.

Overall I think by the end of the game, Hugh adored and loved Diana a lot, maybe too soon to call it father-daughter (but I see it as one) but he really cared about her. Same goes ffor Diana. If I'm not mistaken, she put herself in front of Hugh when Eight was shooting dead filament at them. Poor thing just wanted to protect Hugh 😭😭😭😭😭

I already talked too much, so I'll just jump into my criticism now. My biggest problem was the ending. I think the way Hugh told her about his infection departed from her was rushed a bit. But that's just how I feel.

Anyways a solid 9/10.