Capcom has revealed that one of the more challenging aspects of developing Pragmata was properly showcasing the fact that Diana—one of the two protagonists—is an android in a way that would feel natural to western audiences. In an interview with Famitsu (via Automaton Media), director Yonghee Cho spoke about the character’s design, and how the studio wanted to give her facial expressions that could only be possible for an android.
With more Japan-centric media like manga and anime, artists tend to have more freedom in how they can design their characters. With Diana, however, Cho noted that Capcom faced “a lot of struggles” while designing the character.
“When creating a game, you are faced with various regulations, so there are certain barriers that somewhat restrict your expression,” he said. “We really wanted to pack Diana’s character with many different expressions that would only be possible precisely because she is an android and not a living, breathing human. But we ended up going through a lot of struggles, even when it comes to her visual design.”
Bringing up a comparison with manga character Arale from the late Akira Toriyama’s gag series Dr. Slump, Cho noted that Diana couldn’t do things like Arale, who is able to detach her head from her body and carry it around. “It’s really difficult to pull off more straightforward expressions like, for example, how Arale-chan from Dr. Slump literally carries her head off her body,” he said.
Cho also spoke about other elements of Pragmata’s design that were made for a worldwide audience, including a general sense of edginess. He noted that this, too, was a challenge when taking global sensibilities into account. “To be completely honest, successfully implementing edgy stuff into the game is actually quite tough.”
When it comes to the hybrid gameplay of Pragmata, Cho had previously spoken about wanting to strike a fine balance between the puzzle-solving mechanics and regular combat. This, he said, was to ensure that players don’t feel too overwhelmed with the title.
“We wanted players to feel the tension of managing Hugh’s combat abilities alongside Diana’s hacking without any of their abilities overwhelming the other,” he said before noting that the systems “complement each other, so players experience them as part of a unified gameplay loop rather than separate tasks.”
Pragmata is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 24th. In the meantime, all platforms have a demo available that provides a taste of the puzzle-solving and action gameplay, as well as a look at its level and enemy designs. PC players can also check out how path tracing enhances the upcoming title’s visuals.
The title also got a trailer during the State of Play showcase from earlier this month. While it didn’t show off more of its gameplay, the trailer did give us a look at Hugh and Diana exploring a strange hologram-styled rendition of New York City. Along the way, we also get some hints about Hugh’s backstory, like how he grew up in an orphanage.
