Recently, we got to chat with key members of the Pragmata development team, and they shared that the relationship and dynamic of Hugh and Diana will be a core component of the game. They also explained how they think Hugh and Diana differ from other “father-child” pairings in other games.
With the game’s launch just a month away, we got to play an extended demo of Pragmata. After this, we attended a roundtable interview featuring Pragmata director Yonghee Cho and producer Naoto Oyama.
Based on our hands-on time with the game, we feel that Pragmata has a lot going for it, be it the dynamic between Hugh and Diana or the complex combat system. Given the various notable elements in the game, we asked the team about the core thing that you want players to expect to experience with Pragmata.
In response, director Cho said that, while they aim for players to enjoy both the story and gameplay, he noted specifically that the connection between Hugh and Diana is the core theme of the game.
Cho explained:
“Pragmata is a game where we hope that the players will be able to enjoy and focus on both the story and the gameplay. Within Pragmata, we have Hugh and Diana, whom you play as. And what’s important for Pragmata is their connection and how they sort of grow together and learn from each other as players go through the game.
Most likely, for players, when they get their hands on the games, they will have a sort of connection to Hugh more than to Diana as the human character in the game. And then as they play the game, they’ll sort of grow closer to Diana as he protects her, [with players also seeing] how she protects Hugh. This is the way that you’re going to be sort of progressing throughout the game itself.”
For most gamers, having a child character to protect makes for a compelling experience, especially when done right. After all, we’ve seen plenty of great games have this dynamic, such as Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us, or Lee and Clementine in Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead. You could also argue that Kratos and Atreus in the 2018 God of War game are similar, even though Atreus is more active in combat.
As we’ve seen plenty of such father-child pairings in games, the developers were asked how Pragmata differs from other games in this aspect.
Cho answered:
“One perhaps unique aspect that you might see in Pragmata that differs from other games is that, while from first appearance, you might see a child and an adult – two humans interacting in the game. But when you play the game, you’ll know that it’s a human and an android. So, we have this unique relationship where they don’t really know that much about each other’s world, so to speak.”
Pretty much every example that we mentioned featured human characters (well, part human in the case of Atreus), so the fact that Diana is an android should be quite interesting, at least in terms of how her relationship with Hugh evolves.
Of course, based on what we’ve seen, Diana is already quite human-like, but the fact that she’s an android isn’t the only way Pragmata differentiates itself from other games with father-child duos.
In this regard, Producer Oyama said:
“When it comes to these games where we have an adult and then a kid, what you often see is that the adult has to protect the kid as they go forward in the game. But what you see in Pragmata is that the two of them work together. Hugh and Diana have their own unique ways, using their skills to progress throughout the game, by protecting and strengthening themselves as they go forward. This is prevalent not only in the gameplay, but also in the story itself, which you’ll see when you play the full game.”
While other father-child duos in games have the child character play a supporting role gameplay-wise, in Pragmata, Diana is very much a big part of the combat. Without her hacking abilities, Hugh won’t be able to take down the various enemies they’ll encounter. Given this, we can see how Diana’s more active gameplay role will make for a deeper dynamic between the two leads story-wise.
Based on the development team’s vision, coupled with our experience with the game, Pragmata is shaping up to have a memorable main duo. Hopefully, the full game fulfills this promise.
Pragmata launches on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC on April 17, 2026.