Overview
Isn’t this a god-tier game?!
I’ll write a spoiler summary and my thoughts.
Summary
- By refining the moon ore Lunum, a dream material called Luna Filament was developed. It is like a high-end version of 3D printing material, and with it, you can make almost anything.
- Dr. Neil Higgins starts research on making artificial organs with Luna Filament. On the moon. ...Why on the moon? Because that kind of research would never be allowed on Earth.
- The doctor’s goal is to create artificial organs and save his own daughter. For that purpose, he made two high-performance Pragmata modeled after his daughter. The two are close friends, and they call each other Seven and Eight.
- The research steadily moved forward, but Luna Filament and organic matter did not seem to work well together, so the final push was not quite good enough. It was still not at a level where it could be used on the human body.
- Meanwhile, on Earth, the doctor’s daughter dies because medicine was given to her without permission. In despair, the doctor also dies on the moon.
- During the research, Dead Filament, which was created when Luna Filament and the human body fused, passed the doctor’s emotions on to Eight.
- How did Eight interpret those emotions? She tries to send Dead Filament to Earth, a material that changes organic matter and multiplies without end.
- Around that time, Hugh, a system engineer who came to investigate the moon facility, meets Seven, and the two fight hard to stop Eight.
- During the battle, Hugh is infected by Dead Filament and remains on the moon, while Seven sets off for Earth, the place she had dreamed of.
Thoughts
Anyway, anyway, let me talk about the points that made me fall over and think, “Isn’t this a god-tier game?!”
- After clearing the main story, while you are feeling sadness, emotion, and the afterglow, the “Unknown signal” story is unlocked. It is a mode where, from the save state right before the ending, several challenges and powered-up bosses are unlocked. So you move through “Unknown signal” while thinking things like, “Ah, so there are stronger versions of the area bosses, but no stronger version of Eight, huh?” When you finish all the challenges, you get things like commemorative clear equipment and a “Black Box.” The “Black Box” is a mysterious item, and its item description says it “may be able to do something about Dead Filament inside the body.” Huh?! Wait, is this maybe an ending-branch item??!! If you equip it and go to Eight again, you can fight the stronger version of Eight. When you clear it, well, the ending does not change that much, but it does give you just a little hope that Hugh might survive.
So, what moved me? Mainly two things.
- The ending of the main story is a little sad. You still want to see a bit more of the two of them on their adventure, but choosing “New Game Plus” and replaying the story would completely break the afterglow. Then “Unknown signal” is unlocked, and you can move into “more adventure + what if.” This is a stylish way to let you keep enjoying the game without breaking the afterglow.
- When you enter the reward room in the “Unknown signal” story, the two of them suddenly say something like “All right, let’s challenge Eight.” The player probably thinks something like, “Ah, I see, this save data is from before clearing the game, at the stage where we are about to challenge the final boss.” But right after that, you get the “Black Box,” so you can naturally realize the route toward the true ending, like, “Ah!! So I’m supposed to equip this, beat the final boss one more time, and go see the true ending?!”
That clever guidance design is what impressed me. It felt like the game really cared about the player’s experience. Instead of preparing a cutscene, it does this through field dialogue, and I seriously thought that was skillful. It is not pushy. It feels natural.
The field dialogue between the two characters in this game is really well done. In fact, the thing that made me decide to buy it was field dialogue.
- In the demo, Diana has this field line: “I can’t, Hugh! Because this is the demo!” Perfect. Bought it. I felt that this game’s development team wanted to entertain the player.
- After a game over, when you go out into the field again, the two of them talk in field dialogue about how to deal with the enemy that defeated you. Has there ever been a game like that before?! I think this kind of thing reduces the feeling of a programmed game and strengthens the drama and the realism of the characters. Perfect.
- Eight defeated me many times, but the conversation was different each time, and that also strengthened the feeling of realism.
- Also, I laughed at Eight’s “You came again, without learning your lesson” and Diana’s “We’ll keep coming until we stop you!” It is true that you keep going there until you can defeat Eight, but the situation is supposed to be a race against time before the Dead Filament is loaded onto the transport ship, so the fact that you are casually visiting again and again is a little surreal and funny. I have been praising how little it feels like a program and how realistic it feels, but in places like this, the balance between game-like design and the play experience is really good, and I love it.
Other thoughts.
- In the summary above, because I focused too much on simply following the flow, even the name “Diana” did not appear, but... I thought the story was very complete. I am satisfied.
- From advance information, I already knew that this game was on the smaller side in terms of volume. That is a good thing. Small volume, high quality. When a work feels well put together, that means it has a high level of polish.
- I have not completed all the achievements. I do not have the time or motivation to play Lunatic right now... As for achievement design, SEKIRO was the best. Going for the platinum trophy in SEKIRO does not force the player to do boring grind work. If you enjoy SEKIRO, you naturally want to see all the endings. While playing that way, I got the platinum trophy at the same time as reaching the final ending. The ideal platinum trophy experience. For PRAGMATA too, if only clearing Lunatic had given some reward other than just an achievement.
- As a player, I end up treating Diana with affection, but I cannot help wondering: maybe I care about her because Diana was designed to be cute? Would I still come to like Diana this much even if her exterior were not cute? As if answering that feeling, Shadow Executor is unlocked. It is an outfit that strips away the cute skin and gives her a mechanical look, where even her bare body looks like an android. It felt like the game was saying, “You asked whether you could still like Diana even if her exterior were not cute? Try it.” Anyway, this development team really has a spirit of service toward the player.
It was really good. How many times am I going to say it was good?
