Pragmata, Capcom’s latest venture utilizing the RE Engine, showcases a remarkable evolution in gaming aesthetics. While the gameplay may evoke nostalgia reminiscent of the Xbox 360 era, the visual fidelity has leaped forward significantly. This compact title, designed on the same engine that powered Resident Evil, boasts impressive performance across a variety of hardware platforms. Notably, it even delivers a commendable experience on the Nintendo Switch 2. Most gaming PCs should handle Pragmata with ease, but achieving the ideal balance between image quality and performance remains the key challenge. For those equipped with high-end machines, such as an RTX 5080, simply maximizing settings and enabling features like path tracing can lead to an exhilarating visual experience. However, for the average gamer, a few adjustments can yield substantial improvements.
The Ray Tracing Problem
Set against the backdrop of a sprawling space station, Pragmata is rich with reflective surfaces and dynamic lighting effects that are well-suited for ray tracing technology. While ray tracing undeniably enhances the game’s visual appeal, its benefits are primarily accessible to users with high-end Nvidia graphics cards. The game offers two distinct ray tracing options: a standard ‘ray tracing’ toggle that activates global illumination and reflections, and a more advanced path tracing mode that replaces the traditional rasterized lighting engine entirely. Interestingly, in areas with numerous shiny surfaces, the lower ray tracing settings can sometimes detract from the visual experience. A notable example is the Hideout, a pivotal location where players return after dying or upgrading. Here, the metallic floors exhibit a dark reflective sheen that shines with path-traced lighting, yet under lower ray tracing settings, the reflections can appear disturbingly noisy. In one hallway, the effect resembles raindrops on the floor, despite being indoors—an oddity in a space setting. Conversely, in scenarios with more transparent reflective surfaces, ray tracing truly shines, although the trade-off of noisy reflections may not be worth it for many players. For Nvidia users, the DLSS Ray Reconstruction setting could enhance the baseline ray tracing visuals, but it remains inaccessible unless path tracing is enabled.
Pragmata Recommended Graphics Settings
Given Pragmata’s optimized performance, most players will find they can enjoy the game at high settings, even with mid-range graphics cards. For instance, an RTX 3060 Ti at 1080p can achieve around 97 fps with ray tracing activated and no DLSS upscaling. However, enabling path tracing can drop the frame rate to approximately 44 fps, particularly since this card lacks support for frame generation. Ultimately, the decision hinges on individual performance goals. For those satisfied with 60 fps, simply selecting the “Quality” or “Balanced” preset should suffice. Yet, the essence of PC gaming lies in customization, allowing players to fine-tune Pragmata to achieve performance akin to the “Balanced” preset while maintaining visual fidelity similar to the “Quality Preset.” Starting with the “Balanced” preset and making incremental adjustments is advisable, especially since the settings menu provides a preview image indicating the impact of each change on VRAM and GPU usage.
- Global Illumination Quality: Medium – Lowering this from high to medium can save around 11% in performance, enhancing frame rates without drastically compromising image quality.
- Hair Quality: Medium – Given that this setting affects only one character, a medium setting strikes a balance between aesthetics and performance.
- Texture Quality: It Depends – Players with at least 8GB of VRAM should maximize this setting unless experiencing stuttering.
- Mesh Quality: Max – Keeping this at maximum ensures high-quality character models, especially against the game’s diverse robotic foes.
- Shadow Quality: High – Elevating shadow quality enhances the game’s visual depth without significantly impacting performance.
- Effects Quality: Max – This setting is crucial for maintaining the visual spectacle of combat, particularly during explosive encounters.
How Do These Settings Affect Performance?
To evaluate the performance of Pragmata, tests were conducted across various resolutions and graphics cards. The RTX 3060 Ti at 1080p yielded an impressive 100 to 110 fps, even managing to stretch to 1440p with 60-70 fps. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 excelled at 1440p, achieving between 130 and 140 fps, and maintained around 70 to 80 fps at 4K. Meanwhile, the RTX 5080 delivered 100 to 110 fps at 4K with recommended settings, leaving ample room for ray or path tracing enhancements. Testing with an RTX 5090 at 4K revealed that while the minimum preset achieved 195 fps, it lacked visual depth. The balanced preset dropped the average frame rate to 126 fps but significantly improved visual quality. Interestingly, the recommended settings resulted in a slight increase to 129 fps, enhancing the visual experience without sacrificing performance. However, enabling ray tracing at the Quality preset reduced the frame rate to 115 fps. To fully utilize path tracing, DLSS should be set to performance, as the RTX 5090 only managed 59 fps under maximum settings. Ultimately, Pragmata demonstrates exceptional scalability, catering to both lower-end hardware and high-performance rigs, allowing players to make meaningful choices regarding their gaming experience.
