Video game review

“Pragmata” is one of those rare instances in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The action-adventure game developed and published by Capcom doesn’t hide the fact that it’s mostly a mashup of other games. Its influences are obvious — “Dead Space,” “Gears of War” and “Vanquish” immediately come to mind — and its generic sci-fi-infused story neatly fits in what’s now called the Dad Game genre (in which you play as a father or fatherlike figure, like “The Last of Us” or the new “God of War” entries).

But what it lacks in ingenuity it makes up for in execution. What it does, from its combat mechanics to its level design and enormous boss fights, it does well.…