311. How Do Great Stories Help Us Return to Factory Settings?

Pragmata released to gaming consoles April 17. The new Capcom title promptly sold 1 million copies by its first weekend and provoked much discourse from fans and some haters. Why the hate? Because players everywhere, especially men, loved the key concept of an outer space soldier teaming up with a little android girl to fight robo-monsters. Gamers declared they would do anything to protect Diana. How do these stories help humans remember to restore our “factory settings”? Episode sponsors All that Glows by Lauren Smyth Realm Makers 2026 Conference & Expo Author Update from Novel Marketing The Talismiths: The Secret Saboteur by M. L. Hodder Mission update New at Lorehaven: weekly reviews, some website upgrades Subscribe free to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild New book quest for Mortal Queens by Victoria McCombs 1. The tale of a mecha-man and robo-girl Capcom announced Pragmata nearly six years ago (June 2020). The game was later delayed, with sporadic, apologetic teasers. The pitch? Space marine finds orphaned android girl in moonbase. They team up to fight rogue robots in hopes of returning to Earth. Before it even released, Reddit banned one channel (TheGamer). They said some people were sexualizing the little robot girl, Diana. Which is unfortunately expected, and horrifying. More on this later. Last month, the final trailer arrived, and the game itself (April 17). After release, some men said they felt their “dad senses” awaken. You all HATE escort missions But make that NPC a cute kid, and suddenly you’ll burn the whole world down for them Japan’s population is crashing. Capcom realized people wouldn’t listen to government mandates to reproduce, so they started making “Parent Simulators” Pragmata feels like a psyop to make you want to have kids, a propaganda disguised as a game to boost the birth rates. And honestly it’s awesome. The timeline is full of people saying Diana makes them want to start a real family. I love that we really fell for it. —@‌TheRooster on X.com, April 20 Female players were also positively affected by Diana’s cuteness. In response, critics blasted this positive response as closeted sin. They saw nothing but evil motives in the male players’ enjoyment. Single men, actual dads, and uncles alike said they’d die for Diana. And the game’s fans began referring to human “factory settings.” 2. What we mean by saying ‘factory settings’ Stephen hasn’t yet played Pragmata but wants to. Great reviews. It turns out the idea of “factory settings” has great foundations. This is just a pop-culture-y, meme-y way to say “human purpose.” It’s a rebuttal to false purposes, e.g. “get rich” or “be an activist.” In other words, the “chief end of man.” Let’s define this carefully. In the biblical view, our “chief end” is to glorify and enjoy God. To the Christian, our “chief end” is not to protect the innocent. Our chief end isn’t even getting married and having families. After all, in a sinful world, not everyone is blessed with this gift. But … that doesn’t mean we deny that original human purpose. It goes back to Genesis 1:27-28, God’s first command to people. We worship Him first by acts of creation, including marriage/family. This is our “factory setting.” By recalling the action, we get close. The next step is to rediscover that original motive: to glorify God. 3.How these ‘factory settings’ can change us Stephen’s response is different. He’s not been blessed with kids. Even those who are blessed with kids have rough family situations. And of course, as some critics say, the game shows only positives. Diana isn’t a real child, but a robot. (We don’t know spoilers here.) Real small children have sinful natures and many challenges. And yet… can’t a game “simulate” these with health and death? You do “die” and respawn many times in a game, leveling up. It’s a direct and often numbers-based “parable” illustrating reality. That’s probably why many men love tabletop games and LitRPG. This is not just a psychological trick. Not just a “dopamine hack.” We may feel the same about beauty, knowing we’re made for more. To capture this longing, C.S. Lewis used the German sehnsucht. We could recall this longing, but let it stay in the world of fiction. Or else “translate” this (right or wrong) to our own human callings. But we also hope gamers will follow through on marriage/parenting. Not just to recover birth rates. Not just for high cultural influence. The purpose of any creation—even of people—is to glorify Christ. Com station Top question for listeners When did a simple story remind you of your purpose as a person? Next on Fantastical Truth Next week marks Ascension Day, May 14! So let’s rise to that occasion and survey at least seven notions about that place to which Jesus ascended—Heaven. Is it true that Heaven is only “spiritual”? Or that we can’t know about Heaven is like, so it’s best we not think much about that unchanging, un-earthly or very-earthly dimension where “time shall be no more” and where basically good people go? We’ll do our best to bypass modern myth and search the only certain Source.