Capcom’s mysterious science fiction title ‘Pragmata‘ finally has a release date after five long years of radio silence. I got to go hands-on at Summer Game Fest 2025, and I absolutely cannot wait for everyone else to get their hands on it, too.
Pragmata follows Hugh Williams, who wakes up in a daze on a lunar colony called The Cradle after his space suit was compromised in a devastating quake. Something bad has happened to The Cradle’s residents… but even though the station is an eerie ghost town, he’s not alone. Diana, a mysterious child-like android, wakes him up with a smack on his helmet, having repaired his suit, but danger soon follows.
After regaining consciousness, Hugh and Diana are set upon by malevolent robots controlled by the Cradle’s AI, called IDUS. To defeat the bots, players must lower their defenses. This is where Diana comes in.
Pragmata gameplay is so satisfying
Cheerfully jumping on Hugh’s back, Diana is able to hack the robots, allowing Hugh to deal big damage with his guns, of which there are several aboard the ship to pillage. To successfully defeat enemies, you first hack them, then shoot – which sounds simple enough on the outset.
Things start to get difficult, however, when multiple enemies spawn at once. In such situations, you’re forced to choose which robot, drone, or mech to hack first, all while dodging attacks from the other baddies. This gameplay loop is instantly addictive.
Hacking isn’t very challenging; after pressing L2 to open up the hacking minigame, you must connect a given number of nodes in a single line using the X, O, Square, and Triangle buttons, which correspond to their directions on the gamepad.
Outside of enemies, Diana can also hack various locks and other tech.
Once hacked, Hugh is free to shoot the enemy down. The gunplay is also immediately satisfying. Auto-aim isn’t super forgiving, though, so you’ll have to work to land shots while trying to avoid attacks at the same time (although there is a lock-on mode).
I got to use three guns in the short demo at Summer Game Fest. The first was a Grip Gun, your basic pistol that gradually recharges ammo automatically. (It’s also the weakest of the lot). The second was the Shockwave Gun, essentially a shotgun, dealing big damage and knocking approaching enemies back. The third was Stasis Net, which allows you to temporarily freeze opponents in place.
CAPCOMWe got to see three different kinds of guns in Pragmata. The Shockwave Gun is pictured here.
Separately, hacking and shooting are easy to get into – the trick is balancing these different tasks at once. After the first few fights, I took to combat quickly. It’s so satisfying to get off a fast hack then blast a robot to bits – even more so when you manage to dodge other bad guys trying to eliminate you, too.
An excruciating wait for the full game
In the play session, I got to explore the empty halls of The Cradle with Hugh and Diana, coming across occasional correspondence from workers who’d disappeared from the station. The goal is to eventually restore power to The Cradle’s solar farm while also unraveling the mystery of what happened to its citizens, solving puzzles, and surviving skirmishes on the way.
CAPCOMThe enemies in Pragmata can be hacked to deal more damage – but when multiple baddies spawn, players are forced to make critical decisions.
Unfortunately, the demo stopped just short of the first boss battle. It was disappointing, but it succeeded in making me desperate to play more.
From what I’ve seen so far, Pragmata is a tremendously fun game. Graphically, it’s stunning. The Cradle is slick, Hugh looks downright badass, and Diana is adorable. Their humorous interactions promise wholesome character building later on in the story in a unique take on the gruff-guy-with-a-child-sidekick character trope dominating single-player these days (a la God of War, The Last of Us, etc.).
CAPCOMIn Pragmata, players play as Hugh Williams, a man sent to investigate a mysterious incident on The Cradle, a Lunar colony.
In short, we really, really want to play more of Pragmata, and we’re bummed that this game doesn’t come out until 2026. That being said, we’re more than happy to let Capcom cook, as they’ve clearly got an amazing feast on their hands after all this time in the kitchen. Good things come to those who wait, after all… but damn, if we aren’t impatient.
