Pragmata is a bit of an unknown. First revealed in 2020, the trailer looked typically lovely (that Capcom RE Engine still blows minds even now) but it wasn’t entirely clear what it actually was. Now we know it’s coming in 2026, and I’ve had a chance to play a short demo of it, and it seems a genuinely clever take on a third-person shooter, and one I want to play more of.
If you were to quickly glimpse at gameplay, I’d forgive you for thinking it looked like a fairy generic space third-person shooter. You play as Hugh, a dude in a space suit, and you’re saved by a little android girl called Diana. She jumps on your back (which amazingly, has those pegs that BMX bikes have to hold a second person) and you’re immediately attacked by a robot creature with a laser sword.
You whip out your gun and you shoot, and a health bar appears and it goes down very, very slowly. Luckily, the android girl is on your back and can help, as she can hack… well, everything. In actuality, it’s easy to do, but it’s maybe a little strange to describe, but let’s have a go.
After this point, while aiming with L2, a small grid appears on screen. You quickly guide a node from start to the “green” objective, which is your enemy. On the way through you can knock through various other nodes that will offer buffs that weaken your foe, thus causing you to do more damage. At the top of the hacking mini-game is a figure that shows how much damage you’re doing, and it’s a super interesting way of changing up what might otherwise be standard third-person shooting.
The combat is genuinely engaging and interesting, and I never once thought “this will get old quickly”, which is mostly due to the fact Capcom has taken steps to be clever with it. At first I was slowly backing away while hacking, and I’d take damage: you can only move so fast while aiming down sights, after all. However, after realising that the hacking game saved your place if you let go of L2, I was all in on the idea. Suddenly it becomes faster paced, because you understand the systems.
This hacking plays into puzzles as well, and will require you to move around an area hacking things to unlock a door. The combat hacks get larger and more complicated too, introducing blockers, making them more puzzle-like.
There’s also a larger amount of weapons on offer than I’d expect for such a small demo. From the starting pistol I progressed to a shotgun-type gun (with limited ammo), and a strange weapon that fires some kind of digital net that stuns enemies. Add to that a jetpack (with a cooldown bar) that lets you get around quickly, and some rudimentary platforming puzzles using that jetpack, and I was having a blast.
To finish my time with Pragmata I got to face a boss called a SectorGuard. This fight makes you use everything you’ve been taught in a single frenetic and fun fight. The SectorGuard is far more dangerous than anything on offer previously, and you will use all your weapons, hacks, and movement abilities to keep away and do damage. Large area of effect attacks mean you have to keep moving, and I really enjoyed this fight.
It remains to be seen what the wider scope of Pragmata is, as my entire playthrough was confined to what felt like an early portion of the game, inside a space station of some kind. The mixture of third-person shooting and hacking makes it feel like something new, and we don’t get enough adventures in space these days. From an unknown curiosity, Pragmata is one to keep an eye on, because after finally playing it, this one is firmly on my radar.
Pragmata is coming to PC, Xbox Series S|X, and PlayStation 5 in 2026.
