Pragmata shows Capcom the idea of trying new and interesting, which seems to be paying off
Blog Andrew Joseph 14 Jun , 2025 0
Capcom has been shooting at all cylinders with its large franchise – Monster Hunter is seeing more and more successthis The Resident Evil train is continuing to roll. and Street Fighter remains a staple in the fighting game community. It has a New Onimusha on the waythe last time I saw it The devil plum is crying very high. However, Capcom has experimented with new things from time to time. The latest experiment was in Pragmata, a sci-fi third-person shooter that stole the show for me at the 2025 summer match Fest, even after just a brief 15-minute hands-on demonstration.
Another sci-fi third-person shooter may not sound too tempting on the surface, but Pragmata is an example of how a single idea separates the game from other packaging. That's the thing – in Pragmata you can not only damage the enemy by shooting the enemy, but you also have to invade them to open up their weaknesses. The way this works is to aim your eyes and participate in a hacker minigame, where you can use the face button to browse the paths that connect specific nodes together in the case of a five by five by button. And you have to do this in real time. Along this path, you can pound other nodes to create state effects or open weaknesses, which can be risky when you are locked in a room chasing multiple threatening robots.
If you're flexible enough with your rocket Dodge and clever position, you can pull it away without any loss, and it's so satisfying when they blend together. Creating spaces for hackers and shooting can be challenging when you mostly fight in tight spaces. Pragmata isn't a fast-paced game like Vanquish or the way it returns, it moves more like dead space or war gear, and I like that chunky, heavy feeling. You don't have a ton of weapons either – while you have a six-gun pistol with Infinity Magazine, you can pick up disposable weapons like slow, powerful heavy rifles and Bola guns to temporarily fix the enemy. These effective limited-edge weapons make you smarter and make combat more fun.
Since you're not exploding in the wave of robots and drones, the feeling of encountering battles is more intentional – I think it's important to not hacking mini games instead of overkilling. My current concern is that the novelty of hacker minigames will take you to the deeper level of Pragmata, but it will depend on the development of gameplay mechanics and how further combat methods bring new challenges. Actually, when you approach the giant mecha for boss fights, I was frustrated that the end of the demo was right, as it might be a chance to showcase more of the potential of Pragmata.
Hackers are also integrated into environmental puzzles and explorations, showing you different styles of sequential button prompts to deactivate security locks or access terminals. In a rather linear game, it’s important to break down the pace of small things like this, in which you’re going to challenge in the next big battle. You need this variety to balance the best part of your campaign, and I at least like the fact that I interact with some form of level around the hacking premise.
Whether in combat or in exploration, I find a lot of fun in the game, giving you a more active element in its core gameplay. Despite the totally different genre, the timing-based Clair obscures: Expedition 33 makes its RPG-based RPG combat feel fresh, and even the input of the gesture-based Scarlet Nexus ability is a fun way to differentiate yourself from other action RPGs, which is still my compliment today. If pragmata can be built on the best idea in a smart way, then it might be able to incorporate itself into this conversation.
The demo isn't much story-wise (I'm glad it's focused on the tempting gameplay), but it does make me wonder what exactly happened to pragmata. The basic premise is that you are trapped on a high-tech space station on the moon and you control a man named Hugh who wears Mech Suit and uses a small arsenal of high-power guns, and all of this is the mysterious little girl Diana, who is a hacker genius, who sits on your shoulders. But even if this story is just a tool to take you through its unique and exciting battle scenes, I tend to believe that this is necessary.
I don't know what it was at that time First revealed in 2020After years of silence and delays, we know it is real and on the way in 2026. I don't expect it to be the next greatest game, or the backbone of the Capcom directory, but I must be targeting new and well-executed ideas, especially when AAAs sometimes blend into each other.