Was it worth the six-year wait? First impressions of Pragmata

Yesterday Capcom released a demo version of Pragmata for all current consoles: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 (the PC trial version came out back in December). Launching a demo months ahead of release is a rather unusual move. Still, it makes sense: more than any other project from the Japanese company, Pragmata needs broader exposure. The game was announced back in 2020 and for a long time remained a dark horse in Capcom’s portfolio.

Many players were convinced the company was building its own take on Death Stranding — a pretentious sci-fi story with a complex narrative. However, a new wave of trailers made it clear: Pragmata is a fast-paced third-person shooter that doesn’t chase “high concepts” yet introduces unconventional ideas into the familiar genre formula. Ideas unusual enough that, without a demo, it would be difficult to fully grasp the developers’ intent. We played through it several times and are ready to share our impressions.

Pragmata follows astronaut Hugh and the android girl Diana as they try to escape a lunar research station overrun by rogue robots. How compelling their adventure will be from a narrative standpoint is hard to judge for now: the demo barely focuses on the story and throws the player straight into the action.

At the very beginning, Diana sits on the floor drawing enthusiastically like an ordinary child while Hugh fends off attacking machines. This moment immediately communicates the core idea — without Diana, the protagonist can hardly do anything against enemies. His pistol deals minimal damage: the robots are encased in nearly impenetrable armor.

Hugh urges the girl forward, she jumps onto his back — and only then does the player gain the ability to hack enemy defense systems. This has to be done in real time, without pausing. Aim at an enemy and a separate window appears, where, using the triangle, square, cross, and circle buttons (I played on PS5), you move a cursor and plot a route through a chain of cells from the starting point to the defense core. The mechanic feels reminiscent of classic Snake-style video games.

When the cursor reaches the core, the enemy is stunned and segments of its armor temporarily open, exposing vulnerable points you need to shoot. The more dangerous the enemy, the more complex its hacking matrix.

It’s important not just to reach the core, but to choose the optimal path by passing through special cells that boost hacking efficiency. For example, the more blue cells you catch along the way, the stronger the damage dealt at the moment the hack succeeds.

While exploring the level, the player also periodically finds limited-use cells with powerful effects — these can be picked up so they appear in future hacks. For instance, there are yellow cells that increase Hugh’s weapon damage or allow you to stun and expose several nearby enemies at once.

During the first few fights, this system feels a bit disorienting because it forces you to think differently than in most action games, where any problem can be solved the classic way — with a bigger gun. Here you need to aim and dodge attacks while hacking at the same time, then quickly switch to the weapon best suited for the situation. In fights against multiple enemies, it’s easy at first to lose track of which one you’re hacking, or to start firing at a target whose armor hasn’t even been disabled yet.

Still, by the end of the demo it’s possible to slip into a flow state. Right after finishing, I launched it again and rushed through the level, cracking enemy matrices like nuts and dealing with machines in seconds. Surprisingly, at that moment Pragmata gave me positive associations with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Doom Eternal. Mechanically they are completely different games, of course, but they share a core principle: they become far more engaging once you understand the main system and start playing by the rules set by the designers.

It’s also worth noting how responsive and smooth the game feels, further emphasizing its high tempo. Animations and controls are designed so every button press immediately translates into an on-screen action — almost like in arcade projects of the 90s.

Pragmata’s arcade spirit shows up in other aspects of gameplay as well. During battles with groups of enemies or bosses, arenas feature scattered points where you can refill ammo for certain weapon types at any moment or pick up those special yellow hacking cells if you’ve run out. That makes positioning just as important as hacking and shooting.

Overall, at least judging by the demo, Pragmata constantly demands maximum engagement from the player amid the chaos. During hacking, as mentioned earlier, you search for the optimal route to the matrix core and decide whether to spend yellow cells. When it comes to shooting, the ideal approach isn’t just firing at a stunned robot but targeting its most vulnerable parts, such as the head. You’re making decisions constantly: spend one of the four shotgun shells or rely on the pistol with infinite ammo, deploy a weapon that temporarily binds robots with an energy net to simplify hacking, or take a risk — provoke an attack and dodge at the last second. A side dash applies a slow effect to enemies.

Incidentally, the arcade-era vibe is reinforced by the fact that finishing the demo unlocks bonus content, encouraging another run: a skin for Hugh’s suit as well as access to a new weapon and hacking cells. This kind of reward is extremely rare in modern trial versions of games.

Pragmata’s core mechanics are engaging enough that one playthrough of the demo doesn’t feel sufficient. However, the question remains how long the hacking concept will stay fresh in the full game. It all comes down to how varied the hacking matrices and enemies turn out to be, what unusual weapons and cells the developers introduce, and whether the constant need to break defenses before dealing damage will eventually become irritating — especially in battles against large groups of opponents, which the demo barely showcased.

Pragmata launches on April 24 for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Tried the demo? Share your impressions in the comments: what worked for you and what didn’t. Even if you don’t plan to play, it would be useful to know what turns you away from the project.