Pragmata is an interesting one. As the first original franchise from Capcom in a while, we’ve been quite curious to see what it’s all about, and we’re happy to say that it has been shaping up quite well. If you’ve been as eager to check it out as we have, you might be interested to learn more about it before its release.
We went ahead and dove into everything that’s known about the game so far, and put together a few details that we think you should know before you decide to pick up a copy. From details about its gameplay to whether your systems can run it as intended, let’s dive into what Pragmata is bringing to the table.
1. An Interesting Premise
In a spin on the dangers of generative AI that’s quite unique, Pragmata’s premise stands out. The discovery of an ore called lunum has led humanity to improve 3D printing by leaps and bounds.
That’s made possible by something called Lunafilament, research into which is being conducted at a station on the moon. When communication between the Earth and the station is cut off, a team is sent to investigate, kicking things off for the game’s narrative.
2. A Protagonist Duo Like No Other
Among the people sent to discover the cause of the station’s mysterious communications breakdown is Hugh Williams, a man with a droll sense of humor, who’s separated from his team courtesy of a lunar quake, which knocks him unconscious. He’s quite handy with his weapons, although his computer skills could use some work.
There’s also Diana, a friendly droid who rescues Hugh from the quake. She’s a product of the Lunafilament, although her origins and reason for being are for us to find out. She harbors a wish to see life beyond the research station, an interesting facet to her dynamic with Hugh.
There’s also IDUS, a rogue AI that has somehow turned hostile to life, unleashing “controlled violence” that’s still quite a potential threat to Hugh and Diana, intent on preventing their escape. But the duo has a few tricks up their sleeves.
3. Getting Under Your Enemy’s Skin
IDUS’s rank and file are quite resistant to gunfire, which could be quite a problem for Hugh. But Diana has his back, and can hack into enemy robots to disable their armor systems.
However, you’re in charge of making sure you get it right, even as you help Hugh fend off robots that Diana has managed to hack. That’s a challenge as hacking is a mini-game with a unique grid-based loop that you’re going to have to learn fast, and eventually master as you get more out of it the better you perform.
4. Co-dependent Cooperation
It’s great that Hugh and Diana are working together, as Hugh’s gunplay is entirely based on synergizing your shots with Diana’s abilities. Your shots do very little damage unless you open up your opponent’s defenses using Diana’s hacks, while dodging enemy attacks as Hugh gives you a slowdown effect that gives her more time to bypass armor.
That’s just one of the ways in which you’re going to be learning to make efficient use of their respective abilities in tandem, baiting out enemy attacks so you get to hack through their armor and take them down with your weapons, which we’re going to talk about in just a moment.
5. Meter Management
The gameplay loop, both in combat and while exploring the station, is going to have you paying attention to cooldowns on a bunch of your abilities. For instance, Hugh’s space suit has thrusters that let you hover in the air or get a quick burst of speed on the ground.
The dash move is going to be quite handy in keeping Hugh out of harm’s way, while hovering could let you cross large gaps in your effort to make it out of the station and get past IDUS. It’s great that such handy moves aren’t infinite, as it lends an extra layer of tactical thinking to the game’s combat, an addition that ensures it isn’t just hacking and shooting to keep you on your toes.
6. Check Out Those Guns
Hugh’s space suit has four units where he can slot his weapons, each of which serves specific functions split between standard, tactics, defense, and attack. You pick up different ones as you get further into the station, and your stronger ones come with limited ammo and can even break, leaving a slot open until you can find a better one.
This points to weapon variety and a lot of potential for powerful loadouts once you get some momentum going. We can’t wait to see what we can put together, and what the best among you are going to come up with.
7. The Shelter
The game features a safe space on the station called The Shelter, where you get to take a breather and perform some much-needed maintenance and upgrades to your abilities and weapons. You pick up upgrade materials while exploring and taking down enemies, so be sure to look in every nook and cranny.
That’s probably a good habit to get into anyway, since you access The Shelter via Escape Hatches, which are strewn about levels fairly generously.
8. Making An Escape
Aside from being ways to access The Shelter, Escape Hatches also double up as checkpoints when you’re out and about exploring the station. If you’ve been playing the game’s demo and are puzzled about how to access The Shelter, fret not.
The safe zone has been left out of the demo build, but the developer has recently assured us all that we’re going to be able to access it in the full game. If you’re wondering why that’s the case, the next two entries on our list should clear up any confusion.
9. (3D) Printing Upgrades
The Shelter does more than just act as your de facto HQ. It’s got a bunch of 3D Printers that utilize Lunafilament tech to grant upgrades to any weapons and hacking nodes you discover as you make your way through the station.
You’re going to want to make good use of it if you want to keep taking the fight to IDUS’s army of robots, planning your upgrade paths carefully to suit your playstyle and make the most of your abilities. Expect some potent combinations that can make good use of synergizing between Hugh’s attacks and Diana’s hacks.
10. Cabin
Diana isn’t the only adorable android on the research station. There’s also Cabin, a very affable robot independent of IDUS’s control, who hangs out at the shelter. He’s connected to a larger system that’s called CABIN (yeah, we know), and is going to be very helpful to you as you progress through the story, aside from giving you ways to upgrade The Shelter.
How, you ask? We’re going to have to wait to find out, sadly.
11. Taking The Tram
The game features a fast-travel system that lets you flit between Escape Hatches you’ve unlocked and The Shelter. Called The Tram, it’s going to be quite helpful as you uncover new levels and areas, and probably even return to places you’ve already been to as you unlock new abilities or collect important items that let you explore them further.
Its presence in the game makes us wonder just how large the station really is, and how much of it Hugh and Diana have to navigate to get to the bottom of things before they make their escape.
12. Getting Close and Personal
While Diana may be the only droid that’s allowed to ride on his back owing to how charming she is, that doesn’t mean Hugh isn’t afraid to get into striking distance of hostile androids.
The latest showcase of the game showed off some of his cool finisher moves, which we suspect are going to be tied to systematically shooting at enemy weaknesses to get them into a state where Hugh can swoop in for a deadly strike.
13. Free Demo Available
If all of what you’ve been seeing of this one has you itching to try it out, a playable demo called The Sketchbook is available for you to try out on PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, and the Xbox Series X|S.
It’s designed to give you a taste of what to expect from the game’s combat and exploration, and even throws in a fairly challenging boss fight for you to take on. We gave it a shot, and it’s quite a solid glimpse into how Hugh and Diana are going to be spending their time together.
14. Making The Most Of Your Console
If you’re playing this one on the PS5 or PS5 Pro, you’re going to be happy to know that the game makes full use of the DualSense’s haptics and adaptive triggers. You also get to play it on Remote Play, while it’s also enhanced for the PS5 Pro.
For Xbox, the Sketchbook demo has a long list of features which include 4K UHD, HDR10, Ray Tracing, 60 fps+, Spatial Sound, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and it’s optimized for Series X|S. However, the developer also explicitly says ray tracing isn’t going to be supported on the Series S. That’s quite likely given that one’s weaker spec sheet, and we wouldn’t hold our breath for it to be added.
15. PC Requirements
Of course, if you’re playing this one on PC, you need to ensure that your rig is capable of handling what the research station and its outstanding visuals have to throw at you. The minimum specs for Pragmata include a 64-bit processor, Windows 11 (64-bit), an Intel Core i5-8500 / AMD Ryzen 5 3500 backed up by 26GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6 GB / Radeon RX 5500 XT 8 GB GPU, DirectX 12, and 40 GB of storage.
The recommended specs bump things up to an Intel Core i7-8700 / AMD Ryzen 5 5500 processor, and a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super 8GB / Radeon RX 6600 8GB GPU, while the other specs remain the same.
And that’s about it for this one. Pragmata is looking pretty good right about now, and we’re counting the days to its April 17, 2026, release. IDUS doesn’t know what’s about to hit him (or it).
