PRAGMATA

PRAGMATA surprised me. From the first trailer I was curious, but playing through the demo and the launch build made me genuinely care about Hugh and Diana — yes, the little android is that good. Capcom manages a weird blend of PS3/360 era arcade-y shooting vibes and modern tech like path tracing and frame generation. What makes PRAGMATA stand out is the dual control idea: you move and gun as Hugh while Diana hacks in real time, and that partnership turns typical third‑person combat into something refreshingly brainy and oddly tender.

Shooting Like It's 2007 — But Polished

The backbone of PRAGMATA is satisfyingly old‑school shooting that still feels crisp and modern. You control Hugh directly: move, aim, shoot, jump and use cover; the guns have weight and feedback — headshots feel punchy and enemies stagger in a pleasing way. What lifts the combat is Diana: she runs parallel puzzles by hacking enemy nodes in real time. That means a firefight is often two problems at once: keep the bullets flying and carve open the enemy’s defenses with quick hacking inputs. I found myself alternating between controller muscle memory and tiny panic‑moments of button‑mashing when rooms got chaotic, and it’s delightful.

When Fatherly Reflexes Meet Hacking Minigames

The hack mechanic is the real twist. It’s presented as a mini‑puzzle you solve while still dodging and shooting, kind of like Vanquish‑fast aiming mixed with rhythm and logic. Early on it feels novel and occasionally fiddly, but it quickly becomes second nature and adds a layer of strategic choreography: which robot to disable first, when to prioritize a shield node, when to bail out and heal. Diana’s inputs are more than window dressing — they change encounter pacing and make each encounter feel like a short, variable co‑op chapter even though you’re the only human player. The sandbox of toys — upgrade trees, weapon skins, and outfits like the Deluxe Edition’s costumes — gives you ways to tinker without overwhelming progression.

A Beauty That Runs Like Butter (Mostly)

Visually PRAGMATA is a treat: RE Engine at work with gorgeous lighting, detailed environments and strong path‑traced reflections that make the lunar facility feel uncanny. The soundtrack is atmospheric and sometimes cozy, perfectly underscoring quieter exploration moments and punchy combat. Performance has been a highlight in my sessions and in many community reports: solid framerates, good Steam Deck support for the demo, and smooth controller integration (DualSense haptics are a nice touch). That said, a non‑trivial number of players hit DRM‑related Denuvo errors or day‑one crashes, and a few reported strange lip sync or menu audio spikes — things that should be ironed out with patches. Still, when it runs well, it’s one of the cleanest technical launches I’ve seen for a new IP in years.

PRAGMATA is a rare new IP that both looks and feels like a confident Capcom title: polished combat, an emotionally resonant duo and impressive tech. Buy it if you want a story‑driven action game with a clever twist and excellent performance — just be aware of DRM complaints and occasional rough edges that should be patched soon.