I cannot stop thinking about how much I wish I were playing Pragmata right now

Two weeks ago, I was in Cologne, Germany, in the world’s hottest building at an Nvidia event. There were at least 100 computers, half a dozen unreleased games, and a coffee machine powered by a generator seemingly losing its battle against the heat. This was an event the day before Gamescom in an industrial park about 15 minutes away from the Koelnmesse.

Despite booking the earliest possible slot for my demos, the building we were in was quickly heating up - something that will become more of a problem when I write my piece talking about Resident Evil Requiem. That said, despite the Capcom nook being tucked in the back of this old, un-air-conditioned facility, playing Pragmata feels incredibly refreshing.

So what is it?

Comparative statements for describing games can often be reductive. Silksong is much more than just a “Soulslike Metroidvania”, and “open world Han Solo simulator” doesn’t do a game like Star Wars Outlaws’ immaculate vibes justice. But it can be a helpful shorthand, especially when trying to describe a game a reader has never touched, you only played 15 minutes of.

Moreover, it’s hard to be definitive when talking about a demo. They are literally unfinished games; no matter how much you like them or dislike them, they are still subject to change. There are games I have played and I have really disliked, and sure enough, come release I have been no fonder of them. However, there have also been cases like Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess where a preview really hasn’t clicked for me, only for the full game experience to end up on my GOTY list. So it's usually advisable not to be too definitive when talking about a preview build.

But sometimes you have to go with your gut reaction, and be a bit reductive to get your point across. That is why, after stewing on my time with the Pragmata demo, I feel pretty OK saying these two statements. 1. Pragmata is basically Resident Evil 4’s combat, with a puzzle mini-game that activates the same part of my brain as clearing a line in Tetris, and jet shoes. 2. Pragmata rules.

I am fully aware that both these statements might make me look like a clueless idiot come 2026, but after playing through the same demo twice in four days, it is how I feel right now.

It's mega, man

So short rundown, Pragmata was first announced way back alongside the PS5 in 2020. Quickly, it seemed to be destined to a similar fate as Capcom’s Deep Down. In 2021, the team announced it was delayed until 2023, and in 2023, it was announced that the game was delayed until “???”, and then everything went silent. Most people assumed it had quietly been canned, yet somehow it lives. I have played it, and it is a real video game with real video game mechanics.

Those mechanics are what have hooked me the most. Since Resident Evil 2’s 2019 remake, Capcom’s third-person shooting has become really good. A few years later, Resident Evil 4 Remake would refine what Capcom has been iterating on for one of the best-feeling third-person action games in years. That shooting is the first ingredient in this game that feels like it has been refined and reworked to a satisfying science over the last five years.

Take a moment

The second component of this recipe is how the game paces fights. In the Resident Evil games, shooting is made more engaging by having slow-moving enemies that deal a lot of damage and come at you from multiple directions or down narrow halls where you can’t dodge them. It forces your brain to quickly evaluate situations, manage your ammo, healing items, and stay engaged. Preventing gameplay from ever getting boring.

Pragmata has a different approach. Movement and shooting are slightly faster, and you are now fighting robots. However, the pacing is brought right back down, as every time you aim at an enemy, a little 3x3, 4x4, or 5x5 maze puzzle appears on-screen. Solving these puzzles is easy in a vacuum: get from a starting point to an end point using the face buttons as directional inputs. Doing so will stun enemies, and the game slowly layers in things like gates that will cause you to do extra damage or roadblocks in the matrix. However, you must do all this while aiming and moving, and neither the game nor the oncoming enemies slow down.

This all means that you constantly have to be weighing up your position, how much time you have, AND do a little low-level puzzle. All at the same time. Succeed, and a robot will slow right now, its exhaust flaps open, and you can shoot away at weak points as big old red damage numbers shooting out of your assailants. It is just enough to keep your brain constantly engaged in the action, and it makes the game feel like so much more than just a third-person shooter.

You also have jet shoes you can use to dodge… and that is rad.

Not that Megaman

There is still a lot unknown about Pragmata. Capcom has gone out there to debunk fan theories that it is, in fact, a secret Mega Man game, and yeah, it's probably not, but the game does have a prominent story. One I am not fully sold on yet.

The demo I played showed the player character, Hugh Williams, waking up on a deserted moon outpost with my suit being repaired by an android designed to look like a 10-year-old girl. The space station seems to be under the control of two AIs. One seems to be guiding the player (literally referred to in the subtitles as “AI Guide”); the other, IDUS, seems none too happy that a human is snooping about. I really have very little read on where this story goes, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the villain might be Big Tech, here played by the fictional Babel corporation.

Honestly, there is still a lot we don’t know about Pragmata beyond the basic setup and the fact that gameplay feels really good. However, as long as the story remains serviceable, then I am more than confident the combat can hold up its end of the bargain. The only question that remains is if Capcom has any more surprises up its sleeve for this game, outside the fact that it's not actually vaporware.

Pragmata arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC sometime in 2026.