Pragmata preview: a puzzle-shooter that's been worth the wait

Pragmata is Capcom’s upcoming puzzle-shooter that already has a lot of history, as the game was announced all the way back in 2021.

Finally the studio has decided now is the time to show it off, and after playing it for a bit at Summer Game Fest I can confirm it was worth the wait.

Let me give you a brief summary of what Pragmata is all about. You play as Hugh, a pretty normal guy who’s trapped on the moon and desperately needs to get in contact with Earth so he can get home. There’s a problem though, the robots on the moon base have gone rogue, and even worse traditional weaponry is ineffective against them as they’re shielded.

That’s where Diana comes in, as a little girl who Hugh meets within the base who has the ability to hack various machinery, including the attacking robots.

In terms of gameplay it goes like this, Hugh is pursued by the robots, Diana deactivates their shields and stuns them briefly via a hacking minigame, allowing Hugh to blast them with the weapons he come across throughout the base.

Both the puzzle and combat phases happen at the same time though, so when you’re getting surrounded by multiple enemies it becomes a thrilling game of prioritisation, and making sure you’re not taking damage while solving the hacking puzzle.

My demo also had me solving some actual puzzles on the base, mainly activating terminals that’d allow me to progress to the next area.

Things ended with Hugh nearly contacting Earth for help, before the base’s AI shuts down his transmission and a colossal robot emerges to take him and Diana down, but unfortunately we weren’t able to partake in this obvious boss fight.

If you’re someone who’s been waiting patiently for Pragmata ever since its announcement in 2021, you’ll be happy to hear it already feels like it was worth the wait. Only time will tell what challenges the full game brings, but from the brief demo I played it’s definitely going on my wishlist.