Going into Summer Game Fest 2025, I was curious about Capcom’s upcoming shooter called Pragmata, mainly because it had been a while since the developer had shown off anything about the game. All we knew was that it was some kind of shooter set in a futuristic world and featured a young child, which was bizarre. However, thanks to the Summer Game Fest Play Days, Scott Adams and I were able to go hands-on with a build of the game, and let me tell you, this is anything but a typical shooter.
Hands-on With Pragmata
The first thing that stands out with Pragmata is that you play as a soldier of some sort, Hugh, who is badly hurt. Thanks to the efforts of the young child we’ve seen associated with the game, she heals you and turns out to be a major component of the gameplay. You see, while the protagonist is all about shooting his way out of situations, many of those enemies, mainly robots and machines, are immune to his weapons.
This is where the little girl, Diana, comes into play. While she might not look like it, she has the hacking skills of a wizard-class hacker and helps by breaking through enemy defenses. This triggers a mini-game where you must use the face buttons on the controller. The mini-game requires you to navigate toward a green icon, which then allows you to take down the enemies’ defenses and make them vulnerable to your weapons.
It’s not something you can ignore, as if you don’t do these, then anything you fire at your enemies will bounce off them like a pebble being tossed at a tank. It’s an interesting spin on the traditional shooter, as you’ll not only have to rely on your weapons but also dodge incoming fire and engage in these mini-puzzles to ultimately defeat enemies.
Now, in this demo, we only faced a limited number of enemies at a time, so I wasn’t able to see how this system would hold up if you were overwhelmed. I can imagine that having a swarm of enemies while trying to hack each one could become a challenge.
Combat wasn’t the only thing I experienced. I also had to navigate through a massive complex, requiring me to find several locked areas that needed to be hacked in order to progress and escape. There was a bit of backtracking involved, which almost gave the experience a bit of a 3D Metroidvania vibe.
After eventually unlocking all of the doors, I made my way to the top of the complex, where I encountered several more enemies. Following a brief cinematic, it looked like an incoming boss fight was about to start. I say “incoming” because the PR person overseeing the demo warned me that I had reached the end and stopped me from engaging in the battle. Yeah, I was a bit frustrated as I wanted to see how this mechanic would work with having to face the boss, but I suppose Capcom’s not ready to let anyone know just yet.
Still, what I played was enjoyable, especially with the hacking mini-games, which felt like puzzles that didn’t interrupt the action. Instead, they forced you to pay attention and strategically manage both hacking and combat.
While I’m not completely sure this will be a game that everyone will enjoy, I’m sold on the gameplay and wish I could play more of it, since I only had 30 minutes. Sadly, that won’t happen until Pragmata gets released on December 31, 2026, which both feels like a placeholder date and is so far away.
