Over the past few years, Capcom has rarely missed, landing just about every major release while still being willing to experiment with new formulas and styles. It’s a studio that isn’t afraid to get a little weird, and that willingness often leads to some genuinely unique experiences. Exoprimal, despite its short lifespan, was an exciting PvP shooter that tried to do something different, and I was disappointed to see it quietly fade away. Meanwhile, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess pulled me in with its blend of tower defense and Devil May Cry-style combat. Now, Pragmata stands as Capcom’s latest new IP to break the mold, and this one feels special.

I’ve only had Diana for 5 minutes, but if anything happens to her, I will kill everyone on this space station and then myself.

Set in the far future, a resource known as lumen ore is discovered on the Moon, sparking a major technological leap and the creation of lunafillament. With it, the Delphi Corporation develops the ability to replicate and 3D print materials and structures from pre-existing designs, from simple humanoid robots to entire facilities, including a full-scale lunar base. Naturally, things don’t go to plan. The base suddenly goes dark, and Delphi sends a team to investigate.

You play as Hugh Williams, a system auditor for the Delphi Corporation and one of the unlucky few dispatched to the Moon. Not long after arriving, everything falls apart. The IDUS AI systems go rogue, wiping out his team and turning the base into a hostile maze filled with lunafillament constructs. Hugh is saved by a mysterious Pragmata he names Diana, and together they set out to uncover what went wrong and find a way back to Earth.

The story of Pragmata is a fairly straightforward one: AI has gone rogue, and it’s up to you to stop things from spiraling further. It’s familiar territory, and the game doesn’t do much to reinvent that formula. There are a few twists along the way, but most of them are easy to see coming. At its best, the narrative is functional, though the central threat never quite lands. IDUS just isn’t a particularly compelling antagonist. Where Pragmata really shines, though, is in the evolving father daughter dynamic between Hugh and Diana. Their relationship brings a lot of warmth to the story, with genuinely wholesome interactions that kept a smile on my face, alongside more dramatic moments that pulled me in when it mattered most.

Pragmata genuinely feels innovative

The lunar base you explore in Pragmata is massive, made up of winding corridors and a range of distinct zones that each form their own chapter. You’ll move from underground mining facilities to a partially fabricated New York City, and even out onto the Moon’s surface, complete with low gravity. Each area feels thoughtfully designed, both visually and in how it plays, with plenty to discover along the way. There are secrets tucked into corners, encounters to handle, and enough variety to keep things fresh. The level design is consistently strong, and I genuinely enjoyed poking around every part of it. And yes, you’ll be revisiting a lot of these spaces later on.

At first glance, the gameplay leans into familiar third person shooter territory. You aim, you fire, and enemies go down. Despite the bulky spacesuit, Hugh is surprisingly nimble, using thrusters to reach higher ground and dash around attacks. It adds a nice bit of mobility, whether you’re dodging incoming fire or navigating platforming sections to reach new parts of the station. It may sound standard, but it feels solid and responsive where it counts.

However, things aren’t quite that simple. Most enemies aren’t vulnerable to conventional damage, which is where Diana comes in. Much like the criminally underappreciated Astral Chain, Pragmata uses a dual protagonist system, though here Diana stays firmly attached to Hugh’s back. When you aim at an enemy, a grid based hacking interface appears, filled with nodes that trigger different effects. Using the face buttons, you guide a cursor through the grid toward an exit node. Diana’s role is straightforward: reach that exit while hitting as many bonus nodes as possible along the way to maximize damage.

The Shelter is a place to chill out and upgrade your gear

It’s a clever idea that quickly proves to be more than just a gimmick. In Pragmata, this system shapes the entire gameplay loop, making the experience far more engaging than it first appears. Hugh and Diana have to work in sync to overcome IDUS, and that connection between gameplay and story works really well. As you explore the lunar base and dig into the mysteries of the Pragmata and lunafillament, you’ll unlock a steady stream of upgrades for both of them. These range from new weapons for Hugh to additional hacking nodes for Diana, opening up new ways to approach combat. You can chain hacks across multiple enemies, overheat them, or even turn them against each other. There’s a surprising amount of depth here, and learning how to make the most of it becomes essential to staying alive.

That depth carries over nicely to the enemies, which ended up being more interesting than I expected. Early on, you’re mostly dealing with simple melee robots that don’t pose much of a threat. Before long, though, things escalate. Enemies become faster, tougher, and more varied, with different attack patterns and hacking terminals protected by firewalls that limit Diana’s effectiveness. Each new encounter asks a little more of you. The boss fights at the end of each chapter are a clear highlight, pushing you to use everything you’ve learned. The final boss, in particular, ramps things up with a few surprises that make for a memorable finish.

When things slow down, you can spend some time with Diana back in the shelter, a central hub that links together all the areas you explore in Pragmata. You can return here through emergency hatches scattered across the station, and it’s where you’ll handle upgrades for both Hugh and Diana, along with equipping new abilities. More importantly, it’s where their relationship gets room to breathe.

Throughout the base, you’ll also find Read Earth Memories, small collectibles that introduce Diana to everyday life back on Earth. They add a nice bit of texture to the world, and the shelter ties it all together. There’s a lot of charm packed into this space, especially in the little interactions between Diana and the environment, and the conversations the two share while you’re there.

That’s one hell of a failed printing job

On top of the roughly 12 hours it takes to roll credits, Pragmata has plenty more to offer. Each level is packed with collectibles and hidden secrets, some of which you won’t be able to access until you’ve unlocked certain abilities, giving you a good reason to backtrack. There are also VR style challenge missions, reminiscent of Death Stranding 2 and Metal Gear Solid, that drop you into contained scenarios focused on parkour, combat, or hacking. They’re a fun diversion and come with some worthwhile rewards.

As you’d expect from Capcom, it’s also built with replayability in mind. There are additional features that open up later, including a tougher endgame activity that can add a few more hours, especially if you’re aiming to fully complete every zone. A higher difficulty setting pushes the challenge further, and a New Game Plus mode lets you carry over your upgrades into another run, giving you a good excuse to dive back in.

The RE Engine continues to impress, proving that Capcom’s in house tech still has plenty of life left in it. Pragmata takes a slightly different visual approach compared to the studio’s other recent games, leaning into a clean, almost clinical aesthetic. The station is lined with polished surfaces and sharp lighting, with reflections that really pull you into the environment. At the same time, there’s a subtle unease running through it all. The humanoid androids have proportions that feel just slightly off, and failed printing attempts leave fragments of lunafillament scattered around, adding to that sense that something isn’t quite right.

That said, the character models don’t quite hit the same highs as some of Capcom’s other recent work, especially when compared to Resident Evil Requiem. The shift to pre rendered cutscenes also feels a little jarring at times, breaking the otherwise consistent presentation.

Boss fights highlight some of the game’s more creative mechanics

As for the audio, Pragmata delivers a mostly excellent soundscape. The back and forth between Hugh and Diana really is the heart of the experience, balancing lighthearted moments with more emotional beats. The writing doesn’t always hit perfectly, and some lines can feel a little on the nose, but it never drags things down too much. The soundtrack, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. It goes in a different direction than I expected and does a great job of elevating key moments. There were even times where I found myself just hanging out in the shelter, letting the music play.

On the technical side, playing on PC with an RTX 4070, Ryzen 7 7800X3D, and 32GB of RAM, the results are impressively polished. Ultrawide support is handled well during gameplay, with UI elements centered in a way that actually helps during more hectic encounters. Cutscenes stick to a standard 16:9 presentation with black bars, which can feel a bit inconsistent, but it’s not a dealbreaker. If you’ve got the hardware for it, the game really shines, with ray tracing and path tracing adding a noticeable boost to the visuals. There are still a few quirks here and there, especially some odd distortions when doors open or close, but nothing major. I stuck with high ray tracing settings and was able to maintain strong performance even on what I’d consider a mid range GPU.

In the end, everything comes together to make Pragmata feel like something special. The gameplay brings a fresh twist with its dual protagonist system, steadily building on its ideas throughout. It’s supported by strong level design and engaging encounters, all wrapped around a story that may be simple but still lands thanks to the bond between its two leads. For the third time this year, Capcom has delivered another standout experience. And there’s still Onimusha to look forward to…

Pragmata is available now on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Switch 2.

Reviewed on PC with an RTX 4070, Ryzen 7 7800X3D and 32GB RAM.

A copy of Pragmata was provided by the publisher.