PRAGMATA and the Beauty of Isolation in Sci-Fi Games

In the newest Capcom title named PRAGMATA we are going to experience a whole futuristic world of dreams that actually turn into a crushing reality of desolation. The upcoming game has a fine blend between Science Fiction action and a thrilling, yet quite unlikely, duo adventure that offers gaming fans its own very unique hacking twist packed in its core!

With the PRAGMATA release date nearing more and more, we decided to do a YUPLAY review before it finally hits the market on the 24th of April 2026 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X❘S, Nintendo Switch 2 and Windows PC available through the PRAGMATA Steam page, with even an introductory DEMO of the game already included on there, and give you some interesting insights about the gameplay setting, characters and storyline that we could expect from it!

Dive with us to the near future in the company of the main protagonists Hugh and his trusty android companion Diana (or D-I-0336-7 if you wish to be literal about it), on their dangerous journey through the hostile and cold world of the lunar research station codenamed the CRADLE, where they would have to work together as a team in order to survive and possibly get back to Earth. Overall, the gameplay of PRAGMATA is quite different than what is typically expected in the third-person shooter genre and we are going to explain it in more details in just a bit.

Ready for the patch up?

— SYSTEM BOOT SEQUENCE —
LUNAR STATION: CRADLE
STATUS: CONNECTING…

Initializing in 3… 2… 1…
> Access Granted.
> Neural link established.
> Survival protocol active.

Entering PRAGMATA…

A Bumpy Road Towards the Coming Reality of the Future

PRAGMATA is not exactly a new Sci-Fi idea from Capcom, since it was first revealed all the way back in 2020, and after a few unforeseen delays (originally the title was aiming for a 2022 release, then got delayed for 2023, it was later suspended again, but this time indefinitely) through the years we have learned a lot more about the ambitious game and its innovative gameplay concepts, through a few additional short trailers and various interesting details delivered by Capcom to keep the interest to the project alive, while they finally managed to get to the hyped PRAGMATA release date, which got confirmed during The Game Awards 2025 pre-show with another teaser that showcased vague bits of the story and quite a few scenes on the more action-packed side of the upcoming sci-fi adventure.

With an original intent to effectively blend together the now established third-person over-the-shoulder action view perspective with "a unique hacking twist" mechanic, the curious futuristic world setting brings us a promise of a grand scale to mind. That would be quite the challenge though, since some of the greatest space games we have already had in recent years tried to apply a similar formula, but we remain quite optimistic about it due to the additionally included interactions between the two main characters and their interesting symbiosis. With more and more information coming up about the title and its overall concepts we could say that it is certainly going to be one of the more exciting releases this year.

A Sneak Peak of the Storyline and the Hostility Surrounding the Lunar Station

From all that we managed to understand through the official sources and media so far, the PRAGMATA gameplay follows the story of Hugh, a stranded space traveler that was investigating some ongoing abnormalities on the station and a seemingly human-looking little girl that was introduced in her own words as D-I-0336-7, a state-of-the-art PRAGMATA, or as Hugh later names her Diana, an android child with impressive hacking abilities that managed to patch him up when he needed help, and ever since then they roam together in search of answers and ways to get off the surface of the Moon.

They are exploring what is left of a seemingly semi-derelict lunar station that is possibly abandoned by its crew and are seeking a viable way to somehow contact and get back to Earth, where Hugh once lived in the past. You get to play as both characters in this unlikely duo at the same time, by using their abilities in combat, hacking and exploration, all while they are going to go against the station’s hostile mechanical inhabitants (that were actually designed as its service and security staff) and attempt to overcome its AI defense mechanisms, that identifies them as intruders for some reason and keeps on sending robotic monstrosities to stop them from escaping.

As mentioned, both of the main characters have their own sets of unique abilities and you would need to use them in tandem in order to survive the many obstacles and enemies that would be trying to prevent you from leaving the station. This rather unique 2-in-1 approach, kind of sets the PRAGMATA story apart from the rest of the established games in the genre, where hacking is of key importance to your success, while the gear and build setup of the combat aspect would keep you going forward.

In the role of Hugh, you are going to mostly use a firearm arsenal, consisting of a primary pistol and the scattered around rifles that you pick up, to shoot the enemy robots. However, in multiple types of situations you would have to quickly hack the various robotic systems by effectively using Diana’s powers, in order to deliver the maximum damage possible (and save up on precious ammo), which is where Diana gives her fair share of ability contributions. Through the clever use of interactive puzzles, she would be able to enter the enemies’ circuit systems and discover their weakest points, thus she overcomes firewalls and defenses, so that she “sabotages” the mechanisms to your advantage. This is where we should actually discuss the already available PRAGMATA Sketchbook DEMO a bit more.

An Interactive PRAGMATA DEMO to Experience both Hacking and Action at Once

The DEMO immediately throws you into a mysterious, and quite sanitized, chamber with an ongoing combat that is happening while Diana is making (of all things) a drawing, but it does not seem very odd as she is portrayed as a young child after all.

This section of the PRAGMATA review is here to help you better understand the very atmospheric world of the title. We are going to break down some of the core gameplay features, how to take the most of the combat and properly piece together the haunting storyline that is hidden all around you in the many details that you should keep an eye for. For all of its involved multitasking, the PRAGMATA gameplay seems to offer a surprisingly steady learning curve and gradually deliver better understanding of the situation.

The approximately 20-minute-long DEMO consists of a few storyline bits of info (in the form of documents, hologram scenes and dialogue exchanges), some tactical combat encounters, a series of exploration sequences within the lunar station to open up your path forward and even a boss fight to test out your gathered skills and awareness of the abilities the character duo has. It is a great way to understand the game’s basic mechanics and attain a grasp of the controls.

PRAGMATA is not about stats and gear collecting in a traditional sense, it is however much more about a specific mindset and careful observation, even though your HUD would be amply marking everything important that you should direct your attention to. Perhaps the most important thing is the understanding that this is a more methodical and atmospheric experience than anything else.

If you decide to rush through it, you would most likely get killed and in order to avoid that you should have taken crucial items, such as various kinds of hacks and weapon types to use. You are equipped with a scanner and Hugh’s costume allows for thrusts, strafe dodges and even a small backside platform for Diana to hang on to, while she very often directs you from with important dialogue lines.

PRAGMATA absolutely does not rely on long combos like many other action games do, there is however a critical survival routine you would need to remember: Scan, Plan and Execute. First, use your built-in tools to scan the surroundings and robotic enemies. Identify their weak points, any potential environmental hazards and the possible routes to take on. Next comes planning your tactical engagement. Maybe use a Stasis net on an enemy to keep them in place and line up a direct shot to execute them with the least spending of ammo, as it is fairly limited for each rifle and you do not really wish to remain with your primary default pistol only. Diana regularly helps you not only with hacking targets and doorway mechanisms, but her presence often provides tactical data and other types of support, so be sure to listen to her instructional cues about weapons, enemies and other useful information she might offer.

Even though it might seem that she is more of a side-character, she is actively involved in everything that you do, from puzzle solving and hacking to improving combat damage and tactics. Almost everything centers around Diana’s unique hacking skills and knowledge of the locations, so when you reach a locked door or an inactive lift, Diana can easily hack into its systems to help Hugh and herself navigate through the various obstacles. The hacks are depicted as minigames of sorts in which you as the player must correctly draw a path through the series of onscreen HUD graphics that use different elements in order to progress further.

After you set your aim as you would normally do in a third-person shooter game, you must hold or press the hacking button to activate Diana’s hacking minigame mode. A small grid opens up on your screen, and you seamlessly switch from the conventional weapon aiming to the hacking controls in a slowed-down reality to give you better chances of doing the hack on time (although reality has not fully stopped and you still could experience damage and perform timed dodges to avoid attacks). By going through the differently colored nodes on the grid, you could trigger a multitude of effects (and these special hack types could be discovered during your journey, but you are allowed to use only one at any given point in time for better balance and simplicity). The two main hacks we got in the PRAGMATA DEMO gameplay are “Multihack”, which allows Diana to hack through multiple enemies at the same time and the other one is “Decode”, used to deliver an increased damage output to the hacked targets, due to the found vulnerabilities.

As Diana keeps on hacking more and more targets, she builds up a gauge for her “Overdrive Protocol” ability, which is a very powerful ultimate attack that deals greater damage, stuns the enemies and allows for Hugh’s attacks to more easily destroy the harder opponents. It should be considered for greater threats and used with precision, as it does not build up that easily and it takes some time for it to be accessible.

While Hugh always has direct access to his default Grip Gun, he is also able to get some more powerful and tactical weapons such as the Shockwave Gun and Charge Piercer and just like Diana’s special hacking modes, weapons can only be used one at a time and also have limited ammunition. When you complete your first run of the PRAGMATA Sketchbook Demo you would unlock a new weapon type and another hacking node, thus encouraging players to replay the scenario with them for a potentially better completion time.

A Combination of Instinct and Logic that Get Triggered at the Same Time

You may need some time to get used to the unique style of the PRAGMATA combat concepts , so it might be a good idea to give it a few tries before diving into the full build of the title but the learning curve is definitely not too steep, with a more casual difficulty option included and available at any time your capacity for it is required. Hugh is able to perform jumps and floats across longer distances and is quite decently equipped to the station’s level design. He can do dodge maneuvers that provide a short-distance thruster boosts that get back to a state of fully restored meter rather quickly. Dodging enemy attacks at the last moment would trigger a brief bullet time effect that could allow you to complete a hack or reposition yourself a bit better, depending on the situation you are in at that given second.

Another interesting thing about the PRAGMATA Sketchbook DEMO is that by combining both instinct and logic at the same time it actively engages both sides of your brain, all while you also experience a truly detailed and visually impressive futuristic lunar research station adventure in either English or Japanese language, with possibly more languages to come in the full version of the title, so let us now talk about the planned versions for it!

What are the Upcoming Versions and PRAGMATA Pre-Order Bonuses

There are two planned versions for the upcoming game - a Standard Edition of the title and a PRAGMATA Deluxe Edition. While the Standard Edition only offers players with the base game, the Deluxe Edition includes many more exclusive gifts and items for fans to enjoy in the Shelter Variety Pack, such as two distinct sets of themed outfits for both Hugh and Diana (Hugh Outfit - Heavy Lifter, Hugh Outfit - Lunar Cat, Diana Outfit - Mecha Builder and Diana Outfit – Fluffy), a weapon skin (Grip Gun DS) for the primary weapon type, three cute Diana emotes (Drowsy, Pumped Up and Stepping), exclusive music pieces from the Shelter BGM in alternate genre versions and a Data Library with artworks from the game’s development cycle.

As for the Pre-Order Offer you would be able to play as Hugh and Diana in costumes inspired by the Sengoku Period in which they look as a Samurai and Ninja respectively, these include the Hugh Outfit - Neo Bushido and the Diana Outfit - Neo Kunoichi and when we look at them all, we really see how they were creatively adapted to fit the game’s core ideas and visual style.

PRAGMATA is not the only major game title that we should be expecting from Capcom in 2026, as there would be other promising hits such as Resident Evil Requiem (which we already reviewed) and Onimusha: Way of the Sword that are also expected to release very soon as well, but from what we saw in the trailers and playable DEMO it is a whole new idea concept and this fact might give it the necessary edge to stand out not only in its genre but as a worthy entry in the overall gaming history.

With this we are finishing you access to the info and are going to let you explore the title once it comes out in its full version, until then feel free to try out the demo for the Windows PC on the PRAGMATA Steam page and enjoy it for yourself, as we continue our mission to provide you with cool news and awesome reviews of the latest in the world of gaming! Until next time!