When a company attempts to launch a new IP, it can be tricky. Big AAA games are massive financial investments, and fortunately for Capcom, Pragmata seems to have paid off in a big way. Pragmata tells the story of Hugh and Diana. Hugh and his team are sent to the moon to try to fix a problem with the base there. Unfortunately, a catastrophic event takes place soon after their arrival, and Hugh is the only one left standing. It isn’t long before Diana enters the picture, and Hugh embarks on a journey to get everything back up and running so he can contact Earth and let everyone know what happened. I won’t go into any more story details for spoiler reasons, but it is a heartwarming tale where Hugh kind of “adopts” Diana and will do anything to protect her, much like a dad would with his daughter.

The gameplay in Pragmata also has a unique twist that I really enjoyed. Hugh handles most of the combat duties, but it is Diana who makes that possible. As Diana, you hack the enemies to make them vulnerable, and then Hugh can blast them away with his weapons. During the hacking process, there are several potential nodes to use to augment your attack. Two of my favorites included Heat and Confuse. If you chained the Heat node with your attack, it makes the enemy heat up quicker than normal, which then opens them up to bigger attacks from Hugh. If the Confuse node is used correctly, Hugh turns an enemy into an ally. While the Confuse node is active, that pesky enemy that is giving you issues will start to fight alongside you, instead of against you. There are many other hacking options, of course, that I will let you figure out as you play the game, but the point is that there is a lot of variety in the combat, with different nodes and weapons that can be used. Hacking itself will also cause damage to enemies, so you will want to upgrade your abilities whenever possible.

In addition to the combat, Pragmata also features some platforming and puzzle-solving. Seeing as how Hugh and Diana are on the moon, gravity does play a factor. If you are inside a building, then gravity works as it normally does. During the instances where you are outside, though, your jumps get a bit more floaty. Your jumps allow you to travel further distances, but there are also some different challenges. Adapting to the different challenges the game throws at you is part of the fun and something I enjoyed. Then, of course, there are the puzzles that get thrown your way. The puzzles can vary from hacking you do in combat to moving boxes around in the right order and direction so that you can pick up that collectible that is taunting you through the window. Most of the collectibles in Pragmata are standard fare, giving you more experience so that you can upgrade the abilities and weapons of Hugh and Diana. There is one collectible, though, that everyone will love. Those are the REM collectibles, pieces of objects from Earth that are recreated. Diana is especially excited to find these and use these new items once she and Hugh get back to the shelter and build them. I won’t spoil anything about these here, but the interactions between Hugh and Dana are incredibly wholesome, so be sure to take a breather from the action and just talk to Diana when you are in the shelter. Talk to her enough, and not only will you unlock an achievement, but she will give you some gifts as well.

The story in Pragmata revolves around an AI that seems to have gone rogue and is doing everything it can to prevent Hugh and Diana from contacting Earth. There are different locales within the station, such as some more industrial areas, an area that looks a bit more like nature would on Earth, an area where you are outside on the moon’s surface, and more. There is a decent variety here, at times almost like a Truman Show-type deal, where the settings look exactly like they would on Earth, with some small caveats. Along the way, you meet some other characters, either via data logs, video recordings, or a rogue cat that is wandering around. This is definitely a game where you want to take a moment to read all of the lore, watch all of the videos, and basically just absorb yourself in the story to fully understand the situation and what happened before your team’s arrival.’

I have mentioned the Shelter on a few occasions, and this is where Hugh and Diana take a break from action. This is where you upgrade your abilities and weapons. You will also have some incredibly wholesome interactions with Diana here. Eventually, Hugh and Diana meet a character named Cabin that will become important to their overall progress. One of the items you find in the game is Cabin coins. You use these to fill out stamp boards and get bingos. By doing this, you earn new items, whether it is a new suit for Hugh, a new suit for Diana, or perhaps a key for one of the red rooms. By clearing one of those red rooms, a new area might open up on a stamp card, allowing you to get even more items, such as a repair cartridge that you can use to replenish HP during battle. Everything ties in nicely, but you will want to make sure you unlock the most important parts of the card first, then go for the extraneous material. There is also a training simulator that will eventually have 30 missions you can try out. Going through all 30 missions will unlock an achievement for you, but beware, the last few missions are really tough and might take you a little while to go through.

As far as gripes with the game, I have a few. The map could be a lot better and actually show you’re at, instead of just the general area. Hopefully, if Capcom turns this into a franchise and we get a sequel, that gets addressed. In my opinion, the voice acting with Hugh and Diana is excellent, to the point where I wanted more. Dialogue would tend to get recycled in the Shelter from time to time, which did get a bit annoying. I was also quite annoyed when I beat the game and saw that New Game Plus was available, but I couldn’t play that in the also unlocked hard mode. To play New Game Plus on hard mode, I would first have to replay the game on hard mode. This doesn’t make any sense and is one of the few development decisions I question. Oh, and there is a post-game mode called “Unknown Signal”. This mode is fun enough, and it gives you a piece of lore that you don’t see in the original ending. That said, this extra lore is only one line of dialogue. The dialogue is really important, but I was a tad disappointed that going through Unknown Signal took about four hours to do, and there wasn’t at least another cinematic, just a line of dialogue with a black screen.

Looking at the whole picture, I really enjoyed my time with Pragmata. These minor annoyances aside, I think Capcom gave us a really special experience here. I’m hopeful this turns into a franchise and that we get a sequel to follow up on the events of Pragmata. The bond that develops between Hugh and Diana is fantastic, and as I said, I enjoyed the twist on the gameplay. If you are on the fence, there is also a free demo to download, so you can play the game before you buy. We also have a playlist on our YouTube channel if you want to watch our Pragmata playthrough without commentary. Honestly, though, this is the second game of 2026 that Capcom has put out that I feel is a must-buy. Be sure not to miss out on this space-faring adventure on the moon.