Pragmata Review — A Tale of Two Worlds

Pragmata is easily one of the most unique, off-the-wall, and interesting games of 2026, blending a heap of mechanics from different games into something that’s actually incredibly unique. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there are a lot of reasons that Pragmata might just be your sleeper-hit of the year.

As mentioned, Pragmata, while incredibly original, takes a lot of inspiration from other notable titles, such as Death Stranding, Watch Dogs, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Dead Space, Binary Domain (should out to those who played that underrated 2012 shooter), and even Vanquish; but what is it exactly?

Set in the future, you play as an astronaut sent to the moon to check on the base there, which is essentially a giant 3D printing factory set up to harness the power of lunum — an energy source, of sorts. While there, things go awry, the facility has been taken over by a rogue AI, and through the chaos, you’re paired up with an android named Diana, who has the hacking abilities to help you get back to Earth. Cue the theatrics.

It’s a fascinating premise, and while the game does hit many familiar beats as other sci-fi games, there’s a real down-to-earth (excuse the pun) familiarity with the story. Despite being a cutting-edge sci-fi setting, the protagonist, Hugh is a very relatable, salt-of-the-earth type of guy, with a happy-go-lucky attitude. Paired with Diana, a naive, child-like android, the two’s dialogue is very reminiscent of a father and daughter outing, with an avalanche of questions and ‘cute’ moments along the way.

And the pairing of the two is not just for narrative flow, as the gameplay is very much tied to the tandem nature of Hugh’s combat abilities and Diana’s hacking skills. The best way to describe Pragmata is a third-person shooter mixed with a rhythm game like Dance Dance Revolution. Enemies take the form of corrupted robots, but before they become vulnerable to gunfire, they need to be hacked (think how Alan Wake’s torch makes enemies weak to bullets). You do this by aiming at the bot and hacking it, with a small mini-game appearing on your peripheral, mostly requiring you to complete sequential patterns, therefore damaging the bots and opening them up to Hugh delivering the knockout blow.

It’s a very interesting combat mechanic and leans into the multitasking nature of gamers’ abilities, often feeling like a complex Tony Hawk Pro Skater combo, albeit with murderous robots. And while it might sound overwhelming, once it clicks, it makes for a clever and strategic approach to combat — should you focus on hacking damage and upgrading Diana? Or focus on upgrading your weapons with Hugh? The choice is yours.

Alongside combat, there’s some light puzzle-solving and exploration, allowing you to hack and manipulate your way around the lunar base and find hidden items and collectables.

And ultimately, that makes up most of the game, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Pragmata is a game that, while looking ultra-modern and gorgeous in motion (running on the same engine as Resident Evil: Requiem), is actually a very straightforward game with a unique combat mechanic, feeling like something out of the mid 2010s.

If the look, concept, and idea of having a bit of urgency during combat intrigues you, Pragmata is well worth checking out. It may look complex, but Pragmata offers something a little more ‘direct’ than some other games these days with too many complicated systems, which is a breath of fresh air, if I’m honest.

Pragmata is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on 17 April 2026.