Pragmata's unique action and puzzle blend may grab the headlines – but as its creators explain, its secret sauce is all about rhythm

It’s quite rare that we deign to give a game multiple bites at the preview apple here on Eurogamer, especially over such a short period. But Pragmata is an interesting case. Each time Capcom has presented it, the publisher has teased a small glimpse of what the game might be – meagre but enticing at the same time. Back in the summer, we saw its unique mixture of hacking and shooting presented in a very stripped-back demo. A few months later, we saw a tiny bit more – but no matter how intriguing, it still felt like more concept demo than game.

Now, though, I finally understand what Pragmata is. My third time playing it at last presents a vision of a full game, the title’s elusive ‘gameplay loop’ exposed. Also laid bare in this latest hands-on is the true nature of the game, which itself feels a far cry from the curated demos I experienced previously.

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Here’s the rub, I think: Pragmata seems like it’s going to be fairly challenging. The content I play is actually the same area from which the other demos have been derived, but this time I experience something which is much closer to the final intent (but, Capcom stresses, is still non-final). There are more enemies, they are stronger, and the player has less time to breathe. In a few places it’s actually pretty brutal.

What quickly becomes apparent is that the previous demos were tuned to do one thing only: sell Capcom’s concept of the gameplay of Pragmata. If you missed our previous natterings, the short summary is that most enemies in the game are initially nigh impervious to protagonist Hugh’s gunfire. Thankfully, he has android girl Diana on his back. When you squeeze the left trigger to aim at enemies, instead of pulling the right trigger to fire you can instead use the face buttons to solve small sliding block puzzles to hack enemies.