"Substance of Being" Hardware Requirements Are Intimidating? Has Path Tracing Really Pushed GPUs to the Limit?

What Capcom has done with Pragmata this time is not just a lunar sci-fi adventure, but more like a very typical “platforming-style” hardware puzzle: if you want to step up to the next tier of visual quality, you first have to unlock the padlock of GPU performance. Today, Wccftech published its PC performance review of the game, and the conclusion was very straightforward — the evolution of the RE Engine is indeed impressive, but once path tracing is turned on, the entry barrier rises right along with it.

From a technical standpoint, Pragmata continues the path tracing approach seen in Resident Evil Requiem, and this time the setting is a lunar base, where materials like metal walls, neon signage, and mech shells are especially dependent on strong lighting and shadow presentation. Path tracing covers shadows, lighting, and reflections, and the most immediate change is that scenes feel more “complete” — reflections are no longer just a quick flash of brightness, but provide a fuller sense of spatial feedback. Especially in highly reflective environments like the interior of the base, the visual atmosphere comes much closer than traditional ray tracing to that cold, hard industrial look seen in promotional footage.

More importantly, it is not just brighter or flashier, but also fixes a small issue in traditional ray tracing that noticeably affects visual quality. According to the testing, the denoising artifacts commonly seen during moments like doors opening and closing are significantly reduced under path tracing; with DLSS Ray Reconstruction layered on top, image cleanliness improves even further. For players who like to stop and observe environmental details, this kind of upgrade feels more tangible than simply gaining an extra dozen frames, because it makes the “surface clues” of the sci-fi space clearer and the overall presentation more stable.

Of course, visual beauty is never free. According to the benchmark results, an RTX 5090 can reach 240 FPS at 4K on the “Low” preset, but when switched to maximum settings with path tracing enabled, the performance hit becomes very obvious. Wccftech’s recommendations are also very practical: if you want stable 60 FPS with ray tracing at 1080p, the starting point is already an RTX 5060 Ti; for 1440p, an RTX 5070 is recommended, while RTX 4070 users will need to lower some settings appropriately; if you want to fully max out “path tracing + highest image quality” at 4K, then an RTX 5080 or above is basically the price of admission.

This set of data actually shows one thing: today’s high-end graphics options are increasingly like hidden end goals in puzzle games — not something everyone should rush to max out the moment they enter. The good thing about the PC version is that it offers fairly granular adjustment options, including separate controls for hair quality, texture filtering, and ambient occlusion, among others. So a more sensible approach is not to obsess over the highest settings, but to make trade-offs based on resolution. For example, 1080p players should prioritize keeping ray tracing and core reflection effects, while 1440p players can rebalance shadows and hair settings, which actually makes it easier to achieve a smoother experience.

If you are a pure performance enthusiast, the upper limit of the 5090 is just as outrageous. At 4K maximum settings with path tracing enabled, turning on 2x frame generation can push it to 250 FPS, while 4x frame generation can even break past 400 FPS. Of course, that is not a reference answer for most players, but it at least shows that Pragmata has a very aggressive technical foundation, and Capcom clearly wants to keep pushing the RE Engine toward the next generation of visual standards.

My buying advice is simple: mid-range to high-end GPU users can keep an eye on it, but do not get lured in by the four words “path tracing” alone; what you should really look at first is your target resolution and whether you are willing to tweak settings. It looks like a game that will be great for showing off the power of new hardware, but for most PC players, the optimal solution is not to max everything out in one shot, but to find the platform of settings that best suits them among the many layered options.