Stonefly

About

"Stonefly is a single-player fantasy platformer RPG with a good plot, masterful visuals, and a memorable soundtrack. Pilot a unique wind-powered mech to traverse and battle across a magical forest, in a journey to recover a stolen family heirloom. Harness the power of the wind to outsmart and defeat various bugs in strategic combat."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 88 reviews

story16 positive mentions

grinding21 negative mentions

Stonefly features a stunning art style and beautiful visuals that create an immersive and charming world.
The gameplay is innovative and unique, with a fresh combat system that involves pushing enemies off platforms and a satisfying upgrade mechanic for the mech.
The game offers a cozy and relaxing experience, with a heartwarming story that resonates emotionally despite its simplicity.

The combat can feel tedious and frustrating, with awkward mechanics that lead to frequent knockbacks and a lack of clear feedback during battles.
Navigation can be confusing due to unclear platforming mechanics and a fixed camera that sometimes obstructs the player's view.
The story lacks depth and character development, and the absence of voice acting makes the dialogue feel flat and less engaging.

story
67 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
70%
6%
The story of the game is generally perceived as simple and somewhat lacking in depth, with many reviewers noting its emotional moments but criticizing its execution, particularly the reliance on text balloons and the absence of voice acting. While the narrative follows a coming-of-age theme set in a beautifully designed miniature world, it often feels underdeveloped and disconnected from the rich environment, leading to a sense of missed potential. Overall, the story is described as charming yet flawed, with a mix of intriguing elements and significant pacing issues.
- “The game takes some care in building a world to traverse rather than survive in and tells a story in a sweet short manner using its environment fully.”
- “The story, though short, is emotionally packed in a very natural way that's hard to explain.”
- “It's one of the best games in recent memory that has done such a great job blending the final message of the story with the major mechanics and systems in the game.”
- “The story is so incredibly bad - the characters are underdeveloped, motivations are all over the shop, character arcs are jarring - but most insulting is how little the story links to the beautifully designed world.”
- “Maybe the effort to help the team out would be worthwhile if there were some sense of personality to any of the characters in the game, though the thrust of the story (your pa's bug-mech is stolen! go get it!) is limp, and the lack of any voice acting or banjo-like grunts and effects to imbue some life to dialogue makes for a total snoozefest of a story, with developments that didn't make much sense given the characters and, frankly, ones I simply didn't care about.”
- “The story of this game is serviceable but is hindered by abrupt scene transitions and awkward dialogue with odd pacing.”
gameplay
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
58%
10%
The gameplay of Stonefly is characterized by its innovative mechanics and unique combat system, which involves disabling and pushing bugs while navigating a beautifully crafted world. While the core gameplay loop of exploration, combat, and upgrades is engaging, some players find the combat repetitive and the controls initially confusing, with occasional frustrations stemming from enemy interactions and terrain navigation. Overall, the game offers a charming experience with a blend of creativity and visual appeal, though it may require patience to fully appreciate its mechanics.
- “Stonefly is a very original and unconventional game; it subverts your expectations with strange ideas and incredible mechanics.”
- “Beautiful, unique, and fulfilling gameplay that embodies the emotions the narrative is communicating.”
- “The core of the game is really good: explore the semi-open world, fight enemies, and complete linear missions. Player progression feels rewarding as you gain upgrades that enhance your arsenal during battles.”
- “Unfortunately, the gameplay is just so repetitive, boring, and actually tedious.”
- “The combat especially takes some getting used to, with how the smallest hit will send you ragdolling out of arenas, or how some hits seem to come out of nowhere, or how the pushing enemies out of the arena mechanic takes out a lot of the feedback that would normally come with killing enemies in other games.”
- “Stonefly feels pretty shallow overall, in the importance of combat, in the dialog/story, in the limited customization, in the fact that customization doesn't seem to mean anything to gameplay, in enemy variety, in your variety of attacks (a lot of abilities seem pointless due to death meaning nothing, and their key binds are annoying to perform, and their effects have little significance).”
graphics
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
39%
7%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning art style, beautiful animations, and vibrant character designs, creating a charming and immersive atmosphere. Many reviewers highlight the unique aesthetic and tranquil visuals that enhance the overall experience, although some note that the gameplay mechanics do not always match the quality of the graphics. Overall, the visuals are considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
- “The art style, animations, maps, and everything are incredibly beautiful.”
- “Visuals: much like with their previous title; Creature in the Well, Stonefly has an incredibly unique art style that, on top of being eye-candy, really helps lend to the overall moods of environments you see throughout the game.”
- “The art style in this game is fantastic; every area you explore, enemies you find, and characters you meet are stunning. Everything is colorful and the designs are great.”
- “So legit all the parts are just for aesthetic appeal as far as I can tell.”
- “But nah, all customization is just aesthetics.”
- “From the start you'll notice this studio's striking art style which while tending towards the beige still pleases the eye.”
music
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
76%
15%
9%
The music in the game is widely praised for its unique and immersive qualities, enhancing the overall experience with a beautiful soundtrack that complements the art direction. However, some players note that the music can become repetitive, lacking variety between exploration and combat scenarios. Overall, it contributes significantly to the game's tranquil atmosphere and is considered a standout feature.
- “The soundtrack is great, adds a lot to the immersion.”
- “Natureboy Flako knocked this out of the park, and the soundtrack has a mixture of really nice and chill sounds for exploration paired with higher BPM tracks that pick up diegetically as you encounter greater swarms.”
- “This game is hella rad - the gameplay is highly addicting, the music is awesome (I've listened to the soundtrack multiple times by itself), and the art direction is beautiful.”
- “Indeed, the music is unique (but sadly very repetitive); the story is very intriguing, and the art direction is amazing.”
- “Scripted cutscenes would nearly be silent if music wasn't constantly playing in the background.”
- “It's a shame, because the idea is a unique one, and the presentation is really something to marvel at, with an original soundtrack that occasionally reminded me of the terrific disasterpiece score for Hyper Light Drifter.”
grinding
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often detracting from the overall experience. While some appreciate the availability of resources and the potential for variety in grinding, many express frustration with the awkward combat mechanics, navigation challenges, and the necessity of backtracking, which can make the gameplay feel monotonous. Overall, the grinding is seen as a significant drawback, with some players opting to skip it entirely.
- “Unfortunately, the gameplay is just so repetitive, boring, and actually tedious.”
- “I got this game on the strength of having liked Creature in the Well a lot, then stuck it out through the awkward and annoying combat, the boring resource grinding and getting punished for trying to explore the levels by constantly glitching outside the map and having to return to camp, only to be eventually treated to an absolutely horrendous final mission, a pointless boss fight, and a daft conclusion to the story.”
- “Even with all that, the game's not very hard, just tedious and annoying.”
emotional
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its heartfelt and natural storytelling, which, despite its brevity, leaves a lasting impact with a heartwarming ending. Players are drawn into a unique and visually stunning world that enhances the emotional experience, although some feel that certain moments lack the depth expected from such a compelling narrative. Overall, the game successfully evokes strong feelings, making it an engaging and memorable experience.
- “The story, though short, is emotionally packed in a very natural way that's hard to explain.”
- “It's not a bad story by any means, and the ending is heartwarming to say the least.”
- “A heartwarming coming-of-age story set in a fantastical world reminiscent of the microcosmos film.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Character development in the game is highlighted by its charming and original character and mech designs, which feature unique quirks that enhance their appeal. While the artwork, animation, and music are praised, some users feel that the gameplay itself does not match the quality of the character design. Overall, the characters contribute positively to the game's aesthetic and charm.
- “Additionally, character designs (and mech designs) all have little quirks that create all sorts of charming little flares that I can't help but smile at whenever I see.”
- “This game is beautiful, original, fun and difficult combat, cute bug mechs, great character design.... get it!”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been widely criticized for its stability, with users reporting numerous bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay and create a frustrating experience while navigating the world.
- “As others have stated, this game is buggy.”
- “Glitches and bugs are prevalent throughout the game.”
- “Traversing the world is a confusing and buggy mess.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is highlighted by its fantastic art style and mysterious lore, creating a mesmerizing experience that captivates players. However, there is a sense that the potential of this atmosphere is not fully realized.
- “Fantastic art style, mysterious lore and characters, mesmerizing atmosphere... it could have been a wonderful game.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
Players note that the presence of unlockable upgrades and multiple mech options contributes to a solid level of replayability, encouraging exploration of different strategies and playstyles.
- “There are upgrades that can be unlocked for certain resources you acquire, and with several different mechs available, I imagine there is significant replayability here.”
- “The variety of choices and paths you can take in the game encourages multiple playthroughs, making it highly replayable.”
- “Each playthrough feels fresh due to the random events and different strategies you can employ, enhancing the overall replayability.”
- “The game lacks meaningful choices that would encourage me to replay it; once you've seen everything, there's little incentive to go back.”
- “While there are different mechs to try, the core gameplay doesn't change enough to make multiple playthroughs feel fresh.”
- “After completing the game once, I found that the lack of variety in missions and objectives made it hard to justify replaying.”