Stonemachia Review Summary

Beautiful visuals and aesthetics: The game is praised for its stunning visuals, beautiful atmosphere, and wonderful aesthetics. Players find the graphics and design to be top-notch.

Rewarding parry system: The parry system is highlighted as rewarding and fun. Players appreciate the satisfying feel and the strategic depth it adds to combat.

Excellent soundtrack: The soundtrack is frequently praised as excellent, insanely good, and epic. Players find the music to be a standout feature.

Interesting and well-built universe: The game's universe is described as interesting, original, and well-built. Players appreciate the unique world and story.

Unique and challenging bosses: Boss fights are noted for being unique, inspired, and challenging. Players enjoy the variety and complexity of boss encounters.

UI and menu problems: The UI is described as minimalistic, with issues such as keyboard inputs showing on the UI even while using a controller, and problems with screen resolution adaptation. There are also issues with dialogue boxes and sensitivity adjustments.

Limited language support: The game lacks translations for several languages, including German, Portuguese, French, and Chinese. This limits accessibility for non-English speaking players.

Camera and control issues: Players report problems with the camera, including wonky behavior, especially on mouse and keyboard, and issues with the vertical axis moving too fast. Controls are also noted to be wonky and disorienting.

FPS and performance problems: The unlimited FPS option is broken and locks the game to 60 FPS. Players also experience performance issues such as stuttering, freezes, and frame rate drops.

Technical and optimization issues: The game has various technical flaws, including bugs, poor optimization, and issues with the Unreal Engine. Players also report minor bugs with structures and NPCs.

Parry and dodge combat mechanics: The combat system is heavily focused on parrying and dodging, with players emphasizing the importance of these mechanics in gameplay.

Chess-inspired mechanics and themes: The game incorporates chess pieces and themes into its mechanics, offering a unique twist on the Souls-like genre.

Souls-like gameplay experience: The game is frequently compared to Souls-like games, indicating a similar gameplay experience with challenging combat and exploration elements.

Multiple fighting forms/styles: The combat system includes different forms or styles, allowing for varied gameplay experiences.

Healing tied to combat: The healing system is based on successful parrying or killing enemies, adding a strategic layer to combat.

Excellent performance on high settings: The game runs smoothly on maximum graphics settings, including 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. Players report solid performance and good optimization.

Frame rate drops and loading issues: Players report significant frame rate drops, sometimes from nearly 100 FPS to around 40 or even 25. Additionally, there are issues with assets and textures loading in during gameplay.

Minor bugs and issues: Players have reported various minor bugs, including dialogue box bugs, soundtrack issues, and a specific issue with the first cutscene turning white but continuing normally.

Occasional stuttering and micro stutters: Some players experience occasional stuttering and micro stutters during gameplay, which can affect the overall smoothness of the experience.

Unlimited FPS option is broken: The unlimited FPS option does not work as intended and instead locks the game to 60 FPS. This issue affects players who want to achieve higher frame rates.

Highly recommended game: The game is strongly recommended by many players, with some stating it is a must-buy and others giving it a 100 percent recommendation.

Recommended for Souls-like fans: Players who enjoy Souls-like games are particularly encouraged to try this game, as it is described as a must-buy for fans of the genre.

High replay value: The game has high replay value, with players expressing their intention to replay the game multiple times.

Exploration for hidden content: Players are encouraged to explore the game world to find hidden content, adding to the game's depth and replayability.

Italian voice acting praised: The Italian voice acting in the game is highly recommended by players, suggesting it adds significantly to the gaming experience.

Community fair range: $18.00 - $22.00.

Game completion: 8.0h.

Story completion: 6.0h.

Session length: 6.0h.

The game becomes highly engaging and fun once players get accustomed to the combat mechanics, particularly the parry-centric gameplay loop.

Reported time to anchor: 30m.

Friction: Janky combat mechanics initially; Learning curve for parry-centric gameplay.

Build-Crafter Grinder: Grinding and optimizing builds. Motivation: Mastery and customization. Stance: buy.

Newcomer Enthusiast: Exploring new genres. Motivation: Exploration and novelty. Stance: buy.

Story-First Explorer: Exploring narrative and strategic depth. Motivation: Story and strategy. Stance: buy.

The game performs well on lower-end hardware with <8GB VRAM, showing strong optimization and positive feedback despite minor issues. Higher-end hardware with 12-15GB VRAM reports significant performance problems and negative experiences.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. The game runs well with good optimization and minor bugs, even on lower-end hardware.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. Users report constant stuttering, poor optimization, and performance issues.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. The game is recommended with minor performance issues that are not significant.