The Mechs in the game are usually huge killing machines, capable of punching through buildings and stomping and crushing the earth. Pure metal, fuel, rust, ready to unleash destruction and chaos. But not so with the mechs in the adventure game Stonefly. Of course, you're still in control of a 100-ton machine, but Stonefly's miniature mechs are light on their robotic feet, leaping and gliding with ease.

Developer Flight School Studio has ditched the shocking pinball-hack 'n' slash action of "Creature in the Well" and the chilling ghost story of "Manifest 99" for an idyllic jaunt through nature. Stonefly is an adventure game that puts you in the world's smallest mecha, peering through a magnifying glass into the forest's undergrowth and peering into an entire insect ecosystem.

While the fusion of nature and engineering creates an exciting world, the frustrating loop of resource grinding and mission repetition prevents this adventure from taking off in earnest.

Players take on the role of Annika, a young engineer and inventor, on a journey to find a lost heirloom. When a mysterious person steals the rig that belonged to Annika's father, she sets out on a journey to find and return it. Eventually, she meets the Acorn Squad, a group of castaways searching for a legendary hidden treasure called the Crystal Phantom. Piloting her own insect-like robot, she must help Annika explore the dizzying highs and treacherous lows of a hidden world of forest miniatures.

Stonefly's best feature, not surprisingly, is its mecha. Not only is it incredibly cool to look at (it combines a sleek, modern aesthetic with an insect-inspired design), but it is also effortless to maneuver. Regardless of whether you prefer to use the controller or the keyboard, all the buttons are nicely mapped.

The first rig you steer feels as light as a dandelion seed and is visually designed as such. It feels great to gently land the mech on a leaf and glide through the undergrowth in a gentle breeze. There is a sense of weightlessness that seems to be the opposite of what other mecha games strive for. This, combined with Flight School Studio's storybook world and warm synthesizer soundtrack, makes for great exploration. Landings can be a bit erratic, especially when it comes to recognizing the depth of the world, but the white dots that appear as you approach the surface of a possible landing don't confuse the platform.

While wistfully exploring the world, one encounters a variety of bugs and insects, but instead of blowing them up with cannons, Stonefly takes a more gentle approach. Instead of hurting the insects, it drives them to the edge of the area; many of Stonefly's bugs can be chased away with a light gust of wind, but larger insects require a more hands-on approach. As one upgrades and encounters larger creepy-crawlies, one can utilize a variety of coping strategies, such as distracting, flipping, and overpowering them.

Knowing how to deal with different types of bugs allows for strategic battles, and Stonefly is generous with his mech's HP bar, allowing him to recover his ship during battle after a short cooldown. Of course, if the mecha is attacked repeatedly without time to recover, its butt will be sent back to camp.

As much as I love exploring the colorful biome of Stonefly, I have my hands full cultivating materials in this game. I don't usually mind cutting down on resources, but Stonefly has a lot of that.

Going back to camp to upgrade your gear is one of Stonefly's main features, but the way you loop through repeated missions to get resources is the game's biggest problem. Materials are scattered throughout each biome, but only in small quantities, so unless you want to spend a lot of time picking up small pieces of material, the only way to get what you need in large quantities is to complete a mission called Alpha Aphid. In this mission, you need to track down a giant insect that doubles as a fighting area, called the Alpha Aphid. You must ride on the back of this giant aphid, fight off other bugs and collect materials before time runs out.

This mission is the only way to get the proper number of materials needed to upgrade your mech, sometimes helping fellow travelers who also need materials. Since the story often does not progress until certain upgrades are achieved, it is deeply frustrating to just keep grinding until the materials are available. To complete one upgrade, I had to do the Apra Aphid mission three times in a row.

It's a shame, because the upgrades dramatically change the way you fight bugs, and the non-essential abilities are worth pursuing. Anika draws inspiration for her design ideas from the world around her, leading to interesting ways to take on hungry bug friends. It's rewarding to watch the mecha transform as it gains new abilities, but it's not worth the hour of frustrating struggle to get those abilities.

I second the Stonefly. The feeling you get when you effortlessly leap from branch to branch is unlike anything I've ever played before. The idea of a mech inspired by the gentleness of nature, rather than a mere killing machine, is unlike anything I've seen before. Unfortunately, the difficulty in obtaining materials and the lack of variety in the missions ruin what could have been a fun game.