Grounded 2 Preview
As most people are aware, Obsidian’s Grounded was a 2022 survival crafting game merged with the premise of Honey I Shrunk the Kids and/or A Bug’s Life. It transposed four teens into a miniaturized world of a suburban backyard. For once, the RPG trope of giant spiders made sense! Grounded had a good sense of humor and satire and a lot of great ideas. Grounded 2 does a much better job of balancing action, story, and crafting. It’s one of those rare sequels that’s already better than the original, which is kind of Obsidian’s thing. I say already, because Grounded 2 is in Early Access and incomplete, so these are just some early impressions.
From Yard to Park
Grounded 2 begins with a quick recap of the original and evil corporation Ominent making a big display of attrition over sending four hapless teens into a miniature landscape. A lush public park has been dedicated and darn it, wouldn’t you know, a mysterious explosion finds the teens back in their little world again. Somehow, they aren’t much surprised. They come to the situation already up to speed.
Grounded (the original) got off to a rather slow start. Its opening hours were mired in the mechanics of foraging and crafting. In contrast, Grounded 2’s gameplay is a better balance of survival, story and RPG elements. To its great credit, Grounded 2 pushes the story and characters to the front. The game’s humor shines, a mix of social satire, snarky attitude and tons of visual jokes. The teens’ personalities have more screen time, and they have an excellent “friend who is probably an enemy” in Sloane Beaumont from Ominent. The tone is lighthearted but not entirely. Explosions result in dead bodies to discover in your little world.
RPG Leanings
The first Grounded was an action adventure and survival game, but Grounded 2 feels more like an actual ARPG. This time, the four teens can properly spec into traditional archetypes like mage and rogue. I wouldn’t dare give away how that all translates into the world and their weapons or armor. Too much fun to discover. Some of the weapons — and enemies — return for the sequel. Aside from the butterflies and scorpions, there aren’t a huge number of new foes, but no doubt many more are poised for entry.
Just about every open world RPG has some sort of way to cross the map quickly. The original Grounded had a zip line. One of the coolest new mechanics in Grounded 2 is the ability to hatch, grow and kit out your own insect mounts, called (adorably) buggies. Right now, there’s two: a red ant that’s great for literally chewing the scenery; and an orb weaver spider that specializes in vertical traversal and some area-of-effect roars. Both can be used as allies in combat.
A Walk in the Park
Grounded had a fantastic art style and incredible lighting and it didn’t really need to change for the sequel. The new park setting allows for some effective new biomes like a burning lava area (i.e. smoldering coals) and a frozen zone that’s a toppled ice cream cart. The world is still a mass of oversized vegetation and giant bugs, and countless piles of junk from our throwaway society. Obsidian promises to expand the map during the game’s time in Early Access, just as it did with the original.
The crafting and building mechanics haven’t changed much but at least one small aspect has been streamlined. Characters now have an Omni-tool that replaces having to switch between picks and shovels and other building/gathering tools. It’s a literal game-changer. Overall, Grounded 2’s mechanics and combat are more fluid, intuitive and just more nuanced and enjoyable to experience.
A Great Start
Here at COGconnected we don’t rate early access games, but if we did, Grounded 2 would definitely receive an impressive score. Already nearly as big as the entire first game — with music more yet to come — Grounded 2 leans into its characters, story and humor. It refines its combat and deepens the RPG mechanics only hinted at in the original. Grounded 2 is one of the best survival action RPGs in recent memory and it’s only going to get better.
***PC code provided by the publisher for review***
