Grounded 2: Should You Play?
Grounded 2 just released today in early access and I’ll be honest, it was difficult for me to remind myself this is not the full feature complete sequel. I got hands-on time about a week before launch and was very happy to know that our unfortunate teen who gets shrunk down again does not have to start over from scratch on relearning survival skills. Here’s what I thought of Grounded 2.
Supersized Content
Everything Obsidian learned from the first Grounded has clearly been implemented and even improved in the sequel even in just early access. Grounded 2 genuinely just feels like it picks up where the first one ends since you don’t lose that much progress in skills. I know, it sucks to lose your base you worked so hard on, but there are many nicer items and tools in Grounded 2 that you’ll end up forgetting about.
In Grounded 2, you’re shrunken down again but it seems to be of your own accord to follow Doctor Tully who was seen tearing off BURGL’s head. There’s a lot of questions to be answered but at least this time you’re prepared. The tutorials on building and unlocking new recipes are streamlined and you end up unlocking new things incredibly quickly compared to the first time through Grounded.
You even get a new Omni-Tool that acts as a shovel, hammer, axe, and wrench. I know a lot of people are concerned this makes the game easier but it really doesn’t. In order to acquire more equipment available to the Omni-Tool, you need to collect specific resources to unlock or improve those specific items.
The axe, shovel, and hammer are fairly easy to unlock within an hour of playtime but the wrench requires more time in the game. You still have to work to unlock each of the items and grind to improve each specific tool for higher tier resources, just like the previous game. Unlocking better tools is just now in one place and more streamlined.
With the Omni-Tool, you can just walk up to a resource and hit the button to start harvesting. You don’t need to have a specific tool out since the Omni-Tool does not appear in your inventory and is just readily available. So this does save you quite a bit of space in your backpack and hotbar. Also, the best part? The Omni-Tool DOES NOT BREAK.
From what I played, I don’t believe you can use the Omni-Tool in combat, so you do have to craft specific hammers for busting damage and other weapons for slashing damage so it’s not like you don’t have other options.
I’m personally all for having this all in one Omni-Tool belt since I end up carrying way too many resources at once and want more space, but I know others may feel differently about a more streamlined experience. In my opinion, this is a great way to make the early game feel less like a slog and help players get into the real heart of Grounded 2.
Magnification on Story
The story of Grounded 2 is a big focus in the sequel, much more than it was in the original. I really loved the way the cinematic expands on Ominent as a company and their new CEO Sloane Beaumont who wants to do things “better.” Ironically she does say they won’t use any more teenagers but that promise obviously goes out the window in the first five minutes.
You wake up in an abandoned, almost destroyed, Ominent facility and realize that Dr. Tully is now missing and an Ominent employee is holding BURGL hostage. Something awful has happened here and apparently it’s up to you to help Beaumont find out what’s gone wrong. The big catch? Is the new director actually being honest with you?
Grounded 2’s story is great at immediately grabbing your interest and introducing new mysteries to solve. The story is much more in your face than previous, since before you’d get bits and pieces as almost an afterthought when you pick up cassettes or stumble across dead bodies. Grounded’s original story was a bit harder to follow when your objectives would get muddled with everything else you were doing.
Grounded 2 seems to take care of that by giving you the priority at the top of your next goal and tagging the proper locations to visit to get closer to reaching that next mission. I’ll be honest, the story in the original was really just an afterthought to me when I started. I just wanted to get to a cool spot and build. But as I progressed through the story (after looking up guides on wtf to do next) I realized the narrative was actually quite intriguing. I’m really glad Grounded 2 is focusing more on their storybeats.
Noble Steeds
The map is huge in Grounded 2, about three times the size of the backyard from the original. This time the teens are in Brookhollow Park, a location filled with new landmarks to uncover. Don’t worry, there are still giant Billy Hogs to eat and plenty of juice boxes to quench your thirst.
Since it’s such a big map, you’ll most likely want to get your insect steed ready to go. About an hour into Grounded 2, I was able to get to the mission where I had to take an ant egg out of a hill and begin my hatchery. I probably could have gotten to that point faster if I didn’t stop to build a tiny shack but I needed somewhere to be home base.
You can get to the egg retrieval quite quickly into the game, which is good and bad. The good is, you have an egg for a new friend! The bad? You have to risk your life getting all the resources needed to hatch that new friend and that could take a while. But since the mount can help you carry resources and fight off harder creatures in the beginning, the struggle is worth it.
If you follow the story present in Early Access, you’ll finish the questlines pretty easily within a few hours if you’re really grinding. But that’s similar to what Grounded originally presented, but with a much smaller map. You can still grind to find raw science, find new creatures, discover new building materials, level molar skills, or just explore.
Verdict
If you like survival crafting games with a good story, you’ll really like Grounded 2. If you like those kinds of games with a bit more story material, maybe wait to buy Grounded 2 until the next few updates. But if you just really enjoy crafting and building bases, I’d say Grounded 2 is worth the $30 USD right now.
Returning players will most likely enjoy this too, even if you feel the progress or building has been simplified. There’s still enough new content in Grounded 2 that will keep you occupied. I’m currently still playing through the first game to finish the story before I move on, but it’s good to have the sequel since I can create a whole new mansion there. So essentially, for those coming back from Grounded 1, you already know Grounded 2 is worth the early investment.
