Improvements Grounded 2 Needs Sooner Rather Than Later

Summary

Obsidian Entertainment has a big year with Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, plus launching Grounded 2 in Early Access.
Grounded 2's multiplayer is limited to friends, Raw Science points help with upgrades, the Analysis process needs streamlining.
Grounded 2 lacks a class system for characters, offers various difficulty modes, and switching between perspectives is possible.

Obsidian Entertainment is having quite the year, which first began with Avowed back in February. Reviews were positive, which put them in a good light in Microsoft’s eyes at least. They’re planning on releasing another big open-world game this year, The Outer Worlds 2, in October.

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By Hamza Haq

They also just released an Early Access version of their next project after The Outer Worlds 2, Grounded 2, which is currently available on Game Pass. When the first game was released into Early Access, it took two years to hit its 1.0 status. Hopefully, it doesn’t take Obsidian Entertainment that long to get Grounded 2 to hit 1.0, as there are some improvements the game already needs at launch.

7 Non-Friendly Multiplayer

It’s A Small World

Multiplayer is one of the best reasons to play a survival game, and both the first game and Grounded 2 support co-op, but with a catch. In both versions, players can only hook up with friends on their accounts.

It’s a similar system to how Nintendo gates their multiplayer games, and it’s a bit jarring to see outside of that company's products. Hopefully, Obsidian Entertainment will patch in a feature for players to connect with random people, because it’s a very lonesome game as it stands right now.

6 Make The Kills Count

Raw Science Points For EXP

Obsidian Entertainment is an RPG giant, and yet the role-playing elements seen in the first Grounded and its sequel are minimal. Players can get Raw Science points when they analyze materials, complete some quests, or find certain objects in the world. These Raw Science points can be spent to unlock recipes or to upgrade the Omni-Tool in Grounded 2, among other things.

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By Joshua Leeds

While it is a fine enough system, it would be nice if they added rewards for actions like killing bugs, beyond just harvesting them for materials, like Raw Science points. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but it would help with the grind.

5 Analyzing Multiple Resources

It’s A Long Process

When players first discover a piece of material, be it a piece of grass or an insect husk, they can take it to get analyzed in a lab. Doing so will drain the analyzer's battery, and players have to wait to scan again if there are no more chargers. Also, players can only analyze one thing at a time.

Obsidian Entertainment should get rid of battery chargers and allow players to analyze multiple items at once, because it is a hassle to level up otherwise. If they can't implement both features in the game, then hopefully they can at least get rid of one or the other, preferably the battery system.

4 Make The Kids Matter

Class Is In Session

The same kids from Grounded, Hoops, Max, Pete, and Willow, reprise their roles in the sequel, since it takes place after the events of the first game. Choosing a child is all about aesthetics, as there is no advantage to being Willow rather than Pete, for example.

Having a class system would be a huge improvement over the original, as it would help diversify the kids and make selecting one to play as more impactful. They don’t have to fall under typical RPG classes like Rogue or Ranger, but each kid should get an distinct quality to make them stand out. Maybe Max can craft health kits faster, while Hoops can chop things more quickly.

3 Custom Settings

Being Stuck In One Difficulty

Grounded 2 offers the same difficulty modes as the original game, including Mild, Medium, or Whoa, and then there are two more passive options: Creative and Creative With Bugs. Finally, there is a custom option too, and while it cannot be played at the moment, players can look and see what will later be implemented in the menu.

Players can switch between the three major difficulties at any time, but if they discover something is to challenging in Mild, then they are out of luck. Custom options would eliminate the need to stay on top of drinking water or eating, for example, so getting them patched in sooner rather than later would be helpful for appealing to a wider player base.

2 Switching Between Perspectives

An Easier Click

One big addition to Grounded 2 is being able to switch between third and first-person perspectives. In the first game, players could only play in first-person, which remains the most comfortable perspective in Grounded 2. Giving players the option to switch to third-person is a great feature, but there is a caveat.

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By Joe Grantham

Players have to pause, go into the menu, click a button, and then pop out in order to make the switch. In most games with this feature, like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, players simply have to click in an analog stick to switch back and forth between perspectives. It’s not a huge inconvenience to go into the menu in Grounded 2 right now, but it could be more streamlined, like the analog stick suggestion.

1 Storing Materials

Selecting Mass Items

When players discover a body or a chest in the world, they can choose to take everything with them in a single action. It’s how most RPGs incorporate their looting functionality. What’s odd about Grounded 2 is that players cannot similarly dump all of their materials into a crafted storage unit. They can’t even easily select multiple items to at least transfer over.

Like the aforementioned analysis system, players have to move units around one by one, which is time-consuming and a bit tedious. Better inventory sorting and moving functions would make the looting and storage process significantly faster in Grounded 2.

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