Obsidian Entertainmentthe legendary studio that brought us gems like Fallout: New Vegas or South Park: The Stick of Truth, launched a new video game called Grounded in 2022. This survival title with a promising premise of children shrinking and having to survive in their backyard became one of the most acclaimed exclusives of Xboxsince it was distributed by Xbox Game Studios.
Due to Microsoft’s new proposal to bring its best exclusives to competing consoles, Grounded was ported to Playstation 4, PlayStation 5 and nintendo switch some days ago. This allowed an even larger audience to experience this curious game and we had the opportunity to try the PS5 version. Here we will tell you about the best (and worst) of this Obsidian Entertainment project, and we will tell you if it is worth buying it for your console.
What exactly is Grounded about?
Four teenagers, Pete, Max, Willow and Hoops, they disappear from their homes and appear shrunken in the patio of a house. They must survive the wild environment, discover how they got there and try to return to normal. And that’s all we’ll tell you about the plot of Grounded because that’s all the game initially tells you. This is one of those narratives that depends a lot on mystery, since it will be up to the player to put the pieces of the puzzle together to discover the truth of what happened to these boys. It is not a particularly deep plot, but it serves its purpose of causing a lot of intrigue to motivate the player to move forward.
Despite its intriguing story, we can at least say that Grounded has a nice sense of humor and the whole experience has a lot of personality. The concept of a survival video game that takes place in an ordinary location (like a backyard) but becomes dangerous because the characters are small is quite original and this game takes advantage of that premise in crazy and fun ways. That is why we are not surprised that there are already plans to adapt this game to a TV series.
Exploring a dangerous but beautiful world
In our opinion, Grounded’s strongest point is its fascinating atmosphere. The environments, lighting, sounds, music, and voice acting work together to make you feel intimidated by this dangerous world, but also motivated to move forward to solve this story. It is a game that knows very well when to use musical themes and when to remain silent to adapt to each situation. When it plays, the music is quite pleasant and has an electronic theme, similar to the soundtrack of a classic sci-fi movie.
The luxury of detail in Grounded’s patio is exceptional. Every step you take will be full of curious, fun and memorable details. From the insects you encounter (whether dangerous or benevolent) to everyday objects that look like huge structures from this minimalist point of view, such as toys or food. It’s clear that Obsidian Entertainment put a lot of effort into creating a truly interesting world and we can’t help but praise this achievement.
The art style of Grounded is cartoonish and, although it doesn’t look bad at all, we can’t deny that at times it looks a little cheap for a video game that was published by one of the biggest companies in the industry. But these mediocre graphics end up benefiting the player, since on PlayStation 5, Grounded works perfectly. There is no lag at all and everything loads at extreme speeds. The only exception is when we try to load our game from the pause menu: If your last Save Point is too far away, the game may take several seconds to load. But luckily this does not happen when you die, since in that instance it is loaded immediately.
A ruthless survival experience
Don’t be fooled by the colorful graphics and curious premise: Grounded first and foremost a survival video gameto. And it is important to clarify right now that if you like that type of games, then you are going to love this one. After choosing your character, you will have to explore the different corners of the courtyard, not only to discover what happened, but also to stay alive. You’ll start with almost nothing, but slowly you’ll be able to defeat enemies and collect items to strengthen yourself and build other things, such as weapons, armor, furniture or even structures.
Another important aspect of Grounded is the classic mechanics of the survival genre. Your character must constantly feed and hydrate to stay alive, not to mention you’ll need to pay attention to their energy bar every time you perform an action. Although these types of mechanics are typical of this genre, the truth is that they are quite annoying and will ruin your experience if being aware of your hunger, your thirst and your energy is not something you find particularly fun.
It is also important to clarify that this is a fairly difficult video game, and your results will depend on how good you are at surviving. Every enemy creature you encounter in Grounded, which would normally be small animals in any other context, can be really dangerous and take you down in seconds if you’re not careful. From small ants to the largest spiders, almost everything in the yard will try to kill you. And if you lose, there is a possibility that you will go back very far.
However, in Grounded Save Points are set by the player, so how much progress you lose will depend entirely on you. Another important item to lose is your backpack: Every time you die, you will lose your backpack with a large amount of your items. But luckily, you can go back to where you lost and get them back. And these never go away. No matter how many times you die or how far you’ve gone, you can always recover lost backpacks. This is another divisive element of the game that has the potential to make your experience better or worse, depending on how much you like these cutthroat mechanics.
One aspect in which Grounded greatly disappointed us is in its mobility and combat system. When it comes to fighting, the main character is quite slow and awkward to use, while the insects are fast and can defeat you in seconds, which can be very frustrating. He “platforming” This game also left a lot to be desired. When you have to explore a flat surface, everything works perfectly. But when you have to jump between the branches of a tree, the controls become somewhat clumsy again. This is really annoying because you always know that if you make a mistake and fall from a long distance, you will die and lose a ton of progress.
The main story of this game can be very difficult, but this is where its open nature comes into play. If you’re having trouble with a particular section, you can always go to another area of the map, collect new resources and build new weapons and armor to return later when you’re much stronger. And even if you’re in no rush to complete Grounded’s story, this world is full of life and you’ll always find things to do. It is a video game with many hours of content, especially since the PS5 version already includes the expansion Fully Yokedwhich comes with new enemies, new items and new features that expand the experience.
Truth be told, Grounded is not a game for everyone. Despite his charismatic personality, intriguing story, and fascinating world, the gameplay is extremely challenging. This is a gritty survival experience that you will only enjoy if you are already familiar with this genre. If that is your case, then we cannot help but recommend it to you, since its gameplay is intense, but satisfying; Everything works perfectly. But on the other hand, if you are looking for something easier and more relaxing, this title is not for you.
Grounded: Fully Yoked Edition It is currently available in PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5 and nintendo switch. Many thanks to Obsidian Entertainment for giving us the opportunity to review this title.
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