Grounded 2 Review

Episode Transcript
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(00:06):
Hello again, everyone, welcome to another episode of game pass
Grab bag, your weekly podcast viewing games for the game pass
collection bring you 3 new perspective Frank skill range.
I'm the alley hoops of this episode, Andrew with me R Willow
Liz. Hey guys.
And joining with us, our specialguests are Pete, Donnie.

(00:26):
Hello everybody, good to see youguys again.
It's been a while since you've been down here, Donnie.
Sure has. But before we get into this, I
just want to tell everyone, makesure you check out our wonderful
website, gamepasscrybag.com, which has been done by this
wonderful person here, Donnie. So make sure you check it out.
Tell him how great of a job he'sdoing.
We're going to start trying to do more.
I have our live feed on there too.

(00:47):
So if you just want to catch us,you can just pull up our
website, but it'll have our pastepisodes on there, which are
nicely written, kind of in a short style.
So if you just want to see our quick thoughts on game that we
did before, you don't want to listen to the whole podcast
episode, go check out our website.
Thank you, Donnie. It's not, it's not me, man.
It's team Effort takes a village.
I don't know, we just, we just said to yourself and we say make

(01:09):
magic happen. That's kind of how we always we
don't really know what to do with this podcast.
We just kind of fumble or wrong.Well, you guys are doing it,
man. As as we'll get into tonight,
I'm happy you're doing it. Yeah, but this week we played
Grounded 2 by Obsidian, which man, Obsidian is having a year.
This studio, I said it before inmy previous episode, Obsidian

(01:32):
has definitely taking this placeas my favorite studio right now
because Obsidian is just killingit.
They still got Outer Worlds coming out later this year,
which I am very excited for. But grounded 2 obviously is a
sequel. 2 grounded well I OK well getting ahead of myself,
this is grounded 2 early access or game preview.
So this is it's early patch which I think is 0.1.1.4.

(01:55):
Either way, it's the very first one when I finally hit game
pass. This is what we did when the
first grounded we had a episode on the very first one and then
when eventually we hit the one point O patch.
But so this is still early access.
This is still a partial game, doesn't have achievements,
obviously has some bugs, not just the bugs you're fighting in
the game. But we of course wanted to talk
about it because me and Liz are huge, grounded fans and so are

(02:19):
you, Donnie, right? Absolutely, like I, I love the
first one and again, you know, before we before we recorded, I
started talking about like, I think the very first episode I
ever heard from game pass grab bag was literally on on grounded
and you guys just had such a good time with it.
And it's it, it scratches a bunch of itches that that often
a lot of games don't and even survival games like trying to

(02:40):
do. But man, it's like what a
scenario, but we'll we'll get into it.
But yeah, man, this, this is a this is a lot of fun.
Like I'm ready to ready to explore this game with you guys.
Oh, and also too, I guess another caveat.
If you're watching the video version, you're probably
wondering, where's Liz? Liz is sick, but she's still
here joining us. So she was like, I really do not
want to be on camera. I am very snotty.

(03:02):
So there was her hand. But Liz is here, so she also
made me a little quiet because she's also trying not to sneeze
and whatnot. But thank you for suffering for
us, Liz. Always always nice to see Liz
even when you can't see her. Here, Liz at least.
All right, but let's get into this.
Whether or not Grounded 2 is a game or a pass, I will start

(03:23):
this off. And at the moment I'm giving
this a game. I'm not giving it a definite
game because since this is stillin preview, this is.
Oh yeah. Well, this is the thing that
kind of surprised me. Ground the first Grounded at 1.0
patch. I think it's 2 three years old.
It's not that old. So it's kind of surprising to
see they have a sequel here. And it's like this game actually

(03:44):
born a secret already like this is pretty quick and I got to say
what the ideas they have here are very cool and unique, but
it's still very early access. So if you haven't played the
first one, my advice is don't play this one.
Play the first one because you're probably going to like
there's, there's some new quality of life stuff in this
that I'm like, oh, it's going tobe hard to go back to the first

(04:06):
one. You certainly can't go back.
Yeah, you definitely can't go back.
Yeah, at all. And the fact that this is a work
in progress, so it's not a complete story, still a lot of
missing stuff. I would just say wait, play the
first one. There's a lot of content there.
The game is a ton of fun. You don't need to play it for
the story. It helps, but if you're liking

(04:26):
the style of game, you're going to love the first one.
So just play the first one for now because also too, we'll get
into it. But they do have a road map for
this game. And in the first one they talked
about like, oh, we're going to, you know, they came out with a,
a patch of like they slowly added to the the backyard like
every two months. This time around they said, no,

(04:47):
we're doing bigger, slower patches.
And so they have a road map and I think there's like 4
basically, this game's not goingto hit it's one point O patch
until probably about next year. So.
Late like late like fall? Yeah, yeah.
So that's what I'm saying. If you haven't played the first
one, don't play this one, Just play the first one.
But all that to say, this is a great game.
Yeah, and and, and I, I totally 2nd that.

(05:09):
I mean, it's, it's, it's 100% a game for me.
And, and to Andrew's reservations, we'll get into it,
doesn't it doesn't change the fact that if you were just
looking at it from the title card, it's a game like I'll,
I'll absolutely give it a game. It's a, it, it does compound on
the, on the first one, like Andrew was saying.
And it, if you play the second one and then try to go back to
the first one is, you know, somesort of completionist masochist

(05:30):
person. So be it.
But it, it definitely is not going to, it's not going to be
easy to go back. But this is a this is a definite
game for me. It's a game for me as well.
I think I'm surprised how much Iplayed because I find it kind of
intimidating when I play grounded without Andrew because
he's always the one that's goingin, you know, slicing and dicing

(05:52):
and I have my bow in the back orI'm, you know, building a base.
I love to to build a base. And this this week, we just got
back from vacation. Andrew's working a bunch.
We all got sick and I had to play by myself.
I had to put on my big girl panties and play by myself and
and fight the bugs and I I'm really excited every time I boot

(06:15):
up to play and I'm I am way morebold than I thought it was going
to be, especially because I haven't been gaming as much.
I've I've been kind of in like Ijust want to read all the time.
And so I thought I was going to be kind of timid with it and I,
I am just like throwing myself to the, to the wolf spiders, you
know, So I'm really enjoying it.I'm definitely going to give it

(06:36):
a game. And I honestly, I think this has
the potential to be better than the first one.
I, I don't know, something that's got me hooked about this
one. No, I, I think you're absolutely
right. Because right now what's here is
a really good setup which we will get into because starting
off, the thing that is already amassive improvement from the

(06:58):
first one is the story. The if you played the first one,
if you played early access of the first one, if you didn't
wait for the witch one point O patch, you could see probably
the story was the thing that took the biggest hit because the
very first grounded, but it cameout was more of a concept of
just like it's a survival game where you're shrunken kids and
you're building things like theydidn't really have a story at

(07:19):
all at the beginning of the launch.
Like you saw some things of like, you know, the ominent, the
evil corporation that's like in the backyard.
And like you see, obviously someexperiments were going on, but
like you didn't know anything until maybe like 5 patches later
when they started to sprinkle some story in.
And then when finally one point O patch came in, they're like,
OK, now there's a story and it actually is a story.

(07:41):
But because it was so sprinkled in, it felt so disconjointed.
But this time around, it's very much like, no, here's the story,
here's characters, voice acting.Go to this point, you're
learning more about the story, this person's talking to you.
The story is a massive improvement, even though it's
incomplete at the moment. But man.

(08:03):
Yeah, but see that reminds me. So we we, I mean we can jump
right into it. That reminds me exactly of what,
what the first experience was with Grounded 1.
So I the majority of the grounded one time I spent was
before the one point O patch, like before the actual launch
date and and ask me how much time I've played after far less,

(08:23):
far less. Because during that time, while
we were exploring the, you know,the original game and like going
through it and building up and getting all these things that,
hey, they just unlocked, you know, tarantula things and this
stuff and new weapons. Like I was going and collecting
all that building a base and making this like awesome empire
in the background. But I honestly, after one point
Oi played it a far lot less, like just didn't almost didn't

(08:47):
play the game because I put I spent probably 50 hours in
there, like 0 to one point O time because of this method and
how they release these games. And maybe that's an Obsidian
thing, maybe not, but the the way they released one and
they're seeming to do with grounded 2 is that here's the
game, just a chunk of it play. It tells one of the bugs.

(09:07):
Whatever. I played a lot of that game
before it was even officially out.
So, so I mean, it's it's a double edged sword for me.
But yeah, I mean, I I've just had a blast, both of them so
far. Yeah, the me and Liz with the
first one we played, we still played a bunch of it all around.

(09:31):
The very first one, I don't remember.
Literally every time they came out of patch me and Liz would
restart and rebuild the base. Oh we did?
I don't remember. That you guys, the mask is I was
talking about then. Yeah, I love restarting a game.
I also think too with the first game, I really didn't care about
the story as much. You were like, you were talking
to the robot and stuff and I wasn't paying attention.

(09:52):
And this time I'm actually really into it.
I'm actually listening to what they're saying and reading the
the texts and stuff. And yeah, and it's surprising of
like, so in the first one, the main person you were getting
majority of your story was Burgle, who's part of the story.
You know, I guess I didn't even talk about the story.
The story of the game is, you know, your kids.

(10:13):
This is that takes place two years after the first one.
So the kids that you played in the first one are a bit more
adult now. They're in high school now.
Ominent, the company that originally shrink you in the
first one is still active. They built this park as a
dedication to you for the horrible experience that you
guys had. But something goes wrong.
And the doctor that was your ally in the first one.
Doctor Tuttle, Right. Tuttle is that did I say right?

(10:38):
I think I think it's a. Lot of things they, they
referred him as like Winston or something.
I'm pretty sure it's Tuttle now I think about it.
I'm like, I feel like I'm sayingit wrong, but either way, he
whatever reason snaps and kills Burgle.
But something doesn't seem right.
And so you're mostly interactingwith the current president of
ominent Sloane Beaufort. I think her name was, which is

(10:58):
kind of lame for her name. The first, the first villain.
The first one was Director Schmechter, which is funny.
Why didn't they give her a funnyname in this one?
Like why didn't they call her like Ivana Science or something?
I don't know. Well, they saved that for the
story because she is a snarky little lady.
Yeah, that's true. I mean her, she does have way
more personality than Director Schmechter.
You only saw him a little bit inthe background, but yeah, so

(11:20):
you're mostly talking to her, which is so it's, it's glad that
it's just not like, oh, talking to Burgle again.
We're doing this all again. Like they're actually mixing it
up with the characters. Way more dialogue that's kind of
going on. Anytime you're doing an
objective, you're talking to somebody.
And the first one, it was alwayslike, I don't know, I'd, I'd go
like 5-6 hours before finally getting some more story

(11:40):
information. This one's just seems much more
quick. But yeah, you, you got shrunk
down again. You don't know why you're trying
to uncover it, Ominous trying torecruit you to help them because
there is a mass stranger who is kind of wreaking havoc in the
park. So you're trying to uncover who
the mass stranger is. But that's about it for the
story now. And there's definitely going to

(12:02):
be much more to it, but already this story I'm liking.
Yeah, but bits that you're missing though, so, so, so would
Andrew like kind of glossed overwas between the in between
between 1:00 and 2:00, right. These are the same kids.
Yep, potentially like depends onwho you choose, I guess.
But there's only four charactersor 4 characters in the first
one. So these kids are just aged up,
same kids. So, So what happens to the 1st?
And this is not a spoiler. It's in the it's in the trailers

(12:23):
if you watch it, but it's like you wake up and all of a sudden
you're confused, you don't know where you're at and you're
miniaturized again. Like that's how you just start.
It's like, so, so there's if youplay the first one, going to the
second one, like there's just some allure there.
You're like, wait a second, how why am I back here?
Like why isn't it different people?
I don't know. But I mean, this is also what

(12:45):
I'm liking. It's not like, oh, do you
remember the first one? It's not.
I don't. Have to.
You absolutely do not need another first one in this one.
It obviously helps with some of the characters, but I mean, like
the main character you're talking about, Sloan, she's not
in the first one, so she's completely new.
Wouldn't the characters be so much more angry, though?
Yeah. And also like, they're, they're
walking around the park and there's just dead bodies.

(13:06):
Yeah. Oh, there's a lot more dead
bodies to this one. I feel like they didn't make it
that dark, like they tried to like in it like not with humor
or anything, but just like they didn't make it seem like it was
that big of a deal. And you keep finding them.
Like I feel like if I was a highschooler and I got miniaturized
again, one, I would be so tickedoff and I would not be as like
polite to that Lady I do not trust.

(13:28):
But also like these bodies, likeyou're walking by them over and
over again. They're just there.
I feel like that would be even more traumatic than the first
one. You know what?
There, there weren't any bodies in the first one, but they're
like out of the entire game there was maybe 4-5.
There wasn't a lot but but Liz, OK, so keep them on 2.
These kids have already been through this once.

(13:49):
So you think these that's what'sreally upsetting these kids.
You think that's what's keeping them up at night?
Little bodies they're finding ontheir route?
Or like, crap, I'm going to get eaten by a ladybug again.
Yeah, it's true, That's true. But I also like, I mean, after
this, you know, I feel like theyshould, they should do something
about. It I'm retired, 14.

(14:10):
Leave the country. Yeah.
I don't like at least leave. Leave the town.
Get. Out of the tradition.
Just get out of here. Just go.
Yeah, it is like, well, this game, you're seeing more bodies,
but this game is light. Like the characters are
definitely way more optimistic. Yeah, and the first one, like
it's not that. Unrealistically optimistic.
Yeah, like, I always love Ali because she's, to me is the most

(14:32):
optimistic. She always kind of says, like,
things that are just kind of like, like, I don't.
Obviously she's the athlete, so she kind of says these sport
things, but she's always just having fun.
Like, oh, we should make a sportout of this.
So you don't like. Hello.
Your character is the one I, I dislike probably the most.
She's more cynical. I feel like I just started
playing Pete. I like him.
I haven't really done a lot, butyeah.
Because, you know, The thing is I block her out, so I don't

(14:56):
really pay attention to her. But now that you have like,
you're like, I hate when she says that now it's in my head.
So then today I, I chose Pete instead.
I was like, oh, I'll try something new that I'm actually
listening. Yep.
See, Pete references Ally, whichis weird.
Yep. Yeah.
So like. No.
Is there a romance going on? Yeah, I don't, I don't know is
that, is that in the gameplay section?

(15:16):
I'm not sure. Maybe a future patch?
OK. Add some dating SIM into our
grounded air. That'd be weird.
Again, children. These are children.
Fairpoint. Fairpoint.
I'm not saying murdered a. Lot, though, in the backyard.
So that is very true. I don't know who's at fault
here, Andrew, honestly. I also so I've been in real

(15:40):
life, I've been gardening a lot with my daughter and whenever I
see the spiders and ants and theweeds and stuff, I'm always
thinking about this game now andjust how like I I would not do
well. I.
Would crap my pants. I think I said that in the the
first, like last one because yeah, I, I that's what I would

(16:00):
do. And so like with this situation,
like when I'm going back into it, I don't think I would ever
get comfortable seeing a spider.No, I agree how these kids do
it. Like not even like an orb Weaver
or a wolf spider or a Black Widow, but those like little
spiders that crawl around. Imagine like running into a
spider half your size. I.

(16:22):
Could not imagine I. Had the same panic experience
like over the weekends we, we had landscaping in the backyard
and I was like, you know what, if I was, if I was this big, I'm
like, I'd be terrified back here.
I wouldn't even survive my own garden.
So like it's, it is really, really scary stuff.
But do we even explain like the premise of that, like that part
of the you're shrunk down that small where now you're just in
like a giant park? Like grass or like trees?

(16:45):
Yeah, buildings are mushrooms. Like it's, it's everything's
gigantic like it. It's literally like a honey I
Shrunk the Kids. I mean, that's just what it is.
That's that's how you're, that'sthe size you are in the space
that you're playing this entire game, which is scary at the same
time. Which I like that they still
that you're still outside because I that's what's curious.

(17:06):
Like obviously the first one is clear.
Like they clearly got inspired by Honey I shrunk the kids.
If you remember the second, Honey, I Shrunk the kids mostly
took place indoors and like, so that's why I was like, oh,
they're going to do more of an indoor section.
But for what it looks like, evenin like the park sections that
are cut off, I, I don't think they're going to do an indoor
section, which I kind of hope they don't.
I know a lot of people requestedit because in the first one

(17:26):
you're in the backyard, you see the house, you see a shed and
people wanted to go indoors, butI never really wanted to go
indoors. There'd be less bugs, yeah.
Yeah, well, not anymore. No.
Like if you're inside like climbing countertops and stuff.
Not anymore with the buggies, no, it's still be hard.
Well, I mean in in real life ants can go vertical, climb up

(17:49):
walls, but in the game they don't.
Well, the buggies. So I guess getting the game
played, the kind of big difference with this one is now
there's these things called buggies, which are now mountable
insects. So currently there's only two.
There is the red soldier Ant in an orb Weaver.
Each one has their own kind of unique abilities.
The Ant, the soldier Ant obviously can chop down grass
super quick. It can haul more things, so it's

(18:10):
kind of more of a better builderas the orb Weaver is a bit more
of a better fighter. And the orb breeder has a
special ability where it can actually walk on webs.
So they're around the park, You'll actually see these web
bridges and it has the ability to actually traverse those.
So it would easily, they could easily come up with other
buggies that have other abilities.
I would love this is already my my first request.

(18:32):
I wish it was a glider like you still got the the dandelion
tough that let you fall down slowly.
But I would love a buggy like pray mantis have wings.
I'm sure pray mantis. I think they announced Praying
Mantis was going to be a buggy, but it'd be great if it maybe
had a gliding. Bugs have wings dude.
A lot of people have wings. Well, yeah, but a ladybug, like
if it lifted shells out, like how?
How would you sit on that? I'm just saying you're glossing

(18:52):
over it. So like the fact they have
buggies in the second one is like absolutely insane because
like that would have changed theentire game in the in the first
one like that took traversal took so long in the 1st.
Even with zip lines. Even with zip and zip lines are
not coming to this game until we'll talk about that later.
But yeah, the the traverse that you can get with these buggies
and the stuff that you can do with it is, is like fundamental.

(19:13):
And anybody hasn't played eitherof these games before.
It doesn't matter because withinI think what this like just
after the tutorial, it's like your first mission, second
mission, you get unlocked this buggy at least.
Yeah, and the part they have forthe preview.
But man, it it changed the game,which which fundamentally
concretes the statement that Andrew made at the beginning of
the episode where he said, if you haven't played the first one

(19:34):
and and you want to know, don't play the second one first, Play
the first one first because you can't go back.
Like once you have that speed and that tool and that like
ability to to just like maintainthrough the to the environment,
you really can't go back to the first one.
It's just not the same. I think, Oh, I I wasn't sure how

(19:55):
they were going to feel, right? Like I didn't know if that was
going to be like too much or like weird about it.
But but man, they became just every every day.
Yeah, when they came with a trailer with this and they
showed them, that was my first concern.
I'm like, 'cause this is obviously a survival game.
You know, you got to deal with your food, you got to deal with
your water, your healing is slow, so you got to bring
bandages. Like you got to be prepared for

(20:15):
combat. You got to be prepared whenever
you leave your base. So seeing these buggies, I'm
like, are these going to be work?
Am I going to have to keep feeding them, giving them their
favorite snack? Pet him because the first one
you had pets at least so you could get a baby aphid or an Ant
or a gnat and like you could feed them and make them happy.
They added a little bit of a perk, but they weren't like they
weren't a huge game changer likethese buggies.

(20:36):
So I was like, man, is this justgoing to be another chore?
And I can absolutely I'm happy to say no.
They are lowest of maintenance. They can die, they'll just
disappear for a little bit. They show up.
You don't have to drag it along with you.
It it follows you unless. If you're on the harder
difficulties now, when you when they die, they they lose their
inventory and you have to nurse a new egg on the on the harder

(21:00):
difficulty currently. Which one on?
Because I played on normal, I didn't have to do that.
Oh, and whoa, whoa. Which is the hardest?
There's only three. So there's three difficulties,
right? Like so the Whoa mode is if they
die, they're done. Lose everything.
If you don't bring them back, your shit's gone and you got to
find a new one. Man, I mean it makes sense.
Well, just like your backpack, right?
And, and yeah, it's a little more devastating, so yeah.

(21:24):
See, I didn't even think about taking care of them.
I just thought it would be clunky, like driving a car, and
that would be something I'd haveto do, but I would really
dislike it. And now I'm like, I need
clovers. And even though they're like
right there, I'm like, I need mybuggy.
Where's my buggy? And then I was, I was also
thinking about like naming the aunt, which it's so funny
whenever Andrew says aunt because that's how he says aunt.

(21:47):
Like I So whenever he says aunt,I always think aunt within him
with this game. I'm still like getting used to
it. But yeah, like you guys said, I
don't want to go back to the thefirst grounded because I just
love these buggies so much. They're so helpful.
And it's because I love doing the base building, how many
planks they can carry and how quickly.

(22:07):
It's like 2. The building's so easier with
them two bites for knocking themdown.
And so I really, but we're talking about like the
inventory. I wanted to say that I wish that
there was an option so that you didn't drop your backpack
because for me, it's like I, I, I think I the first time I died
is when I went to the picnic table and I didn't have my buggy

(22:30):
because my buggy was there. And I was like, that just seems
so long to walk all the way back.
And obviously like, I'm going toneed more health stuff and it's
going to be like this big thing.And then, you know, I just
stopped being lazy and I did it it.
Was fine. But I just like I wish you
didn't drop your backpack because I'm playing the easy
difficulty. I just, I just wish and say with
like the first one, I always wish that there was that.

(22:50):
There there is a setting for that Liz.
You can do a custom game mode where it like you can change for
everyone you can. Turn it off.
Custom game mode exist yet? I did in the first one, yeah,
and the 1st. One that's what I'm saying the
first one it did so so so you can expect it and if you look in
the settings of the second one like it's there it's just grayed
out you can't use it yet and if you hover over it, it says
literally not built in this version of the game that's all

(23:11):
but it's. How many hours I've played of
Grounded 1? And without that?
Look for that because I was justlike, oh, it's not in the
easiest mode. It probably isn't.
Oh, I'm so mad at myself. That's.
But see, it takes a cheater to do that, right?
Like I, I'm the guy that goes in.
It's like, because I mean, Andrew, we'll get into it later
because, you know, so I play games a little differently than
he does, but like it's the same thing.

(23:31):
Like you have to go into the settings.
But can I turn this off? Like can I just turn off stamina
or like health or whatever? Like I just want to turn off
water. I don't need water, right?
No one needs that. Just turn that off.
You can make a custom game whereit's the same difficulty, but
you can turn those things all off.
So at least the first one and and some of those settings are
already showing up in the secondone but not not enabled yet.
Yeah, if you really want to remove the fun, you can do.

(23:54):
That well, that's fun to you Some people just like to build
Andrew. Yeah, that's.
Creative mode, go play creative mode.
Well, no, but it's still go playmy challenge.
Me and Lou is like a little challenge, but not like a, you
know, I'm not trying to impress anybody bud, that's all.
If I got my my butt kicked, I don't want to immediately go
back and get it. I don't want to go back.
I'm not. Doing that again, give.

(24:14):
Me some time, I don't want to goback there.
The spoiler alert for the rest of my review would go ahead.
Another nitpicky thing which I'msure like there's a thing in the
options because I didn't look, but with putting stuff away in
the storage bins, holding X to deposit the stack.
I wish it was just a button likehit Yi don't like holding it

(24:36):
every time because you're still hitting one button, you just
gotta hold it for 2 seconds. I just seems like a lot.
That's just impatient, Liz. I'm sorry I can't support you on
that one. You could really just hit a
button because when you go in. You played other games, right?
You played other video games, correct?
You played other video games. It's not that much.
No, I'm not talking wait, no, I'm not talking about when
you're doing like a hot deposit and depositing all the things.

(24:58):
I'm talking about when you're making a new test, OK?
When you go in and every single thing in your inventory, for
each thing, you have to be like,yeah, I have to hold down.
I get what you say. Fiber hold down X for clovers.
Only if there's multiple stacks.Only if there's more than one,
no. No.
So I'm sure they'll fix this because this was in the first
one too where yeah. So if you have like 1010 plant

(25:21):
fiber in this one, you have to hold X to deposit that tire
single stack of plant fiber intothe chest because if you just
hit X once, it just deposits a single plant.
Fiber, Yeah, right, right. And like because I in the in the
first one they made it was a single button press where you
just deposit the entire stack. You hit a separate button if you
only wanted to drop. 10 got it guys.
So they kind of reversed it thistime around.

(25:41):
I'm sure they'll fix that. She's I'm not that lazy.
Yeah, I know. Well, that's a yeah deposit the
way you were saying you thought you were on the same page.
I see comments you kind of head in that direction, but.
Yeah, well, the hot deposit is fine.
I don't mind holding it, but butit's you're starting a new one
like that, that's when it just like this seems like a lot.
Yeah, I guess. And I am a lazy person,

(26:02):
especially with video games. Who isn't the deed?
I am too. I'm not the one.
Oh no, I always try to find the most efficient ways you got to
do things besides lowering difficulty.
Well, that's on you, but. Yeah.
Wait, aren't you playing this oneasy?
No, I was, I was, I was playing normal, but this was a very busy
week for me and Liz. So like we unfortunately weren't

(26:24):
able to play a lot together. And this is going to be still my
criticism of my the first one, which is still happening in this
one. This game does not seem to scale
with multiplayer. So if you're playing single
player, you're just at a massivedisadvantage and it's like you
might as well just play easy when you're playing single
player. The buggies do help because the
buggies do fight with you. So you kind of have something
that can maybe pull aggro and tank a little bit for you.

(26:44):
But the comment to me in this game is much more difficult cuz
the insects, you're seeing a lotof the same insects from the
first one, they still have the same attack patterns, which is
great. I know some people are
complaining about it, but it's like, I've learned these attack
patterns. I'm glad they didn't.
Just like we're gonna mix it up to screw with you.
But they do block now. And that is a big difference
because like it, I didn't realize they blocked.

(27:06):
There's a lot of times I'm hitting them like what's this
thing doing? Like the red soldier ants kind
of like perk up a little bit. So I'm like, oh, he's attacking,
He's attacking. And like, like, is he glitched?
He's not doing anything. And then I realized, oh, they're
blocking. The Orbee is the most obvious
because it puts up a a web shield.
But that's a kind of a new combat thing that's going on.
But yeah, they, the comment in this to me was a lot more

(27:27):
difficult. I was dying way more in this.
Did did you notice too though, like the what?
What so, So First off in the gameplay section, I guess you
can say maybe it's graphics or whatever, but like it's not on a
real 5/2. So like the lighting's
different, like everything's different.
Like the the visual quality of it is different of this game
compared to to the grounded one.I that.
I wait, it's not unreal. Or it is.

(27:47):
Unreal 5 now. It is Unreal 5.
Yeah, it's Unreal 5. That's just from what I'm
reading out of the out of the description of the game, but it
feels like because the the graphics are better but also
like the combat that now seems worse.
Like I remember the combat beingbad in the first one.
Like you could you have to put your cursor on a controller
which is difficult right? Your crossers like directly on

(28:08):
it strike and hope it doesn't bounce or jump before then.
What interesting with the extra moves and stuff makes it even
more difficult to like track that that enemy.
If you're trying to do like melee stuff or even with a bow,
it's tough. What I found the secret of that
was get some of the staff that have an auto target function on
them, which make it way easier. But the combat still I'm like

(28:30):
even highlighted that it kind ofsucks.
Like it sucks out loud because it's just you strike and by the
time you strike with your daggeror like a bigger weapon it
they're enemies like over there and it's hard to even track with
it. I had struggling.
I was struggling with that. I love the comment in this game.
I did not. I I thought it was, it was much

(28:50):
more clunkier in the first one, but this one it is also too.
The big difference is you now have a a dodge so you can
actually dash out of the way. I use that so much.
Yeah. And it's really helpful because
because I know Liz, when me and Liz put the first one, I, of
course, was always the tanky person I was, wore heavy armor.
I usually had a shield. I took all the aggro.

(29:11):
Liz usually did a bow and arrow because Liz could not for the
life of her, she could not Perry.
Like that's all you had was blocking Perry and just Liz
could not handle it. Stay on the drain way faster
than the first one. Stand is way better than this
one. But yeah, so like for as it Liz
as a gamer, it was so difficult for her in the first form of the
combat. But now that they have a dodge
and they now kind of have these classes.

(29:34):
Like in the first one, it was kind of pseudo classes.
You had light armor, medium armor, heavy armor and you know,
you there was bows and stuff like, but it was all kind of a
little bit jumbled. Like you got a perk if you had
all the same armor piece. But in this one they're straight
up classes. And it's not like, oh, you're
picking your class at the beginning.
It's all about what you're wearing and what your weapons
you're using. So you know, you could be a
rogue, which usually is dual wielding fists or daggers, the

(29:57):
warrior which either can do a 2 handed weapon or a sword and
shield. You know, the mage, which you
know, low kind of armor, but they can use stabs that usually
do some SAS effects, which people are also suspecting that
they're actually might be able to heal later on in future
patches, which I would absolutely love that.
I would love sick. For a party.
Yeah cuz Obsidian's an RPG company yeah.

(30:17):
I would love if they come up with maybe some dungeon, some
like real heavy raid bosses in the first one they had some
heavy bosses but like they were pretty manageable once you kind
of learned the patterns and stuff like that.
I would love if it was like no four players you need to have a
healer, a tank, DPS ERS. I would absolutely love that and
this game had that, but. I would love to lean into that
because that that's the kind of stuff that I I enjoyed.

(30:39):
Like I'd love that RPG function of anything.
And they, they tried, like you said, they tried to do the tree
with small trees in the first one.
They're definitely more pronounced now or, but it's
exactly, see in my mind, I was like, oh, this is like the last
one because it was like, this ismage armor.
But it's really only if you likethis kind of fighting and that
kind of, you know, boost and if you do 3 attacks, it'll give you

(30:59):
an extra bonus. It didn't really have like a
class. Like it didn't feel like a class
that was different from anythingelse.
You had to have three sets of itor three pieces of the set to
make it even like work. So I didn't get that vibe from
the RPG elements. Andrew, you told me about how
you can set up with your armor and stuff, and I have not been
paying attention to that. I also have not tried, per

(31:21):
usual, Harry, once. I don't even know how you do it
in this game and my you know howto block, right?
I haven't done it once. All right solid left trigger now
I know and then I also still I did this with the first like 8
hours. I still accidentally throw my

(31:43):
muffins sometimes I do it way less than this one.
I did a. Lot.
I did that all the time too. I get so pissed too.
I was like where the hell I was like I just had my God damn Ant
dagger, where the hell to go. Oh shit, it was dark.
I couldn't see that something was attacking the base.
So I just started like mashing buttons.
I must have just graced the right button, which it shouldn't

(32:03):
be that button at all. It should give you do
confirmation. Like Are you sure that you want
to throw your main weapon that just took you 14 hours to craft?
Yeah, I cuz I think like the left bumper is how you like
switch your weapon and so like Ionly do it when I switch between
my bow and my melee weapon. That's the only time I I throw

(32:25):
it. But I also think that I really
dislike the cockroaches. Oh, really?
They're unsettling. Well, they're not even that big,
which I I was kind of disappointed cuz I mean, I live.
In Come down to Florida. Well, we're living in North
Carolina, and I'm like a real cockroach compared to, like, the
spiders and stuff. It would be bigger.
I don't know what those are. They're like little babies, I

(32:47):
guess. I don't know.
Well, there are baby ones. I don't like the way that they
fight, the way that they like. They dodge so much and they back
up from you. They also pretend to die.
Oh, they do. Yeah.
So I got 1 trapped in a bottle. And when I say I got it trapped
in a bottle, I was in the bottlethat came in with me.
There were three of them and I was like, this is really bad.

(33:08):
But only one of them accidentally went in and it was
just like hiding in corners. And I'm just like, this is so
annoying. And I thought that I would
dislike the look of it more because in real life when when I
see one, it is like I'm Andrew. But they're really not that bad
looking in this game. Those are handsome cockroaches,

(33:30):
what you're saying? Much better than what we have.
Here OK. Well, it is kind of funny, like,
I mean, there's all sorts of bugs in this game, but it is
kind of funny this game. I, I feel like this game is the
one that really started the trend of arachnophobia mode.
So you can make the spiders lookless and less scary, but it's
like a lot of people have other phobias of other bugs.

(33:51):
Like why isn't there, you know, the cockroach phobia, you know,
the, the larva phobia, the Ant phobia.
It's like it's just kind of odd that spiders get the special
treatment. I'm once again going to tell
people we need to we need to askfor a hydrophobia.
I want to remove water from games.
I don't want any other water levels.
I just want to say I'm scared ofwater.
Can we please have a hydrophobiamode?

(34:11):
Let's make this trend happen. That's.
Not going to happen. That's not going.
To happen. I'm going to make it happen,
luckily. But the arachnophobia, don't you
think that might have just been like a test and a flex of the
studio? To be able to do it, probably.
I feel like it was like a joke and it took off not.
Even a joke. But like what What so so think
about like accessibility and that kind of stuff.
Like it's great. It's just it's a cool it's a
cool thing that they developed and they were able to implement

(34:34):
for their game. Like that's a it's a pretty good
press release. Like that would get them some
buzz. No, no pun intended with the
bugs. But you know, I'm just saying
like it's, it's a pretty cool piece of tech.
I mean, it just makes a spider. You can turn a spider just a
little into a floating ball. Ball.
But I mean, the answer is scary right?
Was there an Ant phobia 1? I just think it's a cool thing
for them to try and do and they did it.

(34:54):
Don't be wrong. I'm not hating on it.
Yeah, like I I know a lot of people that are definitely
afraid of spiders and it's like,all right, no more so than happy
for. Them I'm afraid, my friend.
But I'm afraid of water. Let's get rid of water.
Sorry. I want a hydrophobia where you
drain the lakes and it makes it easy.
You just walk around. Let me know when the next
protest is, but I'll be there. It'll be out of the day.

(35:14):
It's not raining. Don't worry, they'll never show
up. Where does this game take place?
In a park? No like what the what state?
I remember we had this discussion, the first one, some
of the. Seasons.
I thought it was in California, like it like a fictitional town
in California. OK.

(35:35):
Because I remember we had the same question because like the
diversity of the bugs were like where is this?
They look like California kids, too.
Your memory always amazes me Andrew.
Like the fact the only reason why.
Like I remember stuff from the first podcast because I was
looking up our scores today, butother than that, like I wouldn't
remember a single thing we said an episode from what, three

(35:55):
years ago? That blows my mind.
Gonna say they love this podcast.
Yeah, that's why they're recorded, Liz, just just like
your male marital arguments. Or Andrews is in here like on
his time off, just listening to old episodes by himself because
I find myself hilarious and I just love to hear my voice.

(36:15):
Seems like I'm just kidding. I find myself the most annoying
part of this podcast. Anytime I'm talking I'm like,
please shut up. Don't worry, that's.
Just that's Keith. Yeah, that's why I sat here
today. No, I'm just kidding.
That's why I'll never be back. But yeah, the thing I noticed

(36:36):
really with this game, I feel like the mantra for this game is
less is more. Like the big thing is, so if you
play the first one, the way you don't get experience points in
this game, but you have these things called mutations.
And how it works is, you know, the more you're doing a thing,
killing an enemy with a weapon, exploring, like whatever you're
doing, you have these perks called mutations.

(36:58):
And of course, that's what all they are is just perks.
You know, the cardio, the cardiofan, you know your your stamina
recovers quicker. Blade master.
If you're killing a lot of people with the sword, it does
extra damage. But this time around, like in
the milk bowlers, were these other things you collected that
you could also upgrade your character, increase your maximum
health, stamina, how how slow ittakes for you to drain your food

(37:22):
and your water. And the first one, I felt like
milk molars were everywhere, like there and you needed like
20 of them to upgrade to like just a single level of your
things. This time around, there's way
less. It's just less is more like
they, they are way more valuableto find because I in the first
one, you would find a jar of 6 and it's like, cool, I can
upgrade one level. And this one it's like, oh, I

(37:43):
just found a single 10. This is huge so I love.
There's only 10% of the map that's even available, like 20%,
right? Like they're they're still.
But still, if you ever look up like a interactive map of the
first grounded of where milk bowlers are, they're everywhere.
It is just scattered everywhere.But looking at it now there's
like 10. Yeah, but like your grandma one

(38:03):
started so small too, and that and that goes back to it.
Like we we you played and you explore the whole map great, but
like there's still three times that that's coming like before
the full thing is released. The one point O.
Which the map is so much better.Andrew just pulled it up.
I remember not liking the map inthe first one.
Yeah I mean the map is massivelybigger.
The They said the entire completed map of Grounded 1 is

(38:28):
smaller than what is available in Grounded 2 right now.
That's awesome. I think the map, I think the map
is maybe halfway done. You're saying a 10th.
It's definitely not a tenth. Well, look at look, I would say
about half the statue I think ismeant to be the center of the
the the playground. I'm also not the expert on this.
I'm just I I only again, I I didn't play the one after like
much after grounded 1. So like, I get it.

(38:49):
I just I know that it's going tobe bigger and that's the only
thing. There's going to be a lot more.
I'm sure the story, how they canexpand it and how this mystery
stranger thing is going to be nuts.
But yeah, I don't I don't know about the map size.
Yeah, I mean it. You're, you are right, it is
still a partial map compared to the first one, but it but still,
like I, I to me, I felt like milk molars are just way less

(39:10):
and only that raw science. I feel like Ron science was
everywhere. I never cared to pick them up in
the first one because they were everywhere and was like, oh, 10
raw science. Now they're all worth like 100
to 500. They're all worth way more and
you don't see them as often. Ranger stations, the stations
where you can go to analyze yourstuff and the first one, they
were like every five feet there's like I found, only found
like 4. Yeah, there's not.

(39:31):
And they're not marked 2. Like once you go in there, you
have to like mark them yourself,which is I thought different
from the first one because they used to just pop in your map.
But going back in just a second,one thing I do appreciate about
this game is there you mentionedthe raw science thing, which I
guess is the the ultimate like currency, right?
The only thing you can accumulate.
But beyond, beyond that. And again, this is coming from
like like a Zelda, right? Like a Mario, you know, Odyssey

(39:54):
or anything like that where you're collecting coins and
you're using the coins, you're doing something else.
Like there's no currency in the game besides just collecting
these things called raw science,which to Andrew's point, you can
ignore fully and still play the game.
You can. You'll still collect it just
fine. You can.
Collect it just fine. But like I thought this is
interesting because when I was thinking about this compared to
other games and like, and I'll, I'll talk about it specifically

(40:17):
like what game I'm referring to.But there there was a currency
that used to used to have to have and then you used to use
that at the town to buy something.
It's like there's none of that here.
Like you don't have to go collect coins if you don't want
to. You can literally play this, as
they say, a sandbox. Like it's very unique in terms
of the way you play it. Yeah, no, definitely.
I also like you see looking at the map, did you guys like the

(40:40):
new setup with the menus and same with like the the building?
I it took me a while to really get the hang of it and now I
like it and it makes it but I feel like it takes more time to
get into everything. Yeah, I, I.
I like it. It's it's not too much
different. I didn't like it at all.

(41:00):
Oh really it all. And I don't like how to push
pause and then you have to use the left the left triggers to
like cycle through the little dial menu like that didn't make
any sense to me. And if that was if that was what
it was or or more similar to thefirst one, so be it.
And I just don't remember. But that was not, that was not
the, it's a menu experience thatI remember and I, I just really

(41:21):
didn't, I found like a clunky, like I felt myself like fumbling
through it and then going to thewrong tab or something.
I just, I couldn't get to the map fast enough and then my
inventory was over here. And then I had that separate
inventory when I wanted to push my hot bar.
I just didn't like it. Just Liz had a step away.
It sounds like our baby woke up.Sure.

(41:41):
So she she's not just being quiet, but I mean, the other
thing too, of like, why I say the manager's loss, less is
more. Your HUD is way less.
Yeah, like. Yeah, there was just less noise
get. That yeah, which I really like.
At first I was kind of like how this seems like under baked, but
then the more I was playing I'm like, that's kind of cool.
Like it to me, it feels like you're you're getting more into

(42:03):
the atmosphere of this game because before you had at the
bottom or just a scabby and it just it just was an unnecessary
HUD of just nonsense. Like you had your food and your
health on it, like the importantinformation, but it was just
like there was a lot of Dead Space just cluttering your
screen starting. Off in the qualms the HUD at all
it was just the inner menus likeagain, I kept catching myself

(42:24):
like accidentally hitting my hotbar when I meant to hit like
craft an item or something and it was just it it didn't make
sense to me at. 1st I found the hot bar clunkier.
So I mean, obviously this is still early, but the hot bar you
actually had multiple pages. So you've one, you've 6 items.
Yeah, they're sending a lot I. Don't even know how to assign
them to this. They were just randomly showing
up there. That's my issue too normally.

(42:45):
So it already has things like preemptively auto assigned like
oh your top left is your medical.
Yeah. Medical.
Yeah, food. And which you could do in the
first one saying like, oh, I want like 3 that are consumable,
2 that are medical kind of thinglike that.
I can't figure out how to do that.
I could because I removed it on one of them and now it's stuck
with a thing. I don't care anymore and I'm
like, this is. So I didn't do that.

(43:07):
I was like, I don't know to put this back.
It says remove, but I don't knowhow to put like replace it.
If I wanted the light there, I don't know.
Yeah, but it once again, this isobviously the first patch and
they they know, like they already said in the road map of
like quality of life stuff coming.
So it's obviously this that's just a minor complaint right off
the get go to. If you play the first one, you

(43:27):
normally had a hot bar showed upat the bottom of the screen.
It's gone to fault starting in this one, but you can turn it
on. Just go to options.
Yeah, there is a way to actuallydisplay your hot bar because
that is kind of helpful. Because in the settings?
Or did you figure it out yourself?
I figured it out myself because because I was digging.
Around in the settings. Well, I was, I was digging
around because I was like, because I luckily when I died, I

(43:49):
got a hot tip saying you can lower the difficulty mid game.
And I was like, OK, I need to dothat.
I'm sick of dying in single player.
Like I need to, I actually need to lower this a little bit.
And then when I was digging around I saw that where it said
display hot bar like oh OK I want that.
Yeah. I played, yeah.
Yeah. So I mean, I played, if we're
going to move on from gameplay, it's fine.
But I just wanted to go back to the gameplay.

(44:10):
The easy versus hard mode or thewhat is it easy versus medium?
I don't know. I don't.
Think it's calm, I think moderate and whoa.
And whoa, yeah, I remember. Whoa, was the hard one.
But anyways, I tried, I tried playing, I played through
probably half the story, maybe 15 hours.
So like with with the the mediummode.
And then I just got this guy. In fact, I abandoned the story

(44:30):
completely and I decided to go for the hidden fire staff.
That's in the coal thing. It turned over a grill.
Fire pit, Yeah. So I immediately started just
focusing on crafting my gear andgetting geared up for that,
which was, you know, a chore in itself to to I probably I
probably put like maybe 25 or 30hours total into this.
But wow, at this point, yeah, this just seems like last like

(44:51):
what, like last week sometime. So like at this point, like I
was just geared up. I was ready to go.
I did it like maybe 5789 times. I was getting so frustrated.
And so one time I made my run, Ihad my save at the end.
I was ready to go, got staff, got out of there, boom, I was
done. I had it and I was like, all
right, this is it. Like I'm just going to go
beeline to the end of the game now.
So like all I did was just pick up the story from that point and

(45:14):
just run past everything else. But it was, it's just a
different game. Like it's a very unique game.
Yeah, I mean, you're not unusual.
I've actually heard from multiple people that they put
like 2025 hours just in this. Yeah.
Like, like this is, I probably, I would say not even half of the
content. Yeah.

(45:35):
And it's still been pretty meaty.
But that's my problem. Like I do it now and then when
the actual game comes out I'm like, well, I've already done
that. Go.
Back see that's that's what I thought with the first one cuz
anytime a patch came out like itwould be like oh it's the the
haze area and I was like well let's check it out Liz let's
check it out yeah we would we would load up our game and we'd

(45:56):
look at our base and go Nah let's start over and we
literally just start a whole newgame cuz like.
Guts are nuts. Well, me and Liz, we work well
together. Liz, as she said, loves to
build. I, of course, love the combat
and everything like that. So we work great together.
I'm like, she's like, I need Bombardier parts.
All right, I'm going shopping. I'll go and get Bobby ear parts,
keep building up the the house for us.

(46:16):
So she's just shopping wood and building up the house and I'm
going to collecting all the things we need so we can build
all the stuff. Yeah, we work great.
Well, we work very well together.
So, like that's why I already know what's going to happen with
this one. But that's the other thing too I
didn't think about. I'm surprised I didn't think
about this in the first one, butit gives you a great tip when
you're going to get your first buggy with the at the red Anne
hill. It gives you a tip of hey, build

(46:38):
a lean to here because you can set as a spawn point because if
you die, you spawn right there. I never thought about that in
the first one and that is a veryhelpful tip because I still kept
forgetting it. This map is very big.
Even though you have a buggy andyou can traverse pretty quickly,
it's not hard to build a lean tojust build a lean to at that.
It's easier, you know? It's easier, Andrew, and I hate
to burst your bubble. Just save before you do it.

(46:59):
Just save if you just save. Yeah, I guess you could.
You could save Scott. And if you don't, you just go
back. I'm sorry again, I don't want to
burst your bubble. I know you're trying to play
this as a real. Good guy here, but.
You can just save and go back load.
Last save is always. I guess that's.
Another thing I thought of because to me it's always in my
head that this is almost a live service game.

(47:21):
So in my head I just think not. But save I can't load again.
That is a good point. Just save.
Just save. Touché Donnie.
Not for everybody out there listening.
Just save your game you. Don't have to spend resources,
build little bases everywhere, just save.
Yeah, you know, get rid of the fun building aspect.
Well. Speaking actually of the
building aspect, I will say thatis the thing I noticed.

(47:42):
The building is definitely also kind of neglected.
They're really not a lot of new things.
It's the same, but like I was thinking, there's the hatchery
that's new. That's new.
And the ant's nest, and the spider hatchery and the spider
nest, or whatever it. Is, but it's like this endless.
There's no, there's a couple other bits.
So I think, I think there's other tier level stuff like that
we don't have access to like Tier 3 marble and four and

(48:05):
whatever, which will bring new parts and, and bits.
But my question to you, my friend, where did you build your
base? When you guys start over and
over again, do you go to the same place?
Do you go to a different place? Because I have a place.
We probably go nowhere else. We built it literally right in
front of the Ranger station, thevery first one to be on tool.
Why would you not build it there?
You have to. You have to go there every.
Time they build a lean to there,like like you're talking about

(48:26):
your lean twos. They love so much, like
everybody has to do it there. But like, dude, there's there's
a place like don't you get rated?
You get rated anywhere you go. No, no Sir, you don't.
Did you build your base like in the sky so you don't even have
to deal with the raids? No, Sir, I built it on you.
Really are trying to remove all fun from this game.
Perfectly, Andrew, you know how to play games.

(48:48):
This is not our first conversation about how we play
games. We know.
You know how I play. I know how you play.
You're very genuine. I get it.
Yeah, Great. You got a big heart for games,
Andrew. But like, listen, I got things
to do, man. I just want to get the maximum
min Max it as fast as possible without any threat.
OK. So where'd you build it?
Do you know the picnic table? It's kind of like ported over

(49:10):
like kind of like over over where the like little robot guys
kind of are and. Then yeah, we have to hack, hack
the orc. Seeing all the big posts in the
ground that are around there, the big like that on top of on
top of all those, actually I have two different paces in
different areas. You can get up very easily in
between. So what happens when you get
raided? Do you just like?
I don't at all, at all. They go, oh, we're so angry.

(49:32):
And I said, yeah, that sucks. And they eventually just
disappear the rage. Just.
Goes. I was like great survive another
one guys high 5 just. Like I.
Just Andrew, what's wrong with you, man?
Like, you know, you're play, you're playing the game wrong.
Technically I'm beating the game.
You're not just you're struggling.

(49:54):
You guys are restarting every time.
I don't know why you're doing that.
That doesn't make any sense to me.
You're doing it wrong at one base.
It's been the entire time, neverbeen raided.
We usually did in the first one,because in the first one all you
had for options for building house was like just grass.
That was it. And so like, and then obviously
when they came with a patch, we're like, well, now there's
weeds, now there's mushrooms. So me and Liz would be like,
well, let's just start a whole new base.

(50:14):
Let's start a whole new games. Put on a big rock in the middle
of the map. Untouchable.
I'm sorry buddy, I got I can send you screenshots.
Liz likes to interior decorate. OK, fine, you can not.
Plenty of real estate. I'm saying we never got rated in
that one either that one time. It's not like the rates are
hard, no. I just don't want to deal with
them, Andrew. It's a convenient thing.

(50:37):
You just need to play one of those games that has like the I
win button. We literally played a turn based
RPG. What was it?
It can fell didn't care for thatgame, but either way it had an I
win button. You literally had an option
where any time you got in a fight you literally hit a button
and you won. There you go.
That is your game, my friend. No.
It's not because that's not fun either.

(50:58):
It's not fun doing that. So the game I'm comparing this
to, and I know we got to move onfrom this, but it's Valheim.
You guys played Valheim. I know that.
Yep. Yeah, I loved it.
Val. I did too.
But like this is like Valheim, but it's it's the, you know,
it's the honey I drunk the kids version of it.
Then it has that same vibe wherelike it's same gameplay too.
Like you can't go to this area, which is essentially like a

(51:20):
dungeon or like a series of things until you have this gear
and you have to, you know, gear up.
I love, I love that bit of it. But but in Valheim, if you
saved, if you stashed your stuffand then saved and then exited
the game, you'd come back and you'd still have your stuff.
So like you could duplicate the weapons and stuff.
And man, I had that game licked too.
And like like far faster it should have been.

(51:42):
I don't know man, I just, I lovethese survival games, but I have
to find the the way to make it fast.
I can't. I can't deal with a grind like
you and Liz restarting a goddamnbase every single time.
We enjoy playing video games together, you know.
That's great. That's great, but let me pull
up. Let's talk about the road map

(52:03):
here. It's not looking good.
You don't think it looks good? Over 2 years I think.
I think. Don't get me wrong, the weight,
the weight upsets me. Yes yeah, but it definitely,
like I said, their their thoughtprocess is longer.
Wait, but meteor patches. So already the first one they
plan on coming on fall. They plan on having axle stuff.

(52:26):
So axle armor, axle weapons, axle furniture.
Yeah, like if you play the firstone, there's tears.
The first one you can only go to2/3 and this one you could
already see at least already that can go up to tier 5.
Obviously you can't do it in this patch, but you at least
know it's coming. But I I don't know to me these
look like meteor patches. So already park boss you're

(52:48):
going to get a park boss in the first big update.
So already that's what I'm hoping with these raid bosses
buggies will have a hot pouch building will get improved.
But I will say the thing that does think about this first
patch, No Park Ohio. No, it's just Axles Arena.
So that's what I'm saying. Like it's underwhelming like
that, and that's just what I'm going to do between now and the

(53:08):
end of fall. It's not until winter.
The winter patch looks like there's actually going to be
good content. And so they, they, they block
out what parts of the park they're opening.
I mean, obviously you can kind of figure the summer patch,
they're opening the water park area because you're getting
watery buggies. Yeah.
So it's kind of safe to assume you're probably dealing with
like the pond and the summer patch.

(53:30):
But yeah, they already said they're coming up with a
ladybug. Like I said, I kind of swore
this to the prey mantis, but on the road map they don't have it
listed. But yeah, that kind of stinks.
So it's this summer, So obviously summer of next year
it's still not even completed. Then it just says future plans.
So this game probably won't hit a one point out patch till maybe
winter of next year. Of next year, right?

(53:52):
That's what. That kind of hurts.
The two year mark and it's fine,but look, that's kind of how the
first one went cuz the first onewas in preview forever, I
remember. It was 2 years but I.
Couldn't use the year, I'm sorryit was.
At least a year, but it might have been longer.
It's been a while. I feel like it was but again I
could be wrong and I didn't go back to it like in the review.

(54:14):
Playing this one I really wantedto just take grounded to it and
see what my thoughts were. Not biased by the last one cuz I
truly don't remember when that was.
I was just gonna say I'm a very impatient person, might be
surprised to know that about me.But so I'd rather get the game
out as soon as possible and thenhave the updates, you know, cuz

(54:35):
I can't imagine having to wait another two years for like a
full game. So I'm kind of like, I feel like
because of my personality, I can't really complain cuz I have
it early, but I am impatient to get the, you know, the, the
newer stuff too. But I'm just happy that it came
out so early. So I want to ask you all, since

(54:55):
this is a preview, Donna, you beat it.
Me and Liz have not beaten it yet.
We're we're well over halfway. But since you beat it, do you
think you'll still pick this game up?
If not, when do you think you'llpick this game up?
At the very next update. Oh, OK.
So you're still planning coming back on the next?
Update yeah and that's what I did with the first one too like
again, like I played it, but like again, once once it hit

(55:15):
1.0, I, I literally either I was, you know, caught on to the
games or just never came back tofor for the time I had on it.
I I don't know why I didn't comeback to but I, I hope that it,
you know, this game will, will just keep, you know, keep
growing and go beyond that stuff.
But yeah, the next update I'll come back and the update after
that I'll come back and level myguy up and change her base out
and do all that kind of stuff. But yeah, I mean, I'll, I'll

(55:38):
keep coming back to it as long as you.
Got to change your base out. What do you mean add like one
extra floor block? I'm going to add new floors to
it because my base is untouchable and I can use grass
from here on out. Bud, I'll show you.
I'll show you pictures. I'll put in the discord.
What? About you Liz, what are you
going to play this next? I mean I want to keep playing

(55:58):
it. I mean I'm really bad while
going back to a game after we record.
Even if I love the game and likethis is my game of the year, I
still sometimes. Don't.
Me too. I don't go back.
It's hard to have the time. There's other things you want to
do other games, but I think thisis a game that I'm pretty good
about coming back to and so for me it's like and also because I

(56:20):
love the multiplayer aspect. Yeah, it's a game that I really
enjoy and I get to play with Andrew.
So it could be like like a little at home date night thing,
you know, next next to Sea of thieves.
This is probably the game we putthe most time in even start new
valley. I don't think we put as much
time as we did in grounded as a together.
Yeah, correct, but without you starting I mean, or no Disney

(56:42):
dream my valley for you. I don't know how that got me
again. Yeah.
We're gonna have to we're gonna have to get get together then,
because like I don't so the first grounded I had two or
three guys that play with, but like I haven't played
multiplayer on the on the secondground yet.
So like I'll have to off the link up with you guys and show
you show you this in impermeablebase that I have.
Which, yeah, I wanted to bring up.

(57:03):
Did you encounter any bugs sincethis game is obviously in
preview? Yeah, it's a little unstable.
Did you encounter any? Yeah, I got stuck a bunch of
times. I got stuck in bushes and places
I shouldn't have been. I got stuck.
I couldn't reach places I shouldhave been.
Like I was under the map for one, one or two things.
I took screenshots, or a bunch of it.
But yeah, I counted a whole bunch of bugs.
Yeah, I was like my character. Was it wasn't it wasn't every

(57:23):
play. I'm sorry, Liz, I didn't mean
catch up, but it wasn't every like play period.
But it was like when it happened, it was significant
enough rather to close the game.I couldn't get out of it.
Sorry, Liz. Oh, that's the way.
I just had some weird moments where like I was at the base and
my arms just started flailing around and I couldn't move.
And I mean, nothing happened. I got stuck a couple times,
though I will say there was one time that I fell through the

(57:48):
cracks in the the picnic table and I just as quick as I could
exited out of the game. And it's, and so I, that's a
daddy move because I, I guess I didn't have any dandelions on
me. And even if I did, I didn't want
to go all the way back up. So I that did work for me.
I was kind of surprised. And also when it comes to

(58:09):
multiplayer, did you, when I wasgone, did you tell them that
that we played with Dave? No, Yeah.
So he's been on the podcast. Yeah, it's been a while.
Yeah, him and his wife have beenon the podcast and we got to
play with Dave, which is always fun.
I couldn't hear what you guys were talking about because I
didn't have a headset, but we were talking that trash about
you. It's always fun to play with

(58:30):
Dave. Yeah, I'm used to it.
But yeah, that he really likes Grounded too.
So. Well, I mean, I shouldn't talk
for me, Andrew. Does he?
Right. I mean, he's still playing it
few years later. So I feel like I love it.
I mean, I'm going to keep playing this with every patch
because like, that's what happened with the first crowd at
Liz would forget about it. And then I'm like, hey, new

(58:51):
patch. And then as soon as we start
playing it, we're like, we get hooked again.
Yeah. So I I plan on playing this
every single patch update. We probably won't do it a
podcast episode with each one because I don't think people
want to hear us talk about it that much.
I mean, I don't know. We'll see see what happens when
1.0 comes out in two years. Yeah.
That mean go back to it. Yeah, but for bugs though, I

(59:13):
honestly when I played single player, I got way less those I
was in the same house. Our ping is great.
I definitely noticed a lot more stability issues.
Like I my game never crashed until I was playing multiplayer.
So I don't know if it is the multiplayer.
I don't know if I just happen tobe lucky that my game is stable
until I play multiplayer. But yeah, I to me, I actually

(59:35):
found this game to be pretty stable.
Like, I've heard some people have some pretty severe issues,
but I don't know, for me, I don't find time.
Now that you say, I think all mylittle glitches like that really
weren't bad. They all happened when I was
playing with you. All right?
Yeah, because the flailing thinghappened like right before we
were recording. That's not a bug.
That's a feature. I would love to see my character
flailed, I don't think. And again, the kind of thing.

(59:58):
Never mind, never mind crashed the game, like the game never
crashed. I didn't have any like crash
issues. There wasn't any stuttering.
There wasn't even any like popping or any of that kind of
stuff too as I was like looking into the broader part of the
yard. It was just getting stuck in
piece of the, you know, the terrain that shouldn't happen.
Yeah, that was all. And there was just no way to get
out of it, that's all. So.

(01:00:21):
But yeah, since this. Is an Unreal Engine 5 game
graphically, this game looks beautiful fantastic like this is
they did an overhaul like obviously you're seeing a lot of
the bugs, but they all got some graphical upgrades the the
biggest one was the wolf spider yeah and and and the shadows
and. That's what it was too.
The shadowing is so is so it's such a nice feature that like

(01:00:43):
you, you you can pause it to theHUD display that Andrew was
talking about. It's minimal, but you can pause
the game and see what time it isright, 16120 hundred where 2000
whatever it is like after, you know, after the hour you can see
that, but the shadows you can also track and kind of see
engage what time it is based offlike where the sun is, which is
cool. And it just it just makes it
like a a much more immersive experience and that's definitely

(01:01:06):
like a huge improvement from thefirst one in terms of just like
overall immersion. I thought I had one issue with
the lighting. Definitely.
It's just obviously needs Polish, but there definitely was
a lighting transition when it came to you going into anthills.
Like it was like, oh, super darkand it just it didn't smooth
well when you would kind of go into lighter, darker areas, like

(01:01:28):
when you're exploring the underground.
But obviously that's just like a, a polishing thing because if
you ever play the first one, like the lighting of it is, is
very smooth and nice. Like in this one, it it looks
like it needs a little work, butthat's a minor great.
I, I mean, sorry, go ahead, Liz.I, I was going to say I, I, I
feel like. I don't want to say this but I
got to be honest, we recently played Grounded 1 and I don't

(01:01:49):
see besides like the map and stuff.
I don't see graphic differences really.
I'm very unobservant. You don't.
Notice the extra details in the bugs the ladybugs have?
Like extra like fibers on their face?
Nope, everything gets fibers. Yeah, I.
I don't really. Like pay attention to things,
but I will say I I noticed that the map is way better and that

(01:02:11):
the menus are different. But yeah, everything just seems
the same to me. Well, you noticed the wolf
spider, didn't you? What?
You noticed the wolf spider at least.
Do you know what? Now if I.
Think about it. I don't think.
I've come across them in Grata 2.
Earlier I was thinking about theorb weavers, but I don't think
I've seen the wolf spiders yet. Yeah, that's the other thing I
really like about this. There's a lot I can talk about

(01:02:33):
this, but to me, the map itself feels more smooth, like whenever
you played the first one. Like things were very clustered
over here. This is where the mosquitoes are
over here. Is this that this?
Everything feels diverse, like you're fighting orb weavers and
wolf spiders are like right off the get go and wolf spiders are
one of the harder enemies in thefirst one and it's like they're

(01:02:54):
right there and this one you gotto search for them.
And like even the main orb weavers, you don't really see
that often. You're fighting spiderlings, orb
Weaver, juniors, the junior scorpions like you're fighting
the low versions like it the thedifficulty spread of the like
insect types you're fighting aredefinitely friendlier in this

(01:03:14):
one than they were in the first one.
Like in the first one, if you just took a slight wrong turn,
boom, you're in a wolf spider nest and you're dying.
Wait till they explain the map. Wait till they expand the.
Map that's all at that point, like obviously the map just get
harder. Yeah, when you get to that side
exactly, but. That's how it should be.
When you get farther, it gets. Harder, yeah, yeah.
But yeah, the first one. You you could find wolf spiders.
Way too early. I kind of miss knowing where

(01:03:36):
everything is. I feel like I I pretty much know
the map grounded 1 and I'm not amap person.
I don't have a sense of direction.
I mean, we've spent a lot of hours in that case.
Now I'm starting all over again,Same game.
I know one area really well because I never have to.
Leave. That's it, I got everything I
need. Now I understand why I take 24

(01:03:58):
five hours. She's just hiding up in your
tree house, not doing anything. Dude, I did so much.
I was just like doing. Anything else besides the story?
I was just exploring for that one weapon.
I was doing this stuff like I was not playing the game the way
you should, but I again, I should play multiplayer would
have been way faster. Oh, but.
I don't know if the first one had it, but this game does have
to actually have a virtual modelviewer.

(01:04:21):
So as you're peeping and discovering these insects, you
actually can bring up a 3D modelof them and actually rotate it
if you really want to see them bugs up close.
I heard that feature. I wasn't even like trying to I.
Did it for the bosses that struggled with because they tell
you the weaknesses and stuff like that, which is great.
But so I, I do, I was not peeping everything.
I'm I'm a I'm a big old peeping Tom.

(01:04:41):
A big old. Peeper OK, good to know.
I mean because it's it was achievement of the first one,
so. I'm like I better start working
for it now. Sure, got to peep them all, but
audio though, fantastic it is very.
Good. I will say the soundtrack.
Hit or miss it like the intro music, the deep sense, the deep

(01:05:04):
sense like plays on that. What is it a Stranger Things
vibe, right, that we all got foranyone who's approaching 40 this
time of year. It just like what it is like it
it's great, it's cool, but it doesn't always it doesn't always
slap. They they put a little too hard
on that too, but they did in thefirst one.
It it just kind of the vibe of grounded.
They're really going for Stranger Things.

(01:05:25):
A little bit, yeah. Which it it sounds.
Like there's only one song if you're not in combat and you're
not seeing things like if you'rejust building your base, there's
this very just low fi kind of beat going.
And that was kind of getting a little old for me.
I know is you probably did not notice it, right?
Yeah, it does. Change though like as you go

(01:05:45):
into different areas like. There is like a like a
transition where and that's magical and that's something
again, like reference things like Zelda and other RPGs or or
open world stuff that does that It it's it's great when it when
it really when it really works. But every single time you get
into battle, it's like the same like Daft Punk Tron three thing
coming through. That's like, you know, just got
it. Yep, the voice acting is good

(01:06:07):
though but. You're hearing a good amount of
the same lines, 3 lines every time.
Yeah, I'm sure. But they usually add more.
Yeah, I thought for sure the voice actress for Sloan was
Cortana. Like if you.
Listen to it now. I.
Looked it up. It's not though.
The only voice actor I actually knew was the guy who plays
Maxwell Smalls. He's magnitude from community.

(01:06:29):
Guy goes pop pop. So now I'm like, that's awesome.
He's not my favorite. Character, I believe you.
But yeah, achievements. No achievements.
Nothing we talked about there, but yeah, I guess we could kind
of wrap up here a little bit. Oh well, I'll.
Get into my final thoughts here.So yeah, my final thoughts for

(01:06:52):
Grounded 2. Like I said, this is a game.
This is a lot of fun. If you have not played Grounded
one, I recommend just going backand playing that.
Don't bother with Grounded 2 because it's some quality like
the buggies are going to be. You're going to miss them in the
grounded one. But Grounded one's a completed
game and you got over a year forthis to hit the one point O
patch. So you got some time.

(01:07:14):
I would just say go play Grounded 1.
There's because there's a lot ofcontent to it.
The creative mode is much more extensive.
Forgot to mention that this gamedoes have a creative mode, but
right now it's very bare bones. Like our daughter, you know
she's five years old. She loves to play creative mode
with the bugs on, but the bugs don't attack you, but she at
least likes to walk around and interact with them and you know,
kill a ladybug or something every once in a while.

(01:07:36):
But this one it's not it's not an option.
All you literally can do is justbuild.
So she got pretty bored of this pretty quick because also to the
building is also very minimal. It's like as you when I pulled
up the road map, a lot of the building stuff isn't coming out
until the 3rd, 4th, 5th batch. So you got some time for the
building. So this is definitely not a

(01:07:58):
game. If you're playing for creative,
just go to the first one. The first one too even has
unique game modes you can kind of create like the creative mode
actually is a lot of fun. But all that to say, I thought
the combat is huge improvement. This game does have a lot of
good quality of life stuff. Forgot to mention the Omni tool,
which at first I didn't like. Yeah, because at first.

(01:08:19):
Felt a little clunky. Having to go up to a blade of
grass and hold axe. I really liked having an axe in
my hand and just flailing aroundand chopping a whole bunch of
trees from the lumberjack. But it makes sense now because I
don't even use the axe, I just use the buggy.
I'm going to chop down trees with the buggy.
But no, the Omni tool is awesomebecause I love that I don't have
to carry a shovel. I don't have to carry a wrench,
I don't have to carry a hammer. It's just all there.

(01:08:41):
Doesn't take up inventory space.Awesome quality of life thing.
I love the Omni tool. But yeah, this game is still
just a blast, even though it's still obviously just hit and
it's very little content kind ofhere.
Well, there's still a good amount of content.
Disney, this is an 83. I cannot wait for this to play
more of I can see this game getting well above 90s when it

(01:09:05):
hits this one one point O patch.I really am looking forward to
what they come out with this obsidians killing it I I just
can't wait for more for them. Liz, what are your thoughts?
I I was trying to come up with. AI always, I always go back and
forth. I I didn't want to give it a 90.

(01:09:28):
Two I like. Already wow because I I gave the
first one a 90 and this is a 92 for where I'm at and when I
played because obviously there'sa way more story, there's way
more map and who knows, maybe I'll hate the story and I'll
hate the rest of the map and they'll go down.
Highly doubt it though. I know.
But I'm just saying like it seems high, but it could go up

(01:09:48):
or could go down but I just think enjoyability.
Maybe I just haven't been gamingenough and you know, so I'm
like, whoa, this is fantastic. But no, I really, I really do
like this game. I want to play it as soon as we
stop recording. I don't know if I will because
it's kind of late, but that's how much I like it.
So 92, that's a good sign. Well, what about you, Donnie?

(01:10:14):
I was. Like, well, I can.
Go so so. So like I said at the beginning,
like I, I. Compare this game to a lot.
Of different, like other games in the genre I have referenced,
the the closest thing I think itis is Valheim, just because of
the progression, the way it works.
But Valheim has this like other retro kind of feel to it, ground
the grounded franchise, at leastfrom the from 1:00 and 2:00 that

(01:10:36):
I played. It's just an experience.
And again, if you were born anytime around, you know, the,
the early to to like early 80s to like say mid 90s, then you're
you're going to have nostalgia feels for this.
I I agree with Andrew. I think that the way to start
this is the the first one, because if you play the second
one and go into it, you'll, you'll be disappointed with just

(01:10:56):
like the improvements of qualityof life, stuff like that.
But the the franchise overall, it's an experience.
And I've I've there's very, veryfew games that I've ever gone
into. See if he was one of them.
But when you have that like the chills and you feel something
out of the game, like that's pretty much all you can ask for
from a game. Like it's, it's the best parts

(01:11:17):
of a game when it makes you feelsomething and walking into the
yard and fighting spiders and closing your eyes and imagining
that you were honey, I shrunk tokids.
I mean, it is something really truly nostalgic and special that
like folks of our demographic, we would experience if you're if
you're younger, if you don't know what that is, It's it's an
adventure. It's just really, it's a cool,

(01:11:38):
very unique twist on a, on a genre of survival games that is
just like not anywhere else thatyou can find.
So all that said, is it my favorite game?
Will I play it forever? Probably not Andrew, I'm sorry.
I, you know, I'll come back. I'll come back for the patches.
I'll come back and and play withyou guys a multiplayer it it's a
solid 86 or I'm sorry, solid 851995 or 1985 is when I was

(01:12:02):
born, so I'll give it an 85. I think it's a great game.
It's very nostalgic. I I love playing it.
I love coming back to the to thefranchise.
I will continue to do that. If there's a grounded 3, I'll be
here for it. I can't wait to see what this
game actually does when it when it finally launches.
I hope it's I hope it's just as great as it's aiming to be.
I want to call you on another thing, Donnie.

(01:12:22):
You're saying that this road mapis kind of weak?
Did you know Valheim is still ingame preview?
I said that game's been out since 2021.
Andrea, I beat Valheim too. I'm not.
I haven't gone back. To it since I'm saying this is
my problem. This is my problem bud.
Man, talk about a slow. Game Premier.
This at least looks like it'll be done in the air.
I had a good time with Valheim. I had a good time with ground.

(01:12:44):
Of 1. I had a great time with ground
of two and it just begun. So like, I'm excited to see what
happens next, yeah. All right, but.
Anyway, we'll wrap it up here. Just to remind everyone again,
go to gamemassgrabback.com. I'll have the link in the
description or you just obviously the website's pretty
easy to remember. It's our podcast.
I'll also have our link tree. Come join us on our Discord.

(01:13:05):
We recorded every Wednesday around 8:30 EST Always love
having people in our live chats.As we said, we might try to
start getting our live recordings also on our website.
So if you don't know where to find us, which we are on
YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, you can also just go to our website.
But I've been your hardware gamer host.
You can find me on Xbox Live at Firebird 01952 OH.

(01:13:29):
Well, someone else. Could talk, because I also I
forgot this was also listen to request.
OK, and I'm Lizzie nuke gamertag.
Come on, I'm Dean and I'm on Twitter and Instagram at Liz
noob noob Izzy W and so thank you Sozzy winkle.
He recommended that we play thisgame and well, I was like you
don't have to recommend it because we're doing it anyway,

(01:13:50):
but thank you again, Noddy for being here.
Hey, it's a pleasure. You guys are, you guys are a lot
of fun. And then and, you know, I'm
happy to be a part of the team here and just just love hanging
out with you guys. Yeah.
Thank you so much for that guys,of course.
Like I said, it's our. It's the podcast, man.
One team, like I said, make surewrite a.
Comment tell Donnie, great job with the website.

(01:14:11):
Don't tell me anything, tell me I will see you again next week.

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