Grounded 2

I loved Grounded 1 and approached Grounded 2 eager and skeptical at once. The sequel keeps the same tiny‑in‑a-big-world charm but ups the stakes: colder biomes, proper mounts and meatier boss fights. If you expect a polished launch you’ll be disappointed — but if you like fiddling with a game that’s actively evolving, there’s a lot of joy here. My short experience: gorgeous vistas, a giddy ant‑ride, and enough crashes to make me alt‑tab and curse a few times.

Combat: The melee loop is sharper than before — enemies block, dash and require timing. Parrying from Grounded 1 still rewards skill, but fights feel more tactical (and sometimes stingier). Buggies & Mounts: The headline feature is great in practice — hatch, ride and command insect mounts that gather resources or fight. Riding an ant is legitimately fun and changes traversal a lot. Exploration & Biomes: The map is noticeably bigger with cold zones that force different gear and prep; verticality and vantage points are rewarding. Basebuilding & Progression: Base building still scratches the creative itch and nests/storage systems help manage loot, though some raids feel too frequent and can even spawn inside your base. Tech & Stability: This is the biggest flaw — crashes, save corruption reports and frame drops are frequent in reviews. Community reports include a 5800X3D + RTX 5080 setup needing medium at 1440p to hover ~50–60 FPS, while others with flagship GPUs (RTX 4090/5080) still see stutters. Cross‑play and persistent shared‑world multiplayer are currently flaky — expect disconnects. Comparison to Grounded 1: Better—mounts, combat depth, larger map and cooler environmental variety. Worse—optimization, some missing QoL improvements, and a rougher Early‑Access polish (no tier‑3 tools yet, some art/texture oddities). My verdict in practice: I laughed riding an ant, cursed a crash that lost progress, and kept coming back because exploration and coop moment-to-moment fun shine through.

My verdict: Grounded 2 is exciting and often charming — mounts and combat upgrades give it real personality — but Early Access instability is a real blocker for a smooth experience. Actionable advice: buy if you’re a die‑hard fan who doesn’t mind troubleshooting, or want to play co‑op with patient friends; otherwise wait for optimization patches or grab it on sale. Personal note: I’ve spent several hours poking around, and more than once an ant ride ended in a glorious escape — then a crash wiped my smile. That mix is exactly what makes my recommendation conditional.