Over the past couple of weeks, I've been spending a lot of time in Grounded 2, checking out what players will be able to explore in round 2 of Xbox Game Studios' bug-sized backyard adventure.
There are a number of things worth highlighting in this sequel from Obsidian Entertainment and Eidos-Montréal, but across the hours I've poured in ahead of the game's early access launch, one thought stays at the forefront of my mind:
Grounded 2 is gorgeous.
The original Grounded wasn't an awful-looking game by any stretch of the imagination, but the team made smart decisions on what to focus on, eschewing visual fidelity for the overall art direction.
That art direction has been preserved for the sequel, and now looks better than ever thanks to some fantastic warm lighting. There are other improvements, with some better textures here and there, but any other details I've noticed pale in comparison to that bright morning sun.
A higher baseline means more room for better visuals
Grounded 2 isn't launching on Xbox One, something Obsidian Entertainment previously told me was helpful in order to give the game Buggys, the feature where players can now tame certain bugs, riding around on the back of a Fire Ant Soldier or Orb-Weaver Spider.
While that expanded game mechanic was justification enough for ditching older hardware, it's not lost on me that the higher requirements also allow the game to push better visuals.
As mentioned above, there are other areas in which Grounded 2 looks better than its predecessor, but the new lighting stands out above everything else.
Better lighting makes the time of day and each dawn even more important
Grounded 2 is a survival game, with a day-and-night cycle that roughly corresponds to one minute passing in-game every two seconds or so.
Just like in the first Grounded, it's even more dangerous at night, with extra-powerful enemies roaming and extraordinarily dark environs that are difficult to navigate, as my colleague Zachary and I were made painfully aware during a ill-fated venture we've come to refer to as "The Great Egg Heist."
Because of that cycle, scouring, scavenging, and slinking through the grass has to begin as early as possible in the day. More and more, I began to look forward to seeing the break of dawn, the warm glow of sunlight shining through the grass as if to say, "Alright, you have another chance."
Better lighting means a better base
Of course, the improved lighting doesn't just make daylight more beautiful, but all light sources in general.
After Zachary and I spent hours building our base (they get a fair bit of the credit for planning and foundation, I just focused on gathering the materials) I was stunned at how it looked from the outside when dark fell.
The glow of the torches through the grass walls and ceiling stands out so nicely against the night, even with the permanent backdrop of an additional light source via the human-sized hand lamp that's been left on.
There are plenty of other things to appreciate, but I really admire the atmosphere this lighting creates in Grounded 2. I enjoyed the first game, but I'm finding myself being pulled into the sequel far more. The beautiful visuals have a fair bit to do with that.
I think I'll go take some more pictures now.
Grounded 2 is currently available in early access on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC (via Steam and Xbox PC). Naturally, it's also included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and can be streamed through Xbox Cloud.
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