These are the 5 things I love, but also hate, about Grounded 2

Grounded 2 launched into Early Access on July 29, 2025, and as a long-time fan of the series, I dove in at the moment it dropped. There’s a lot to love here. Obsidian and Eidos‑Montréal have evolved the micro-survival formula in meaningful ways. But as with any game still in development, it’s not without its frustrations. Here are the systems I’m most impressed by ... and the ones I’m hoping will get a second look.

5 I love base-building

But I hate the collision issues

Base-building is one of my favorite parts of Grounded. But Grounded 2’s terrain collision system is more finicky than ever. Floor and roof pieces often won’t snap into place if near rocks or branches, leaving awkward gaps in and around your base.

The first game wasn’t perfect either, but at least you could trick the system into working by using alternate pieces or rotating pieces to make it work. But in Grounded 2, most of those workarounds are gone. It’s frustrating to have a solid blueprint in mind, but you have to redo everything because you can't get the floors, roofs, or walls to snap into place. Whether it’s an Unreal Engine 5 limitation or something the devs can tweak, this definitely needs attention.

4 I hate the new hotbar wheel

But I’m in love with the new combat

Grounded 2 overhauls most of the game’s UI, and it looks great, but my problem is with the new hotbar wheel, which you would think wouldn't be so different from the original, until you realize it freezes you in place when you use it. In a game where you're constantly dodging, sprinting, and scrambling to stay alive, being locked in a menu feels like a death sentence.

In the original, you could swap tools and weapons mid-run without stopping. This was a lifesaver when you had a wolf spider chasing you down. But in my playthrough of Grounded 2, I died multiple times while trying to change weapons or use bandages. I had to resort to fighting them and then running away to heal or change gear. Using your hotbar in combat was always a risky choice, but when you pulled it off and won the fight, it felt amazing. But in Grounded 2, it just feels like a death sentence.

That said, the new class and armor systems in Grounded 2 are a massive leap forward. Builds feel more deliberate now. You can specialize in melee, ranged, or support roles with buffs that actually matter. Just give us a way to quickly swap gear without leaving ourselves open while we navigate the hotbar.

3 I love buggies

But I hate the missed opportunities

The buggy system is the single coolest addition in Grounded 2. These are rideable insect companions that you hatch, raise, and ride into battle. My first red soldier ant, named “Antony,” instantly became an essential part of my backyard exploration. And the faster travel speed and extra inventory space have saved me more times than I can count.

Later, I unlocked the orb weaver spider, which is bulkier and stronger but lacks the utility of smaller buggies. Obsidian has confirmed that we will be getting new buggies, like the ladybug, in the next update and water buggies in the winter update. And I’m crossing my fingers for flying mounts down the road. Although a lot of people dislike that we only get two types of buggies at launch, that is not the reason I was disappointed.

While I love the new buggy system, and I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, I can’t help but see the potential the game hasn’t tapped into yet. Imagine if buggies could be assigned jobs around your base, soldier ants could cut grass planks and deliver them to pallets, worker ants could collect food pieces or plant fiber, Weevils could collect mushrooms, aphids could speed up movement speed or give a coziness buff. We already had these bugs as pets in the original game, and we can even recruit red ants while riding the soldier ant buggy. So it really wouldn't have been difficult to implement this, and with a little balance, it wouldn't be overpowered either.

2 I hate repairing my base

But I love defending it

Getting an alert that your base is under attack? Pure adrenaline. Raids in Grounded 2 are even more aggressive than before, and I’m totally on board with that. But the aftermath is where things fall apart, literally. Repairing your base is a chore, and the rate at which you get attacked only worsens it. In the original, I would just delete the broken pieces and replace them, as it was easier than constantly repairing the repair tool (ironic, I know). The new omni-tool streamlines the process, but if you have multiple bases around the map, or just like building massive fortresses, it's a nightmare to repair after the fact.

Here’s what I’d change: let us craft a structure that passively repairs our base over time or regenerates durability after a raid. Let our buggies help defend or repair while we’re away. And add more passive defenses like sticky cobwebs, bear traps made of needles and sap, or defensive layers we can add to our base's outer walls. If raids are going to be a core mechanic, we need better tools to handle the consequences.

It over-simplifies resource gathering

The new omni-tool combines your axe, hammer, shovel, and repair tool into one all-in-one gadget. It saves inventory space and speeds up resource gathering, and doesn’t need to be repaired, which are three big wins. But it also strips out much of the charm and progression tied to individual tools.

Grounded 2 is a survival game, and survival games impose limitations on players to simulate a harsher experience. Battling with inventory space, needing to break down barriers only to find your tool broken, or forcing the player to hunt bugs to repair their tools creates natural obstacles for the player to overcome during their playthrough. It made you think about resource allocation, crafting, and risk-taking. The Omni-tool removes all of these limitations and replaces them with a simple multi-tier upgrade formula. After you've collected the resources for the next tier, you upgrade it, and when it reaches max level, you don't have to bother with it again. This is something I could have lived with on its own, but the second change they made really made me scratch my head.

The Omni-tool is mapped to a separate key/button from your weapons. It’s no longer a physical item in your inventory, just a “press X to harvest” interaction. Gone are the unique animations, weight, and feel of the different weapons. I get what Obsidian was going for when they designed the omni-tool. It's a great idea that could have worked well if it didn't feel so sterile to use. I hope they come back to the Omni-Tool and reinvent it into something that feels more tangible when you use it.

I trust Obsidian to make Grounded 2 great

Grounded 2 is ambitious, experimental, and sometimes a little messy, but that’s what early access is for. What’s here already is stronger than I expected: the class system rocks, buggies are amazing, and the world is beautifully redesigned. But there are still balancing issues, undercooked mechanics, and a few regressions from the original.

I may have my complaints and nitpicks, sure, but I’m still playing it night and day. I have doubted Obsidian before, but they have continually proven me wrong. There may be a few rough edges at launch, but there is no doubt in my mind that they will do everything possible to make their game as fun as possible for players. And I can't wait to see what they do in future updates.