The survival game Grounded from Obsidian Entertainment has continued to grow and evolve in some interesting ways since it first released in Early Access. The game sees players controlling children who were shrunken down and are trying to survive in their backyard while finding a way to return to normal. It has brought numerous new ideas and quirky concepts to the survival genre, and now Grounded has another massive update headed its way soon.
Dubbed the Hot and Hazy Update, the newest update revamps two of Grounded's biomes while introducing new enemies, resources, building materials, equipment, and, perhaps most interestingly, a new leveling system that takes Obsidian Entertainment back to its RPG roots. This has the potential to completely change how players approach Grounded, and is very exciting for fans still playing the game - or those who want to jump in to check out its cool new biomes.
The RPG Elements in Grounded's Hot and Hazy Update
The core new RPG elements being added to Grounded revolve around a new item called Milk Molars. Milk Molars can be found and earned in different ways throughout the game, and can then be spent to upgrade a player's health, stamina, or how fast they can eat and drink.
One particularly interesting foil with Milk Molars is that they can also be spent on group upgrades which will benefit all other players, since Grounded is a very cooperative-focused survival title. This system should prove very interesting, as it means players will no longer all have identical characters to control, but will instead be able to improve themselves in ways that benefit their unique playstyles. This levelling up system will also make Grounded play much more like Obsidian's various other RPG titles.
The update will also bring new ways for players to upgrade and customize gear. One way is for players to use specific items like candies to apply different effects to their weapons, like mint or spiciness. This will give the weapon various benefits, and different types of damage to help it excel at fighting certain creatures. Armor in the game is also being revamped so it will all be placed into light, medium, and heavy categories that each have benefits and drawbacks. The armor seems pretty standard for an RPG armor system, but it should help deepen Grounded's gameplay by allowing players to emphasize either their defense or stamina regeneration in combat.
It is great to see how Obsidian Entertainment continues to improve and expand Grounded over time. The game has become something completely unique within the survival genre, and the developer should be proud of what it has accomplished. Some have voiced concerns that Obsidian Entertainment has too many projects in the works at the moment, but it seems the company is more than capable of delivering on them thus far. Hopefully, it will be able to continue doing so moving into the future with titles like The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed.
Grounded is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.