The pet system in Grounded has left many players, including myself, deeply disappointed. The initial excitement of taming creatures in the backyard quickly fades when you realize the severe limitations. Instead of a diverse and engaging pet system, we are left with a barebones feature that feels underdeveloped and frankly, not worth the effort.
One of the most glaring issues is the incredibly restricted selection of tameable creatures. Despite the yard teeming with a vast array of insects, a staggering 95% or more are off-limits when it comes to pet ownership. This limitation immediately stifles player creativity and drastically reduces the potential fun of the system. What’s the point of offering a pet system if the choices are so incredibly narrow?
Furthermore, the pets available offer minimal utility. They essentially function as glorified pack mules, carrying garbage, and provide only the most marginal of buffs. The hassle of managing these pets often outweighs any perceived benefit. Compared to pet systems in other survival and adventure games, Grounded’s offering feels incredibly shallow and poorly thought out. It’s a feature that screams “half-baked” and lacks the depth and engaging mechanics players have come to expect. The current iteration of the pet system is boring, bland, featureless, and severely limited, leaving many players, including myself, with zero motivation to engage with it.
This lackluster pet system, coupled with persistent bugs and glitches carried over from Early Access, raises serious questions about the game’s value proposition. Asking a premium price for a game still plagued with issues and featuring underdeveloped systems feels unreasonable. The current state of Grounded’s pet system unfortunately reinforces the common pitfalls of Early Access development – rushed features, unmet promises, and ultimately, a diminished player experience. It’s a disheartening situation that echoes the frustrations many feel with the Early Access model, where promising concepts are often sacrificed for expediency.
