In a year where Obsidian released a pair of RPGs, its best game was an early access survival romp

Obsidian has been one of my go-to RPG studios ever since its first game, Knights of the Old Republic 2, came out in 2004. And between 2004 and 2018, it released 12 games, eight of which absolutely belong in every RPG lover's library. We're talking Alpha Protocol, Neverwinter Nights 2, New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity and its sequel, Tyranny, and yes, even South Park: The Stick of Truth.

That's an incredible list of games, and while some of them are looking a bit long in the tooth these days, I can't bring myself to not recommend every single one of them—and that's not just because PCG news writer Josh Wolens would curse me if I badmouthed Alpha Protocol.

Since 2018, though? Things haven't been so great.

The Outer Worlds and its sequel, along with Avowed, have plenty of defenders. They reviewed well—including here—and have their fans. But they're missing what made Obsidian's previous games so absurdly compelling: the best-in-class writing, the big risks and quests that stick with me years later.

It feels like its acquisition by Microsoft has taught it to be cautious and boring, just like its risk-averse owner. But it's wild that its biggest swings happened at a time when it was flying by the seat of its pants, constantly being burned by publishers. Now it has the full support of an astronomically huge and wealthy publisher, and it's just been playing it safe.

At least when it comes to RPGs.

Its best game this year is another safe bet, a trend-chasing survival game, something I honestly couldn't imagine Obsidian doing outside of Microsoft. But Grounded 2, just like its 2022 predecessor, is a brilliantly creative co-op survival romp that I'd much rather play instead of Obsidian's modern RPGs.

Where Avowed and Outer Worlds presents us with stale settings, Grounded works magic with a mundane world that it's recontextualised. In the first game, a garden, and now a small community park. These locations are somehow more magical than a mysterious fantasy island. A messy picnic table becomes a gargantuan mountain that must be cautiously scaled; an overturned ice cream cart becomes a frozen hellscape full of scorpions; a little decapitated robot becomes… well, a very big decapitated robot.

Even Grounded 2's combat is more fun. Yes, I said what I said. It's a lot more slight, sure, lacking as it is a large RPG's weapon variety and broader range of mechanics. But density doesn't equate to fun. The Outer Worlds 2 might, on the surface, have more appealing murder tools, but I can't remember a single fight that I actually found entertaining.

20 minutes into Grounded 2, I was fighting for my life inside an ant hill, trying to escape with an egg that would eventually become my mount. It was dark and I was facing an entire army of critters. I may or may not have left my girlfriend to die after we went in different directions. Every fight was terrifying. But I wasn't just fighting generic hostile enemies. These are animals with their own sets of behaviours, which can be exploited.

And each adventure, big or small, is bolstered by the potential for new discoveries. Killing someone in The Outer Worlds 2 might net you some ammo, or maybe a new weapon if you're lucky, but there's a good chance you'll get nothing at all, aside from a tiny bit of XP.

Killing something in Grounded 2, meanwhile, might give you the ability to craft a whole new set of armour, a brand new weapon, building materials for your fancy house, or something even more exotic. With every kill, your gear and makeshift base benefits directly. There's a point to all the death. It's for science! You're constantly building up your toolkit, finding new objects to analyse and turning all that carnage into building projects.

You can have a real adventure in Grounded 2. An arduous trek all the way across the map, fighting off spiders and 'roaches and scorpions, culminating in a vertigo-inducing climb up a bin, where at the top you might find some materials that will effectively give you magical powers. It feels like you're really delving into the unknown and taking risks.

Even Grounded 2's companions are better. Sure, your pet ant isn't exactly chatty, but I'd much rather have a one-sided conversation with a bug than spend any more time getting to know my fellow adventurers in one of Obsidian's new RPGs. And they're actually helpful! They're not just meat shields. My ant can enlist other ants to help us in our war against nature. It can also assist me with my building projects, or simply serve as a mount, gallivanting all over the park.

Can you ride… erm I've just realised I can't remember the name of a single companion from The Outer Worlds 2. Oh! Val! That's a person. Or maybe a robot. OK. Can you ride Val? No you cannot. Sorry Val, you're not as good as an ant.

Grounded 2 doesn't feel like a classic Obsidian game. The writing and quest design aren't the standout features here. But unlike Avowed or The Outer Worlds 2, Obsidian has found something to replace them with: a setting that feels novel, and a world teeming with challenging adventures where you're wrestling with a living ecosystem.

Obsidian might not be making my kind of RPGs anymore, but at least it's making my kind of survival games.