There's Some Fun Irony in Grounded Coming to the Switch

There’s Some Fun Irony in Grounded Coming to the Switch

• Grounded, a unique survival game, is now coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PS5 in April 2024.
• The Switch debut in particular is ironic given the game’s focus on shrinking down, as Obsidian will be needing to shrink down Grounded to make it work well on the current Nintendo hardware.
• Despite potential graphic sacrifices, Grounded on Switch seems to handle 60 FPS fairly well, and it seems to be offering a promising gameplay experience on the small console.

Grounded is a rather unique game where players need to face off against spiders, gather resources, and survive in their own backyard at the size of an ant. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the title was originally released in early access in 2020 for Xbox and PC, later released in full for those same platforms in 2022, and now Grounded is coming to Switch, PS4, and PS5 in April 2024.

Serving as a video game based around the shrunken children trope popularized by the 1989 feature film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Grounded has a similar premise where four teens wake up to find themselves shrunken in a backyard, but unlike the film they have no recollection of how they got there. Due to their small stature, small areas of the yard turn into huge landscapes to explore, making an everyday area into a great adventure game for the Nintendo Switch. However, Grounded’s incoming debut on Nintendo’s hybrid console is actually rather ironic.

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Grounded is Picking On Someone Its Own Size on the Nintendo Switch

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On paper, Grounded is a great fit for the Nintendo Switch since it gives players an adventure that is easy to pick up and play anywhere they want, either by themselves or with friends in co-op mode. However, though it is true that Grounded may fit well on the Switch, it’s also understandable that some fans may have reservations about the game hitting the hybrid console, as it was designed with the Xbox One, Series X/S, and PC in mind rather than the Switch’s own specifications. However, that’s where the ironic nature of Grounded going to the Switch comes in.

Grounded Has to Cut Down on Itself to Fit the Switch

Many games like Grounded have to make sacrifices in terms of graphical fidelity in order to make the jump to the Switch in particular, which makes it easy to say that Obsidian Entertainment is “shrinking” Grounded to make it fit the smaller device. The Switch will also have the smallest screen that Grounded can be played on to date, truly making the former Xbox exclusive into a small-scale adventure. As ironic as this is, however, it’s understandable as to why players are concerned about the potential sacrifices Grounded will need to make to work on the console at all.

Eagle-eyed players may have already spotted it when looking at the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase trailer, but Grounded on the Switch does seem to be running at a lower resolution than its Xbox counterpart. According to an analysis from Nintendo World Report, it appears to run at 960 x 540, which is just a bit better than other low resolution games on the system such as Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled. Grounded will likely rely on resolution scaling for important moments to keep the game looking good.

What’s most surprising is that Grounded currently appears to handle 60 FPS fairly decently, dropping in specific instances such as dynamic combat moments. It’s certainly a curious choice on Obsidian Entertainment’s end, making some players hope that there will be different performance modes that they can choose between if they are seeking more frames or a clearer quality picture.

It’s hard to say if there will be performance settings on Switch, but considering how prominent games for the system such as Pokemon Scarlet and Violet struggle to run well, it would be welcome. It can easily be said that the Switch is lagging behind the competition in terms of graphical performance, and there is a chance that Grounded proves that even more once it launches this April – even if early signs are fairly promising. Still, even with how much smaller the Switch version of Grounded may be, players are bound to have a fun time gathering resources, building a base, and uncovering the secrets as to what shrank them in the first place as they make their way through the adventure.

Grounded

Grounded is a unique survival game from developer Obsidian Entertainment in which players take control of shrunken kids stranded in a backyard world filled with all sorts of creepy crawly dangers.

Platform(s)Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PC, Xbox OneReleasedSeptember 27, 2022Developer(s)Obsidian EntertainmentPublisher(s)Xbox Game StudiosGenre(s)Survival Horror, RPGMultiplayerOnline Co-Op, Cross-playESRBT for Teen: Blood, Mild Language, ViolenceHow Long To Beat23 HoursX|S EnhancedYesFile Size Xbox Series10 GB (December 2023)Platforms That Support CrossplayPC, Xbox One &Xbox Series X|S