Grounded+ chapter select order

[DrunkenEngineer]

I have a save file I completed on Survivor+, and as I understand I can use Chapter Select on Grounded and earn the two Grounded DLC trophies.  All the guides I’ve found promote the idea of playing the chapters in reverse order (and saving the Epilogue for last) because you can burn through the supplies you have and not worry about setting yourself up for failure in the subsequent chapters.

 

I experimented and it appears that when using Chapter Select you have the supplies, weapons, and upgrades at the time of your original playthrough, in my case Survivor+.  The order I play chapters, using Chapter Select, does not seem to influence the status of Joel - he’s always locked to the inventory status of the playthrough the save file is based on.  So…what’s the advantage of running the chapters in reverse?  Wouldn’t it be the same to run them randomly, or start with the prologue and run through the Chapters in order, or reverse?  As long as you use Chapter Select it doesn’t seem to matter.

 

Am I missing something?

[Cleggworth]

So if you play chapter A then quit as chapter B starts, load up chapter B you start with supplies you had the first time not when you just finished chapter A?

 

I guess if that's how it works then no, there is no reason to play backwards. Never thought to check, i just did it backwards 

[DrunkenEngineer]

44 minutes ago, Cleggworth said:

So if you play chapter A then quit as chapter B starts, load up chapter B you start with supplies you had the first time not when you just finished chapter A?

 

I guess if that's how it works then no, there is no reason to play backwards. Never thought to check, i just did it backwards 

Yeah, that’s precisely what it looks like to me.  I did it like the guides recommend (Firefly lab first), and then skipped over to the Prologue, then Quarantine Zone.  When I got to controlling Joel in Quarantine Zone it became apparent his loadout was as-is during the first playthrough, and thought maybe there was some trick where, if running backwards, you can have your endgame loadout & supplies persist at each chapter when using Chapter Select.  That seemed to be the only possible material advantage to running in reverse (or that it forces you to use Chapter Select).

 

Tried it on a different file where I want Firefly Lab -> Bus Depot and confirmed you have the supplies from the first playthrough, not your endgame loadout.

[TugaSonic]

The advantage was not from having your endgame gear since the one you have access to is the one from your previous playthrough when you reached the chapter. The advantage mentioned is that you don't have to worry about saving supplies or ammo for future chapters so you can use them as you find them.

[DrunkenEngineer]

14 minutes ago, TugaSonic said:

The advantage was not from having your endgame gear since the one you have access to is the one from your previous playthrough when you reached the chapter. The advantage mentioned is that you don't have to worry about saving supplies or ammo for future chapters so you can use them as you find them.

So…the order you play really doesn’t matter, as long as you use Chapter Select. Perfect, that’s what I thought!

Edited February 22, 2022 by DrunkenEngineer