Rate Grounded Mode Legit

[Peneuvista]

I want to know opinions and experiences of people getting over Grounded without activate cheats, which are the hardest parts, it is harder than the first, advices and tips... Will pass Permadeath in the easiest difficulty, then move to that challenge.

[jossmilan7412]

Is perfectly doable to do a Permadeath+Grounded playthrough with cheats (with just the theater fight being hard, the rest is literally a walk in the park...), but if you really really want to do 2 runs then i'd say that the hardest parts are all the heavy combat encounters with little room to move your character like the fight in which Abby needs to pass through a car in order to advance or the 1st time you meet the scars in the forest as they can spot you really easily, there are other fights that are hard but if you run past the enemies you'll have a easy time dealing with them. Boss fights are easy... Aside from the theater fight. But again, you shouldn't waste your time doing 2 playthroughs, imho.

[Peneuvista]

For me is not waste time. I want to enjoy, while suffering, the hardest setting in the game, as I did in the first. I know that I can get both trophies in 10 hours, but is not all about that. The infamous Rat King fight is easy on Grounded? How many shotgun bullets or molotovs I need?

Edited February 14, 2023 by Peneuvista

[Fiercethetear]

I have always liked the grounded difficulty in the first game and this one. It is amazing how a change in difficulty turns this game into a true survival horror. You will suffer at some points but it was really fun trying to figure out how to get past areas without getting detected. If you want to collect all collectibles in your grounded run it will be really challenging however. 

I have played it in new game plus without cheats and I would rate it 5-6/10. Biggest change for me was the fact that the marskman rifle was not a 1 hit kill to the body anymore, you will need to get a headshot.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Fiercethetear

[MarkGrouch]

The first game's Grounded difficulty is a cake-walk compared to the second. I did a Grounded+Permadeath run on Part 2 and managed to get all the way to when Ellie goes to the Aquarium legit; when you run into that Bloater in the arcade is when I started to use the cheat method. It's pretty tough and not for the faint of heart. As others have said above, if you plan to do these runs separately you'll have a far better time. The only truly tough areas are the enemy arenas and some boss encounters (as I mentioned, the Bloater in the arcade broke me), otherwise you can sneak your way through a surprising amount of the game (you can pretty much Solid Snake your way through all of Hillcrest for example). Permadeath also has a per chapter mode so you won't be losing an entire games worth of progress if you die. 

[Peneuvista]

Thanks for the tips. And that 5-6/10 is really hopeful, even with unfair places like the Arcade Bloater.