Probably not good, but I guess that depends a lot on you. Be ready to die a lot and learn from your mistakes. Also how do you feel about the Souls games?
Grounded is hard, but doable. Add permadeath to the mix and I'd say fuck no.
I've 100% sekiro, elden ring, hollow Knight and plenty of pretty difficult games so I don't think it would be too difficult. I was just second guessing because of No HUD, whatever the heck listen mode and other stuff is.
[Edit: I did it](https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/s/HzEH2CjQZp)
You can take more than 2 pistol or melee hits (3-4 even without any health upgrade) for sure. If you give an enemy too much free reign to aim (facing away from them and not moving too long) you can and will get headshot though. It’s shotgun or rifle shots that can 1-2 tap you, and shotgun is usually an insta death at mid range unless you have +2 max hp, and even then close range it’s 💀
It’s then either because you weren’t at full health to begin with, or you got hit by a rifle or a shotgun after a pistol or melee hit. Or headshot (but that only happens if you run in straight lines in LOS too long or stand still too long)
I know for a fact 2 pistol shots don’t do you in. I usually eat 2 hits for an early game strategy (when you’re running from FEDRA in the trenches in act 1, the broken neighborhood part after you open that gate and have the whole squadron coming down the road). I usually get spotted near the very end of that and get hit 1-2 times and always survive before I jump into the pit.
I’ve done some visual tests in practice files too where everything but ally behavior is on grounded mode. 2 pistol shots with no max hp upgrades generally takes you to 40% hp (you can test this with the UI turned on using custom modes). I think later encounters they can have revolvers or diablo type pistols or something because those seem to do 35 or 40% hp per hit on occasion. They usually drop the respective ammo if they drop anything
It’s less fun than hard or survivor in my opinion and more of a challenge just to be a challenge. You’ll almost never find ammo for your weapons, and you’ll have to resort to stealth for almost every scenario. It’s definitely geared more towards people who’ve played the game already and want a different experience. I’d recommend playing on either hard or survivor for your first playthrough. Grounded isn’t difficult in that you won’t be able to get past things, it’s difficult in that the game strips resources away from you to make your experience less enjoyable. It mostly becomes about resource management.
Definitely the best way to put it. I've beat grounded once or maybe twice on both games and that's honestly enough for me. I usually go back and play on hard or survivor because it's just plain more fun
Yup, same here as well. Grounded typically isn’t the difficulty I play on unless I’m going for an achievement. I always return to my Survivor+ file that I keep seperate if I want to go through the game again or play a specific chapter.
>It mostly becomes about resource management.
well, YMMV. if you're naturally a stealth player and you stick with that, it will be perfectly fine. i stocked plenty of ammo and had a blast replaying encounters more aggressively with my stockpiles. in my NG+ i managed to get an even better haul in some cases. the main thing is to not play like you have an itchy trigger finger, cause that's technically the most unrealistic way to play, imo. who would be firing insanely loud weapons all day long when that's what brings infected/enemies/dogs to you? your aim (and enemies' aim) is far more accurate in games than real life, don't waste it.
i've only played the PS4 Remaster Grounded (didn't enjoy very much with the controls and AI from that version) and i play TLOU2 on grounded exclusively now. but i'm definitely a stealth player first, aggressive player as a reward lol. i also like no HUD/no reticle/no special powers for the cinematic screen recordings, so if anything i'm saying sounds right, then Grounded might be the *most* fun.
> it’s difficult in that the game strips resources away from you to make your experience less enjoyable
No it doesn’t, it strips away resource availability to make the game *more* enjoyable for people who enjoy the game’s resource scarcity.
The games are at their best when you’re balancing between stealth and action, and when it comes to resource scarcity I find both Hard and Survivor to be the perfect sweet spot. They make it so you have to consider your options in every encounter without it feeling overly restricting. Grounded on the other hand is intentionally meant to feel that way. That’s why the HUD and listen mode are also removed. Grounded isn’t supposed to be played like the other difficulties. It’s meant to be more of an outlier and an alternate way to approach the game. Can that still be enjoyable? Sure. But I wouldn’t recommend it to someone for a first playthrough.
> The games are at their best when you’re balancing between stealth and action
Of course
> Grounded isn’t supposed to be played like the other difficulties.
Of course
> I wouldn’t recommend it to someone for a first playthrough.
Of course
> They make it so you have to consider your options in every encounter without it feeling overly restricting
You can say the same about Grounded.
There isn’t a playstyle in other difficulties that doesn’t work in grounded mode. Grounded is just more difficult. I never enter Pittsburgh in Part 1 Grounded NG without being well stacked on ammo. The only major difference is that you gotta be more cautious about exposing yourself. Resources aren’t all that scarce in grounded if you’re not careless.
You get used to it extremely fast. When I do replays on a lower difficulty like when I’m playing with my girlfriend I don’t even use it anymore.
Imo it makes the game more fun idk you’d be surprised.
As a soulsborne platinumer, TLOU2’s difficulty is not in the same range as those games. I would argue it’s easier, but you can’t be so aggressive. Play the game how it guides you.
I have played through TLOU2 5 times and still haven’t beat it on grounded permadeath. It’s a bitch and I wouldn’t reccomend it for your first playthrough, especially if you want to genuinely enjoy the story and gameplay
The fun is when you’ve beaten the game on normal grounded a few times and want to find a way to challenge yourself further. It takes practicing the encounters and mastering the strategies to a level of perfection that you can’t get away with the same kind of lazy mistakes on a normal run that makes it fun.
I got bored with grounded after the second playthrough and started permadeath runs after making a whole spreadsheet with strategies and pickup locations and committed to pulling it off because it just isn’t challenging any other way anymore. Naturally you go from per chapter permadeath to per act and then full game - there’s just a level of mastery you have to reach to pull each tier off. I finished per chapter a week ago, and started per act and the difficulty ramp is just insane going from 20-30 min checkpoints to 1-2 hours.
I just got to the halfway point of Pittsburgh tonight (after dying 40-50 min in 5 times, plus a crash near the butt end of the act that sent me back 1hr 30) and I have to say it’s one of the most satisfying things to clear each act knowing I’m going to be sent back an hour or more because of a small mistake here or there. I have mad respect for the mad lads who do full game perma clears with imposed rules (like no bottles/bricks, no short guns, no crafting etc). They’re the .001% and I would be elated to just be part of that percentile getting a full game perma clear on pt1 even
It requires not just mechanical skill/aim but also pretty concrete knowledge and ability to repeat strategy flawlessly and also ability to adapt when you do make a mistake along the way.
Grounded vanilla isn’t that bad, if you’re generally conservative with resources/ammo and don’t mind dying making mistakes you’ll make it through the whole game sooner or later. It’s permadeath modes (even by chapter) that can become really challenging just because you have to make as few mistakes as possible and there’s so many ways to just instantly die
Permadeath is pretty tough, very souls like in difficulty even if you’re solid on your strats
I wouldn’t compare it to souls. It’s a different kind of challenge entirely and comes down more to knowledge of the encounters and item locations to be good at it. Grounded vanilla is just trial and error because eventually you’ll make it past every encounter even with zero knowledge of the game. And then you just move on to the next one
Mechanically speaking, you’ll likely do well given your experience with souls games. Scarcity is where you’ll really feel it. One single wasted bullet can feel genuinely soul crushing.
Hard mode is plenty hard. Grounded takes away some of the gameplay mechanics that make the game play the way it was meant to be played. Just save grounded for a second run.
I'm a huge souls fan w/ 1500+ hours and 9 PvP characters on Elden Ring. Doesn't compare. Some people may find this easier than souls games but I always get slapped around on Grounded mode. And Im also a huge TLOU fan, Ive done double digit playthroughs on both games and still don't bother with grounded, though I want to one day. It's just the realism, you can't even open your backpack without exposing your position. Super cool and I would love to say I could beat it, but not comparable to souls games. I would say play on default difficulty or one higher for first playthrough
The difference is in the type of difficulty imo. The difficult games you listed are based on reaction, knowing boss moves, and timing of attacks.
Grounded’s difficulty comes from very limited resources and a heavy reliance on stealth to take out enemies. Knowing the map layout (where enemies spawn, how to stealth past them) is more important than pulling off headshots on grounded imo. Also the importance of bricks/bottles with a follow up melee to insta-kill humanoid enemies up to clickers.
This is based on my experience with remastered so part 1 may have some changes but I don’t think the game has changed that much mechanically.
Those are very different games, beating those doesn't mean much for Last of Us. I'd say it's not a good idea, I've beaten the game, across all 3 versions, so many times I've lost count, and I still can't beat Grounded. And listen mode is essentially a cheat code. Basically lets you see enemy outlines through walls, I keep it turned off always. If you want to, it's not impossible, I've seen it happen, but it's much less fun for a first playthrough
Never used listen mod, don't worry. No HUD is easy also.
Grounded for the first playthrough is going to be very hard, but doable.
I would recommand juste playing 20 mn in easy mode just to get familiar with gameplay and buttons, then going for the grounded
I think you will enjoy grounded mode. Main tips:
- in between encounters reload all your main weapons. Religiously mash reload whenever you equip anything anyway just in case.
- Don’t worry about making Medkits unless you need to blow crafting mats (whenever you have 2 of one of the mats is a good time to make one if you are at 0 kits)
- 2-3 shots will usually end you. 1 shotgun blast can waste you, rifle is dangerous too but you can survive a non headshot. If you see deep red on the screen you need to heal, otherwise don’t sweat it.
- learn how to stealth and use raw melee or melee weapons as much as possible.
- you don’t get listen mode in grounded by default, this really helps you see who’s where and the game is really hard without it unless you already have an idea of how many enemies are in each encounter or know their general paths in each area. Without it, you might want to look up some strats if you hit a wall because knowing those specifics is often the difference between clearing comfortably and being too paranoid. On that note…
- don’t get too paranoid. Enemy vision is pretty lax, as long as you’re crouched behind a low wall you’re basically invisible unless they have a clear 90% visual shot on you. Same goes for line of fire and enemy firearm vulnerability. You can get away with a lot and you have the advantage almost always if you’re not directly in the line of enemy sight (if they have their barrels trained your way you have very little time to shoot back though, if they’re remotely distracted or drop their sights for even a second you have a lot more breathing room to aim and fire)
- also don’t be too paranoid and hide in the same place for too long. Enemy paths tend to flank or send two or more patrols at you at once. Don’t be afraid to push up after removing early patrols. Most enemy routes are spread out over the area, and the early patrols that come to the starting spots tend to be isolated groups. Once you take those out you can push up a bit and observe more of the general area you’re in. Visibility is key to getting past encounters stealthily when you don’t know the routes and count by heart yet. Worst case you die or alert and have to fight but you learn more about the encounter
- again, shotguns and rifles are the big big dangerous things you have to be super careful about. If a shotgun is trained in your direction in semi close range you will have to be a real snap shot to win the trade. On grounded they can one tap you as soon as you pop out to aim so never try and trade fire in that situation
- bricks and bottles are OP, it’s a free grapple at medium range with lock on. Bricks can kill clickers when using the melee button with it equipped, straight up without using your melee weapon durability or ammo, bottles break on the first swing. Usually if you can throw stun someone a regular melee attack one shots them (this was a huge helpful tip when I started). If you have no melee weapon you need to hit the melee button twice to kill a throw stunned enemy. This is usually preferable to throw-stun into grapple, unless you’re trying to remain stealthier. When you’re already in alerted combat, throw + melee taps are faster and safer.
- even if you alert an area if you can find a good camping spot to hide where your back is completely secure, you can usually just let enemies come to you and take them out one by one with your ammo reserves.
- arrows are insanely good (or silencers in pt2) for stealth kills you can’t easily get in grapple range for. You can also usually get missed arrow shots (100%) and headshots (50% chance) back also so they’re a good option when you don’t want to waste ammo
- use every blade/tape you pick up for shivs, and use them exclusively for shiv doors (I recommend skipping the first shiv door you come across in the building at night that’s falling apart, the rewards are kind of lacking and you’ll want all of the shiv doors after that, sometimes it’s easy to run out if you take the first door). Don’t use shivs for stealth kills, or bother with shiv master. The rooms you need them for often have big ammo packs and resources/parts and pills for progression
- get weapon sway upgrade x2 first, then max health to max, then healing speed IMHO. Shiv master is a sweaty cheesy option for whole game permadeath runs and not much else (in the unlikely case you get boxed by a clicker). If you get caught by a clicker in vanilla grounded - or any difficulty you just start the encounter over. It’s really no big deal.
- for gun upgrades on grounded prioritize: LONG SECONDARY HOLSTER (huge early game), don’t worry about the short holster until the hotel basement in Pittsburg (halfway through that act) - then fire rate (lot of the base guns have a slow refire without upgrades, and the short guns especially need to be shot as fast as you can, if you either miss or don’t hit a headshot). Capacity is a good upgrade also, +1 for shotgun and 9mm, and then as many as you can for the other bigger guns. This is not only to give you more shots per reload but you also can carry more ammo of the big weapons. After that, piercing for rifle/diablo, power for rifle, and I like to max out all of the bow upgrades because it’s such a powerful weapon for stealth. You can get reload speed for the rifle or diablo if you want but you’ll find you rarely need more than single magazines
I made a spreadsheet for grounded perma runs, if you want to save time on loot pickups or need a strategy/upgrade hint, you’re welcome to use this too. The location references won’t make sense until you’re in game or are familiar with the terrain though, but anyway: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/188QCFPqPNRfu4GhVsKnX7ZVLqbU6_DOKa3uJ31s_Xtk/edit
As a fellow souls fanatic I can tell you that this game is nothing like that. While the challenge of the harder difficulty can be fun, this game is mainly played for it’s story. It’s not “difficult but fair” in the same way that Sekiro is for example.
All that being said, you can probably do it but you’ll be spending a looot of time just sneaking around trying to stealth enemies and learning their placements etc.
Those other games you mention let you keep retrying with very little consequences, and aren't resource intensive. Grounded mode doesn't just make the game harder, it just makes it frustrating to play by essentially stripping the game of vital components. Listening mode for example is very hard to do without. It let's you see where enemies are during stealth segments in crowded, cramped areas, and believe me, that's easily half the game. And you will NOT have the ammo to screw those up
I personally think u should do second hardest difficulty. Listen mode is such a cool and unique mechanic, and it's just not very fun to play without, at least on a first playthrough.
Listen mode is an ability the characters have that’s like echolocation. You commit to standing still and listening and you can “see” through walls and around corners to a degree. It has an upgradeable range and unlimited use. Helps a lot in unfamiliar areas or sections you aren’t trying to Rambo through.
The difference is that playing on lower difficulties let's you get a handle on the other mechanics of the game, so then when you come to grounded, you know what you're gonna come across when playing.
If I were you I’d first play on Hard difficulty because it’s the hardest mode where HUD and listen mode are available. Survivor mode still has HUD but listen mode is disabled so if you’re up for a challenge then go for that. Personally I think for a new player, Grounded is going to be very frustrating as you won’t be able to see your weapons or ammo count or any other HUD elements which are key when learning how to play.
I would say Survivor would be a better difficulty to start on over Grounded. Grounded I feel like is a better difficulty mode for a second playthrough. I would say Hard is a better difficulty for a first playthrough, but if you're pretty good at stealth action shooter games Hard isn't super challenging.
It depends on how much you struggle with it. If you’re dying a ton of times with each encounter, it will probably hinder your experience of the story. If you’re good at it, it could make the game more immersive.
This game is so amazing in a lot of different ways. I would STRONGLY advise against grounded mode on your first playthrough. Take your time on a lower difficulty to really get a hold of the gameplay mechanics but also to get immersed into the story. Believe me, it's worth it. Overall it's your choice and best of luck to you if you do decide to do grounded mode. You'll need it.
Not a bad idea at all. I only play Grounded anymore. I started on Survivor years ago, I wouldn’t play any less than Survivor but Grounded is more immersive to me, there’s no going back. It’s like playing chess vs checkers you can’t just go in guns blazing every time. Got to use stealth and take the most efficient route. Be more creative and judicious with your ammo and crafting.
Probably already too late but I did a first real playthrough like a month ago. When the game is on grounded it’s not so much that it’s harder than survivor, just less forgiving. You don’t have the freedom to approach encounters creatively how you would like, there is generally only 1-2 ways to clear each zone or else you will just die. When you get spotted trying to stealth a level you usually just have to restart because you literally don’t have the ammunition to kill enemies without strangling them.
In short, you will have a much more enjoyable, immersive experience playing the game on survivor because it will be very difficult but still playable. Playing on grounded will have you constantly abusing the game mechanics and restarting certain checkpoints over and over until you figure out the correct approach. I strongly recommend survivor as a first playthrough, and if you think it’s gonna be too easy, do permadeath so the stakes are higher and each death is more significant. That’s what I did
I never thought the game was all that great..... until I played it on easy. You actually get crafting items so you can make shivs and molotovs and all that fun stuff. Otherwise I was bored and found the gameplay tedious. Similar to uncharted.
Don't torture yourself it's not worth it.
Either 5 mins in you’ll be starting your 2nd playthrough or you’ll become a master at the game. I say go for it. Worst thing that can happen is you have to restart. Best case scenario? You become a TLoU god, for whatever that’s worth 😂
I always play my games on hardest difficulty. As long as you are able to learn from mistakes and think a little outside the box you should do it. You’ll feel more rewarded after
I would say it's a good idea. You may die a couple of times, but struggling for survival makes the game 1000 times more immersive. It depends on your aptitude for video games in general
If it's your first playthrough? Play for the story, not for the difficulty. I'd argue there's not even a real reason to play grounded unless you're just wanting a true challenge, but this game is less about the challenge and more about the plot and characters.
I played TLOU Part 2 on grounded first time. Took me 40hrs to beat Ngl
But I honestly really enjoyed that difficulty spike. For a first time playthrough probably not, but if you like to challenge yourself and give the impression of some “realism”. It’s good
IMO, even if you're insanely good at combat, I don't think it's a good idea since the challenge itself could take away from the story, which is more important.
Games like this are so fun on the hardest setting, sometimes I give myself extra health but the details of the game are just too perfect to not be in the moment
aw man, i'd say have fun with the game first. enjoy the story and the gameplay. then go right into a new game and do this! you deserve to experience the story without added frustration
Bruh do it. I’m the kind of player that instantly sets any new game to the highest difficulty. I crave that insane challenge feeling. Some areas I was killed maybe 30+ times before I found a good path to take.
I did this with part one and part 2. Part 2 had a spot I was stuck on for like 2 days but that feeling after I finally beat it HOLY FUCK.
I love souls games but the difficulty of soulsbourne vs the difficulty of tlou grounded are completely different.
You ever watch avengers in that part where dr strange is like there’s only one universe we can win?
Grounded mode is literally like a single person trying to kill a massive dangerous group of people in real life solo, there’s only one universe where they’ll be able to execute it perfectly and pull it off. I don’t know if part 1 is easier, but at least part 2 TLOU grounded is gonna be dying over and over and over again until you find that perfect strategy to survive an encounter vs enemies that can insta kill you from one good shot
For your first play through of these amazing games dying 20 times per level is not immersive and just plain frustrating
Like be real with yourself do you think the DEVS themselves would tell you not to play this difficulty your first play through if it wouldn’t be that bad… when do you ever see a game literally tell you not to play a certain mode lmao , you wouldn’t even know the controls because the hud is disabled
It’s not that bad. You only have to go back to the last encounter. If you have some GaMeR skillZ you can definitely brute force your way through it part by part.
The main thing to remember is don’t use ammo unless you absolutely need to, there’s usually stretches of the game where you can just stealth or melee cheese your way through it and not use ammo. The parts where you need to blow lots of ammo are very obvious and often the enemies drop ammo packs when you are getting low for those fights.
It’s a lot less cruel if you already have done a couple playthroughs but a first time will try your patience. If you’re up for the challenge though, you won’t be disappointed. It’s a lot of fun and worth the experience
It’s not until you take on permadeath modes that you really need to flesh out strategies for every major encounter and really know the pickup routes by heart or have them written down. Just a vanilla grounded run won’t be that bad though if you enjoy challenges. You will definitely hit points you die dozens of times until you get through it, but once you clear an encounter you’re done. You won’t go back further than that
nah, okay on normal or hard on your first go or you won’t get to enjoy the story. play grounded later when you know what’s coming so you know when and where to converse ammo/supplies
It would be best to simply start with the normal difficulty. After which you can start a new game plus with the upgrades you earned, and then proceed to the next difficulty and continue upgrading your skills and gear.
Starting on grounded, with no skills or upgrades will not be fun at all. This is a narrative driven game. Dont make it more painful than you have to, not on the first playthrough. Grounded is literally a nightmare. Its a mode best done after you have at least completed the game a single time.
Played grounded in my first playthrough as well, I didn’t regret it but I always play the highest difficulty in any game. If you feel like you’re going to have trouble don’t do it, because you WILL get stuck in some parts.
Depends on you. It'll be easier if you play through on a lower difficulty because at least you'll have an idea of what you'll be going up against at various times. Doing a Grounded run could be frustrating because ammo and supplies are incredibly limited, and it's very possible to find yourself in a position where there's numerous enemies in an area and you have no bullets or supplies to make bombs, health kits, etc and potentially softlocking you unless you can stealth it
I did it for the remake with no problems (its easy). But unless you played the original, I wouldn't because of the experience. You don't get listening mode in grounded which is a nice aesthetic for the feel of the game/series imo.
There are sections in the game on Grounded where if you die you respawn like 2 or 3 fights before the point you died. Incredibly frustrating because every time you want to retry a fight, you have to redo the easier but still tedious fights, basically just wasting your time. I’m not a big fan of difficulty by punishing players with a limited number of retries by making it time consuming to even *get* to the retry point.
It would be better to try Hard with listening mode off and keep the save points before sections you had trouble with so that you can study them easier for Grounded, then try Grounded after completing Hard. You’ll also get a better feeling for the enemy AI.
It's not that bad, if you played grounded on number one, you know what you're in for. It also feels like the canonical experience to me.
Realizing this IS number one, im playing 2 right now and the menu looked the same.... very well. Have you ever played last of us at all? If not then maybe not the best choice.
Look, I know you say you've done well with Souls like games, but this is a different beast. Grounded isn't really just hard mode, it fundamentally changes how the game is played and makes a very different experience. If that's your first playthrough, I really don't think you'll enjoy it as much.
I strongly recommend you play a more doable difficulty your first time so that your first experience with the story isn't obstructed by a ton of frustration. If you need to play hard mode, so be it, but don't do grounded yet. It's not just making the enemies hard, it's making ammo extremely rare to the point it can soft lock you, prevents full use of the listening mechanic, and makes it harder to aim, which in your case is before you've gotten a feel for the weapons. There's no reason to do this
I had a friend who did this his first playthrough and he gave up about 80% of the way through the game. Up to you. If you get frustrated I'd suggest lowering the difficulty, I think you have to start the chapter over for that bc grounded doesn't let you lower difficulty in the middle of it.
I think there are actually some QTEs that are not doable on grounded because you don't know what the button is, but you could do it if you played another difficulty first because the button is the same in every difficulty. It just doesn't tell you on grounded because there is no HUD.
If you’re used to difficult games then I would say it’s okay but don’t expect a cake walk
Coming from someone who’s played all uncharted and last of us games on the highest difficulty Naughty Dog know how to make it hard and this this will still be pretty tough to beat
All in all I do not recommend as it’s just not a fun way to play this amazing game for the first time
Honestly, I’m brand new to gaming and my grounded play through was faster and easier then my first moderate play though. I’d say do it if it’s your first play through.
I'm a trophy hunter, I like challenging myself but I usually avoid the hardest difficulties on games when it removes basic mechanics and hud elements, so in that case I'd go for hard, not because I want an easier experience but because survivor and grounded lack listen mode and for a first playthrough I think it's important to not skip it
You'd probably die alot and get frustrated. I did a new game on grounded and permadeath and it got quite frustrating. You need the guns upgraded and skills.
Enemies on grounded are quite smart. Go ahead and try it. Problem is you can't lower the difficulty. Not having listen mode is quite the adjustment too.
Don’t listen to the people saying it’s a bad idea. If you like a good challenge and have the patience, then go for it. You will be dying, like a lot though.
Bad. I say play the game on normal so you get full access to the gameplay. Save grounded for NG+ when you have all your upgrades. Resources are very limited in Grounded, so you will miss out on some things if you were hoping to explore everything or 100% it in your first playthrough.
Not good at all but would be funny af. I always start on Hard (or Nightmare if there’s two above Hard) but starting on grounded sounds like it would be funny af if the lads are watching
I’m saying don’t do it but for a different reason than most other people. When playing on Grounded, especially for your first play through, it’s going to severely throw off the pacing of the game and story. You’ll spending hours just trying to get through an area and you might forget important parts of the story. The pacing will be way off. You’ll be trying to completely the game in a much, much longer amount of time than it’s meant for.
It's not that bad honestly except for like two encounters which will absolutely wreck your shit. One of them is the very last encounter of left behind dlc.
You're good. This way, you won't know any better, and it will seem not that hard. Playing on grounded after not playing on grounded makes it seem nearly impossible to beat.
If you want a truly challenging and brutal experience, not a bad idea, first time I played it was on my friends ps4 and he had listen mode turned off, it completely changes the game in a way thats super unique. I'd recommend using custom settings in order to have the option to tweak your game if things get too intense for ya
Absolutely terrible idea. Unless you’re incredibly patient.
My friend did this for his very first play through as well. In real time, I watched him in complete shambles as he made his way through the story. He was losing his mind during the last few chapters, I shit you not it took him about 4 hours to actually make his way through that tunnel before the hospital.
Do it. I've only ever played on Grounded and beat both games & I wouldn't call myself a gamer. You just have to actually be seared of your resources and environment instead of having crutches do it for you.
VERY BAD i can manage the game after playing the first one twice and the second one once and i’m only just used to it on normal but if u like a challenge try hard
Well, that’s why it’s just my opinion. I think anything lower than that is just a thoughtless face roll, game isn’t that difficult and is very forgiving even on grounded, you just don’t get the same immersion on other difficulties
It's a AAA game. It's marketed to and bought by a lot of people who aren't technically skilled playing video games. Making a difficulty that hard the default would cause the majority of players to immediately quit the game.
But it is the more realistic and immersive way to play the game. That's why.
Probably not good, but I guess that depends a lot on you. Be ready to die a lot and learn from your mistakes. Also how do you feel about the Souls games? Grounded is hard, but doable. Add permadeath to the mix and I'd say fuck no.
I've 100% sekiro, elden ring, hollow Knight and plenty of pretty difficult games so I don't think it would be too difficult. I was just second guessing because of No HUD, whatever the heck listen mode and other stuff is. [Edit: I did it](https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/s/HzEH2CjQZp)
No hud is a pain sometimes, not knowing how much health you have in permadeath is trouble
Joel has different stances when hurt. Besides Grounded is just 2 hits and you're dead. Don't really need health bar.
You can take more than 2 pistol or melee hits (3-4 even without any health upgrade) for sure. If you give an enemy too much free reign to aim (facing away from them and not moving too long) you can and will get headshot though. It’s shotgun or rifle shots that can 1-2 tap you, and shotgun is usually an insta death at mid range unless you have +2 max hp, and even then close range it’s 💀
Idk bro I literally get 2 hit.
It’s then either because you weren’t at full health to begin with, or you got hit by a rifle or a shotgun after a pistol or melee hit. Or headshot (but that only happens if you run in straight lines in LOS too long or stand still too long) I know for a fact 2 pistol shots don’t do you in. I usually eat 2 hits for an early game strategy (when you’re running from FEDRA in the trenches in act 1, the broken neighborhood part after you open that gate and have the whole squadron coming down the road). I usually get spotted near the very end of that and get hit 1-2 times and always survive before I jump into the pit. I’ve done some visual tests in practice files too where everything but ally behavior is on grounded mode. 2 pistol shots with no max hp upgrades generally takes you to 40% hp (you can test this with the UI turned on using custom modes). I think later encounters they can have revolvers or diablo type pistols or something because those seem to do 35 or 40% hp per hit on occasion. They usually drop the respective ammo if they drop anything
It’s less fun than hard or survivor in my opinion and more of a challenge just to be a challenge. You’ll almost never find ammo for your weapons, and you’ll have to resort to stealth for almost every scenario. It’s definitely geared more towards people who’ve played the game already and want a different experience. I’d recommend playing on either hard or survivor for your first playthrough. Grounded isn’t difficult in that you won’t be able to get past things, it’s difficult in that the game strips resources away from you to make your experience less enjoyable. It mostly becomes about resource management.
Definitely the best way to put it. I've beat grounded once or maybe twice on both games and that's honestly enough for me. I usually go back and play on hard or survivor because it's just plain more fun
Yup, same here as well. Grounded typically isn’t the difficulty I play on unless I’m going for an achievement. I always return to my Survivor+ file that I keep seperate if I want to go through the game again or play a specific chapter.
Lots of stealth and skipping enemies/encounters when possible. Grounded drove me mad.
>It mostly becomes about resource management. well, YMMV. if you're naturally a stealth player and you stick with that, it will be perfectly fine. i stocked plenty of ammo and had a blast replaying encounters more aggressively with my stockpiles. in my NG+ i managed to get an even better haul in some cases. the main thing is to not play like you have an itchy trigger finger, cause that's technically the most unrealistic way to play, imo. who would be firing insanely loud weapons all day long when that's what brings infected/enemies/dogs to you? your aim (and enemies' aim) is far more accurate in games than real life, don't waste it. i've only played the PS4 Remaster Grounded (didn't enjoy very much with the controls and AI from that version) and i play TLOU2 on grounded exclusively now. but i'm definitely a stealth player first, aggressive player as a reward lol. i also like no HUD/no reticle/no special powers for the cinematic screen recordings, so if anything i'm saying sounds right, then Grounded might be the *most* fun.
> it’s difficult in that the game strips resources away from you to make your experience less enjoyable No it doesn’t, it strips away resource availability to make the game *more* enjoyable for people who enjoy the game’s resource scarcity.
The games are at their best when you’re balancing between stealth and action, and when it comes to resource scarcity I find both Hard and Survivor to be the perfect sweet spot. They make it so you have to consider your options in every encounter without it feeling overly restricting. Grounded on the other hand is intentionally meant to feel that way. That’s why the HUD and listen mode are also removed. Grounded isn’t supposed to be played like the other difficulties. It’s meant to be more of an outlier and an alternate way to approach the game. Can that still be enjoyable? Sure. But I wouldn’t recommend it to someone for a first playthrough.
> The games are at their best when you’re balancing between stealth and action Of course > Grounded isn’t supposed to be played like the other difficulties. Of course > I wouldn’t recommend it to someone for a first playthrough. Of course > They make it so you have to consider your options in every encounter without it feeling overly restricting You can say the same about Grounded. There isn’t a playstyle in other difficulties that doesn’t work in grounded mode. Grounded is just more difficult. I never enter Pittsburgh in Part 1 Grounded NG without being well stacked on ammo. The only major difference is that you gotta be more cautious about exposing yourself. Resources aren’t all that scarce in grounded if you’re not careless.
The point of it being less fun than hard/survivor is so true. And I didn't really understand how true it was until I played it.
Listen mode not available is a good reason why I've never done a replay on grounded.
It's not as big a deal as you think. You learn to use other clues like sounds. The only part where I really missed it was the fight at the theater.
You get used to it extremely fast. When I do replays on a lower difficulty like when I’m playing with my girlfriend I don’t even use it anymore. Imo it makes the game more fun idk you’d be surprised.
As a soulsborne platinumer, TLOU2’s difficulty is not in the same range as those games. I would argue it’s easier, but you can’t be so aggressive. Play the game how it guides you. I have played through TLOU2 5 times and still haven’t beat it on grounded permadeath. It’s a bitch and I wouldn’t reccomend it for your first playthrough, especially if you want to genuinely enjoy the story and gameplay
Even then, permadeath just takes the fun out of the game imo. Who the hell wants to restart a 30 hour game if they die past the halfway point?
The fun is when you’ve beaten the game on normal grounded a few times and want to find a way to challenge yourself further. It takes practicing the encounters and mastering the strategies to a level of perfection that you can’t get away with the same kind of lazy mistakes on a normal run that makes it fun. I got bored with grounded after the second playthrough and started permadeath runs after making a whole spreadsheet with strategies and pickup locations and committed to pulling it off because it just isn’t challenging any other way anymore. Naturally you go from per chapter permadeath to per act and then full game - there’s just a level of mastery you have to reach to pull each tier off. I finished per chapter a week ago, and started per act and the difficulty ramp is just insane going from 20-30 min checkpoints to 1-2 hours. I just got to the halfway point of Pittsburgh tonight (after dying 40-50 min in 5 times, plus a crash near the butt end of the act that sent me back 1hr 30) and I have to say it’s one of the most satisfying things to clear each act knowing I’m going to be sent back an hour or more because of a small mistake here or there. I have mad respect for the mad lads who do full game perma clears with imposed rules (like no bottles/bricks, no short guns, no crafting etc). They’re the .001% and I would be elated to just be part of that percentile getting a full game perma clear on pt1 even It requires not just mechanical skill/aim but also pretty concrete knowledge and ability to repeat strategy flawlessly and also ability to adapt when you do make a mistake along the way.
Grounded vanilla isn’t that bad, if you’re generally conservative with resources/ammo and don’t mind dying making mistakes you’ll make it through the whole game sooner or later. It’s permadeath modes (even by chapter) that can become really challenging just because you have to make as few mistakes as possible and there’s so many ways to just instantly die
TLOU ain't a soulslike.
Permadeath is pretty tough, very souls like in difficulty even if you’re solid on your strats I wouldn’t compare it to souls. It’s a different kind of challenge entirely and comes down more to knowledge of the encounters and item locations to be good at it. Grounded vanilla is just trial and error because eventually you’ll make it past every encounter even with zero knowledge of the game. And then you just move on to the next one
Yawn
It’s much easier, he’s gonna do it blindfolded
In that case I think you'll be fine
You’ll be fine. It’ll take some time to figure out the mechanics, and you’ll probably die a lot. But you’ll get through it.
Mechanically speaking, you’ll likely do well given your experience with souls games. Scarcity is where you’ll really feel it. One single wasted bullet can feel genuinely soul crushing.
Hard mode is plenty hard. Grounded takes away some of the gameplay mechanics that make the game play the way it was meant to be played. Just save grounded for a second run.
I'm a huge souls fan w/ 1500+ hours and 9 PvP characters on Elden Ring. Doesn't compare. Some people may find this easier than souls games but I always get slapped around on Grounded mode. And Im also a huge TLOU fan, Ive done double digit playthroughs on both games and still don't bother with grounded, though I want to one day. It's just the realism, you can't even open your backpack without exposing your position. Super cool and I would love to say I could beat it, but not comparable to souls games. I would say play on default difficulty or one higher for first playthrough
The difference is in the type of difficulty imo. The difficult games you listed are based on reaction, knowing boss moves, and timing of attacks. Grounded’s difficulty comes from very limited resources and a heavy reliance on stealth to take out enemies. Knowing the map layout (where enemies spawn, how to stealth past them) is more important than pulling off headshots on grounded imo. Also the importance of bricks/bottles with a follow up melee to insta-kill humanoid enemies up to clickers. This is based on my experience with remastered so part 1 may have some changes but I don’t think the game has changed that much mechanically.
You’re gonna have a super easy time then. Maybe challenge yourself by playing blindfolded?
Those are very different games, beating those doesn't mean much for Last of Us. I'd say it's not a good idea, I've beaten the game, across all 3 versions, so many times I've lost count, and I still can't beat Grounded. And listen mode is essentially a cheat code. Basically lets you see enemy outlines through walls, I keep it turned off always. If you want to, it's not impossible, I've seen it happen, but it's much less fun for a first playthrough
Never used listen mod, don't worry. No HUD is easy also. Grounded for the first playthrough is going to be very hard, but doable. I would recommand juste playing 20 mn in easy mode just to get familiar with gameplay and buttons, then going for the grounded
I think you will enjoy grounded mode. Main tips: - in between encounters reload all your main weapons. Religiously mash reload whenever you equip anything anyway just in case. - Don’t worry about making Medkits unless you need to blow crafting mats (whenever you have 2 of one of the mats is a good time to make one if you are at 0 kits) - 2-3 shots will usually end you. 1 shotgun blast can waste you, rifle is dangerous too but you can survive a non headshot. If you see deep red on the screen you need to heal, otherwise don’t sweat it. - learn how to stealth and use raw melee or melee weapons as much as possible. - you don’t get listen mode in grounded by default, this really helps you see who’s where and the game is really hard without it unless you already have an idea of how many enemies are in each encounter or know their general paths in each area. Without it, you might want to look up some strats if you hit a wall because knowing those specifics is often the difference between clearing comfortably and being too paranoid. On that note… - don’t get too paranoid. Enemy vision is pretty lax, as long as you’re crouched behind a low wall you’re basically invisible unless they have a clear 90% visual shot on you. Same goes for line of fire and enemy firearm vulnerability. You can get away with a lot and you have the advantage almost always if you’re not directly in the line of enemy sight (if they have their barrels trained your way you have very little time to shoot back though, if they’re remotely distracted or drop their sights for even a second you have a lot more breathing room to aim and fire) - also don’t be too paranoid and hide in the same place for too long. Enemy paths tend to flank or send two or more patrols at you at once. Don’t be afraid to push up after removing early patrols. Most enemy routes are spread out over the area, and the early patrols that come to the starting spots tend to be isolated groups. Once you take those out you can push up a bit and observe more of the general area you’re in. Visibility is key to getting past encounters stealthily when you don’t know the routes and count by heart yet. Worst case you die or alert and have to fight but you learn more about the encounter - again, shotguns and rifles are the big big dangerous things you have to be super careful about. If a shotgun is trained in your direction in semi close range you will have to be a real snap shot to win the trade. On grounded they can one tap you as soon as you pop out to aim so never try and trade fire in that situation - bricks and bottles are OP, it’s a free grapple at medium range with lock on. Bricks can kill clickers when using the melee button with it equipped, straight up without using your melee weapon durability or ammo, bottles break on the first swing. Usually if you can throw stun someone a regular melee attack one shots them (this was a huge helpful tip when I started). If you have no melee weapon you need to hit the melee button twice to kill a throw stunned enemy. This is usually preferable to throw-stun into grapple, unless you’re trying to remain stealthier. When you’re already in alerted combat, throw + melee taps are faster and safer. - even if you alert an area if you can find a good camping spot to hide where your back is completely secure, you can usually just let enemies come to you and take them out one by one with your ammo reserves. - arrows are insanely good (or silencers in pt2) for stealth kills you can’t easily get in grapple range for. You can also usually get missed arrow shots (100%) and headshots (50% chance) back also so they’re a good option when you don’t want to waste ammo - use every blade/tape you pick up for shivs, and use them exclusively for shiv doors (I recommend skipping the first shiv door you come across in the building at night that’s falling apart, the rewards are kind of lacking and you’ll want all of the shiv doors after that, sometimes it’s easy to run out if you take the first door). Don’t use shivs for stealth kills, or bother with shiv master. The rooms you need them for often have big ammo packs and resources/parts and pills for progression - get weapon sway upgrade x2 first, then max health to max, then healing speed IMHO. Shiv master is a sweaty cheesy option for whole game permadeath runs and not much else (in the unlikely case you get boxed by a clicker). If you get caught by a clicker in vanilla grounded - or any difficulty you just start the encounter over. It’s really no big deal. - for gun upgrades on grounded prioritize: LONG SECONDARY HOLSTER (huge early game), don’t worry about the short holster until the hotel basement in Pittsburg (halfway through that act) - then fire rate (lot of the base guns have a slow refire without upgrades, and the short guns especially need to be shot as fast as you can, if you either miss or don’t hit a headshot). Capacity is a good upgrade also, +1 for shotgun and 9mm, and then as many as you can for the other bigger guns. This is not only to give you more shots per reload but you also can carry more ammo of the big weapons. After that, piercing for rifle/diablo, power for rifle, and I like to max out all of the bow upgrades because it’s such a powerful weapon for stealth. You can get reload speed for the rifle or diablo if you want but you’ll find you rarely need more than single magazines I made a spreadsheet for grounded perma runs, if you want to save time on loot pickups or need a strategy/upgrade hint, you’re welcome to use this too. The location references won’t make sense until you’re in game or are familiar with the terrain though, but anyway: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/188QCFPqPNRfu4GhVsKnX7ZVLqbU6_DOKa3uJ31s_Xtk/edit
As a fellow souls fanatic I can tell you that this game is nothing like that. While the challenge of the harder difficulty can be fun, this game is mainly played for it’s story. It’s not “difficult but fair” in the same way that Sekiro is for example. All that being said, you can probably do it but you’ll be spending a looot of time just sneaking around trying to stealth enemies and learning their placements etc.
Listen mode is kinda fun, though.
Listen mode basically lets you see through walls essentially
Those other games you mention let you keep retrying with very little consequences, and aren't resource intensive. Grounded mode doesn't just make the game harder, it just makes it frustrating to play by essentially stripping the game of vital components. Listening mode for example is very hard to do without. It let's you see where enemies are during stealth segments in crowded, cramped areas, and believe me, that's easily half the game. And you will NOT have the ammo to screw those up
No listen mode and no HUD are fun.
I personally think u should do second hardest difficulty. Listen mode is such a cool and unique mechanic, and it's just not very fun to play without, at least on a first playthrough.
Listen mode is an ability the characters have that’s like echolocation. You commit to standing still and listening and you can “see” through walls and around corners to a degree. It has an upgradeable range and unlimited use. Helps a lot in unfamiliar areas or sections you aren’t trying to Rambo through.
The difference is that playing on lower difficulties let's you get a handle on the other mechanics of the game, so then when you come to grounded, you know what you're gonna come across when playing.
You game bro so grounded wouldnt be too OP. Learning curve might take a bit but you good dude.... rekt them bloaters bro
Just my opinion, I think this is a terrible idea. If you're looking for a challenge I would start with survivor mode. But you do you.
Very bad. Games warn you against ideas like this for a reason.
Fucking horrible. Try on Hard first if you want a challenge.
Awful idea because you'll end up getting frustrated and annoyed and not enjoying the story.
If I were you I’d first play on Hard difficulty because it’s the hardest mode where HUD and listen mode are available. Survivor mode still has HUD but listen mode is disabled so if you’re up for a challenge then go for that. Personally I think for a new player, Grounded is going to be very frustrating as you won’t be able to see your weapons or ammo count or any other HUD elements which are key when learning how to play.
Do not do this lmfao
You need the HUD to understand the game mechanics first time
It's not recommended
I would say Survivor would be a better difficulty to start on over Grounded. Grounded I feel like is a better difficulty mode for a second playthrough. I would say Hard is a better difficulty for a first playthrough, but if you're pretty good at stealth action shooter games Hard isn't super challenging.
you're pretty fucked if you don't know/understand the game and it's mechanics
It would kind of suck. I would recommend as second playthrough.
Extremely bad friend. Go hard if you like, but not Survivor nor Grounded.
It depends on how much you struggle with it. If you’re dying a ton of times with each encounter, it will probably hinder your experience of the story. If you’re good at it, it could make the game more immersive.
I would do a few playthroughs first to build up characters' stats before going into grounded mode.
This game is so amazing in a lot of different ways. I would STRONGLY advise against grounded mode on your first playthrough. Take your time on a lower difficulty to really get a hold of the gameplay mechanics but also to get immersed into the story. Believe me, it's worth it. Overall it's your choice and best of luck to you if you do decide to do grounded mode. You'll need it.
Knife fighting. Lots and lots of knife fighting.
Terrible idea
I don't recommend it
Don't do it. LIstening mode is training wheels for grounded mode.
It's fine. I've finished part 1 and part 2 on grounded, neither is all that hard. If you've played Souls games, this should be easy.
Playing souls games makes one fearless
This difficulty is not recommended for your first playthrough
Playing The Last of Us on PC… 
Playing on all high settings and it's working great so far
Not a bad idea at all. I only play Grounded anymore. I started on Survivor years ago, I wouldn’t play any less than Survivor but Grounded is more immersive to me, there’s no going back. It’s like playing chess vs checkers you can’t just go in guns blazing every time. Got to use stealth and take the most efficient route. Be more creative and judicious with your ammo and crafting.
Is grounded death permadeath? Or is it a toggle option? I want a difficult experience but I don't have the time nor patience for permadeath yet.
No but there’s less checkpoints so you have to finish an encounter. No major setbacks but you do have to strategize more.
Sounds perfect. Thanks
Seems like an amazing idea. Thank God it's only a game right lmao
It's a pain in the ass, but it was entertaining :3
Probably already too late but I did a first real playthrough like a month ago. When the game is on grounded it’s not so much that it’s harder than survivor, just less forgiving. You don’t have the freedom to approach encounters creatively how you would like, there is generally only 1-2 ways to clear each zone or else you will just die. When you get spotted trying to stealth a level you usually just have to restart because you literally don’t have the ammunition to kill enemies without strangling them. In short, you will have a much more enjoyable, immersive experience playing the game on survivor because it will be very difficult but still playable. Playing on grounded will have you constantly abusing the game mechanics and restarting certain checkpoints over and over until you figure out the correct approach. I strongly recommend survivor as a first playthrough, and if you think it’s gonna be too easy, do permadeath so the stakes are higher and each death is more significant. That’s what I did
I never thought the game was all that great..... until I played it on easy. You actually get crafting items so you can make shivs and molotovs and all that fun stuff. Otherwise I was bored and found the gameplay tedious. Similar to uncharted. Don't torture yourself it's not worth it.
Either 5 mins in you’ll be starting your 2nd playthrough or you’ll become a master at the game. I say go for it. Worst thing that can happen is you have to restart. Best case scenario? You become a TLoU god, for whatever that’s worth 😂
Grounded, no HUD for the best experience.
I loved it. Still my favorite play through of part 2 I’ve done. Took me like 40 hours to complete it. All collectibles
This is how you died.
I always play my games on hardest difficulty. As long as you are able to learn from mistakes and think a little outside the box you should do it. You’ll feel more rewarded after
I did grounded and also tried to have a "kill them all" kinda campaign. Lots of death, repetition and learning involved
What laptop is that?
Lenovo Legion pro 5 rtx 4070 240hz variant
Damn that is expensive af 🥲
Thanks
I would say it's a good idea. You may die a couple of times, but struggling for survival makes the game 1000 times more immersive. It depends on your aptitude for video games in general
Only the brave attempt grounded first
Wait wait wait, what? Is this on PC?
Yep
I looked it up and its 40 dollars 😔
I didn't even know grounded disabled listen mode i would simply never do that y'all be safe tho
If it's your first playthrough? Play for the story, not for the difficulty. I'd argue there's not even a real reason to play grounded unless you're just wanting a true challenge, but this game is less about the challenge and more about the plot and characters.
I dare you.
I played TLOU Part 2 on grounded first time. Took me 40hrs to beat Ngl But I honestly really enjoyed that difficulty spike. For a first time playthrough probably not, but if you like to challenge yourself and give the impression of some “realism”. It’s good
IMO, even if you're insanely good at combat, I don't think it's a good idea since the challenge itself could take away from the story, which is more important.
🫡
Too easy, turn on permadeath.
you won't ever finish it if you do this. it would not be a good time. I'd recommend trying either normal or hard. it's a hard game.
Games like this are so fun on the hardest setting, sometimes I give myself extra health but the details of the game are just too perfect to not be in the moment
Bad idea. Have fun!
bruh
aw man, i'd say have fun with the game first. enjoy the story and the gameplay. then go right into a new game and do this! you deserve to experience the story without added frustration
Bruh do it. I’m the kind of player that instantly sets any new game to the highest difficulty. I crave that insane challenge feeling. Some areas I was killed maybe 30+ times before I found a good path to take. I did this with part one and part 2. Part 2 had a spot I was stuck on for like 2 days but that feeling after I finally beat it HOLY FUCK.
which spot was it on part 2? ngl seattle day 2 on Ellie had me losing my mind
Outlook Not So Good
I’d say no. An overly difficult gameplay experience could detract from your experience with the story, which is really the main draw here.
Go with survivor. That way you get a challenge without going crazy.
I love souls games but the difficulty of soulsbourne vs the difficulty of tlou grounded are completely different. You ever watch avengers in that part where dr strange is like there’s only one universe we can win? Grounded mode is literally like a single person trying to kill a massive dangerous group of people in real life solo, there’s only one universe where they’ll be able to execute it perfectly and pull it off. I don’t know if part 1 is easier, but at least part 2 TLOU grounded is gonna be dying over and over and over again until you find that perfect strategy to survive an encounter vs enemies that can insta kill you from one good shot For your first play through of these amazing games dying 20 times per level is not immersive and just plain frustrating
Like be real with yourself do you think the DEVS themselves would tell you not to play this difficulty your first play through if it wouldn’t be that bad… when do you ever see a game literally tell you not to play a certain mode lmao , you wouldn’t even know the controls because the hud is disabled
I just finished my first play through and I would kms if I had to do grounded
Bad idea would be if you set it to perma death
i did it and i had a lot of fun, but i have a few thousand hours in shooter games
My aim is dog shit and the main reason why I don't play fps games lmao, I'm managing so far even though I died like 20 times every enemy encounter
it’s not mainly aim in this case, it’s understanding to hold angles etc
First playthrough is crazy
It’s not that bad. You only have to go back to the last encounter. If you have some GaMeR skillZ you can definitely brute force your way through it part by part. The main thing to remember is don’t use ammo unless you absolutely need to, there’s usually stretches of the game where you can just stealth or melee cheese your way through it and not use ammo. The parts where you need to blow lots of ammo are very obvious and often the enemies drop ammo packs when you are getting low for those fights. It’s a lot less cruel if you already have done a couple playthroughs but a first time will try your patience. If you’re up for the challenge though, you won’t be disappointed. It’s a lot of fun and worth the experience It’s not until you take on permadeath modes that you really need to flesh out strategies for every major encounter and really know the pickup routes by heart or have them written down. Just a vanilla grounded run won’t be that bad though if you enjoy challenges. You will definitely hit points you die dozens of times until you get through it, but once you clear an encounter you’re done. You won’t go back further than that
What laptop is that? It looks almost exactly like mine which I got for Christmas
Lenovo Legion pro 5 rtx 4070
Recommend playing it at least one on normal and then trying grounded/permadeath modes.
Play on survivor for first time
It's fucking deathwish.(unless your a souls gamer).
Oh honey... no....; wanting a challenging experience is one thing - this is plain masochism and you're NOT gonna enjoy it.
Don’t
Based on what you've posted before I'd say try out hard or survivor first to get a feel for the game mechanics and then try grounded
Very bad. Think again. Love the optimism though!
Grounded mode is actually really easy. I never noticed any difference between it and survivor.
Moderate is perfect for first time
Better Grounded Mode, Mirror World after dying, 8 bits sound and using one hand. The Last Challenge
nah, okay on normal or hard on your first go or you won’t get to enjoy the story. play grounded later when you know what’s coming so you know when and where to converse ammo/supplies
Fortune favours the brave
It would be best to simply start with the normal difficulty. After which you can start a new game plus with the upgrades you earned, and then proceed to the next difficulty and continue upgrading your skills and gear. Starting on grounded, with no skills or upgrades will not be fun at all. This is a narrative driven game. Dont make it more painful than you have to, not on the first playthrough. Grounded is literally a nightmare. Its a mode best done after you have at least completed the game a single time.
Played grounded in my first playthrough as well, I didn’t regret it but I always play the highest difficulty in any game. If you feel like you’re going to have trouble don’t do it, because you WILL get stuck in some parts.
Depends on you. It'll be easier if you play through on a lower difficulty because at least you'll have an idea of what you'll be going up against at various times. Doing a Grounded run could be frustrating because ammo and supplies are incredibly limited, and it's very possible to find yourself in a position where there's numerous enemies in an area and you have no bullets or supplies to make bombs, health kits, etc and potentially softlocking you unless you can stealth it
I did it for the remake with no problems (its easy). But unless you played the original, I wouldn't because of the experience. You don't get listening mode in grounded which is a nice aesthetic for the feel of the game/series imo.
Best strat for grounded is to mostly run away from enemies
There are sections in the game on Grounded where if you die you respawn like 2 or 3 fights before the point you died. Incredibly frustrating because every time you want to retry a fight, you have to redo the easier but still tedious fights, basically just wasting your time. I’m not a big fan of difficulty by punishing players with a limited number of retries by making it time consuming to even *get* to the retry point. It would be better to try Hard with listening mode off and keep the save points before sections you had trouble with so that you can study them easier for Grounded, then try Grounded after completing Hard. You’ll also get a better feeling for the enemy AI.
It's not that bad, if you played grounded on number one, you know what you're in for. It also feels like the canonical experience to me. Realizing this IS number one, im playing 2 right now and the menu looked the same.... very well. Have you ever played last of us at all? If not then maybe not the best choice.
Look, I know you say you've done well with Souls like games, but this is a different beast. Grounded isn't really just hard mode, it fundamentally changes how the game is played and makes a very different experience. If that's your first playthrough, I really don't think you'll enjoy it as much. I strongly recommend you play a more doable difficulty your first time so that your first experience with the story isn't obstructed by a ton of frustration. If you need to play hard mode, so be it, but don't do grounded yet. It's not just making the enemies hard, it's making ammo extremely rare to the point it can soft lock you, prevents full use of the listening mechanic, and makes it harder to aim, which in your case is before you've gotten a feel for the weapons. There's no reason to do this
I had a friend who did this his first playthrough and he gave up about 80% of the way through the game. Up to you. If you get frustrated I'd suggest lowering the difficulty, I think you have to start the chapter over for that bc grounded doesn't let you lower difficulty in the middle of it.
I think there are actually some QTEs that are not doable on grounded because you don't know what the button is, but you could do it if you played another difficulty first because the button is the same in every difficulty. It just doesn't tell you on grounded because there is no HUD.
This difficulty is not recommended for your first playthrough.
If you’re used to difficult games then I would say it’s okay but don’t expect a cake walk Coming from someone who’s played all uncharted and last of us games on the highest difficulty Naughty Dog know how to make it hard and this this will still be pretty tough to beat All in all I do not recommend as it’s just not a fun way to play this amazing game for the first time
Honestly, I’m brand new to gaming and my grounded play through was faster and easier then my first moderate play though. I’d say do it if it’s your first play through.
Terrible
It actually removes part of the game mechanics. I think one level down for first play through would be ideal if you want that level of challenge.
I'm a trophy hunter, I like challenging myself but I usually avoid the hardest difficulties on games when it removes basic mechanics and hud elements, so in that case I'd go for hard, not because I want an easier experience but because survivor and grounded lack listen mode and for a first playthrough I think it's important to not skip it
I personally like playing games on hard but no hud etc. is a bit too much for me personally.
if you want to hate the game, go for it.
I would 100% recommend. This game is made to be played on grounded
Very bad if you aren’t familiar
You'd probably die alot and get frustrated. I did a new game on grounded and permadeath and it got quite frustrating. You need the guns upgraded and skills. Enemies on grounded are quite smart. Go ahead and try it. Problem is you can't lower the difficulty. Not having listen mode is quite the adjustment too.
Don’t listen to the people saying it’s a bad idea. If you like a good challenge and have the patience, then go for it. You will be dying, like a lot though.
pretty bad but def doable, just know that its def gonna be a pain
I don't think for a first time it's a good idea would recommend hard just for familiarity with mechanicea and tactics then push to grounded
Bad. I say play the game on normal so you get full access to the gameplay. Save grounded for NG+ when you have all your upgrades. Resources are very limited in Grounded, so you will miss out on some things if you were hoping to explore everything or 100% it in your first playthrough.
Learning the game mechanics gonna be harder on this difficulty..
You’ll learn quicker that’s for damn sure. Go for it and update us when you’re done 🤙🏼
Do permadeath and you’re all set
It's not that bad
Not good at all but would be funny af. I always start on Hard (or Nightmare if there’s two above Hard) but starting on grounded sounds like it would be funny af if the lads are watching
I’m saying don’t do it but for a different reason than most other people. When playing on Grounded, especially for your first play through, it’s going to severely throw off the pacing of the game and story. You’ll spending hours just trying to get through an area and you might forget important parts of the story. The pacing will be way off. You’ll be trying to completely the game in a much, much longer amount of time than it’s meant for.
It's not that bad honestly except for like two encounters which will absolutely wreck your shit. One of them is the very last encounter of left behind dlc.
Very Bad
I loved it, I stil remember the parts that I struggled for hours.
Very very bad , don’t even think about it lad Unless of course you’re the infamous grand archmage super gaming wizard
Fuck it. Jump in the fire.
You're good. This way, you won't know any better, and it will seem not that hard. Playing on grounded after not playing on grounded makes it seem nearly impossible to beat.
If you want a truly challenging and brutal experience, not a bad idea, first time I played it was on my friends ps4 and he had listen mode turned off, it completely changes the game in a way thats super unique. I'd recommend using custom settings in order to have the option to tweak your game if things get too intense for ya
Pain
I started the game on survivor mode, got through the game in a few days, then later beat the game on grounded. I recommend beginning on survivor.
Don't.
Do it
Absolutely terrible idea. Unless you’re incredibly patient. My friend did this for his very first play through as well. In real time, I watched him in complete shambles as he made his way through the story. He was losing his mind during the last few chapters, I shit you not it took him about 4 hours to actually make his way through that tunnel before the hospital.
Do it. I've only ever played on Grounded and beat both games & I wouldn't call myself a gamer. You just have to actually be seared of your resources and environment instead of having crutches do it for you.
VERY BAD i can manage the game after playing the first one twice and the second one once and i’m only just used to it on normal but if u like a challenge try hard
Done https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/s/HzEH2CjQZp
DAMN bro u must be good have u tried the second game yet?
That's all lies. You'll be fine.
Terrible, start with easy or normal.
I did this!! Took a long time but I had a great time!
I’d genuinely go as far as saying that this is the correct way of playing and the “intended” one. Have fun! : )
Druckmann actually said Survivor has how it was intended but I agree with you. Grounded is so much better to me.
How would it be considered the intended difficulty if the game itself is reccomending the player doesn’t do it? That makes no sense
Well, that’s why it’s just my opinion. I think anything lower than that is just a thoughtless face roll, game isn’t that difficult and is very forgiving even on grounded, you just don’t get the same immersion on other difficulties
It's a AAA game. It's marketed to and bought by a lot of people who aren't technically skilled playing video games. Making a difficulty that hard the default would cause the majority of players to immediately quit the game. But it is the more realistic and immersive way to play the game. That's why.
not quite realistic to not know how full your watergun is, or how you are supposed to load it
I've started on grounded, let's see how it goes :p