FE going "off the grid"...

[Lain]

How would you guys feel about a Fire Emblem game if it were to ditch the grid?

Everything else would play the same... move units one at a time during your phase, each with a certain movement range and attack range, then enemy units do the same during their phase. The only difference would be that the world isn't divided up into distinct grid positions, instead going with a more gradational approach.

Effectively it could still technically be considered grid-based, with each pixel constituting a grid position... and units and other elements taking up several grid positions rather than an individual one.

I personally wouldn't like handheld/console FE games to take this approach, as grid-based is much quicker with button-based controls. However, I'm considering ditching the traditional grid system in my fangame for the idea I just proposed, since I feel it would be significantly more compatible with mouse-based controls. But what do you guys think?

[Mikethfc]

If you mean like in Star Fox Command I doubt it would work, you'd no longer be able to shield weaker units so much, or create choke points.
A lot of people did complain about Awakening's maps being too open, this would only exacerbate that.

[Irysa]

Like phantom brave?

Nah, grid based lets you plan stuff out better, especially when it comes to having X unit on Y tile to be in range of Z at T Minus 5 turns.

[Alertcircuit]

I always wondered what it would be like if Fire Emblem adopted a hexagonal system like Civilization did.

[BBM]

Having played Berwick Saga, which has a hexagonal system, I actually found it pretty cool. It took a little time to adjust, and yes, it is more difficult to shield weaker units and to create choke points, but I considered it more challenging because of that. And BS also had player and enemy phases being integrated rather than strictly separate, which made it even harder to shield weaker units, and it was still fun.

[Lain]

I haven't played Star Fox Command or Phantom Brave, so I don't know the finer details of how their mechanics work... but as far as choke points and stuff like that goes, I think these things can be implemented effectively in a non-gridbased format.

To provide 360 degree protection for a given unit (at least from non-ranged attacks) with FE's grid-based movement, you need to surround them with 4 units (only 3 if they're up against a wall and 2 if they're in a corner). I think that this could rather easily be implemented in a non-grid system, and the same goes for creating choke points.

[Vestige]

I always wondered what it would be like if Fire Emblem adopted a hexagonal system like Civilization did.

This would be a pretty neat twist without straying TOO far from the base mechanics.

[Lain]

Though I'm currently still leaning towards gridless, as there are secondary reasons I'm interested in it... namely it's a lot simpler to implement, which means faster development.

But I'll tinker around with some prototypes before settling on an idea, and if gridless doesn't seem like it'll pan out, I have no qualms abandoning it in favor of something a little more tried and true. Or taking a stab at something like a hexa-grid.