this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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129
Why do modern strategy games hate the grid? (self.games)
submitted 1 year ago by anakin78z to c/games
67 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

OK, I finally took the plunge on Baldur's Gate 3, and, coming from playing several hundreds of hours of Solasta recently, the first thing I noticed is the lack of a combat grid.

Going back a bit further, my son and I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. We were super pumped for the sequel, but when it finally came out, it kind of fell flat for both of us. Whether or not it's down to this, I don't know, but they also removed the grid.

That game, of course, was an XCom-like. XCom used a grid, but a more recent Firaxis game, Marvel's Midnight Suns, got rid of the grid as well.

To me, all these gridless iterations of classic strategy games just aren't as engaging. I guess they're going for a more immersive rpg type of feel? But to me it seems to sacrifice the strategy aspect, and ultimately, judging based on my hours played, that always ends up being too great a sacrifice. My play time on Marvel's Midnight Suns is less than 10% of Xcom 2, and the same is true for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.

I'm sure BG3 is a great game, and I'm sure I'll enjoy the campaign, but so far it's not giving me the 'feels'.

Do you miss grids? Or did they only slow you down?

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Bg3 it's not an strategy game, it's and RPG, in fact based in the trrpg rules of d&d 5

Also BG1 and 2, weren't grided, so it's not like they doing it to "modernize" the game.

I really enjoyed all xcoms (from the msdos first games, so many hours wasted with xcom apocalypse...) But also enjoyed al bg (including not MMO Neverwinter, icewind Dale, etc)

Simply, it's not one of these games.

[–] Ultraviolet 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

5e rules explicitly refer to spaces on a grid and had to be changed in several ways to work in a gridless setting.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I believe that's officially a variant rule. The system itself works fine without a grid. It can be done completely in the theater of the mind.

The grid is just commonly used because it simplifies movement and positioning greatly.

[–] Zahille7 1 points 10 months ago

Right? I only played like a campaign and a half of 5e, but I specifically remember the 5' spaced grids.