Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon Review

When Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon first appeared, TES fans had their eyes pinned on the game. Reasons? The game looked heavily influenced by Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls series. Developed by Questline, a Polish company that is still pretty new but isn't afraid to work with big names. It finally comes out after two years of Early Access, with a small budget but big goals. 

The first Tainted Grail game, Conquest, was a dark fantasy Arthurian game. Then, Questline decided to take the plunge and make an interactive game set in the same grim world. As a result? AA RPG both respects and plays with the ideas that it got its ideas from, combining exploring an open world with the strange stories of Avalon.

It's not often that a game like Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon confidently carves out its own niche. It combines the lore-heavy atmosphere of King Arthur's mythos with mechanics that are clearly lifted, some might even say lovingly borrowed, from games like Skyrim, Dark Souls, and even Doom Eternal. This mix is both what makes the game fun and what makes it bad at times.

The story starts in the usual way for Elder Scrolls games: you wake up in a cell as an unnamed prisoner with no memory, and with the help of a mysterious figure. Soon, you find out that you have a piece of King Arthur's soul on you. This sends you on a dangerous quest to find the other pieces that have been lost all over Avalon and bring them back. The story works best when it takes a dark turn on the Arthurian legend. 

This is not the good Camelot you may remember, but a world full of danger, betrayal, and old curses. The characters you meet along the way are what make the story great. The cast is very well written and voiced, from the moody King Arthur to the mysterious Merlin, and even the minor characters like shopkeepers. They add personality and depth to situations that might otherwise be dull, making them memorable. 

The story branches depend on the choices you make during the game, and I was really excited to play it again just to see the different results, especially after making some shocking choices like planning assassinations that change the fate of Avalon. The main story doesn't change the RPG genre, but the game's rich lore and branching outcomes make it a solid base that makes it fun to explore and play again and again.

At its core, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a Western RPG that was heavily influenced by Oblivion. You can make your character unique by giving points to traits like strength, endurance, and dexterity. These traits then affect how well you use one-handed and two-handed weapons, different types of armor, and your agility. The world of the game is very crowded, so you should go exploring and find side quests and bounties in caves, dungeons, and towns.

There are many weapons and magic spells you can use in battle, as well as special skills connected to King Arthur's soul fragments. You can change how you play, which is nice. You can sneak up on enemies from a distance and kill them, or you can get into close combat with heavy weapons. The cycle of day and night also adds a strategic element: at night, there is sometimes "Weird Night," a fog that brings out stronger demons and makes you choose whether to fight or run away.

It's much faster and easier to use the menus and maps than you might think for a game with such a big world. This means you don't have to stare at loading screens or mess around with bad interfaces as much, which is always a good thing.

When you fight, the game gets interesting and sometimes frustrating. The controls in Skyrim are a bit awkward, so Questline takes a page from Dark Souls and uses the parrying system and the dash system from Doom Eternal. This combination makes for mostly satisfying combat with smooth animations and fun sound effects that make swinging rusty swords or firing arrows feel more real.

Even so, there are some problems with the combat. Attacks from enemies can feel random at times, and the hit detection can make it risky to dodge or parry. You can use stealth archery, and yes, it's broken in the traditional RPG sense, so if you play smart, you can make fights less important. When it works, though, sneaking up on enemies and killing them feels great.

The bad thing is that magic isn't very strong. The first spells are so weak that they barely hurt enemies, and you'll quickly learn that you need to stack bleeding damage or look for stronger spells early on, which can throw off the balance of the game. Compared to the game's melee combat, its magic system feels like it's not quite finished. For example, early in your adventure, you get a strange power boost that makes the game less challenging.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon's combat system mostly delivers fun and variety, especially for players who like to fight in close combat. Questline knows what modern action RPG fans want because of the parry and dash controls. Players who expect tight responsiveness may get frustrated, though, by the enemy telegraphs that don't always work and the awkward moments. The unfairness of magic is a missed chance to make battles more interesting; casting spells feels more like a novelty than a useful main strategy.

When it comes to puzzles, the dungeons are way too easy. The assets may look nice, but the layouts aren't very creative. They often feel like a bunch of rooms were thrown together without much thought going into the design. Some outdoor spaces, like beaches, were put together quickly, which makes some parts of the world feel less real than they should be.

Combat, quests, and exploration all give XP, which makes going off the main path a good idea to level up and find better gear. The game's difficulty curve is steep enough that grinding isn't just for fun; you have to do it to survive missions with tougher enemies.

The maps are smaller than those of Skyrim, but there is a lot of content, so there is always something nearby to fight or explore. Fast travel happens almost instantly, which some might think isn't needed since the map is so small, but it doesn't slow things down overall.

Some parts of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon look good, but some don't. Compared to newer RPGs, the world looks strange. Character models and environments sometimes look like they belong in a Unity project from the late 2010s. The cutscenes are better put together, giving the game a visual boost when it counts. The art style tries to be grim and dark, but the visuals often clash with the game's silly and light moments, making it hard to fully get into the gloomy mood.

One of the best things about the game is the sound. The voice acting is great for every character, even the minor ones, making the experience more immersive. The writing is sharp and often funny, giving a world that could have been dull and forgettable some personality. Donheim wrote the haunting and atmospheric music for the movie, which goes well with Avalon's mysterious and spooky mood. The clash of swords and the whoosh of arrows are good sounds in combat, making fights feel more real.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a brave but flawed gem. The game isn't sure what it wants to be—it's stuck between homage and originality, dark fantasy and occasional silliness, polished and rough despite being in early access for two years. Even though it has some technical problems and uneven systems, it's still a challenging role-playing game that fans of open-world, story-filled adventures will enjoy.

However, I liked how well the story and characters were written, how fast and responsive the interface was, and how satisfying the melee combat was. The game almost reached its full potential, but the disappointing magic system and simple dungeon design stopped it. Some bugs, like save corruption, were minor, but others were major and frustrating. They showed that the game could have used more work before the final release.

The spirit of the game, however, still comes through. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a good, short, open-world role-playing game with many areas to explore. It also has an interesting take on the Arthurian legend. Be ready for some rough spots along the way. The first game in the Questline series looks good, and I'm interested to see how the series and the developer grow from here.