Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

I am in Act 2, so far this game is a big recommend, but I have one major gripe and its such a small easy fix, when you kill anything in grassy areas, the corpse will vanish into the foliage, so I am spending ages looking for my kills, corpses need to appear on top of the grassy mesh/ texture or whatever the correct terminology is, apart from that, great game so far with really good ideas executed well!

So far, I'm not enjoying it. The gameplay is clunky. The skill/ability/etc system is uninspired. The dialogue is awkward. I'll change my review if things change, but as of now, I'd not recommend this game.

If you loved Skyrim and other similar RPGs this game fills that itch. Systems feel more modern, side quests have purpose, exploration is rewarded and build crafting is fun. The scenery and graphics are gorgeous at times and the game runs well on modern hardware. Game runs a little rough on the steam deck though, 25-45 fps depending on where you are on the lowest settings. Overall really liked this game. Played on 3 different systems via steam cloud saves, RTX 5080 w/ 5800x3d RTX 2080 w/ i5 9600k Steam deck

The game drew me into its world just as Skyrim and Oblivion once did—and that comparison isn't even a stretch. Much of it is reminiscent of the aforementioned titles, only without dragons and set in a dark, cold England. The gameplay is similar, but it felt more polished to me—and a bit less clunky or stuttery. Combat (I played as a two-handed female warrior) gets a bit tedious over time, and the difficulty curve was a bit odd. At first, the game was easy; then it became very challenging—bordering on hard, especially in Act 2—only to become super easy again at higher levels and in Act 3. I would have liked better balancing there, though in fairness, I never actually adjusted the difficulty setting myself. The loot was varied, yet I couldn't shake the feeling that I was constantly getting gear for stealth or magic-based characters. I don't think playing a stealthy character is as much fun in this game; it didn't seem like there were many options for that playstyle (aside from lockpicking, but I could do that as a warrior, too). I really liked the world and the atmosphere; the music: the creatures are diverse and rarely black-and-white. Overall, the world (and its quests) have a very grey tone, and the missions and problems one encounters are seldom clichéd. There are plenty of choices to make on a smaller scale, though the decisions on a grander scale are quite limited and fairly predictable. However, that didn't spoil my enjoyment of the game. The plot is interesting and, in a way, good, even though I felt Act 3 seemed a bit rushed and lacked the variety and wealth of exploration found in the first two acts. The world offers plenty to discover, however. Things I would have liked to see: 1. The ending—meaning everything that follows the final decision—was presented via a series of bad quality still images. While these were tailored to the choices I had made regarding the various factions, the fact that my character was never actually shown, combined with the fact that many of the people mentioned were merely brief acquaintances, made the whole thing feel incredibly impersonal. 2. Then, at the very end, they mention my heros grave, and I just find myself thinking: "And what about *me*? Was my heroine celebrated or remembered in any way? What place did I actually occupy after the plot concluded?" It would have been nice to be able to delve into that a bit more. Let’s move on to point number three: 3. There are no companions—aside from that little lizard you can find (though it has absolutely no personality). In Acts 1 and 2, you have the option to engage in sexual encounters (though nothing is ever actually shown), yet you never really form a bond with anyone. (I’m leaving out the creepy blacksmith who magically falls for me—he doesn’t count; that’s just weird!) There are no companions who travel alongside you, either. As silly as it sounds, that was something I always really liked about Bethesda games; it made me feel less alone on my journeys, and even when my partner ended up carrying all my loot only to get stuck in a crevice, it was still entertaining in a way. Here? You’re on your own. You don’t have people you encounter regularly—aside from quest givers, who really just assign you tasks like "do this and that for me." That made the game feel more like a game, rather than something truly authentic. I am very surprised that the game never managed to form a deep bond between my character and Arthur. All the dialoges are way too scripted and generic. 3.1: Yes, there are (strong) women in the game. But overall, I felt the game lacked strong female characters who drive the story. Warriors. Queens. That sort of thing. This becomes especially clear in the credits and the final decision where you choose who gets power – surprisingly few women appear there! Since this is a fantasy game, there was every opportunity to introduce strong (new) female characters. Unfortunately, the game doesn't dare to do so. 4. So, for me, the game lacks a bit of personality due to the absence of NPCs with whom you can form bonds.Another somewhat tedious aspect (especially after the first 50 hours) was the game's absolutely repetitive quests. Fetch this. Find that person. Kill this one. Blah, blah. Eventually, you’ve done it all before and are just mindlessly grinding through the quests. 5. I’d say it’s noticeable that the developers ran out of time (or money). There are several spots and locations in the game where I was surprised that I couldn't enter them. Let’s start with the most obvious one: Camelot? WHERE?! Then there’s a nice tavern in Act 2, for instance. You have a whole city there, yet the tavern is closed—of all places—and the game gives me no way to help the poor tavern owner other than presenting her case to the authorities. Only to be turned down. Thanks a lot. Many of the dungeons feel incredibly small and simple; puzzles would have worked wonders here, but often it’s just a matter of rushing through. 6. The DLC is quite substantial and offers something completely different; I’d highly recommend it for just under 15 euros, even though it suffers from some of the same issues as the main game (too few characters to empathize with, some areas are too short, and the quest design is very simple). You can play the DLC at any point during the game without it interfering with the main campaign, which is a nice touch. 7. I can't prove it, but some of the dialogue (especially the portentous lines that don't actually say anything concrete) and—above all—the potion icons in the inventory look like they were made with AI. I don't like that. Overall, I had a good time with *Tainted Grail*; anyone who enjoys a *Skyrim*-style game—with similar gameplay and a bleak, grey world—will be well served here. Your character has little personality, and you shouldn't expect any character development. However, the overall experience was varied, and the plot was entertaining.

Un gioco molto "particolare". Acerbo sotto molti punti di vista, ma PIENO di amore per titoli storici del genere. Volendo dare fiducia agli sviluppatori, proprio in virtù dell'amore che si può trovare in questo titolo (purtroppo affiancato ad un gameplay molto ripetitivo alla lunga e a una pulizia del comparto tecnico traballante) Consiglio caldamente di provarlo con la consapevolezza che, si spera in un secondo capitolo, i difetti verranno limati. Tainted grail fall of avalon è un OTTIMO punto di partenza per sviluppare qualcosa di meraviglioso, facendo tesoro delle critiche mosse dalla community

Gothic Skyrim Plus with new, better animations. Enough said.

i wish my pc was not currently dieing so i could experience this better. but this is just a much better skyrim. much harder with a cool story. shockingly good game.

10/10 across the board. Thanks for the bonus DLCs, I'm looking forward to the major paid add-ons.