Mufaso26 Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon Review

I want to stress that I have not seen everything that the game has to offer. There is a good chance that my opinion can change if I dedicate more time into this game, so take this as a review of my current experience. I will not go over the story because of this and leave it out of the overall rating for this review. The first time I got exposed to Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, I was under the impression that this game could be a stand-in for an Elder-Scrolls like experience, until Bethesda would release a new entry in the series. I recently bought it while it was on sale and I was enjoying my time with it at first. Having spent 13.3 hours according to Steam at the time of writing, in the game, I started to understand that my initial expectations were not met. That is not a big issue however, because the game does present interesting ideas and aspects to how a first-person RPG can work. Some of these I'd actually like to see a lot more in different games as they are that intuitive. I love the setting of the South of the Horns, I love the music, the Wyrdness mechanic and just how pretty the game can look. I was fairly surprised to learn that this game uses the Unity engine. My only issue (and this is what really drags the experience down for me personally) is the seemingly high focus on combat and the lack of alternative things to do within the game. At times it really feels like you have no breathing room, as large packs of enemies can roam in neighbouring areas. It does not help that these also respawn after some time has passed or when you reload the game. This is a huge aspect that keeps me from playing this game further, as I find myself constantly just having to fend off attacks when I would like to explore the map at a nice pace. Exploration is really great when you are not being interrupted. Going through a lot of the landmarks and ruins, you can find a lot of loot, discover the worldbuilding with great visuals and even NPCs that share tidbits of lore when approached. This is easily one my most cherished experiences that I've made within the game. I have uncovered like half of the map by the time of writing this. Through exploration I also have learned about the intricacies of the crafting, cooking and alchemy mechanics. If you are familiar with how these things work in games like Skyrim, it is pretty much the same with the exception of a few differences that ultimately are not that big of a deal to really name. It gets the job done and it encourages to keep an eye out as well as an ear in some cases. For example: at the beginning section of the game, an NPC can be overheard naming the ingredients for a health potion. In later parts of the game, that exact combination that results in you being able to craft said potions even if you don't know the recipe for it. I found that really nice and would've liked to hear more things like these throughout my journey. The combat itself can be challenging, do not expect to come out as the victor in every encounter you get yourself into. As someone that doesn't follow guides and rather approaches the game in a old-school fashion, I found myself at the death screen more than I'd like to admit. I'm not someone that really min-maxes his stats and abilities. I usually just go with the bigger number that I have access to and try to brute force my way through a game. It is in rare occassions that I will have a build that actually is logical to others, so it just may be a personal issue that I am dealing with and which is why I encourage you to play through the game yourself in order to find out whether this is a game for you or not. Though over time I found some cheese strategies that allowed me to progress further. The combat system is what you'd expect for the most part with restrictions that make sure that you cannot use the most powerful drop that you can get your hands on if you don't meet it's individual requirements. In my case, you end up with cool looking armor, but the most basic looking weapons that you can think of. Magic acts the same way in this regard. Overall, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a nice game to play through. I'd recommend it even more were it not for the aforementioned large focus on combat and the large amount of enemies scattered throughout the map. I might revisit the game in the future and give a revised review of it, but for now this is what I have to share about my experiences with it.