It seems the era of ‘scrolls-likes’ is upon us. Earlier in the year, Obsidian’s Avowed scratched that Elder Scrolls itch for some while leaving much to be desired for others. Now, the self-proclaimed love letter to open-world FPP RPGs is nearing its official 1.0 launch and its garnered heaps of praise from those who played the early access and demo. The studio behind Tainted Grail, the fittingly named Questline, is composed of just over 50 developers, which is quite the feat considering the scope and polish of the game. The full release of the game is nearly here, so here are some key takeaways you need to know before you buy and experience this new open-world RPG.
First-Person Open World RPG Like Elder Scrolls
As the title suggests, Tainted Grail is a dark fantasy take on the classic King Arthur legend. And by dark fantasy, we mean heavy metal cover ‘dark’. All of your usual scrolls-like stuff is here – from a sprawling open-world to the ‘use it to level it’ system. And to get an idea of how much TES influenced this game, take a look at the horse armor dlc – more a referential joke than an attempt to nickel and dime, thankfully.
Early Access
The game has been in early access for a long time – since March 30th 2023 to be precise. And since that time, it’s received heaps of meaningful updates and player-suggested content. The most recent 0.9 patch is the final one before its full release and has fleshed out the prologue and Act 1 significantly.
Early Access and Demo Don’t Transfer To Full Release
But be wary if you’re an early access player, because “save files will most likely get wiped at the 1.0 launch”, as the Steam description warns. The silver lining here is that there’s a veritable buffet of ways to play the game that make each playthrough unique.
Three Act Structure With an Epilogue
The full release will be comprised of three acts and an epilogue, promising 50 to 70 hours of content. Tainted Grail isn’t as massive in size and content as something like Skyrim, but its plethora of dungeons and quests will likely satiate fans of the genre wanting to scratch that Elder Scrolls itch with a dark fantasy twist.
Three Large Zones To Explore
Tainted Grail is still fully open-world, but it divides its world into three large zones. These zones are the Misty Horns of the South, Sunken in sun Cuanacht Village, and Frozen mountaintops of Forlorn Swords. Each of these has a unique flavor and look to them. The zones themselves aren’t your typical triple-A standard of huge; in fact, it’s possible to go from one point of a map to the other in five minutes or so. That said, what Tainted Grail lacks in sheer size, it more than makes up in density. Every corner is packed with dungeons and meaningful things to do.
Immersive Sim Activities
If you ever get tired of looting the 75-plus dungeons and fighting skeletons, Tainted Grail has dozens of supplemental activities that aid your progress. Perhaps most notable is the fishing minigame, something that Bethesda games have somehow lacked. Mixing ingredients to concoct potions is present here, as well as genre mainstays such as blacksmithing and mining. There’s also houses that you can purchase and manage as well as farming.
Branching Main Storyline With ‘Hundreds’ of Endings
It was mentioned earlier that an epilogue has been added into the full 1.0 release of the game. Well, this epilogue is just one example of how the branching storyline of Tainted Grail can manifest, seeing as it’s entirely dependent on the choices you make. There’s also quote unquote “hundreds of endings”, though how many of these are just very slight alterations of each other or significant changes of the status quo are yet to be seen.
Hundreds of Side Quests and NPCs
Despite being an indie studio with a limited budget, Questline has managed to pack over 200 side quests into Tainted Grail. These quests are densely scattered throughout the world and not partitioned up into guild questlines. Just as well, there’s over 250 NPC characters, all voice-acted, throughout the world.
Combat
Tainted Grail features first-person melee and magical combat, as you’d expect. The game allows you to wield weapons and magical objects called soul cubes in either hand, making dual wielding a viable strategy. Just as well, you can equip your magic spells to either or both hands as you see fit. Over 400 unique weapons and 55 spells are available in the full release, making for a varied and expansive gameplay experience. The magic in this game is quite interesting by the genre’s standards. There’s your usual destruction magic with fireballs and icicle projectiles and then there’s spells that summon wolf hordes or floating daggers. There’s even a spell that turns enemies into cheese, just to get across how unique some of your combat options are.
Build Variety
It’s possible to combine different gameplay styles thanks to to the dual wield capabilities of your character’s hands. It’s perfectly viable to dual wield longswords as a berserker or be something of a versatile battle mage with a spell in on hand and a mace in the other. There’s two quick slots to equip your consumable items in and three weapon loadouts that you can switch between to vary up your gameplay style.
Soul Cubes and Throwables
Along with magic spells, objects called Soul Cubes can be equipped in a hand to dish out a variety of effects. These effects range from summoning allies to granting buffs to your character. Throwable objects are perfect for crowd control. Think molotov cocktails. Some throwables have an AOE that damages or degrades enemies armor and/or weapons over time. Yet, others put foes into a frenzy, getting them to fight one another. Soul Cubes and throwable objects give Tainted Grail that additional AOE gameplay variety that traditional Elder Scrolls games have lacked.
Stats and Skills
Of course, being a scrolls-like, the tried and true use it to level it system is here in all its glory. Thankfully, though, not everything is scaled to your level; only certain enemies and instances are scaled. The basic attributes in Tainted Grail are Strength, Dexterity, Practicality, Perception, Endurance, and Spirtuality. Performing feats related to one of these attributes nets you skill points to spend on the skill trees within each attribute. Most of the skills grant your usual buffs and multipliers, but there’s a couple that add mechanics to gameplay as well. If you’re a hoarder like me, you’ll go straight toward the higher carrying limit skills first.
Nighttime Adds a Survival Aspect
The day/night cycle allows for an interesting change during the dark hours. The ‘Wyrdnes’, spelled W-Y-R-D, is a primordial force of chaos that poses a tougher challenge than the regular daylight enemies. Expect a survival-oriented experience along with different loot and unique quests during the night hours, not dissimilar to the difficult nighttime gameplay present in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Third-Person Perspective Added on Full Release
Yep, that’s right, the early access versions of the game only allowed first-person perspective. We’ll have to wait and see if third-person looks good or janky in motion when the game officially releases, but the option to toggle between the two is nice regardless.
How Long To Beat?
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon isn’t a game you rush through, it’s a massive journey that demands time, patience, and a taste for dark fantasy. With a playtime estimated between 50 to 70 hours, it’s clear the developers are offering more than a linear campaign. This is a world designed to be explored slowly, as you tackle the game’s danger and depth as the game rewards those willing to immerse themselves, not just in combat and mechanics, but in the bleak atmosphere that defines its setting.
