Deal | Dark Skyrim-like RPG gets its biggest Steam discount yet alongside free weekend

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon has dropped to its lowest price yet on Steam, with the well-received open-world RPG receiving a 50% discount as part of a new Midweek Deal. The promotion runs until July 27 and, better still, anyone on the fence can currently try the game for free before buying it.

Developed by Questline and published by Awaken Realms, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is probably best described as a darker, AA take on Skyrim. The first-person RPG takes place in a grim reinterpretation of Arthurian mythology, roughly 600 years after the fall of King Arthur. Its open world is split across three major regions, with a branching main storyline accompanied by hundreds of side quests and plenty of optional exploration.

Rather than locking players into traditional classes, Tainted Grail lets them build characters around six attributes: Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Spirituality, Practicality and Perception. Strength increases melee damage and stamina, Dexterity improves attack speed and ranged damage, while Spirituality boosts spell power, mana and mana regeneration. Perception, meanwhile, increases critical chance, critical damage and sneak damage. Combined with the game's perks and equipment, these allow for everything from heavy melee characters and stealth archers to dedicated spellcasters and considerably stranger hybrids. The developers themselves suggest builds such as an alchemist-berserker fighting with their fists or a blacksmith-mage capable of summoning undead hordes.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon has also been received particularly well by players. It currently holds a "Very Positive" rating on Steam, with 87% of nearly 19,000 English-language reviews recommending it. A few hours in, you’ll see why Skyrim comparisons show up so often in the reviews. That said, it doesn’t have Bethesda-level polish (yeah, yeah).  There is some unmistakable AA roughness around the edges, but there's an impressive RPG underneath it, particularly for players who enjoy exploring without being constantly shepherded toward their next objective.

The discount also arrives just days after Tainted Grail received more free content aimed specifically at expanding its character builds. The new patch adds seven bows, five wands and two equipment sets. Additionally, the Scalesong set is designed around heavily armoured archers and can increase ranged damage based on armour or nearby enemies, while the Dolorous Pilgrim set takes a considerably stranger approach to magic by increasing spell power through Bleed, health restoration and self-inflicted damage. One of its new wands even restores health as the player spends mana.

Steam Deck owners should temper their expectations despite Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon carrying Valve's "Verified" badge. Recent player reports suggest that around 30 FPS is a more realistic target, with performance varying noticeably between locations. Some Steam Deck owners report a relatively consistent 30 FPS or better through much of the game, while others have encountered significant dips in demanding areas and larger fights. Fortunately, the ongoing free-play period makes this unusually easy to test on your own Steam Deck before spending anything.

For players who decide to stick around, the developers estimate roughly 50 to 70 hours of content across the base game's three regions. The ongoing promotion also extends to the Sanctuary of Sarras expansion, which adds another 10 to 15 hours of content and is similarly discounted by 50%. The base game, expansion and their discounted bundles remain on sale until July 27.