New Steam dark fantasy RPG with vast open world and free demo garners nearly 4,000 new positive reviews a week after launch
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon launched to Steam on May 23 after over two years in Early Access. During its first week on Steam, the open-world dark fantasy RPG managed to attract a healthy player base, laying claim to a peak concurrent player count of 25,656. The overall Steam review score is also impressive, at 85.45% from over 9,000 reviews on the gaming platform — just shy of 4,000 of those positive reviews were left in the week after the game launched out of Early Access. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is available on Steam at a price of $44.99, but there is also a free demo if you want to try the game first.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon Steam reviews and gameplay
Tainted Grail builds on the standard RPG formula, putting players into a mature, dark fantasy world inspired by Arthurian legend. Gameplay features a first-person perspective, and there is an emphasis on player freedom and progression throughout the course of the game. Tainted Grail also borrows features from other game genres, like crafting, mining, fishing, and household management, and players will often run into situations where they have to make tough decisions. There is also no black clear line defining good and evil, and players will often find their actions falling into a moral grey area.
Players can tackle their foes in close-quarters combat — with everything from sword and shield to throwables — build out their magical abilities, or opt for ranged combat with the classic bow and arrow. Combat is meant to be challenging, with dodging, parrying, and blocking on-time being essential to success.
With all the stats, perks, equipment, and crafting, you can shape your playstyle exactly how you wish.
Want to be a crazy alchemist-berserker punching enemies to death? Sure.
A mystical blacksmith-mage summoning undead hordes? We’ve got you covered.
A stealthy archer lurking in the shadows? Say less—this is the game for stealth archer enthusiasts.
In terms of plot, players will be placed in charge of deciding the fate of Avalon, the kingdom of the legendary King Arthur Pendragon. At night, players will encounter "the Wyrdness," a strange primordial force that makes enemies tougher and presents unique survival challenges. There are three areas to explore and conquer — the Horns of the South, Cuantacht Village, and Forlorn Swords. Each zone features unique NPCs, quests, and creatures to battle. In total, Tainted Grain: The Fall of Avalon boasts 250 NPCs and over 200 side quests to keep players engaged. The developer, Questline, says that the game should deliver 50–70 hours of gameplay, and the plot features a complex fully voiced main story that intertwines with the aforementioned side quests.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon Steam reviews
As mentioned previously, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon features a "Very Positive" ranking on Steam, thanks to 9,152 total positive reviews. Many of the positive reviews praise The Fall of Avalon for its beautiful world and stylised graphics. There is also a lot of praise for the game's writing, which leans heavily on player choice, as any good RPG should. There are also several reviews that mention the game's superb optimisation, with many saying high frame rates are achievable, even without cranking the upscaling tech to 11.
Technically, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon needs an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB as a minimum requirement, while the recommended spec is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super, making it far from a demanding game to run. The game is also reported to run nearly perfectly on Linux-powered hardware like the Valve Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go S (curr. $759.99 from Lenovo US).
