I need that Polish fantasy metal/funk/whatever the fuck is in the Tainted Grail main menu to be pumped directly into my veins and fed to me through a straw. If you could see my play history on Xbox last week, it would consist of me spending 7 AM to 11 PM for about 2 days straight playing Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, with 7 PM to 12 AM scattered throughout the work week.
I knew I would like Tainted Grail when I heard it was "Indie Skyrim" or whatever the internet is running with these days; what I didn't expect was for the game to more closely resemble a first-person Dark Souls with Skyrim DNA wrapped into a triple helix of Cool Shit™. The player experience (immediate combat, crafting, inventory, perspective, etc) resembles the Elder Scrolls, while the game's setting, writing, and certain important design choices more closely bear pre-apocalyptic Dark Souls on their sleeve. The bonfires for fast travel, rest, crafting and equipment management; the more prominent and clearly telegraphed boss fights; the whole "end of the absolute fucking world" vibe that everyone carries all the time. This game breathes Dark Souls and Elder Scrolls, with a magic system that caught me by surprise with how simply versatile it proved to be.
I wasn't expecting to be a magic user for my primary attack, but the way magic works in Fall of Avalon gave me pause. There are two effects for each spell: the light cast and heavy cast, or whatever the system actually calls them. Just whether you tap the button or hold it. These effects can be similar, or wildly different - Blood Transfusion will hurt your health and place a bleed effect on an enemy during a light cast, but will drain an enemy to heal you instead during a heavy cast. Opposite effects that can be chained together, used alongside perks that increase damage against enemies with status effects, and ultimately combined with signal-boosting wands and cubes to cause magical fucking mayhem in a firefight. It is an unexpected joy to fire a single bolt of lightning from your left hand, enhanced by the wand in your right, and have it arc between five enemies, killing them all instantly. So, what began as a dagger-wielding, Alchemy-focused Light Armor build quickly transformed into a spellsword mage that swapped between sword and wand for the right hand choice. I finished the game with a very impressed and satisfied view of the magic in this game, and I would gladly play again just for the magical fun.
The setting also carried me through much of the experience. Secrets are buried everywhere, and one of your close allies often has things to say about the more esoteric shit that you learn or find. Learning about the world of Tainted Grail was a big part of the experience, giving the story a mystique that would have been lost on me were this a well-established multi-generational franchise already. It takes the concepts of King Arthur, Merlin, Avalon, and the Knights of the Round Table, and places them in a world of their own that is disconnected from the real history of England and allows the fantastical elements of mythology to take center stage and become real, tangible parts of the setting. Transposing legends that were already fantastical into a world explicitly built to explore them. Being steeped in Arthurian myth, yet shaped to be a unique setting and atmosphere, truly puts it out there as one of my favorite versions of the King Arthur story in media.
Emotionally, there were many parts of the game where the writing moved me. I began to notice a pattern in which I was often resolving ancient grievances and sins of the past, putting lost souls to rest, and it felt fitting for a world that felt on the verge of a strangled death. It would be cruel to keep so many locked down, waiting for the end times, when I have the ability right here, right now to set them free. If I had a nickel for how many times something like this happened, I'd probably have half a dollar by now. And truly, one of my favorite parts of the game's story has to be the place of King Arthur himself.
For those who haven't played past the prologue, here is your spoiler warning. Your spirit ally throughout the game is the soul of King Arthur, latched onto you and slowly regaining strength as he comes to grips with his kingdom having largely fallen to ruin and corruption in his absence. It is a slow descent from excitement at the concept of returning to his lands, and the eventual admission that Avalon is a shadow of what he wanted it to be and what he fought for it to be. Talking with Arthur about the decisions he made in the past, and about the situation in the present, kept me grounded in the notion that this whole adventure is putting a broken man back together again and then deciding what to do about that. The goal is to bring him back, but what happens next is up to you and how you came to view the world alongside him.
Also, Arthur happens to be a fun guy to talk to. Being a generally kind fellow helped ease the fact that he was strapped to me like a thigh holster.
In the end, I freaking loved this game. I Tainted my Grail to the Fall of Avalon a ton, and I'm going to be honest, I kinda want to play it some more as I'm writing this. Maybe I will. Thank you for reading, and have a good one.
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