Summary
- Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon closely resembles Skyrim and Oblivion but enhances combat and exploration.
- The game offers a sense of discovery with intricate details and depth, including a unique combat system.
- Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon fills the void for Elder Scrolls fans by providing a familiar yet improved gameplay experience.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a single-player open-world action RPG that plays and feels exactly like games from The Elder Scrolls franchise. It isn't afraid to wear its inspirations on its sleeve, but that doesn't mean it's a direct clone with no ideas of its own; to the contrary, it attempts to improve on basically every aspect of The Elder Scrolls formula. Fans of Oblivion and Skyrim who have been waiting for news on The Elder Scrolls 6 may find that Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon can scratch that itch.
The last fans heard about The Elder Scrolls 6 was in April 2025, when Todd Howard confirmed that the game was still in the development phase, with no clear release date or window in sight. While Oblivion Remastered has served as an excellent appetizer, at the end of the day, it is still a remaster of an old game that some players already know a lot about. The best part of large, open-world games like these is the sense of discovery and adventure in stumbling upon a secret by accident. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon has that in spades.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon - Official Story Trailer
Watch the official story trailer for Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, a first-person, open-world RPG developed by Questline.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon Follows the Footsteps of Skyrim and Oblivion
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon Has a Scrolls-Like Feel
The elevator pitch for what Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a Skyrim clone with Dark Souls-inspired combat and enough quality-of-life improvements to make the most avid modder happy. There is a huge world map absolutely littered with stuff to find, secrets to discover, and enemies to take down.
Combat looks and feels like an improved version of what Skyrim has to offer. It's more dark fantasy instead of high fantasy, but the overall structure is more or less exactly the same as The Elder Scrolls games. The main story is just as optional as any Scrolls-like, and players are completely free to do as they will in the world, ignoring King Arthur's plight to see Avalon and what became of his once great kingdom.
The Elder Scrolls players have gotten used to finding tons of loot, and Tainted Grail has plenty of it, but the ability to hover over a container and see what's inside without actually opening it makes it a lot less tedious. Fast traveling is a bit more hardcore than how Skyrim does it, as players are only able to teleport to and from set fast travel points that are only present near major locations. There is a lot of walking to be done in this game, but luckily, the absolutely gorgeous world space makes it something to look forward to.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon isn't Afraid to Put Its Own Spin on the Genre
Everything The Elder Scrolls promises, Tainted Grail delivers, or at least attempts to. Best of all, the game isn't content to coast on the similarities; it has its own ideas on how to do things. Chief among them is combat. Players have three status bars: health, stamina, and mana, which follow the rules set by Scrolls-likes. Stamina is used for attacks, mana is used for magic, etc. Where Tainted Grail improves upon Skyrim and Oblivion is in the sense of weightiness to attacks when they land. Weapon swings feel like they have a heft to them. Hitting an enemy doesn't feel like it's slicing through air; there is a feeling of impact and resistance that's not present in Bethesda's offerings.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon has a bonfire system akin to Soulslikes but with the added convenience of being able to place it anywhere, at any time. Players can rest, level up, cook, and talk to King Arthur when the opportunity comes up. The leveling system is a mix of Skyrim and Dark Souls. Everything the player does, from running to jumping to hitting drowners, gives them experience in the relevant skills, and once enough of them level up, the player's experience bar fills up, and they level up.
Each level grants a skill point and an attribute. The skill point can be assigned to branching skill trees – like Skyrim, and the attribute points can be allocated to stats, like Dark Souls. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon might not be a perfect game, but for fans looking for something to scratch the Bethesda fantasy open-world itch, there are few games that do it better.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 77 /100 Critics Rec: 71%
- Released
- May 23, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Questline
- Publisher(s)
- Awaken Realms
WHERE TO PLAY
Step into the world of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, a mature, first-person perspective open-world RPG that immerses you in a dark fantasy realm inspired by Arthurian legends.
Uncover a complex and branching main storyline that lets you shape the legacy of King Arthur’s reign, 600 years after his fall amidst unending strife.
This game is a love letter to open-world FPP RPGs.
• Massive gameplay experience: Dive into 50-70 hours of rich content spanning three expansive zones.
• Branching narrative: Engage with a complex main story and hundreds of side quests featuring remarkable, voiced characters.
• Limitless playstyles: Customize your gameplay with countless builds—mix attributes, skills, and gear to create your favorite setup.
- Engine
- Unity
- Genre(s)
- Action, RPG, Open-World, Survival Horror
