Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon takes place on the island of Avalon, approximately 600 years after King Arthur's reign and subsequent fall.^[1][2] The land is afflicted by a plague known as the Red Death and the Wyrdness, a "chaotic, primordial force" that alters reality and the beings within it.^[1][3] The player begins as a prisoner who discovers they are bound to the soul of the long-dead King Arthur. The main quest involves collecting the remaining pieces of Arthur's soul to aid in his resurrection.^[4][5]

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is played primarily from a first-person perspective, though an optional third-person mode is available which is mostly intended for accessibility.^[1] Players begin by creating a character with visual customization options.^[1] Initial character statistics are influenced by player responses during an introductory interrogation sequence.^[1] Players can use a variety of melee weapons, ranged weapons and magic spells.^[5] Options include equipping two-handed weapons or dual-wielding one-handed weapons.^[3][4][5]

The game is set in a large open world divided into three main zones.^[2] Over 200 side quests are available, with player decisions leading to different narrative outcomes and affecting relationships with in-game characters and factions.^[4][2] The game incorporates various systems, including crafting, fishing, alchemy, cooking, house decoration, farming, and sketchbook journaling.^[4][2] At night, a phenomenon known as "Wyrdnight" can occur, during which the Wyrdness intensifies and summons stronger enemies.^[2][5] The estimated playtime is 50-70 hours, with the main story campaign lasting approximately 25 hours.^[2][5]

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is based on the Tainted Grail universe, created by Polish fantasy writer Krzysztof Piskorski for a board game of the same name, which was a major Kickstarter success in 2018.^[3] Awaken Realms, the publisher, previously released Tainted Grail: Conquest, a deck-building roguelike, in 2020, also set in the same universe.^[3][2] According to reviewers, The Fall of Avalon draws notable inspiration from The Elder Scrolls series.^[2][1][4]

The Fall of Avalon was developed by Questline, a Polish video game developer.^[6] The game was first announced with an aim for an early access release in late 2022.^[3] It launched into Early Access as planned and saw its full 1.0 release on May 23, 2025 for Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.^[7][2][8] On Windows, it is available from GOG and Steam.^[9] The game is developed in Unity 6.^[10]

Critical reception for Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon was mostly positive, with reviewers praising its world design, exploration gameplay, and narrative.^{[1][4][5][15]} It was described as a "fun but familiar" open-world RPG and frequently compared to The Elder Scrolls series.^[1][5][2][9]

The game also faced technical issues, such as visual glitches, bugs related to quest indicators and problems with item looting.^[4][5][6] Character models were described by some as having a "Play-Doh skin" appearance and looking "expressionless" and low-fidelity.^[1][4] However, some aspects of the character models, such as the hair, were considered "really impressive" by IGN.^[1] The quality of dialogue performances was noted as varied, and some environments, like caves, were found to become visually repetitive over time.^[4] According to Slant Magazine's Niv Sultan, the impact of player choices diminishes after joining certain factions.^[6]