Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

It reminds you of a time when Bethesda was a good company.

It's super janky... and my laptop runs it on low settings.. but it's fun and the story is entertaining. It feels like a cross between the Witcher 3 (vibes... dark, broody, death everywhere, sad people) and the Gothic series (janky, stumble on a really difficult monster here and there, etc.). I got it on sale, so would recommend on sale.

I have just finished the game together with the Sarras Add-on. Pros: A very unique turn on the Arthur-saga Beautiful dark visuals Very good combat system (doesn't feel that way at the start but feels very rewarding when you get grips on it and your skills kick in) Large open world which rewards curiosity and exploration Non-class-based, fluid builds Interesting characters, moral choices and storylines A nice sense of humor here and there Lots of beautifully sculpted equipment and gear A crafting/upgrade system which keeps your gear in the play Sarras is an addon in the way 90s addons were made. Hours of gameplay, completely new area, story, mechanics and gear. (but after it I felt a bit overpowered) Cons: Most of the quests are an alibi for "go there, kill something" The later acts don't feel that lively as the earlier ones. If you get your murdering machine running, the fights go from very, very hard and using lots of healing items to not using them at all and killing everything with a few strikes. Going from act I to act II was a brutal punch in the face. Every enemy was an uphill-battle which consumed time, healing and lots of sweat. Going from act II to act III it was merely a cake walk. Some people might call the graphics dated. I love what they achieved with them in terms of style and feeling This game is rare one. I was never too much into games like Morrowind, Oblivion or Skyrim. I wanted to like them, but they never really hooked me. In parts to poorly execution of the combat mechanics. This game on the other hand feels a lot like those games but excels in combat, attribute/skill system and it's grim athmosphere. It has it's flaws. Mainly the feeling that especially the last act wasn't done with the same time and love as the first two and that nearly every quest can be summarized in "go and kill this or that". But to be honest: I had a lot of fun doing so. Especially in the early to mid-game, where every fight was a challenge and i had to adapt my playstyle. I went for dagger+crit, with a bit of magic. This proved to be very hard at the start but payed off more than expected in the mid-to-late-game, where enemies became a joke for this build. A hint: try running and then crouching while doing so. You will do a ducked dash, which can slow time and get behind enemies. Gamechanger. All in all I had a very good time with the game, even if the last 10 hours or so, felt a bit like running errands to thin the questlog. The little stories were interesting, funny, heartwarming and so on, even if they were an excuse to pull out my daggers. I don't want to spoil story, but let's say: it's a very cool twist on the whole Arthur-myth, with a lot of darkness and grey and very little light in between. The game itself sends out a lot of dark souls vibes (bonfire, tough combat) without adapting too much of it (fking corpse runs...) and from such a small studio, I am very impressed and happy they received my money! :) 8,5/10

Was fun experience, though it is to be considered that this is not a AAA game and lacks some polishin touches or animations. Still the story is nice and keeps it interesting throughout the game

Honestly this game goes hard. Learned about it unintentionally and been hooked since.