Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

As the title.. The setting is dark AF...with some horror-ish elements.. A more not so family friendly Skyrim.. I love it..

I bought the game a few days ago and I have been playing it solidly ever since, with absolutely no performance issues - at the time of this review I have 24 hours of playtime. The developers said this game was intended to be a love letter to RPG's and I have found that it is indeed an homage to the genre. If you have picked a lock in Skyrim, you will know exactly what to do here, if you have fished in Stardew Valley, you know how to fish here, I found a "starborn" crystal to mod my weapon, etc. All these things are in addition to continuing the excellent lore and story from the first game. I have elected to play as a stealthy caster, which is conventionally squishy, so there is no winning a toe to toe fight with anything. , however, the game provides you with the means to succeed if you take careful stock of the environment - I defeated an impossibly tough stone guardian by hiding behind a pillar and plinking it to death with the ember spell. I defeated some animated statues by simply kiting them. The dash mechanic has saved me countless times. If you are out in the open you can kite most things, in enclosed areas there are crevices, ledges, etc., to exploit. I am further along in the game now, and I have a little army of skeletons to do the dirty work for me! The game has done such a good job immersing me in its the dark, desperate, and hopeless story that I have to take breaks and do something "happy" IRL to offset the gloom! I can't wait to see what other surprises the game has in store for me, and you shouldn't either!

And another small company surpassed AAA games.

This game is an immersive love letter to all fans of Gothic, Dark Fantasy and Kings Arthur mythology. Very fun, very atmospheric and very addictive. There are some minor bugs here and there but nothing game breaking. The game follows the recipe of Elder Scrolls somethings that is good!

Overall, I think the best way to describe this game is also the highest praise I can give it: so far, this game makes me feel like I felt when I started playing Oblivion in middle school. Yes, it has some jank, but you can tell it's being made with love. I'm excited to see this project continue to grow and improve. Right now, I can easily recommend it for people that want a darkish fantasy setting and Bethesda-like mechanics. My only gripe is that I've had a few crashes within a few hors of gameply, but otherwise, it's solid.