Tainted Grail: The Fall Of Avalon - What We Know So Far

"Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon" was originally a board game developed by Awaken Realms and funded by fans on Kickstarter. The survival co-op game — which tasked players with adventuring in a dark reinterpretation of the world of King Arthur — was a hit with boardgamers, currently ranking in the top 100 games on BoardGameGeek. Given the success of the game and the overlap between board game fans and video game fans, it's not surprising that Awaken Realms decided to bring its adventure to gamers. This move into video games began with the release of "Tainted Grail: Conquest" in 2021, a roguelike and deck-builder, and now continues with a full-fledged open-world RPG.

This may not be the first board game to be brought to video games. Gloomhaven, arguably the best strategy board game of all time, has already been adapted into a PC game. Still, "Tainted Grail" should have fans of both the board game and fantasy RPGs interested.

Unfortunately "Tainted Grail" looks to still be early in its development and doesn't have a release date yet. The game was only just announced late last year and, while it's currently planned to enter early access in late 2022, there's no word on how much of the game will be playable then or when the final game will officially launch.

When it does release, it looks like "Tainted Grail" will be exclusive to PC gamers. While "Tainted Grail: Conquest" was also released for the Xbox Series X/S, this new game has only been announced for PC and there's no indication that this will change in the future.

Given that this is only the second video game from Awaken Realms and it appears quite ambitious in scale, it would not be surprising if the developer took its time with this project and focused on a single version of the game. Fans will just have to wait for Awaken Realms to provide more details to clarify the picture in the future.

While Awaken Realms isn't ready to say when it will release yet, it has given fans several chances to see what "Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon" will look like. A teaser trailer accompanied the game's official announcement, which didn't offer much in the way of story details or gameplay but did provide a look at the world of "Tainted Grail." Viewers were treated to creepy forests, ancient ruins, and got a look at some potential enemies in the form of shambling corpses.

This teaser was followed up with a more detailed, cinematic trailer in July of 2022 which gave fans an idea of the setup and plot of the game. As with the board game, players enter a world where King Arthur has died and his kingdom has fallen into ruin. A masked stranger walks through a frozen wasteland and enters a cave to confront a hideous monster that would fit right in with the creatures of Bloodborne or Dark Souls.

Finally, Awaken Realms unveiled a gameplay trailer at Gamescom 2022. Fans finally got to see some brief glimpses of combat as well as more game locations, including some strange, magical ruins floating in a void. The trailer also hinted at the RPG elements of the game, showing the player gain a level and interact with an NPC, complete with dialogue selection.

Awaken Realms is emphasizing the open world and meaningful decisions in its description of the game on Steam. Players will explore a dark world and interact with numerous NPCs and multiple factions, making difficult choices that will determine how the story unfolds.

In terms of combat and travel, the gameplay trailer gives off a distinct Elder Scrolls vibe. First person combat with a variety of weapons (both melee and ranged) and shields looks to be the core of the experience as players explore dungeons, mountains, and dark forests. There's no indication if magic will be an option but it wouldn't be surprising. There will also be a leveling system though there are currently no details about how this will work or what sorts of skills, powers, or stats, will be involved in the process.

Fans of story driven RPGs, big choices, and dark fantasy will likely be keeping an eye on this one.