Tainted Grail: Conquest Critic Reviews

Tainted Grail: Conquest is definitely not a title for everyone. Its difficulty and dark atmosphere will undoubtedly be too much for many players out there, even some fans of RPGs, deck-builders, or roguelike. However, for fans that do want those aspects, it’s one of the best in the genre. There are countless hours for players to find in the game, and the deep mechanics and systems are incredibly rewarding

Any game so good that you can't resist doing just one more battle in is a game well worth paying attention to, and Tainted Grail definitely manages that.

If you like deck-builders, you should try this one. If you like the twisted style or the sound of the aberrant mythology, you should try this one. It’s going to satisfy on both counts. The only thing that I’m not particularly fond of is that a run can easily take over two hours, just like Fights in Tight Spaces. It’s a large time investment. There’s no quick ‘jumping in’. There’s also a glaring lack of theme between the different locations you’ll be traversing through, which is a little disappointing from an aesthetics point of view. Still, nothing is going to keep me from saving every last salvageable character, from pulling a ‘W’ with every deck, and from getting to the bottom of the meta-story and (hopefully) beating death at his own game. Now if only I could get my hands on a copy of Fall of Avalon, too…

It’s a grueling but exhilarating journey that confronts what we probably know all along: that the pain of living through countless deaths and tragedies is ultimately what binds us together in life.

A fascinating, fresh take on the Arthurian legend. I wish the lore was more elaborate and the interface less minimalistic, but apart from that it’s an addictive, highly replayable dark fantasy rougelike with fast battles, varied character classes, numerous secrets to uncover, and great music.

All in all, Tainted Grail: Conquest is a great experience with a mysterious narrative, a gripping grimdark setting, and enjoyable deckbuilding rogue-lite mechanics. At times certain minor bugs or lighting issues can hold it back, but these things are trivial compared to the great fun players will have. With some future updates to address these minor issues, Tainted Grail: Conquest is shaping up to be a great entry within this subgenre of games.

There’s a lot of things in Tainted Grail: Conquest that show the developers knew what they were doing. It is rare to see a game so fully embrace the type of game it wants to be, as the roguelite nature symbolizes the growth of the protagonist to fully understand their surroundings. The game has a forgiving nature as it does not punish players for dying too often and in turn makes it accessible to pick up and play. All the tinkering options with classes and deckbuilding make it daunting at first glance, but after getting the hang of it, each playthrough feels unique even when using the same class. The realm of Arthurian legend has never quite been explored this way before, and seeing the psychological wear and tear on the denizens of this trapped world is addicting. Get ready to dive into the Wyrdness, just make sure to have enough Wyrdcandle ready to light the way.

With some major balancing issues that made a majority of its classes unenjoyable, Tainted Grail: Conquest redeemed itself by showing that when the game was balanced, it could be a fantastic experience.

All in all, this title is an uneven experience. The story is more substantial than most roguelites but is hampered by the randomly determined pacing. A few classes are a blast to play, while others feel too weak at high difficulties without good luck. For the first 20 hours or so, you are regularly getting new story content and new upgrades, and it’s easy to sink hours into Tainted Grail: Conquest. I just wish it kept up the pace all the way to the end of the story.

So often developers create a game using the kitchen-sink approach and it isn’t always clear how or why disparate mechanics deserve to play together. In the case of Tainted Grail: Conquest, deckbuilding, roguelike progression, and action RPG-type exploration feel compatible with each other as well as the dark fantasy setting and story. Less successful are the punishing, protracted battles that take too long and lack variety over multiple runs. With some additional balancing, classes, card types, and adjustment to pacing, Tainted Grail’s fundamentally solid concepts could shine through the darkness a little better.