Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered surprise dropped on April 22nd, dominating headlines and pulling attention away from many other similarly timed releases, especially those in the fantasy and RPG genres. If you’re like me and found Oblivion Remastered kind of disappointing, don’t fret. Though it received much less fanfare, a classic-Elder Scrolls-inspired RPG released shortly after Oblivion Remaster’s ghost release, and completely blows the game out of the water.
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Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, an indie release inspired by old-school Bethesda games, has reignited my love for the genre with clever balancing and reimagining of the formula’s dated gameplay. One system changed by the Tainted Grail team stood out above all to me: summoning. One of the most iconic features in a fantasy RPG, and I think Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon just might do it better than anyone else. So, before you jump into that new Oblivion Remastered patch, you might want to give Tainted Grail a look as it reinvents the genre and blows the competition out of the water.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was the game that originally introduced my then-young mind to the concept of summoning in games. I was instantly hooked, and who can blame me? Going for the timeless “Spellblade” build, there is nothing cooler than having an otherworldly companion watching your back as you swing swords and blast fireballs at enemies. Plus, we all love Flame Atronachs, at the very least because they’re super cool conceptually.
Unfortunately, however, Skyrim far from perfects the system. In Skyrim, as with all of the Elder Scrolls games, at least going back to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, even the most experienced conjuration mages can only hope to have a single minion around at a time, and then only for a short duration. The feeling of being a master summoner is hardly captured when your Flame Atronach burns out in 30 seconds.
What I want from my summoning experience is to create an army of dedicated minions or one incredibly powerful minion, so long as my will continues to bind them to this plane of existence. The former is especially true in Necromaner-type builds. In the Elder Scrolls series, summons feel more like a tool used to distract enemies for a short time and buy you some space.
Enter Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, a game clearly built with love and appreciation for the Elder Scrolls series but with an eye for how the franchise could be improved. Summoning is just one of the ways the game makes those older mechanics feel fresh, modern, and far more fun.
Summoning in Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is done with a specific spell, one of the earliest available being a simple sword-wielding skeleton you can collect by defeating a Necromancer boss not far from Excalibur’s resting place. Familiar, right? The difference is that summons in Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon last “forever,” living until unsummoned or killed.
The way this works is by blocking off a portion of your max mana to accommodate the summon, essentially dedicating a piece of your magical energy and focus to keep your thrall alive. Cool, right? If nothing else, you have to admit that it’s an immersive way to balance them. By dedicating your resources to summoning, you become weaker in the other areas of magic, unable to cast more expensive spells or spam as many fireballs with your skeleton buddy out drawing aggro for you. The spell can also be recast to direct your summon to attack certain enemies, allowing for a far greater amount of tactical direction.
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If that wasn’t cool enough, you can have multiple summons out at once, with different summon spells on each of your four loadout slots with your summons not disappearing when you switch loadouts. I haven’t yet experimented with how many summons you can have out at once in Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, but some have reported having as many as five out at one time.
This system is, by far, my favorite version of summoning in any RPG I’ve played, and goes to show what an underrated gem Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is. If you’re looking for that Bethesda feel but are tired of Skyrim and Oblivion Remastered, I highly recommend Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. It’s built on the foundation of the best parts of your favorite Elder Scrolls games, but with modern improvements and a rich, original setting of lore to explore.
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