Summary
2025 was already stacked with RPGs, including the immensely popularClair Obscur: Expedition 33, as well asKingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Well, that streak seems to be far from over now with the recent full release ofTainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon— an RPG that takes cues fromgames likeThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. It’s not a perfect game by any means, but there are still some things in it that the next game in theElder Scrollsseries could learn from.
The Elder Scrolls 6is likely years away, but that also means there is still time left for it to make some adjustments after taking a look at whatTainted Grail: The Fall of Avalondoes better.The Elder Scrollshas a certain formula it likes to stick to, but it may be time forThe Elder Scrolls 6to innovate a bit further, andTainted Grail: The Fall of Avaloncould offer it some notes.
What Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon Could Teach The Elder Scrolls 6
The Elder Scrolls 6 Should Embrace Narrative Complexity and Moral Ambiguity
One thing that can certainly be said about theElder Scrollsseries is that it offers players an immense amount of agency when it comes to gameplay, and a decent amount when it comes to narrative. However, the main story for eachElder Scrollsgame is largely kept intact, regardless of the choices players make along the way. Some would say this is due to the Elder Scrolls being prophetic in nature and therefore deterministic of the future, butElder Scrollsloreactually says that the scrolls are not fixed prophecies and are instead visions of potential timelines.
The Elder Scrollshas a certain formula it likes to stick to, but it may be time forThe Elder Scrolls 6to innovate a bit further, andTainted Grail: The Fall of Avaloncould offer it some notes.
In light of that, there is more than enough room forThe Elder Scrolls 6to feature multiple pathsfor players to take in the main narrative, each of which leads to its own ending at the game’s conclusion. This is something thatTainted Grail: The Fall of Avalontakes pride in, as it offers players a wide variety of different routes to take and doesn’t punish them for making the “wrong” decision. In fact, one could argue that there are no wrong decisions inTainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, andThe Elder Scrolls 6should take note of that.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Should Exhibit More Environmental Diversity
Something else thatTainted Grail: The Fall of Avalondoes extremely well is environmental diversity. Rarely does any dungeon, cave, or city look and feel like another, providing incentive for players to be thorough in their exploration. This is highly unlikeElder ScrollsgameslikeSkyrimandOblivion, whose optional locations all bear the same qualities apart from distinct layouts, soThe Elder Scrolls 6would be remiss not to look toTainted Grail: The Fall of Avalonfor inspiration here and feature a world that is rich in environmental diversity to encourage deep open-world exploration.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Should Feature a Larger Selection of Gear and Flexible Build Options
Despite the fair amount of agency traditionally offered inThe Elder Scrolls,diversity in gear options and build flexibilityhave fallen behind many other RPGs in depth.Skyrimhas indeed been praised for its sandbox approach to character builds, in that it grants players an opportunity to truly form their character the way they wish, but build flexibility has never fully extended beyond character stats in the series.Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalonadopts theOblivionprogression method, where players improve their character by performing certain actions. However, where it rises aboveThe Elder Scrollsis in the diversity of its gear options.
Gear inThe Elder Scrollsis generally divided into broad categories, and gear doesn’t synergize well to produce definitive playstyles.Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, on the other hand, offers players a massive number of gear sets to acquire, many of which have unique passive effects that players can use to tailor their builds accordingly. While there are some balance issues with this system when it comes to attribute requirements for gear, it’s still something thatThe Elder Scrolls 6shouldn’t shy away from imitating, as it could redefine the way fans play the game.
