Despite THQ Nordic announcing that they purchased the rights to the Kingdoms of Amalur franchise, it still seems that there are still some hurdles in regards to the ownership of the original Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning.

In an interview for Eurogamer, a representative told their writer that "EA still has the publishing rights to Reckoning," meaning that they would need EA's permission in order to make a remaster of the 2012 RPG. This is because they only have the rights to the series, not the original game.

"At this stage we 'only' acquired the intellectual property. Given our track record, we know what the burning questions (remaster, remake, port to current-gen systems etc.) are, but we decided to not answer those specifically as we tend to put our heads together first and then do our homework, and only start to talk about anything once we feel confident and very familiar with the franchise."

THQ Nordic would not comment on any other information regarding there relationship with EA.

For fans of point and click adventure games, KING Art's Black Mirror may seem like a familiar title. You'd be right. The game is both a retelling of the original Black Mirror Trilogy and a new game in its own right. While there are similarities -- such as the death of one William Gordon, there are plenty of differences. Yes, you go to the manor known as Black Mirror House to  investigate William's death. However, while in the first game you play as his grandson Samuel, in this remake you take on the role of a much closer relative -- his son David.

In both versions, the overlaying theme is the same. Something unknown killed William Gordon and that something appears to be tied to the occult; possibly a family curse. Either way, you're there to find answers but you won't find them easily. You won't be getting much help from the house's inhabitants either.

The Good

Story and Atmosphere

When it comes to world building, KING has done a great job. Particularly when you consider the fact that an adept player will be able to make it through the game in about four hours. During that time you'll meet few characters, but the ones you do are well written and fairly well developed -- considering they don't really want to share many of their secrets with you. That doesn't stop you, however. Before even arriving at the house, you have plenty of clues to get you started. 

The atmosphere is particularly great for a horror game. Admittedly, when I first booted Black Mirror up, I had some doubts. Considering that most "horror" games over the last few  years have been filled with jump scares, I was prepared for more of the same, expected to hate time spent playing the game.  Luckily, I was wrong. There is a bit of that element, but it's so deftly handled. On the few occasions one of them did pop up, it was in a way that left you more curious about what happened rather than wanting to throw your mouse at your computer screen and run out of the room.

The Puzzles

Being a shorter game, there aren't too many puzzles to tangle with. However, the ones that are there are fantastic. You will need to engage in things like mathematical problem solving, but for the most part, they rely on logic and the ability to be extremely observant. The first puzzle I came across stumped me for a few hours. I ended up writing it all down and carrying it into the living room with me to stare at it and wait for an ah-hah moment. It was both gratifying and infuriating to realize I'd simply missed the obvious.

The really interesting thing is that somehow the developers manage to reuse puzzle ideas and build upon them in a way that still makes them challenging to solve -- even though you've "been there before." But again, it's all about being observant and not thinking you already know just because you already did that one thing that one time.

The Not So Good

Challenging Pacing 

Because of the nature of the game -- and the need to at least do some things in a certain order -- you may find yourself wandering around in circles wondering what on earth you missed. At this point, the game can seem to drag out. This is compounded by the fact that you're walking in those circles in a fairly limited space. That said, this is often the nature of point and click adventure games. Sometimes it's just a pain figuring out what in the world you're missing.

Gameplay 

Control 

Being a point and click adventure game, Black Mirror doesn't have a complex set of mechanics. It does however have a bit of a port problem.  When you first boot up the game on PC, head into the settings and look at the controls menu. You'll note that what you're shown is an Xbox control scheme. Not to worry, the controls are pretty basic: WASD to move, click to look at things, hit a few buttons for menu items such as "I" for the inventory. As new menu items are added, the game tells you what the commands are.

Movement in the game can be a bit iffy. The game's camera rotates on it's own, so you'll find you need to change the direction you're trying to move in order to continue along the same line when this happens. You'll also find it takes a little work to move around things or lining up with clickable points so that they're usable, and you'll often end up going out a door you didn't intend to. It can be a bit frustrating. But, as you get the layout of the rooms down, you'll learn how to work around it.

The effects of control issues aren't just felt in movement, however. As the game goes on, you will find yourself needing to manipulate items in your inventory. This can also be a bit frustrating as you fight to get things to line up in ways that make them usable.

The Loading Wait

The most vexing thing about this game is the loading times. Whether it's entering rooms, or inspecting items in those rooms you will be waiting. And you will be doing both of these things... a lot. When loading in and out of the rooms, you'll primarily be met with a black screen until the room loads. However, inspecting things or using your inventory will result into your character just having to stand there for a bit while the game decides it's ready to let you get going again.

Final Verdict

The above issues aside, Black Mirror is still a really solid game. If you're a fan of mysteries and puzzle solving, it's one you'll definitely want to give a go. 

As far as the value on this game, you'll have to be  the judge. Some people might find the short playtime reason enough to walk away. However, I'll personally note that I've spent a good deal more time playing than four hours. Sure, some of you will make it through in that time, but I'm going to guess most will get more than their money's worth out of it hour-wise.

Fun-wise, there's not question. The game is indeed a good bit of fun -- even if it can be frustrating.

Black Mirror is available on Steam and will generally run you $29.99 -- although at the moment there's a 10% discount available. 

Editor's Note: The game's developer provided GameSkinny with a review copy for this piece.

Published by THQ Nordic, Battle Chasers: Nightwar (BC:N) is based on the 1990's comic book series of the same name, created by Joe Madureira and Munier Sharrieff. BC:N is set in a fantasy world featuring your run of the mill monsters, magic, and some good old fashioned mayhem. The game stars the rag-tag team of Garrison -- the veteran, Gully -- the team's young hero, Calibretto -- a robotic monk, Knolan -- the group's resident wizard, Red Monika -- a bounty hunter, and Alumon -- a demon hunter.

As a fan of RPGs, I have to confess -- I find it hard to get excited for them any more. The more familiar they happen to be, the more been there, done that they're likely to feel.

So when I had the opportunity to play the Airship Syndicate developed Battle Chasers: Nightwar, I actually got really excited. But does this modern RPG do enough for the genre to warrant a playthrough? Read on to find out.

Flavor Text

Unlike many other RPGs, BC:N has the added benefit of drawing from its comic book origins, and serves as a continuation of the original run. It also helps that one of the comic book's creators penned the game. Even though the game treads familiar ground in it's fantasy setting, the plot feels very tight and focused, which can most likely be attributed to Maduriera's involvement as creative director. And whilst the story doesn't necessarily break any new ground, what does make it stand out is it's amazing cast of characters.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar is very much the tale of our heroes keeping the peace in a not so peaceful land. The narrative also delves into the heroes' motivations and weaves stories pertaining to each character throughout the game. One of the most important characters is Gully. She isn't even 10 years old, yet she's out bashing demons in the face. The characters often attempt to protect her, but due to her connection with her father's magical gauntlets, she sometimes comes across as a possible threat to them and even herself. So the discourse comes thick and fast as the group attempts to deal with this.

Of course, the rest of the gang have their own interesting stories as well. Garrison is attempting to follow a path towards redemption, Calibretto has to balance the fact he's a pacifist and a former death machine, and so on.

Rather than subject you to all of this in long winded cut-scenes, the game presents them in bite-sized intervals. This happens in the world map, dungeons, and at inns when you rest. This is a refreshing way to experience a story in contrast to the way most other games present theirs -- in a movie-like approach which gets old fast if not done well. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I feel that Battle Chasers strikes a great balance between telling a story and letting a player experience it themselves.

Reclaiming My Time

From a gameplay perspective, Battle Chasers: Nightwar is built with the player's time in mind. In comparison to a lot of RPGs that tend to fall flat in this regard, BC:N allows you to play at a pace all your own. You can save anywhere and then continue whenever you want. They've effectively erased the biggest problem I have with RPGs -- having to set aside a lot of time. You can play this game for just 30 minutes or for hours if you'd like.

The game takes places in a seamless overworld. Here you can see enemies to fight, towns that you can head to, and dungeons you can traverse. Dungeons are fully 3D areas that provide players with a challenge. Before entering a dungeon, the game will ask you to choose between normal, hard, and very hard and you will be shown the prize for clearing each respective difficulty. This side steps the need to replay the game on a tougher settings later on. Just make sure you can handle the tougher difficulties.

Although you can go pretty much anywhere you want, you are provided with some basic direction in the form of map markers and quest objectives. You can take detours, sure, but thanks to the map markers and so on, you will never feel lost.

A Call To Arms

Combat is turn based but not in the traditional sense -- it's much more fast paced. There are plenty of strategies you can use with your party, which consists of three from a possible six heroes, so you can account for a range of situations. Although you could just ignore those more tactical decisions and stick with your favorites, that could make getting through the game a little harder than you'd like. You can also use character specific skills. For example, Calibretto can heal the group using some Mana and Garrison can dash for a short amount of time.

If you maximize your resources and plan accordingly, battles can be over pretty quickly. But's that's a two way street. If you find yourself fighting a much tougher foe and don't stay on your toes, you're dead.

Character customization gets rather deep, featuring a variety of armor, skills, and weapons. I won't bog you down with the finer details, but rest assured -- there's a lot to do. 

The Sounds of Battle and Maddening Art

The game looks and sounds excellent and the art design really stands out. Madureira and the development team were really able to make characters pop in and out of battle. The battle animations are also both lively and expressive.

The sounds accompanying the game are intricate and visceral. From the foot steps of your heroes to the clashing of steel, the sound design is implemented flawlessly. The soundtrack of the game is more than just a standard fantasy score -- it has subtle themes that play in different environments during your travels. This includes grandiose battle themes and exciting sequential themes. Lastly, the the voice work in the game is actually quite good too.

The Bad

My only complaint revolves around it's difficulty. You'll definitely need some familiarity with this type of turn-based RPG to do well. There are times where battles will be tough as nails and you need to keep your wits about you. It's far from impossible to beat, but if you don't pay attention you'll be regularly treated to a trip to the gameover screen.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a special game. It's built from the ground up with modern sensibilities and has as much charm and personality as a traditional RPG. Battle Chasers is a turn based RPG in itself but forgoes a lot of what they're known for to offer an exciting new experience. 

---

Fans of RPGs can find Battle Chasers: Nightwar on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and MAC. So you really don't have any excuse not to play this game as it's on every modern console and PC.

THQ Nordic and developers Airship Syndicate have officially released Battle Chasers: Nightwar on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC less than two years after a successful Kickstarter campaign. The game has also gotten a new trailer, which you can view above.

According to Airship Syndicate and THQ, the game is an RPG inspired by the classic console greats -- featuring deep dungeon diving, turn-based combat presented in a classic JRPG format, and a rich story driven by exploration of the world.

The game is set to have a number of features, including:

• Classic turn-based combat with a unique overcharge mana system and Battle Bursts.
• Randomly-generated dungeons loaded with traps, puzzles, secrets and loot. 
• An overworld peppered with hidden dungeons, rare bosses and randomly appearing friends and foes. 
• Six available heroes from the classic Battle Chasers comic series, each with unique abilities, perks, items and dungeon skills for your party.
• Deep crafting system with an ingredient-overloading mechanic to create epic items.

Based on the 90s cult-hit comic book Battle Chasers, this video game spinoff originally hit Kickstarter in 2015 and successfully met its fundraising goal. Battle Chasers: Nightwars can now be played on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation4 and is available for $29.99 in both digital and physical copies.

Earlier today, THQ Nordic, the publishers behind the Darksiders franchise, announced three major titles set to be released in 2017.

The first announcement is Battle Chasers: Nightwar, an RPG inspired by "classic" RPGs. It has a battle system that harkens back to those found in early RPGs with an added twist: it has a two-tiered mana system and turn-based initiatives. Players will select from three heroes as they begin their journey of survival in the isolated town of Harms Way. Battle Chasers: Nightwar will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch on October 3.

Next up from the studio Piranha Bytes comes a new open world action-RPG titled ELEX. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic world laced with science-fantasy elements, Magalan is a planet where magic and mechs both thrive. After a meteor strikes Magalan, war erupts across the planet. Survivors are fighting for the mysterious element Elex, which can power up machines, magic, and more. ELEX will be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 17.

Last on the list is a multiplayer game that blends elements from the RTS and top-down RPG genres in an epic fantasy world. In Spellforce 3, players will return to the world of Eo and experience the catastrophic events that have taken place before the Convocation. Spellforce 3 is a PC exclusive coming on December 7. 

All three titles are now available for pre-order for PC on Steam and GOG.

Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more news and info on these three titles as their release dates get closer. 

Scheduled for release nearly six years after Darksiders II and the enhanced Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition, the new Darksiders 3 was confirmed seemingly out of nowhere. With game being developed by THQ Nordic and Gunfire Games, it will certainly have a legacy to live up to upon release. 

Added pressure of a sequel aside, Darksiders 3 is a game you should be excited for. And I'll give you two good reasons why. Firstly, the pressure on the developers to create a great game to honor the series is ever present. Secondly, the focus on Fury -- the new character players will utilize in game -- looks to be bringing a fresh perspective to the series. The only roadblock to this excitement could be players' faith in the developers to deliver on the game itself.

With these two things in mind, I can assure you that the new game will be just as exciting -- if not moreso -- than the previous installment.

THQ Nordic Has a Lot on the Line With This Game

Darksiders 3 is being developed by a strong team including ex-Vigil Games employees who worked on the previous two games themselves. Their work coincides with THQ Nordic -- the successor to THQ after it filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Nordic remains optimistic that they won't fall into the same shortcomings, and for our sake we should be confident they won't.

If we look at the outlook on the part of devs and producers from the end of THQ to the announcement that sparked a new beginning for Darksiders, you'll see a strong team with vision for a beloved franchise. 

In 2013, THQ Nordic's executive producer, Reinhard Pollice, said:

"What really makes up Nordic, what's good about Nordic, is that we are all players ourselves and are passionate about the projects we are doing..."

In a recent series of interviews with IGN, the questions of living up to the previous games were addressed. In addition to comments made by Pollice and others, Richard Vorodi, the lead level designer at Gunfire Games, stated:

"I'm not concerned with legacy or anything like that. There's an adage in boy scouts where, 'you leave your campsite cleaner than you found it.' I think if we can put this entry of the series out without damaging anything else and setting up the next one, potentially, then we've done our job."

So this means that THQ Nordic isn't exactly trying to make the sort of Darksiders we've seen thus far -- they're trying to take this series and revitalize it in a way that opens the door for even more games later on. If that's the goal, though, then they must be pretty confident in what they've built to start thinking about future iterations.

We're Getting a New Story With a Promising Character

The Darksiders series is no stranger to great main characters, but the story-driven aspects in the previous game weren't exactly on par with that of the first game. The new character, Fury, is a refreshing change to the characters we know, and allows the new game to not be tied to solely honoring the game lore. With new liberties available to the devs, players can relive a familiar and nostalgia-filled world while still experiencing new things.

Fury, whose style is different than the previous two main characters, has significance because of her loyalty to the Charred Council. This focus should be interesting to players, as the council's job is to maintain the balance of power in the universe -- but they have been corrupted themselves. While never seen in their true form, the council's role could be revisited more heavily than in Darksiders 2, due to this connection to Fury.

Most players haven't decided how they feel about Fury yet, but that's exactly where she should be for now. The main character for this new game needs to be intriguing but unsold -- she needs to win us over in order to be really memorable. And hopefully she will as we see new glimpses of her in the coming year.

But There Are a Few Possible Setbacks...

While it's going to be exciting to see what happens with an eager dev team, a dynamic story, and a brand new character, we can't help but think of how Darksiders 2's success was still followed by THQ's closure. If the shadow looming over Nordic isn't constantly on their minds, it certainly is on fans'. The worry that Darksiders 3 won't live up to the hype will be ever-present until release, and critics might be inclined to take a harsher view towards the game afterwards because of the legacy it has to live up to.

The only response to this, preemptively even, is to go into the game realizing it's not meant to be purely an homage to the original games. Instead, fans should see Darksiders 3 as a continuation of a larger world or universe that we can't wait to revisit. 

There's still more that can be done for the Darksiders franchise. The teams at THQ Nordic and Gunfire Games have pressure on them, but are hard at work in response. As David Adams, the President of Gunfire Games, stated:

"It felt like unfinished business... at some point we're like screw it-- let's do it." 

All the fans can (and should) do for now is keep an open mind and give THQ Nordic a chance to prove they have what it takes to make Darksiders great.

The name THQ has been out of the spotlight for a while, as the publisher declared bankruptcy in December 2012 and its assets were auctioned off to various developers a month later.

Following the demise of THQ, Crytek acquired Homefront, Sega snapped up the Warhammer 40,000 series, and South Park: The Stick of Truth went to Ubisoft -- while Metro and Saints Row were bought by Deep Silver. Many of the remaining IPs, including Darksiders, Red Faction, and Destroy All Humans!, were auctioned to a little known publisher called Nordic Games.

In addition to acquiring many of the company's major franchises, Nordic Games bought the rights to the THQ trademark. In order to more closely associate itself with the the recognizable brand, the publisher will now operate under the name THQ Nordic.

Addressing the decision to rebrand, CEO Lars Wingefors said:

"Whilst we take great pride in our Swedish roots and accomplished a great deal under the Nordic Games masthead, we decided it was time to incorporate the THQ name. Those key brands will continue to shape our business in a meaningful way going forward, and THQ Nordic represents a core approach of doing much more than “owning” a highly competitive portfolio of IPs. We cherish them, and align them with the very best development resources to expand upon them with the level of experience that communities and established fan bases expect and deserve."

THQ Nordic has reportedly 23 games in development, 13 of which have yet to be announced -- with the majority of these based on former THQ-owned franchises. Given the recent emphasis on the Darksiders series (Darksiders 2 got a remaster last year and the original is set for the same treatment with Darksiders: Warmastered Edition) our money's on Darksiders 3 being among them.