Allison 'AllieV' Van Oirschot
Bio
28-year-old Autistic Bisexual with a brain that won't shut off. Lover and writer of stories. Character creation is my passion. Ask me about my 30+ WIPs. Looking for a community of writers. Most of my game reviews will be on Metacritic too.
Stories (8)
Filter by community
Sorcery School (2023) Review
If you’re looking for a non-homophobic wizard game, I’d recommend this one. Yeah, it does go the whole ‘chosen one from the prophecy’ route, but thankfully it doesn’t start with that. Arriving at the Owl School of Magic, hands-on learning is key, as the place is crawling with monsters. The first magic discipline you study is Owl Magic, taught by Headmaster Horatio Hawthorne. As you fight monsters through the school, you’ll meet other students and teachers and unlock new spells to use on your journey. Winning battles earns money, which you can use to upgrade your magical solitaire cards, and souls, which increases your Magic Level and your energy. Fair warning, the more magic disciplines you learn, the more you realize Owl Magic is the weakest one. It can really only be used at the Owl School, and even then, it’s hard to win.
By Allison 'AllieV' Van Oirschot5 months ago in Gamers
Style Savvy (2008) Review
I’ve been playing this game on and off for years now, and every time I restart, I get sucked into the expansive world of fashion. I mean, over 10,000 fashions in one game? That’s incredibly mind-blowing, and very impressive. Can you imagine the work that went into making all of that? For 16 different fictional fashion brands? You really have to wonder how long it took to come up with all those designs and implement them all into the game. I imagine there was at least some inspiration from the real-world fashion of the time. Honestly, a lot could fit nicely in today’s fashion world. Kinda gives you an idea of how timeless Style Savvy really is. Though, it’s not without its issues. There were some things that made me a little annoyed and that I felt were rather unnecessary. But it is, overall, a solid game worth revisiting.
By Allison 'AllieV' Van Oirschot7 months ago in Gamers
Runaway: A Twist of Fate (2009) Review
Considering how the last game ended, I was fully expecting it to start with the great big rescue. Imagine my surprise when it starts with Brian’s funeral. I was further surprised when he was not only convicted of murdering Colonel Kordsmeier but also declared insane and put in a psychiatric hospital. Like, wow, that’s a lot to take in at once. Then it turns out Brian faked his death to escape the hospital to try and clear his name? Honestly, that sounds like something he would do. A welcome twist on the series’ formula is that Gina was much more involved this time. No longer is she a damsel in distress, but a playable character. And her breasts are actually covered for once, thankfully. There is some narrating the past, as per usual, but things do mostly take place in the present time with new, quirky characters.
By Allison 'AllieV' Van Oirschot7 months ago in Criminal
Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle (2006) Review
Brian and Gina are back for another crazy romp. When a plane crash derails their vacation in Hawaii, Brian ends up alone in a jungle while Gina sinks to the bottom of a lake. Once again, it’s up to Brian to save the day while Gina is off helpless somewhere. While the dynamic is repetitive, among other things, there were enough new situations and people to keep things interesting. However, the sequel made the same mistakes of the first game, along with lasting a lot longer than it should have. Not to mention many of the puzzles required players to solve them wrong before solving them correctly, while others were just tedious.
By Allison 'AllieV' Van Oirschot7 months ago in Criminal
Runaway: A Road Adventure (2001) Review
A light-haired man out traveling meets a dark-haired woman and goes on a global adventure involving an old artifact. Sound familiar? No, this isn’t Broken Sword, though the first game in that series did come first. This is Runaway: A Road Adventure, featuring the exploits of Brian Basco, college student, and Gina Timmins, a lounge singer (actually a stripper) who witnessed a murder by the mafia. While the gameplay and mechanics are a typical point & click affair, the story and characters are very colorful and engaging. For a game that had trouble before, during, and after production, it’s pretty amazing that it was ever released. Though it equal parts surprised and disappointed me, I enjoyed it and can see why it did so well in Spain and, eventually, the US.
By Allison 'AllieV' Van Oirschot7 months ago in Criminal
A Vampyre Story (2008) Review
As far as point & click games go, this one is rather standard in terms of gameplay and mechanics. Easy enough to understand and move Mona around the castle she lives in. Though instead of gathering items and placing them in bottomless pockets, they’re placed in a bottomless coffin. An appropriate twist. In addition to what Mona carries, she also makes notes of items she wants to save for later, and the ‘ghosts’ of those items appear in the coffin as well. When the need arises, she can teleport to one of those objects and use them. An interesting concept I hadn’t seen before. For a game made in 2008, A Vampyre Story had quite a few things going for it story-wise. I can also appreciate the details of all the backgrounds in and outside of the castle. These include a chandelier hanging over a long table in the dining room, stained glass windows in the library, and a snow-covered bridge against a moonlit sky. I’m reminded of old 2D Disney movies where the backgrounds are stagnant but beautiful.
By Allison 'AllieV' Van Oirschot7 months ago in Horror
The Unconventional Exorcist. Content Warning.
Disclaimer: I would like to get this story officially published somewhere, I just need some more beta reading/editing done beforehand. I have two sections of exposition that I'm not sure how to change, so any feedback would be great.
By Allison 'AllieV' Van Oirschot7 months ago in Horror
Haunted (2011) Review
As a fan of point & click adventure games, Haunted seemed very appealing to me. Though considered an 'old' game by today's standards, it still holds up fairly well in terms of visuals and gameplay. I was surprised to see that when Mary was travelling to new locations, she looked as if she was a giant. It pleasantly reminded me of American McGee's Alice: Madness Returns. I'll admit, despite having a dark tone overall, there were some light-hearted moments that made me chuckle. As example would be when William had to kiss Lou and she tricked him into kissing her lips instead of her cheek (ignoring the fact that she couldn't actually SEE him). Victorian children were such stinkers, weren't they?
By Allison 'AllieV' Van Oirschot7 months ago in Horror
