Emily is Away Reviews

Bought it for the windows XP background. Was only a dollar, so whatever. Positive review because i got to name my character skibidi goonlord.

Quite an interesting game. I can hardly tell you anything in detail, but you should try to play it, I assure you. (also a bit similar to the game Night In The Woods) Довольно интересная игра. Подробно я вряд ли что могу рассказать, но вам стоит попробовать в неё поиграть, уверяю (так же чем то похожа на НИТВ - Night in the Woods)

god this was immersive, there are so many little throwback details that make it feel SO REAL, especially to someone like me was around the same age as these characters in 2008/09 when it was set. is it really a *game*? not really, but i am intrigued about alternative endings. choices definitely matter, and it's not easy to guess ahead of time what a lot of the decisions will do at the time. i do want to replay it to get at least the other one of the two main ending "groups", but it seems like there are a lot of other options too! it's slow paced, and the typing is in real-time, but that adds to the immersion. usually that would frustrate me but it enhances the experience here! i did get it in a heavily discounted sale. probably a fair price at the full amount, but definitely worth it in a sale!

[list] [*]Uh... I don't know. I really like the presentation and the nostalgic feel the game has, but I really have issues with the gameplay and the story side of things. [*]The story was really interesting to me until chapter 3 where the game starts to drag on (You and the characters can't get to the point or can't resolve conflicts like normal human beings) and it gets worse and worse the closer you are to finishing it. Also some of the stuff the characters say feels really forced at times and unnatural. [*]The gameplay also isn't something I'm a fan of either. I know It's a visual novel, but I wish there was a bit more to do besides just texting (and the text choices you get sometimes are total bullshit, where not a single reply is a good choice). [*]Overall, buy the game on sale if you want. It's not bad, but it isn't for everyone and there are definitely better games on Steam with the same nostalgic vibe. [/list]

I have a huge soft spot for this series, and this one appealed particularly to me because my coming-of-age was during the early years of FaceBook and Youtube. Technically, it was near the twilight of MySpace (wonder why that isn't one of these) but this time period was close enough. The honesty of this game pervades through every bit of interaction online: the extended letters (for emphasis?), the time-accurate playlists (Emily's indie playlist made me have my own Ratatouille childhood scene), the goofy picture captions, the lyric posts, and compatibility quizzes. The only missing part would be a certain character changing their relationship status to 'It's Complicated' in the middle of a difficult conversation. I would be interested, if they ever make a sequel, to see how a game of this type tackles content that is outside the scope of 'romance' and 'jealousy', those those are certainly prominent emotions at this time in life. Regardless, it's good for a shot of wistful nostalgia straight to the brain.

practically just a dating simulator with a tonne of drama (like the other games in this series) i can imagine the nostalgia factor this would bring for a lot of people, since it's set in the late 2000s, which was the time of many peoples childhood/teenage years also you can only date women + you have to date people (unavoidable in the narrative) probably wait for the game to be on sale if youre patient (dropped to 1.45 aud /0.95 usd in the summer sale)

The game was good enough to make me crack a smile and feel nostalgic for the older days of facebook with friends from school while growing up, but unfortunately it only goes downhill from there. The plot isn't very interesting with it dragging on in the latter half, but the worst part is the characters thinking in weird black/white extremes and making very little sense with the choices they make and things they say. You don't have the input to actually change how anyone feels and come off as the bad guy even while being pretty reasonable. If that wasn't bad enough the game is actually hardcoded to give you the bad ending on your first playthrough no matter what. What's even the point of trying to pretend like the player has any choice at all then? It makes the entire game feel like a waste of time and forces you to replay through everything, but this time you magically have the power to change opinions to the extreme that favors you. I think it's worth picking up for the old social media gimmick, but don't expect a good plot or a good ending.

I haven't played the first two Emily games in so long, but I remember them being a lot more digestible than this. Maybe I just grew up and I'm over the high school drama stuff, even fictitious high school drama. Emily is Away <3 is super satisfying to play around and explore with, don't get me wrong, but it gets so melodramatic and the characters get so irritatingly against you out of nowhere. It gets to a point where it almost feels like the characters aren't listening to what you're telling them and are just stuck on making you feel depressed lmbo. I guess considering the ages of the character you play as and the supporting cast, it makes sense in a sad, somewhat realistic sort of way. Kids can be jerks and dumb and overly emotional. But still, jeez. My particular playthrough ended very open-ended and unsatisfying, leaving me wondering why I even sunk an evening into playing it - I got all attached to the story and characters and everything, lol! I don't know, so much about life is hard, and the point of video games is to escape, so I guess I was just hoping that even when dealing with a playthrough riddled with conflicts between the characters, it would still end on a happy note for mostly everybody. But I know that's not how every story in fiction works, so... I enjoyed my experience, not really? But fr all in all this game was just not my cup of tea, personally. I don't feel the urge to replay it for a different ending, I just feel sad, and not in a fun way. Maybe I'm just butthurt because the game felt too depressingly real at times, and - again - not in a fun way. Maybe.

Ah, Facebook 2008. Back when it wasn't overrun by angry boomers, and instead by angsty Teens and bad early memes. If you grew up in the early 2000 this game will hit right at home and give you a weird sense of nostalgia. For the game itself, its one of this games where I wish Steam would have a more in-the-middle rating then just thumbs up or down. Ill still reccomend it becauese it definitly kept me entertained and It really captures this old Internet feeling, but I definitly habe my gribes with the story. Spoilers from here on out [spoiler]First of all, your first playthrough of the game ALWAYS gives you a bad ending. No matter which path you take. The dialoguen and what bad ending can be different depending on your choices, but you are locked out of any good ending until a second playthrough. And in this second playthrough, you do not have the option to fast forward or skip over already seen text like you can in 99% of visual novels. A lot of the timeskips also just gloss over stuff. Like, the girl you dont Pick at the beginning is still your friend. She complains that you are growing more distant. Then you habe no dialogue at all with her for 2 chapters (which you as the player can't control) and in the last chapter all of a sudden its like "yeah, she said you guys are not talking anymore". Or the Main conflict of the game Jeff/Steve. You barely get any nuance to handle this. Its either "ya okay ill ignore this whatevs" or "never dare speak to him again". There could habe been more talk about setting boundaries and mutual respect and how a friend flirting with a taken person is disrespectful on the friends part but no. I understand that this is a small game so obviously choices are limited. But it feels like there are pretty much only bad options here. Also, pursuing Emily in my own playthrough and watching a playthrough of someone going after evelyn, there is SO much repeating dialogue it feels like they where written as one character, split as a last second decision to add more "variety" and then only included very minor details that are different. This makes the game have very little replay-value, wich is ironic for a game with like 9 endings. If Emily and Eveline would be actual different characters with different story-lines it wouldbe easily worth at least 2 playthrougs. But like this? Not really. Even theconflicts are the exact same! Mat gets broken up with, and Eve tells youhe might be interested in Em. Play it the other way around, Em tells you he mightbe interested in Eve. Telling them about it, they also have the same dialogueas reaction, word for word. Same with the main conflict. You either have Jeff for Em or Steve for Eve. Similar to the two girls, those are basically the sane character judt different names for different storylines. This combined with the fact that you HAVE to beat the game twice if you want a good ending is WILD to me [/spoiler]

Idk, but this game made me feel same thing i felt long time ago, and that's crazy, never knew this would be possible with games, haha