[u][b]-Quick Review-[/b][/u]
You see the title of this game? Emily is Away <3?
Turns out, the developer was being way too clever for me, I thought it was the first Emily is Away game… this is in fact “Emily is Away 3”. The Emily is Away games were developed by Kyle Seeley who has fingers on the pulse of my childhood. Emily is Away <3 was released in 2021 but it’s really more like a precious time capsule of what it was like on the internet in 2008.
[u][b]Review Video:[/b][/u]
If you don't like reading, or are curious about watching gameplay check out my video here:
https://youtu.be/xoZcmx_fB4I
[u][b]-Detailed breakdown review-[/b][/u]
[b]Story:[/b] It’s the summer of 2008. In the game's own words: “AIM is officially dead. You finally joined Facebook, I mean FACENOOK, just in time for senior year. Time to see what all the hype is about…”
You have 5 different chapters to play through making decisions to impact how your senior year in 2009 will be… well… choices within reason. I tried very hard to stay single but like it or not you’re going to be hooking up with Emily or Evelyn, basically two sides of the same coin with only slight differences to their personalities. Namely Evelyn and I have more musical tastes in common.
Ultimately, my opinion on the story is… neutral. I wasn’t here for the story really, I was here to pretend I was back in the 2000’s, and that’s what I got. So I’m happy! Many of the choices I made hinged on “well… it depends on what we would be seeing happening in-person in highschool… If there was obvious flirting going on, then I would do xyz…”
That said, the drama that unfolds felt rather realistic to me, but it serves as a good reminder that you can’t maintain a relationship with nothing but text on a screen, you need context and open communication with two people who are willing to work things out together, not simply acting on speculation. …But let's be real, in highschool, I’d be all over that speculation just like every other highschooler who needs to mature more.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3692965912
[b]Gameplay:[/b] Okay, let's talk about some of the fun stuff in Emily is Away 3! So there’s a lot of nostalgia in this game that I absolutely loved every second of. Be it the sound effects of our old windows XP eMachine, finding random people on Facenook and sending them friend requests, and of course finding the secret easter egg links, games, websites, playlists, videos, etc.
After the game is done you can access everything in one handy menu, but it’s so much more fun to surf from one Facenook profile to another and look at playlists, and links which will sometimes open up into your real life web browser! For example, there’s this little website called YouToob. Can’t think of anything else quite like it, but you can get there from a Facenook friends posted playlist, then click on the suggested videos to pretend what it was like using the website back in the day. Best part? New playlists every chapter, and always some other reference to come across.
The only thing I worry about, is the web browser sections are hosted on the emilyisaway.com/3/ website… So someday if Kyle Seeley pulls the plug on the website hosting all these features, they’ll go away with it. But that’s a future problem for a future time.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3691791832
[b]Conclusion:[/b] In conclusion, I got what I wanted out of Emily is Away. It’s a relatively short game too, my first play through took me only about 8 hours and that’s because I was combing over everything trying to find easter eggs.
Remember, I was there to play a game to make me nostalgic for old Facebook, I mean Facenook in 2008-2009, bonus points that I found the story somewhat interesting, albeit a bit frustrating by the constraints of the choices, but I still enjoyed the game. I should also add I bought Emily is Away <3 on a 90% off sale, so if you’re ever interested in trying it out for yourself, you can always just wait for a sale!
I wonder what this game looks like to someone younger… and in another 20-30 years what would those people think about Emily is Away? In an attempt to shoehorn in some kind of moral here, remember to make the most of the time you have here and now, because in 20-30 years who knows, there might be an Emily is Away 6 and we’ll look back to 2026 with nostalgia.
