I just finished the game Emily is Away Too recently and I totally recommend this game! It's a niche game no doubt (only appeal to small section of the gaming population), but if you're into visual novels genre, you will like it very much!
You can skip right to TL;DR section at the very end if the post is too long for you!
What's a visual novel?
A visual novel is an interactive game genre, which originated in Japan in the early 1990s, featuring mostly static graphics, most often using anime-style art or occasionally live-action stills (and sometimes video footage). As the name might suggest, they resemble mixed-media novels. - Wikipedia
I would say Emily is Away Too is a "modernised" version of visual novels as it introduces elements not found in older versions of visual novels. For example in Emily is Away Too, the story extends past the chat window with YouTube links, Facebook profiles and also file transfers. I believe due to copyright issues, YouTube is stylized as YouToob while Facebook is stylised as Facenook in the game. But it's all very obvious what they are!
Image: One of the YouToob pages you can find in game.
Image: Emily's "Facenook" profile.
Similar to it's predecessor, Emily is Away Too is an instant messaging game where you get to message your friends and chat about stuff, usually about homework, get drunk in parties, relationship, etc., stuff that we all used to talk about during our high school / college years.
I've played the predecessor Emily is Away and boy I must admit the UI is extremely nostalgic! Especially the Windows XP user interface and all. If you're born before the 90's, I highly suggest you give it a try first (since it's free) before deciding to get the second game Emily is Away Too. You will definitely feel the nostalgia if you've used Windows XP and dial up internet before!
Anyway back to Emily is Away Too. The game did an amazing job to provide a "typing" experience. When your friends asked you a question in the chat box, you get to choose 1 of the 3 listed choices. These choices will determine your ending, whether you get girl, or the girl ditch / friendzone you. After deciding on a choice, you get to "type" the words out. It gives a simulation that you are actually typing the message by yourself. But if you're too lazy to type them out, you can always go to Settings -> Type Assist -> On. If the type assist is on, the game will auto type the message out for you! You just gotta press Enter to send the text. You can even see that your friend is typing too!
Image: punk4eva is typing...
During chapter 3 of this game, both Emily & Evelyn messaged me at the same time and rant about stuff in life. What's worse is that you have to read their messages fast, choose a response and type fast too! If you don't respond to them after a while, they will get angry with you and they'll be like "Are you still there? Why aren't you responding?!". Again, all of these will take into factor on which ending you'll end up with! So act fast!
The next slick thing is file transfer! Your friend can "transfer files" to your desktop!
Image: punk4eva wants to send poemproject.txt.
Image: Downloading file. Transferring to desktop.
Image: Transferring done. The txt file is now on my desktop (see the red arrow)!
Each playthrough is about 2 hours long, depending on how fast you can read and react to the choices. Unfortunately after 2 hours of game time, I got friendzoned by both of the girls! It's no wonder why I'm forever alone... 😂
TL;DR
My rating for the game is an 8.5/10.
Emily is Away Too - Gameplay Trailer:
Video source: Kyle Seeley's (developer's) YouTube page.
Recommended for those who:
- like to read and / or fan of visual novels
- love romance stories
- want to experience the nostalgia of 2000's instant messaging
- want to experience a virtual simulation of talking to your crush (if you're a forever aloner like me! 😂)
Not recommended for those who:
- don't enjoy reading (seriously the whole game is mostly about reading texts)
Thank you for reading! Please upvote if you enjoyed it! 😁