Emily is Away <3 Review (sKielights)
After playing all three games of this series, this one frustrated me the most by far lol. Not sure if this was the intention of the game, but based off the other reviews written by other players and how difficult it is to get a "good" ending in the game, I wouldn't be surprised. Overall, this is what I thought of the game:
- The links that send you to a Walmart version of YouTube was pretty cool, you can even click on the videos suggested to you on the right, you can rate the video itself, and like/dislike the comments on the video.
- Taking the love quiz and writing my own status/notes was cute.
- I wish there were more options for dating besides Emily/Evelyn. The game puts you into the perspective of a straight male, and as a straight female playing the game, I would often try to just stay friends with Emily/Evelyn and try dating somebody like Mat instead, but that just wasn't an option.
- After playing all three games, the conversations start to become predictable or boring, so I had to take breaks in between sessions. I got really tired of being asked to listen to new music every time I talked to a character or started another chapter.
- The endings frustrated me, I didn't appreciate being gaslit about being manipulative and controlling to Evelyn after asking her to tone it down with Steve since they were flirting with each other (at least they were in my opinion). But I guess this is supposed to simulate what a real high school relationship can be like, especially with social media, so good job to the creator if that was the intention. I also hate that Emily suddenly despised me just because I didn't go to her party (I didn't even say I was attending, I put down 'maybe' hoping there was a chance I could attend both). I went to Evelyn's party instead and she didn't talk to me for the rest of the game.
Overall I love the series, but this game just was really frustrating, and everybody else seemed to agree based on their struggle to get a happy ending with whichever S/O they chose. Just wish the story writing was a little bit better, then it would've been a perfect game, and I would've felt confidence enough to recommend it to my friends without fear of them getting fed up with the game (like I did).