Amory
Member
Just took an hour and played through this little story, checking out a couple of the different "paths". I had heard about it in passing when it came out, but I pretty much dismissed it as another nostalgia cash-in. Little did I know that it's not only free to play, but everything it sets out to do, it does very well.
For the unaware, Emily is Away is a story game taking place entirely within an AIM buddy list and instant message window, where you talk with your crush Emily by choosing one of three different responses over the course of your conversation.
What this game did so well (at least for me) was stir up that long-dormant feeling cycle of longing, excitement, anxiety, disappointment, and rekindled hope. Because if you grew up in the AIM era, you probably had an Emily and you probably talked to them largely over AIM. Very quickly, I wasn't talking to Emily in a little retro indie game in 2016, I was my 18 year old self talking to the girl in my class that I had a crush on in 2005.
It's easy to get caught up in the story, not only because the writing is excellent, but because it really feels like you're using AOL Instant Messenger. You can choose a buddy icon (which have exactly the right art, and are mostly band/movie references), you can read the profiles of everyone on your buddy list (and they'll change as the story progresses), you can change your font and background color, it all feels....real. Your character will even edit a response you've chosen as you're typing it, on occasion, to subtly change the meaning of what you wanted to say (e.g. "i think you're amazing" might change to "I think you're an amazing person").
It's a cute little experience. And even though a lot of the feelings it stirred up from the old days weren't good feelings, I was glad to be reminded of them.
Maybe my favorite thing (which I'll mark with a spoiler since it concerns the endings), was
If you haven't had a chance to play, go check it out! It's free! And if you have, what did you think?
For the unaware, Emily is Away is a story game taking place entirely within an AIM buddy list and instant message window, where you talk with your crush Emily by choosing one of three different responses over the course of your conversation.
What this game did so well (at least for me) was stir up that long-dormant feeling cycle of longing, excitement, anxiety, disappointment, and rekindled hope. Because if you grew up in the AIM era, you probably had an Emily and you probably talked to them largely over AIM. Very quickly, I wasn't talking to Emily in a little retro indie game in 2016, I was my 18 year old self talking to the girl in my class that I had a crush on in 2005.
It's easy to get caught up in the story, not only because the writing is excellent, but because it really feels like you're using AOL Instant Messenger. You can choose a buddy icon (which have exactly the right art, and are mostly band/movie references), you can read the profiles of everyone on your buddy list (and they'll change as the story progresses), you can change your font and background color, it all feels....real. Your character will even edit a response you've chosen as you're typing it, on occasion, to subtly change the meaning of what you wanted to say (e.g. "i think you're amazing" might change to "I think you're an amazing person").
It's a cute little experience. And even though a lot of the feelings it stirred up from the old days weren't good feelings, I was glad to be reminded of them.
Maybe my favorite thing (which I'll mark with a spoiler since it concerns the endings), was
that none of the endings are good, or at least none of them have you and Emily getting together. No matter what you do, it's impossible to get it "right". The message obviously being that some things in life just aren't meant to be, and that's ok
If you haven't had a chance to play, go check it out! It's free! And if you have, what did you think?
