Like its predecessor, I’m unlikely ever to forget Emily is Away Too. What developer Kyle Seeley has created is a great reminder that excellent immersive storytelling is reliant on only two things: an unique idea, and the vision and passion to see that idea materialize.
As with the first one, Emily is Away Too is a wonderfully crafted narrative experience that echoes what it was like to be a teenager in the mid-2000s. For such a simple concept, the level of detail really makes this game a fantastic narrative experience. If you like short narrative experiences, I can’t recommend this enough.
It’s not often that a game’s sequel fixes many problems I had with the original without adding in new issues or changing too much. Emily is Away Too manages this feat very nicely. I thought Emily is Away was a great game but I felt the game lacked options in the way the story went and that it would have been nice to have manual saves. The sequel addresses my first concern by adding a second character you interact with and allowing you options to end up with either of them. So you go from the one ending to three possible endings as you can choose to romance one of them or stay single and friends with them. They didn’t add in manual saves which I wanted but they did add mid chapter auto saves so it does save more frequently then the original. The game still retains the fantastic sounds and interfaces that the original had as well as having great throwbacks to the movies and music of the time period. The game can be a bit rigid with certain rules. For instance when each of the girls consider hanging out with you they take into account having slightly different music or game tastes. It is a bit realistic I guess as some humans probably do that but looking at it objectively if you enjoy conversing with someone and have a connection then refuse to hang out because you like FPS games and they like RPGs it’s a bit weak of an excuse. That being said one of them actually mentions this later in the game so maybe I’m over analyzing it. The conversation system still has realistic dialogue that I could have seen myself having at that age and the story has a natural progression to it. There was one chapter where you have to attempt to talk to both of them at once with each response being timed. I’m not sure if it can be beat without one of them thinking you aren’t paying attention due to failing to respond in time but I tried my damnedest with my hands probably looking like Hugh Jackman hacking the DOD in Swordfish but still failed. It actually added some tension to an otherwise light game but was an impressive challenge.
I played Emily is Away Too on Linux. It did have one crash where when I launched the game the window just flickered and I couldn’t get the game to quit. I ended up having to do a hard restart. Other than that I had no issues. The game also doesn’t have a full screen option, just windowed mode. It uses the Unity engine. I played version 1.1.28.1933 of the game.
Disk Space Used: 107MB
VRAM Usage: 457-518 MB
CPU Usage: 1-4 %
RAM usage: 2.5-2.8 GB
Frame Rate: 64-75 FPS (Not that it matters in this game)
If you enjoyed Emily is Away you should enjoy the sequel as well. It adds some good features to the game; explores some different stories; and retains what made the original special. I paid $4.99 USD for it and feel that is fantastic value. I would have happily paid $20 for it. I finished it in 2 hours but felt it was a good length and didn’t feel stretched or thin.
My Score: 9.5/10
My System:
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 5700 XT Gaming X 8GB | Mesa 20.0.6 | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB | Manjaro 20.0.1 | Mate 1.24 | Kernel 5.6.11-1-MANJARO
I take my hat off to developer Kyle Seeley for being able to create such a realistic-feeling experience from something so simple, but just one that made me very glad my teenage years are well and truly and thing of the past.
Emily is Away Too is basically the first game expanded beyond a simple gimmick. It may not be the best piece of interactive fiction ever created, but quality-of-life changes to the original formula make the journey feel more personal for individual players. The multiple endings really seal the deal, meaning you’re in for heartbreak or everlasting love.
Thought at first that it was just a cuckold simulator because at times, despite me giving perfect responses, the character would write some nonsensical **** on his own and seriously delay my progress. I was often mad at this during my playthrough but in the end, the game let itself acknowledge my skills and gave me the perfect ending so overall I found the whole experience satisfying.
"Too" was definitely an upgrade from its predecessor. I liked how there were results to your actions. I also liked how you had different options. Again, the nostalgia felt really good similar to the first game.
Honestly, this was a pretty underwhelming visual novel esque game. The connection between your choices and the resulting actions never felt very strong, and there wasn't really anything in this game to rescue it from mediocrity.
SummaryEmily is Away Too is a brand new story featuring new characters and multiple different endings. Message your friends, surf the web and choose your path through this branching narrative.