I write this review with a very heavy heart.
Emily is Away was one of my favorite games I've played in the past year or so. The story was unique and compelling, and brought an amazing sense of nostalgia and realism to playing the game that reflects highschool and college relationships in a brutally realistic way. The first game explored a relationship between the player and Emily, and their transition from highschool to college life and the reality of growing apart. No matter what choices you made or how you played the game, the player and Emily were going to grow apart. This was a major reflection on the situation that a lot of kids feel as they grow up. People grow apart and sometimes fairytale endings just don't exist no matter what you do to try and get one. It was a gorgeous story of adolescence and heartbreak, portrayed through the conversations of two teenagers over the nostalgic aol messanger.
Coming from the first game, I was so excited for Emily is Away 2. I was excited to explore the relationship of these two characters before they split and why it was so heartbreaking for the player to lose her in the first game. I was ready to have my already crushed heart burned and shred. But this game was absolutely not what I was waiting for. I bought this game soon after it came out, a tissue box by my side. However, what I got was a dating sim. Now some people may enjoy that type of game, but Emily is Away was so much more. The characters were deep and complex and the decisions you made never seemed to work out in the end, speaking on the true reality of highschool friendships. This entire theme and complexity was invalidated by this game. A new character is introduced as a romance option, and you can choose to flirt with her or Emily. Where the original game was meaningful and heartbreaking, this game was shallow and lost all meaning by turning Emily into a stereotypical highschool girl that could be swayed by a kind word. This is not the truth of the world. The first game was so successful because of the inevitable truth that it portrayed. That truth is lost in this game. I wish I had never bought it, as all of the beauty of the first game was washed away by this superficial dating sim.

I write this review with a very heavy heart. Emily is Away was one of my favorite games I've played in the past year or so. The story was unique and compelling, and brought an amazing sense of nostalgia and realism to playing the game that reflects highschool and college relationships in a brutally realistic way. The first game explored a relationship between the player and Emily, and their transition from highschool to college life and the reality of growing apart. No matter what choices you made or how you played the game, the player and Emily were going to grow apart. This was a major reflection on the situation that a lot of kids feel as they grow up. People grow apart and sometimes fairytale endings just don't exist no matter what you do to try and get one. It was a gorgeous story of adolescence and heartbreak, portrayed through the conversations of two teenagers over the nostalgic aol messanger. Coming from the first game, I was so excited for Emily is Away 2. I was excited to explore the relationship of these two characters before they split and why it was so heartbreaking for the player to lose her in the first game. I was ready to have my already crushed heart burned and shred. But this game was absolutely not what I was waiting for. I bought this game soon after it came out, a tissue box by my side. However, what I got was a dating sim. Now some people may enjoy that type of game, but Emily is Away was so much more. The characters were deep and complex and the decisions you made never seemed to work out in the end, speaking on the true reality of highschool friendships. This entire theme and complexity was invalidated by this game. A new character is introduced as a romance option, and you can choose to flirt with her or Emily. Where the original game was meaningful and heartbreaking, this game was shallow and lost all meaning by turning Emily into a stereotypical highschool girl that could be swayed by a kind word. This is not the truth of the world. The first game was so successful because of the inevitable truth that it portrayed. That truth is lost in this game. I wish I had never bought it, as all of the beauty of the first game was washed away by this superficial dating sim.