Hello! This is Discussion: [indie game] (spoilers!), our semi-regular discussion series in which Jo and I talk about our chosen indie title with lots of plot spoilers along the way.

Today’s game is Emily Is Away <3 – the third Emily game by Kyle Seeley, released in 2021.

We’ve covered the previous two already, and so figured we may as well press on with the third one, even if – as we mention below – the experience of a thrice-rebooted tale of high school drama has the potential to be a slightly confusing and exhausting one if the games are played in quick succession.

We call it a trilogy, but it isn’t, really. Just like Emily Too, Emily <3 is an evolution of the original concept, this time ditching the instant messaging format altogether in favour of the new craze sweeping the internet in the late 00s: social media.

Otherwise, the same ingredients of teenage relationships, romantic entanglements, dramatic fallings-out and general awkwardness are present and correct here.

Like the other Emily games, we enjoyed this one, and would recommend it, although I’m not sure tackling all three in a row, like you’re having a movie night, would be all that great for your general wellbeing.

Anyway, go no further unless you’ve played the game already, have no desire to do so, or like to know how things end before you start them.

Here’s our ***FINAL SPOILER WARNING***!

 

Target acquired: convert to Snow Patrol

[This may seem like a sudden start, but followed a lengthy but largely irrelevant preamble about cold weather, Steam sales, selling old consoles and the tale of a man who was observed wandering into CeX to tell the staff he owned a copy of Metal Gear Solid signed by David Hayter and then immediately walked out again, which you really don’t need to read.]

Rik: Right then! We’d better talk about Emily Is Away <3!

Jo: Yupyup.

Rik: Which features another gritty reboot of Emily, this time circa 2008/9: a character who constantly regenerates at age 17, her love for, and devotion to, Snow Patrol strengthened each time. Like some kind of teenage Terminator, sent back in time to meet a romantic partner and convince them to also like sentimental Northern Irish indie.

Jo: Hahaha!

Rik: And AIM has been replaced by Facebook (or Facenook, as it is here) as the communication medium of choice for Emily et al. Do you remember ditching instant messaging for Facebook around this time?

Jo: Just ditching instant messaging as a whole. I was very late to the Facebook party and at that particular point (when I had left Uni and was living solo) my internet access went from limited to non-existent – so no instant messaging, and occasional Facebook checking had to be done at the local library (true story).

Rik: I’m trying to remember whether I took some kind of tedious stand against Facebook or was just my usual luddite self. I’ve never had an account… mind you, in 2008 I’d only just got Windows XP, so that maybe answers the question.

Jo: I think I took a stand against MySpace first, and then Facebook, and then reluctantly joined due to, uh, feeling a bit lonely.

Rik: I do enjoy the fake XP booting sequence here, incidentally…

Jo: Me too! And also the hard drive sound effects clunking away.

Rik: There’s also a fun intro bit where they reference what Facebook has become now – as you mentioned last time, it was all less sinister back then, from an ‘evil corporate overlord’ point of view, and was something that primarily existed to connect with people.

Jo: Yeah, exactly. All pretty inoffensive. Ads were all down the side panel and much easier to ignore. It’s now an advert/sponsored post machine, but in the early days, it was more about keeping in touch (and maybe also spying on people).

Rik: There are a few ads for fake/recognisable films and games here, though – references to Saw, The Incredible Hulk, GTA IV etc.

Jo: Yeah, but they’re just down the sides, like they used to be in real life. Now they’re all in the news feed with everything else.

Rik: Is it fairly accurate to your memories of old FB?

Jo: I’d say so. It reminded me why I’d joined in the first place and also why I left. I don’t think I ever really used the messenger part, though. Maybe because I’d just go to the library and check my email and Facebook, go to Sainsbury’s for some Super Noodles, and then head on home to watch the telly.

Rik: Blimey.

Jo: Fun. Times.

Rik: Let’s not get too rosy and nostalgic!

Jo: Hahaha!

Rik: Back then we didn’t need nice food, or to have the internet in our house. We just faced the grim realities of life, with no complaining!

Jo: I think back then the internet was sorta nice to have but you didn’t really **need** it. Not that you do now, but fewer things, entertainment-wise at least, were reliant on the internet – I think even Blockbuster Video was still going at that point.

Rik: Yes, it was in 2007 that I complained about Steam not working with Windows 98, and how this was a violation of some kind. Now we have to constantly update everything or supposedly risk being haxxored.

Jo: It all changed within a few short years, but there was no Spotify, or Netflix or anything to stream. As an office temp, living on my own, I couldn’t justify the cost of internet for instant messenger – which was all I used it for beyond email.

Rik: Having a console without the internet was ok back then, too.

Jo: Yeah, I think it was around this time that the PS3 had come out – was that the first gen of consoles to actually connect to the internet in any useful way?

Rik: Yep, I’d say so, although the original Xbox was ahead of the others in the previous generation. The PS2 had internet support but this feature was largely ignored I think.

Jo: There kind of wasn’t much point really – right? Unless it was to play online with others?

Rik: Yep, it was all specifically for online multiplayer.

Jo: That’s the one.

Rik: Not to download big updates for your machine’s operating system or patches for the games.

Jo: ‘Play online with others’… God I’m old.

 

Jerky jerkwads

Rik: So, we join the player character just as they sign up to Facenook at the start of the game. And you’re a long-time holdout, it seems. I guess there probably isn’t the same choice to avoid social media at that age when everyone is using it.

Jo: Yeah – if I’d been the age the characters are in Emily <3 around this time, I think I would have used FB more.

Rik: In most respects, it’s a similar endeavour to the previous games, but the move to Facenook means yet more characters, so instead of focusing intensely on just a couple of people this time, there’s more of a sense of a wider online presence.

Jo: Yeah.

Rik: I’d say though that there are probably only really three main characters apart from yourself.

Jo: Yes, I agree. Evelyn [Eva], Emily and Mat.

Rik: Mat is the friend who helps you set up your account, plus Evelyn and Emily, who in this version are friends who have fallen out with each other.

Jo: Yes, as opposed to people in the same year who don’t know each other, like in Emily Too. I have to say… that third character was kind of a crutch for me.

Rik: You mean Mat? How so?

Jo: When things got stressful, it was kind of comforting that Mat was still talking to me.

Rik: Ah ok. I think it reduces the intensity a bit.

Jo: Yeah, definitely.

Rik: Even though there is definite teenage wooing as the main theme, and it’s again a bit of a ‘which girl will you choose’ type thing, it takes place in the context of a wider group of people who hang out.

Jo: Yeah, exactly. It’s a welcome change – ups the teenage drama somewhat.

Rik: You have minor characters, like Mat’s girlfriend Kelly, in the background, but they still feel real. (Also, she’s right, that song by 3OH3 is awful).

Jo: Daniel Powter = worse. Bad Day got stuck in my head after both my playthroughs.

Rik: It is the kind of song that a sulking teenager might have put on, and also have the piss taken out of him for, in 2008.

Jo: Oh yeah, that was all very on the nose.

Rik: I did find it all a bit weird going back yet again with a group of characters with the same name. Once again there’s a party, and there are some familiar names – like Travis – that are mentioned. And you think, ‘is Travis one of the jerks from the previous games?’ But not quite being able to remember.

Jo: Did you find it hard to ‘forget’ the stuff from the previous games? Or not let it colour your opinion?

Rik: Yeah, possibly you’re not meant to play all three of these games in quick succession.

Jo: Probably under more normal circumstances (i.e. not reviewing each game in the name of science), you probably don’t remember Brad or Jeff or Travis or Steve. [Edit: Travis and Brad featured in the first game, and Jeff and Steve are love rival characters from Emily Too, in which the names Mat and Kelly also appeared on your friends list.]

Rik: Also all those names are very interchangeable – very ‘ex-boyfriend’ type names.

Jo: Yeah – jerky jerkwads.

Rik: This time the early wooing is much less complicated than in the last one. You pretty much decide who you like more after an initial conversation, then choose one of them, as they both invite you to a party on the same day.

Jo: Yeah – that’s the fork in the road really.

Rik: There’s not the same stress of juggling the conversation, just mild awkwardness after the choice.

Jo: I have to say, though, I did go in anxiously expecting that same scenario, especially as there are a fair few conversations that overlap, but thankfully it never happened.

Rik: While your potential beau constantly reciprocates your flirting, the shunned one is just a bit like ‘are we not friends now’. First time, I did the cowardly thing and pretended I might go to both parties, then I got ‘if you weren’t going to come to my party, you could have just said…’

Jo: Oooh burn!

Rik: Well, I clicked on ‘maybe’, as if that softens the blow.

Jo: I picked Eva’s party and then Emily used it as evidence against me later.

Rik: I also had mild stress in that opening conversation about music.

Jo: I did audibly groan.

Rik: The genres go all over the place and you don’t seem to have the option to be consistent with both people. Eva’s going on about punk, while Emily is asking you about indie vs electronic.

Jo: Yeah, I felt like I got into hot water very quickly. I was like ‘Why are these the only options?!’

Rik: Yes – ‘will you later compare notes and then put me in the relationship bin?’

Jo: Hahaha!

Rik: ‘You know, Rik actually told me he hates Snow Patrol! Here’s a screengrab…’ That must be like what teenage life is like now.

Jo: Playing all three of these games make me grateful for so many things: 1) that I’m not a teenager anymore; 2) that social media did not exist when I was a teenager; and 3) that I don’t have to flirt with anyone ever again and pretend to like the dumb shit they like.

Rik: Getting bullied in person is a bit more straightforward. Just push me down some stairs and call me a dickhead like in the old days.

Jo: Yeah: cut a chunk of my hair off on the bus and we’ll call it quits.

Rik: But don’t send constant insults into my home via the internet.

Jo: Thankfully there’s no lasting record of the awful things that people said and did to one another from when we were kids, to haunt you for the rest of your days.

 

LL Cool Rik

Jo: I really liked that this one felt like you were part of a group of friends.

Rik: Yeah.

Jo: I wasn’t sure how they were going to pull the Facebook thing off, but I think it worked really well – not gimmicky at all. Even with the photos and stuff, they got that just right.

Rik: Yep, it’s cleverly done, with the pixel portraits in place of photos. And there’s more ‘YouToob’, too. I did actually listen to some of the playlists that came my way this time, as kind of a 2008/9 musical backdrop to the game.

Jo: Yeah, me too. What about listening to the stormy sounds on top of the playlists?

Rik: Yes, I did that too. Fake rain and Death Cab for Cutie! As featured prominently in The O.C. – very ‘indie 00s’.

Jo: Oh yeah, it definitely captured that period of time very well. I even had a ‘hey, I really was listening to Death Cab for Cutie in 2008’ moment.

Rik: In the previous game the other characters could tell when you didn’t click on their links, so I did it out of obedience at first. I was really losing touch with real music by this point. I felt glad I’d heard of Alkaline Trio, and Kings of Leon – plus Snow Patrol, of course.

Jo: You just beat me to it!

Rik: I don’t get the sense that the stakes are that high with chatting up your chosen squeeze this time.

Jo: No, I got that feeling too.

Rik: Your music choice answers don’t seem to matter, and things proceed fairly smoothly in general, as you exchange mildly sickening compliments. Although there’s not the same level of ‘you’re the best person in the world’ stuff as in the last one, I don’t think.

Jo: No, though there are at least a couple of conversations that are just talking about what a great a couple you are and how much you like each other, which is all very eye-rolly.

Rik: Then the person you don’t choose starts messaging you with full stops and a serious tone, telling you that you’ve been distant, and accusing Mat of being a perv. (But also, don’t say anything, because he’s still a friend!)

Jo: Yeah, at that point I didn’t know where it was going. How did you deal with it?

Rik: I must admit I believed it the first time.

Jo: I didn’t really say anything to anyone and then later told Mat to stop being so overfamiliar with people. He was like ‘yeah, alright’ and then that was that dealt with pretty much.

Rik: I was wondering if he was some kind of inappropriate bad character and it might be up to me to call out my friend in the name of gender equality. Also he said, ‘Eva is fucking hot’ in one conversation.

Jo: I think I had the same thought, but for some reason decided to not say anything and just see how it played out…

Rik: He also wrote on Eva’s wall asking for the two of them to meet. So I was a bit suspicious, and a bit bitchy, when Mat broke up with Kelly. And like, ‘he’ll be fine, probably he did something wrong…’

Jo: Oh did he ditch Kelly in yours? ‘Cos Kelly gave him the heave-ho in mine – both times.

Rik: Yeah, I think it happens regardless.

Jo: But did Mat dump Kelly? Or did Kelly dump Mat?

Rik: Ah, no, he got dumped, sorry.

Jo: I thought that maybe there was a version where he binned Kelly off.

Rik: No, he ‘didn’t see it coming’ etc. That’s when you have the opportunity to confront him a bit. Although he tried to call Eva first and I told her not to take the call because I was a bit jealous.

Jo: Kelly then gets in touch and asks you to talk to him. And when you agree she’s like, ‘phew, well that’s a weight off me!’

Rik: I made the mistake of telling Kelly I thought she wanted to meet me. I was like, hmm, now there’s three girls after me in this one… How complex and delightful a problem to have, etc.

Jo: Hahaha – LL Cool Rik!

Rik: Ugh. I mean, she’s very ambiguous in that conversation, in my defence. Plus it comes just after she scores very highly in the relationship compatibility quiz you have to take.

Jo: Who, Kelly or Eva?

Rik: Kelly. She appears second most compatible with you after your chosen partner.

Jo: Ah, ok.

Rik: Anyway, I made the wrong choices here. There’s no subplot where Mat is a wrong ‘un.

Jo: In my first playthrough, I spoke to Mat after Kelly dumped him but couldn’t spend time with him because I had a date with Eva. And then she used that against me when she canned me off at the end… She was like ‘You’re so selfish. Why weren’t you there for your friend when he needed you?’ and there was no option to say ‘because I was trying to be loyal to you and thought you’d be mad at me if I chose my friend over our date’.

Rik: But doesn’t she think ‘bros before hoes’? [Apologies readers, but that’s how the game puts it].

Jo: Oh yeah… Ah, I guess I was in trouble for choosing a hoe before my bro [sorry!]

Rik: I think I kept my date the first time but can’t remember if Eva held it against me.

Jo: She told me I had control issues when she dumped me. And then when Mat was consoling me he was like ‘yeah… you might wanna work on that’ and I honestly felt so bad. I was like ‘EVEN MAT IS JUDGING ME?!’

Rik: How did you deal with the [late-game rival for Eva’s affection] Steve situation?

Jo: I tried to confront it in quite a balanced way. I didn’t speak to him when I was signed in as Mat or anything and I didn’t accuse Eva either, but I did say their obvious flirting made me feel quite uncomfortable. She was not happy with me but eventually agreed to cut it out. Then later, once she’d made up with Emily, they had a big chat about how awful I am and she dumped me saying that I was controlling and manipulative.

Rik: Oooh that is an unusual twist!

Jo: And then Mat came over to play Guitar Hero to make me feel better.

Rik: I tried to be chilled out, thinking the game would reward me, even when I saw all the flirty messages with Steve. Mat was even like, ‘wow, you’re too trusting!’

Jo: Yeah, he said that to me too. But then later he was like ‘yeah, maybe you shouldn’t have made her stop being friends with him you MEGALOMANIAC! (P.S. Want me to bring Doritos tonight?)’ It was real rollercoaster of emotion.

Rik: I was like, surely there isn’t a karmic reward for flipping out and being controlling.

Jo: I didn’t flip out. I thought it was all reasonably balanced.

Rik: I let it slide and then saw things slipping away towards the inevitable dumping, which is awful.

Jo: The dumping is brutal. I actually felt terrible afterwards.

Rik: Yeah, me too. It’s all, ‘I don’t really like you anymore but don’t want to look bad, so I’ll just be vague and annoying until you lose patience.’

Jo: I don’t know whether it’s because I wondered if I was genuinely controlling and manipulative, or if it’s because the spectacular dumping monologue reminded me of something I might have said when canning someone off in my formative years. Either way, I’ve got a lot to discuss in my next counselling session!

Rik: I haven’t had a lot of these kinds of conversations. But it was very similar to one I remember. Ugh. One minute you’re the best thing since sliced bread…

Jo: I know! It’s such a shift change, I wasn’t ready for it.

Rik: …the next, it’s all getting dumped using extremely cowardly and irritating tactics. ‘Do you think we should break up?’ ‘No!’ ‘Hm, well I’m wondering what other answers there might be for us…’ And so on. Until you lose your temper, or don’t.

Jo: Mine was much more brutal. Just a laundry list of all the things that made me a terrible person, backed up by Emily being in agreement.

Rik: Oh, wow.

Jo: While also being a terrible friend to Mat (who doesn’t seem to mind, as he’s bringing the snacks for Guitar Hero night).

Rik: I think I did all the ‘right’ things more or less with Eva, but then suddenly things have changed, and we apparently need a break.

Jo: I think the brutal dumping made me try extra hard to be nice on my second playthrough. And that’s how ended up at a Snow Patrol gig with Emily.

Rik: Hahahaha!

 

I take back every word that I said

Rik: I think the format is fixed that you always fail first time, and then if you choose the other person second time it’ll be ok.

Jo: Yeah, I think I saw that in one of the Steam reviews somewhere. (On Steam, probably).

Rik: And apparently if you go back to person one, it’s dumpsville again. I got dumped by Eva in exactly the same way again third time around.

Jo: Oh really? Are you destined to get canned off by them whatever happens?

Rik: It seems that way. Only this time I confronted Steve, and told him to fuck off etc.

Jo: Oh did you?

Rik: It didn’t make any difference. He apologised later and friended me, so I could see him flirting with Eva before they go off together (well, I assume that’s what happens).

Jo: Whaaaaat? Dirty Steve!

Rik: Meanwhile, I’m stuck at home with Mat playing Guitar Hero.

Jo: I’ve been there, my friend. So did you get with Emily on your second playthrough?

Rik: Yes.

Jo: Same. But I thought they were going to do a similar storyline with Jeff. It kind of goes that way to start with, he’s posting flirty things on her wall, she stays up all night making him a playlist, but I didn’t confront her in any way about it.

Rik: I think it does go that way if you choose Emily first.

Jo: I was just like ‘I’m sure this is fine’, and then by the end she’s like ‘ugh this fucking guy’, and I was like, ‘YEAH TAKE THAT JEFF FROM ENGLISH!’

Rik: I think I must have gone to the Snow Patrol gig too. This is the price you pay, I guess.

Jo: Yup, Snow Patrol is the way to Emily’s heart, clearly.

Rik: I ended up warming to Emily as she was nice to me in this game. Eva’s double dumping left me sour. All the stuff about friends being important and how I don’t understand – to hear it twice over was a bit much. I imagine the opposite would be true if I’d made a different choice and got the same spiel from Emily. In a way, it is a bit disappointing that it’s all so fixed in this way.

Jo: Yeah, I mean the sort of decision tree thing at the end suggests there are multiple ways it could go… having said that, I did feel like there were very strong parallels in the types of conversations you were having with both characters.

Rik: The decisions affect the little things not the major things, I think. Although it sounds like we had slightly different experiences despite the same outcomes.

Jo: That’s the only thing that kinda puts me off playing it again. The jaded old lady in me doesn’t have the energy for another of those types of conversations.

Rik: I’m trying to remember what Emily’s deal is with your issues. Unfortunately we both got Emily to like us, not Eva. So I don’t know for sure what happens when Emily dumps you.

Jo: Yeah, I was wondering that too. If it’s always set up so you never get with the person you pick first, though, how do you find out?! Surely that limits the replayability (is that even a word)?

Rik: I think there’s a strong chance it’s similar stuff. Like, Emily and Eva fell out over a bloke, and Jeff and Steve are fairly interchangeable, so perhaps they just say the same or similar things. I was a bit disappointed on my third go – going psycho with Steve was the only real difference!

Jo: Hahaha!

Rik: Also I flipped out at Eva when she started to dump me, rather than being patient and understanding (begging?!) like the first time around. She was like, ‘I know you’re angry but I hope you know I mean it when I say we can still be friends…’ Me: ‘Fuck you!’

Jo: That is the absolute WORST! What did you do about prom?

Rik: I think I went. ‘Hey, Steve, Rik wants to do the prom thing so I guess that’s where we’ll be!’

Jo: The thing that annoyed me about the wall posts is that they’re right there. Like, you can’t deny the flirting. I mean, maybe it’s just my control issues talking, but I didn’t think it was unreasonable for me to be like ‘hey can you pack it in pls’…

Rik: Yeah, I wanted to, but thought I shouldn’t. Although it doesn’t matter either way. What did you think of the Eva/Emily fight? And their way of communicating exclusively by the exchange of song lyrics?

Jo: Classic. I mean, it’s very teenage drama-y.

Rik: Did you advise them to work it out?

Jo: Yeah, I advised them to work it out both times. Did you?

Rik: Yes I did. Although I think they didn’t become besties again. Emily ended up hanging out with Kelly a lot.

Jo: Yeah, Eva was friends with Kelly in my second playthrough. But in my first one, Emily and Eva came together over their mutual dislike of me.

Rik: And Mat gets a new girlfriend!

Jo: Yeah.

Rik: Although they’re ‘not putting labels on it’.

Jo: Bleugh!

Rik: Which Eva ‘really liked’! Sorry to sound like an exasperated parent, but I mean, of course it doesn’t matter what they call it, if they like each other and then break up.

Jo: Hahaha!

Rik: It will still result in hurt feelings.

Jo: Again, I think it’s that teenage thing of trying to seem really mature by saying adult things totally out of context and so it just sounds ridiculous.

Rik: Yes, and very well done again. No wonder parents of teenagers end up going insane.

Jo: I remember writing in my diary when I was 14 something like ‘I can’t believe I’m dating again’ because it was something someone said in a film (a film about people getting divorced), which was just completely bonkers because ‘dating’ when you’re 14 is limited to holding hands at lunch time, or going to the chippy after school.

Rik: I remember a brief phase of people at a similar age making a distinction between ‘seeing’ and ‘going out’. And it’s like, you ‘see’ them at school, you ‘go out’ to… the cinema, maybe?

Jo: We just called it ‘going out’ even though no one went anywhere. Not even to the cinema. Going out when you’re married = the supermarket.

 

Getting dumped by a fake girl for reasons that are spurious

Rik: Shall we sum up? Was there anything else you wanted to mention?

Jo: I don’t think so. I’m worried I used all my Snow Patrol quips in our early texts while we were playing. Maybe we can edit them back in. (Joke!)

Rik: I think in the end I was past hating Snow Patrol, and started to find it quite funny.

Jo: Yeah, me too.

Rik: I didn’t even mind pretending to go to a concert.

Jo: I think the absolutely brutal dumping helped me make my peace with it. How did you think this one stacks up against the others?

Rik: I liked it. I think again there are a few more layers added, and it’s a bit less stressful.

Jo: Yeah, I think they’ve successfully evolved it each time.

Rik: Although the shame and embarrassment is present and correct. It’s very well observed again.

Jo: In some respects, I almost think this one is the strongest.

Rik: I think the only negative is the sort of fix in terms of what happens. Because you can’t ‘win’ first time, you’re not then free for infinite replays it seems.

Jo: I enjoyed all three – and I do think this last one was the strongest – but in a way I’m also kind of relieved we’re at the end. I think I might have enjoyed this last one more had we not done them back to back.

Rik: I think it was useful to compare, but probably a bit much to do one after another. I guess though that’s how people are going to experience them these days – if you like one then you’ll want to play the others at some point.

Jo: Yeah, unless you played them as they came out.

Rik: But I did start to feel like we were in an infinite loop of regenerating Emilys and high school drama.

Jo: Yeah, me too.

Rik: And they are quite exhausting to play.

Jo: They’re quite emotionally draining. I’m laughing as I say that, but I actually did feel like it was quite hard to go back to that particular time.

Rik: As in being 18, or 2008?

Jo: Just being a teenager in general. Not that it was that horrible or traumatic – but once was enough.

Rik: Yep, plus it feels a bit weird when it’s all so long ago. I came to the feeling that I’d had enough of being bollocked by a teenager for the time being. I’m in my 40s – should I be getting annoyed at a teenage version of myself getting dumped by a fake girl for reasons that are spurious?

Jo: The flirting made me so uncomfortable. It’s not real – but I just couldn’t cope with it, or the confrontations that followed. I’m just not cut out for it!

Rik: I’ve enjoyed playing the trilogy, and I think this maybe is the best one.

Jo: Yes, I agree on both points.

Rik: Well, perhaps a change of tack next.

Jo: Your choice this time!

Rik: Is it?

Jo: Yup, according to my records.

Rik: Ok, I’ll make a note to turn my brain on.

—

Emily Is Away <3 is available on Steam and itch.io for around £8.