I actually played this on Steam because it was free. Hit too real in the feels.
en.wikipedia.org
Emily Is Away is an
indie visual novel by game developer Kyle Seeley, released for free in November 2015. Set in the early-to-mid 2000s,
Emily Is Away tells the story of the protagonist's relationship with a girl, Emily, over the course of five years, from the senior year of high school to the senior year of college. The game is presented through a
chat client on
Windows XP styled after
ICQ and
AOL Instant Messenger, specifically their builds in the early-to-mid 2000s, complete with other users' profiles and interface. The choices for profile pictures are generally collected from the culture of the early-to-mid 2000s, including
28 Days Later,
The Ring,
Harry Potter,
The Lord of the Rings,
blink-182,
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Eminem, and
Avril Lavigne on the first level. Through special usernames, players can unlock more profile icons referencing early-to-mid 2010s culture, like
The Binding of Isaac,
Markiplier,
Portal, and
The Stanley Parable.
