Growing up in the late 80’s with access to a huge library of horror titles, nothing really fazed me except for Chucky. Like many kids around that time, I had a My Buddy doll, which looked similar to the villain from Child’s Play. While I outgrew my fear of dolls, it’s still something to this day that I remember vividly. I’d awaken many nights with the doll sitting in a chair across from my bed, staring at me with its dead eyes and no matter where I moved him, it would return to that chair night after night to haunt me. The original Emily Wants to Play has a soft spot in my heart as a flawed yet memorable experience where the titular doll and her cohorts terrify a pizza delivery guy in an abandoned home.

The newly released follow up, Emily Wants to Play Too, follows a similar story with Emily and her friends stalking another delivery person in their own home, this time with some additional mechanics peppered in for good measure. For those unfamiliar with the series, Emily and the other dolls each have a specific mechanic you must figure out to avoid death. Some will require you to not let the doll out of your sight until they disappear while others require light to be shown on them or simply to run away. Much like many of the other horror games on the market with the hero having no means of defense, this plays like a rouge-lite with horror themes, as each run will be a bit different. There’s little direction outside of some minor hints displayed on the screen in the form of the character’s internal thoughts, so you will have to use a bit of trial and error (or search the internet) for the means to avoid a quick demise. The follow up takes the same premise and adds the requirement to find randomly placed items in the home to progress while avoiding the demonic beings.

This sounds too easy, right? Well, our unnamed protagonist is a bit of a slob. Not just some dirty laundry in the bathroom or a few bottles left over from a night of drinking slob; we’re talking call the Hoarders team in with a few dumpsters to clean out this place in a weekend level of a slob. Honestly, it would probably be easier for them to just burn the place down and start over than clean it.

While the overall presentation is nothing to write home about, there are some genuine scares to be found in the title. The game relies heavily on jump scares, which I fell victim to a few times, but it also throws some random events your way to build tension. I’d often round a corner to see a shadowed figure standing still in the middle of the hall, only to turn around and run head first into his waiting grasp. The sound design works well in that regard, as you will regularly hear things implying something is waiting for you in the dark, which really gives the player the feeling they are not alone.

The biggest opportunity the game has to improve is the dialogue, which isn’t unbearable, but it falls short of the so bad it’s good level that the likes of old school Resident Evil reached referring to a “Jill Sandwich;” the protagonist’s interior monologues are terrible. One line in particular stands out, as the player takes a shower they state “The water smells horrible, but I used extra soap.” At another point, the character lets the player know he should do some dishes, ignoring the fact that the rest of their home is a complete wreck filled with wall to wall trash. While the title is a bit on the short side, the random placement of the required items gives the title some replayability; however, the only additional mode is a time trial mode, which doesn’t add or remove anything from the overall experience.

If you’re like me and grew up with a fear of dolls and did everything but set the demonic being on fire to be rid of it, Emily Wants to Play Too will likely provide you with some nostalgic terror and should not be missed, even if it’s short on content.

7 out of 10

Pros

• Creepy Enemies
• Legitimate Scares
• Low Price Point
• Randomly Placed Items

Cons

• Poor Writing

Emily Wants to Play Too was developed by Shawn Hitchcock and published by SKH Apps. It launched on PC in 2017, and then PS4 on April 24th, 2018 and X1 on April 25th, 2018 for $7.99. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of Emily Wants to Play Too, check out the official site.

 

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