Tell Me Why Review – Tweakers

Final verdict

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The French Dontnod has gradually specialized in games that mainly revolve around the story and much less about the gameplay. Dontnod tries to tell stories in which the emotional developments go further than in the average game. You may know the studio from Life is Strange and Life is Strange 2. It was about the problems of teenagers, adolescents and children. In Tell Me Why the protagonists are slightly older. They are in their early twenties, but have already been through a lot and therefore a lot to process.

Just like in Life is Strange 2, Dontnod has again chosen two protagonists. This time it’s about twins Alyson and Tyler Ronan and a pretty dramatic event that happened ten years ago. The two have been separated for the past ten years, but will be reunited at the start of the game. During the game, they try to unravel what exactly happened during that dramatic night.

A beautiful Alaska

Tell Me Why is completely in line with its predecessors in appearance and gameplay. The game is set in Alaska and the wintry landscape is even more beautiful than the forests around Seattle where LiS2 starts. The landscape lends itself to beautiful views of lakes and mountains, and you are often treated to that. The biggest gain is in the appearance of the game. Everything is just a bit sharper than in the previous games from the studio. This applies to the interface, which is slightly tighter, to the landscape that is just a bit sharper in the image and therefore has a little less that typical drawn style, and it especially applies to the faces of the protagonists who have a little more detail and show more emotion.

The latter is also a pitfall, because because the faces are more realistic than in the previous parts, it is also more noticeable that the eyes of the different characters are somewhat ’empty’. It is a flaw that many games have, but it is usually less noticeable because less emotion has to be displayed. In Tell Me Why, it is especially noticeable on the faces of the children in the game. That does not mean that the emotions of the adult characters come across better than in the previous games. Although that may also have to do with the more mature problems that are being addressed and which appeal to an adult player more than the youth scores from the previous games.

Familiar gameplay

Tell Me Why gameplay is familiar. The characters in the game talk a bit and the conversations allow you to poke around a small space for clues. Most of those clues are unimportant. It is important to find the one that helps you further. Furthermore, there are of course the dialogues that you conduct and in which you have to make choices. In each of the three episodes of the game, there are also moments of choice that are somewhat decisive for the progress of the story. That does not necessarily mean that they have much influence on the outcome. The outcome and course are largely fixed, although the studio has made slightly different versions of the ending of the game. At the end of each episode, you will be shown how the choices you made at the defining moments compare to those of other players. Finally, there is occasionally some small puzzles in the game, but that is always at the service of the story.

Just like in the previous games, there is also something special. This time you cannot manipulate time and you have no telekinetic abilities. It’s much simpler, the bond between the twins Alyson and Tyler is so strong that they can communicate wordlessly with each other. They can read each other’s minds if they want to and have conversations that no one else can hear. The two have another quality that is actually much more important for the course of the game: they can reminisce about common memories. They can have the wordless conversations whenever they want, but the memories emerge without affecting them. The latter is also the main theme of the game: how reliable are our memories?

Social themes

As you are used to from Dontnod, Tell Me Why revolves around more themes that are currently under discussion in the public debate. The main theme of that is ‘can be who you want to be’ and be accepted as you are. Set in a very small village in Alaska, Tell Me Why is about the acceptance of gays and transgender people. A little further in the background there are problems such as social isolation, parenting problems and suicide. The position of minorities is also discussed. These are major themes, which are beautifully woven through the story of Tell Me Why by Dontnod. The studio states that it has enlisted the help of the necessary interest groups to properly raise such issues. As far as we are concerned, the studio has succeeded.

Tell Me Why is therefore a very nice addition to the genre, although it is of course a genre that you should like. It is not a game you play for the action or the skills you have or need to develop. It’s all about the story and the emotional developments of the protagonists. If you like that, Tell Me Why is an absolute must. Especially since Dontnod is tackling a somewhat more mature theme this time.

As far as we are concerned, it is a shame that the game consists of only three episodes. We spent about three hours with each of the episodes. That is not very long. Playing again makes little sense either. Your choices along the way make too little difference for that. There are some items you can collect, but you don’t have to go through much effort to find them all. Finally, it must be said that the music in Tell Me Why plays a less prominent role than in the previous games. Especially the first Life Is Strange was full of hip music, but that share decreases with every subsequent game from Dontnod. We did not miss it.

The first two of the three episodes of Tell Me Why have already been released. The latest will be released on September 10. The complete game costs 30 euros and that is a great price in our opinion. The game is available for Windows and Xbox and is also part of the Xbox Game Pass.

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