I knew I was going to be in for a ride the minute I heard Tell Me Why was being created by DONTNOD Entertainment. I’ve always enjoyed stories with twins; I guess that started with Star Wars and the OG twins Luke and Leia. Then Jacen and Jaina. Ha.
Tell Me What…(This game is about.)
Tell Me Why is the tale of Alyson and Tyler Ronan, twins bonded by a (very) traumatic experience. They don’t know who their father is; they just live with their mother Mary Ann. You learn through flashbacks that their childhood wasn’t all that ideal, that Mary Ann had some personal demons and sometimes struggled to provide for Alyson and Tyler.
The twins also have a unique bond between them. They’re able to see old memories, and they also have what they call their “voice,” where they can talk to each other without anyone knowing. As the story goes on, this gets much more troublesome.
The event that puts the game into motion is intense, and it’s that event they spend the course of the three episodes trying to understand. Ten years have passed, but the wounds are still fresh. I enjoyed the mystery at Tell Me Why’s heart – I had to know WHY. Maybe more so now that I’m a mom myself.
It really appealed to the X-Files fan in me in a way.
If you were following the game at all before its release, you know that Tyler is a trans man, and it’s remarkable how DONTNOD treats him in my mind. Him being trans doesn’t drive the story; it’s not made all about Tyler. His sister is cool with it. He’s talks offhand about getting surgery done on his top half so he doesn’t have to bind every day with his share of the money from selling the house. They make it not a huge deal, but in a way it is – Tyler’s the first trans co-protagonist in a video game out there.
The backdrop for the game is Delos Crossing, Alaska. It’s got that small town feel, similar to Arcadia Bay, but it’s no carbon copy. Of course, there are people who are ignorant about Tyler being a transgender man. Honestly, having grown up in a small town myself, I could see the exact same exchange happening there.
The game is driven by puzzles, exploration and talking to people in Delos Crossing; the twins have an item from their childhood called the “Book of Goblins” that was created by them and Mary Ann that comes in especially handy in the third chapter. In chapter 2, there’s a fun sequence in the police station where you go back and forth between a computer and paper files to help piece together what happened on the night where everything changed for the twins, and why it may have happened.
Graphics
Tell Me Why stands true to the visual style DONTNOD embraced with Life is Strange; hand-drawn and almost watercolor-esque. The views are beautiful, especially looking out on the lake at the Ronan house. The NPC’s are all unique visually, which is more than I can say for some games I’ve seen in the past year.
A criticism of the first Life is Strange was strange animation or weird syncing issues with characters and their voices. DONTNOD has improved much since then, but there were scattered times where I felt like “jeepers, that looks weird.” Not many, mind you, but enough to mention it here.
Sound
The music, something else that has become a hallmark of a DONTNOD game, is another home run. Song choices make sense and were expertly chosen to fit scenes.
The voices behind the characters fit perfectly as well, and nothing seems over-acted. There’s even a scene in the third episode where one of the twins has a panic attack – as someone who has had her fair share of panic attacks, it’s extremely on the nose and not over the top at all. And as two characters decide to maybe start a relationship, you can feel the nerves happening from each.
Replay Value
High. Between Tyler and Alyson, there’s several different divergent choices you can make, and I look forward to going back to see how those choices effect their twin bond, the NPC’s around them – and the epilogue of the game.
Playability
The game ran very smoothly on my Xbox One X; there was one point in the game where I thought it had frozen, however, that may have been my launch day X feeling its age.
My issues with playability are solely directed at Tell Me Why’s ending, and because this is a review, this is totally subjective. I went through this first run hoping to have Alyson and Tyler have the strongest bond they possibly could, because that’s how I do games like this. The first time around is always the “good ending,” or I at least try.
Because of that, I was shocked to see that one of the twins decided to stay in Delos Crossing, in their childhood home, in the epilogue for the game. It was the twin that I related to the most – I was cheering for them to get out like I had gotten out of a crappy home environment when I was their age.
In the couple of weeks since I’ve finished Tell Me Why, I’ve come to understand why they stayed. That still doesn’t mean I agree with it, but I know why. And really, that’s what the game is about! (Wink)
End Thoughts
So, even with the shorter three-episode format, is Tell Me why worth your time? Absolutely. It’s like a book that’s too short, but you’re so excited to start over again because there are details you probably missed your first time reading it.
(And DONTNOD, if you’re reading this, I’d love a follow-up game with the Ronan twins in the future. Pretty please?)
And yes, I’ll address the elephant in the room – it’s an Xbox console exclusive. That’s understandable because it was published by Xbox Game Studios. BUT, if you do own a PlayStation 4 and want to play Tell Me Why, it is available on Steam, or Xbox Game Pass for PC. (Which you can probably do a month long trial of for $1!)
