This review contains spoilers
To preface, this game is free for the rest of pride month both on PC (via steam) and on the XBOX Store so I recommend you give it a look if you think it's something you may enjoy.
Tell Me Why is an episodic choice based murder-mystery game developed by dontnod (known for Life is Strange). The gameplay formula is identical to Life is Strange, story and narrative being the focus while the gameplay being mostly there to add onto it and not the other way around. However I can say that Tell Me Why is a vast improvement over Life is Strange narratively, even if under the hood the gameplay is exactly the same.
[this section contains spoilers, mostly relating to chapter 1]
Tell Me Why is about a pair of twins which finally reunite after about a decade of being separated, after the death of their mother that resulted from Allyson, one of the twins, killing her to defend her brother, Tyler. They reunite in their hometown in rural Alaska and after going back into their old home, they slowly make a discovery that flips their view of their mother upside down - a book relating to looking after a transgender child, relating to Tyler, who is a trans man and has been trying to express his identity ever since his childhood. As of 2005 those books were not easily available which implies their mother went out of her way to get that book - which entirely contradicts their view of their mother as a hateful transphobe who tried to murder Tyler as an act of hatred towards who he is. Said discovery sets them up on a journey to piece together what led up to the night of the murder and if their perception of their mother is correct. Throughout this journey they are able to piece together memories and use telepathy to communicate said experiences, which proves that memories may not be as reliable as they may seem all the time. A focal point of the game is dealing with childhood trauma and there are moments where they either may remember moments differently or may end up being entirely different.
Using Life is Strange, a game I used to like a lot as an angsty teenager but have grown very critical of in recent years, as reference, I can say that narratively when it comes to writing and plot, Tell Me Why is a big improvement over LiS (at least the first one and before the storm, haven't played the more recent ones just yet). The characters have a more natural and human connection and the chemistry between the two main characters feels more realistic than anything LiS had to offer thus far for me. LiS characters rely more on exaggeration, kinda like how a teen drama series writes their characters while characters in Tell Me Why feel like someone you might know. I liked the fairytale theme sprinkled throughout the game and how it slowly tied into something that actually works in its favor and doesn't come off as cringy or outdated, at least for me. The plot twist towards the end took me back for a moment but worked really well. Unlike something like Heavy Rain where they had to turn one of the most calculated characters from the game into some stereotypical evil guy, the reveal of who their father is at the end feels less shoehorned in by changing a whole character's writing and more believable. It wasn't perfect but I think it worked well enough.
Even though it's an improvement over Life is Strange narratively, it's still far from perfect. As I said earlier, under the hood it's still Life Is Strange. Many of the flaws from that game can be seen here, including the stiff and unemotive faces or the uncanny way they move their mouths at times during dialogue. Even the writing is not perfect, and there's plenty of parts where I looked at and felt they were a bit far fetched. Each of the game's 3 chapters is about 3 hours long and there isn't a lot of engaging gameplay whatsoever. There's exploration in limited areas, some puzzles and some reading/finding stuff around so it definitely is not a type of game everyone can enjoy and I don't blame them if they don't like the game. Since I'm a film buff alongside a gamer, I don't mind long drawn out cutscenes with a very limited type/amount of gameplay to it but it's definitely going to bore out a lot of people, hence many potential negative reviews.
I think the representation in the game is well done and it feels authentic. As a trans woman I like seeing trans representation, especially well made representation, and I feel like our trans brothers deserve some more. Trans men have a lack of visibility in general so it's always nice seeing a character they can look at and possibly relate to. Michael also being a fairly closeted gay person in a very unaccepting place is something I can relate to a lot on a personal level so I feel like the representation was well done, well written and no, it didn't feel forced. It was very natural and humanizing seeing queer characters having their queerness be important to them but not being the only thing to define them. Yes, Tyler's transness was important to the plot and to his character but it wasn't what defined his character (a flaw a lot of media tends to have when they do trans representation, especially if it's written by cis people).
I do recommend the game if you don't have a problem with very story reliant games with very little and very limited gameplay going on and you want to experience a decent murder mystery story with interesting plot. It's free during pride month so for the price of 0 you can experience a good game all in all, if you're willing to put up with its flaws and you're willing to give it time to immerse you.
Tell Me Why is an episodic choice based murder-mystery game developed by dontnod (known for Life is Strange). The gameplay formula is identical to Life is Strange, story and narrative being the focus while the gameplay being mostly there to add onto it and not the other way around. However I can say that Tell Me Why is a vast improvement over Life is Strange narratively, even if under the hood the gameplay is exactly the same.
[this section contains spoilers, mostly relating to chapter 1]
Tell Me Why is about a pair of twins which finally reunite after about a decade of being separated, after the death of their mother that resulted from Allyson, one of the twins, killing her to defend her brother, Tyler. They reunite in their hometown in rural Alaska and after going back into their old home, they slowly make a discovery that flips their view of their mother upside down - a book relating to looking after a transgender child, relating to Tyler, who is a trans man and has been trying to express his identity ever since his childhood. As of 2005 those books were not easily available which implies their mother went out of her way to get that book - which entirely contradicts their view of their mother as a hateful transphobe who tried to murder Tyler as an act of hatred towards who he is. Said discovery sets them up on a journey to piece together what led up to the night of the murder and if their perception of their mother is correct. Throughout this journey they are able to piece together memories and use telepathy to communicate said experiences, which proves that memories may not be as reliable as they may seem all the time. A focal point of the game is dealing with childhood trauma and there are moments where they either may remember moments differently or may end up being entirely different.
Using Life is Strange, a game I used to like a lot as an angsty teenager but have grown very critical of in recent years, as reference, I can say that narratively when it comes to writing and plot, Tell Me Why is a big improvement over LiS (at least the first one and before the storm, haven't played the more recent ones just yet). The characters have a more natural and human connection and the chemistry between the two main characters feels more realistic than anything LiS had to offer thus far for me. LiS characters rely more on exaggeration, kinda like how a teen drama series writes their characters while characters in Tell Me Why feel like someone you might know. I liked the fairytale theme sprinkled throughout the game and how it slowly tied into something that actually works in its favor and doesn't come off as cringy or outdated, at least for me. The plot twist towards the end took me back for a moment but worked really well. Unlike something like Heavy Rain where they had to turn one of the most calculated characters from the game into some stereotypical evil guy, the reveal of who their father is at the end feels less shoehorned in by changing a whole character's writing and more believable. It wasn't perfect but I think it worked well enough.
Even though it's an improvement over Life is Strange narratively, it's still far from perfect. As I said earlier, under the hood it's still Life Is Strange. Many of the flaws from that game can be seen here, including the stiff and unemotive faces or the uncanny way they move their mouths at times during dialogue. Even the writing is not perfect, and there's plenty of parts where I looked at and felt they were a bit far fetched. Each of the game's 3 chapters is about 3 hours long and there isn't a lot of engaging gameplay whatsoever. There's exploration in limited areas, some puzzles and some reading/finding stuff around so it definitely is not a type of game everyone can enjoy and I don't blame them if they don't like the game. Since I'm a film buff alongside a gamer, I don't mind long drawn out cutscenes with a very limited type/amount of gameplay to it but it's definitely going to bore out a lot of people, hence many potential negative reviews.
I think the representation in the game is well done and it feels authentic. As a trans woman I like seeing trans representation, especially well made representation, and I feel like our trans brothers deserve some more. Trans men have a lack of visibility in general so it's always nice seeing a character they can look at and possibly relate to. Michael also being a fairly closeted gay person in a very unaccepting place is something I can relate to a lot on a personal level so I feel like the representation was well done, well written and no, it didn't feel forced. It was very natural and humanizing seeing queer characters having their queerness be important to them but not being the only thing to define them. Yes, Tyler's transness was important to the plot and to his character but it wasn't what defined his character (a flaw a lot of media tends to have when they do trans representation, especially if it's written by cis people).
I do recommend the game if you don't have a problem with very story reliant games with very little and very limited gameplay going on and you want to experience a decent murder mystery story with interesting plot. It's free during pride month so for the price of 0 you can experience a good game all in all, if you're willing to put up with its flaws and you're willing to give it time to immerse you.