Recent Playing: Tell Me Why
Dec. 20th, 2023 04:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rocky41_7Tell Me Why is an output of DontNod studios, which is for some reason not included in the Life is Strange universe, although it follows the same pattern as their other games. I'm not sure why it's never taken off in the fandom, because it hits many of the same sweet spots as the other games.
In Tell Me Why you play as a set of twins, Tyler and Allison, who are returning to their childhood home in Alaska to sell the property now that their mother is dead. Tyler has just been released from juvenile detention and a rehabilitation program. Like the LiS protagonists, Allison and Tyler discover they share a strange new mental power, and use it to uncover their family's past and understand the circumstances that led up to Tyler's arrest years earlier.
DontNod released Tell Me Why free in June for Pride month because Tyler is trans, which is not the sum of his character, but neither is it irrelevant to the plot of the game. Tyler's reception by the locals of their small town and his perception of that reception shapes his relationship with the town and his history with it. No one is openly transphobic to him, but occasionally they do make deeply insensitive comments, which Tyler can either gently call them out on, or more aggressively shut them down. Tyler's struggle with whether or not his mother would have accepted him if he had come out before her death is central to his emotional journey.
The game does a great job of setting up two young adults who had been essentially two halves of the same whole as children coming back together and wondering if any of that closeness can be regained, or if they're simply too different. And part of that is up to you as the player--in lieu of LiS' famous "this action will have consequences" notice, you'll get one of two symbols after making choices, which will indicate either Allison and Tyler growing closer or further apart.
The game also posits some really interesting emotional difficulties with the twins' relationship with their mother, Mary-Anne. Obviously they loved her, and they exclaim at various points over how imaginative and creative she was, as well as how well she managed with little resources. However, it's also clear that Mary-Anne's erratic behavior damaged the twins growing up, and their deeply isolated childhood created strange dynamics in the house where Allison and Tyler were often each other's only company, with no Internet and limited technology to reach beyond the boundaries of the property.
Like DontNod's other games, Tell Me Why firmly situates itself in the locale, with vast expanses of Alaska's wilderness serving as the backdrop for the family drama. And like its other games, Tell Me Why follows the same pattern of ferrying you around to different locations in town so you can explore, have conversations, and then use your powers to wring more information out of the moment.
My overall thoughts are that if you enjoyed any of the other games in the Life is Strange universe, you'll also enjoy Tell Me Why. I did and I'll probably play again to see what changes if you pull the twins apart rather than pushing them together.
In Tell Me Why you play as a set of twins, Tyler and Allison, who are returning to their childhood home in Alaska to sell the property now that their mother is dead. Tyler has just been released from juvenile detention and a rehabilitation program. Like the LiS protagonists, Allison and Tyler discover they share a strange new mental power, and use it to uncover their family's past and understand the circumstances that led up to Tyler's arrest years earlier.
DontNod released Tell Me Why free in June for Pride month because Tyler is trans, which is not the sum of his character, but neither is it irrelevant to the plot of the game. Tyler's reception by the locals of their small town and his perception of that reception shapes his relationship with the town and his history with it. No one is openly transphobic to him, but occasionally they do make deeply insensitive comments, which Tyler can either gently call them out on, or more aggressively shut them down. Tyler's struggle with whether or not his mother would have accepted him if he had come out before her death is central to his emotional journey.
The game does a great job of setting up two young adults who had been essentially two halves of the same whole as children coming back together and wondering if any of that closeness can be regained, or if they're simply too different. And part of that is up to you as the player--in lieu of LiS' famous "this action will have consequences" notice, you'll get one of two symbols after making choices, which will indicate either Allison and Tyler growing closer or further apart.
The game also posits some really interesting emotional difficulties with the twins' relationship with their mother, Mary-Anne. Obviously they loved her, and they exclaim at various points over how imaginative and creative she was, as well as how well she managed with little resources. However, it's also clear that Mary-Anne's erratic behavior damaged the twins growing up, and their deeply isolated childhood created strange dynamics in the house where Allison and Tyler were often each other's only company, with no Internet and limited technology to reach beyond the boundaries of the property.
Like DontNod's other games, Tell Me Why firmly situates itself in the locale, with vast expanses of Alaska's wilderness serving as the backdrop for the family drama. And like its other games, Tell Me Why follows the same pattern of ferrying you around to different locations in town so you can explore, have conversations, and then use your powers to wring more information out of the moment.
My overall thoughts are that if you enjoyed any of the other games in the Life is Strange universe, you'll also enjoy Tell Me Why. I did and I'll probably play again to see what changes if you pull the twins apart rather than pushing them together.
