I don’t know how they do it. Dontnod have real form making these intense, socio-political narrative games, where you simply walk around interacting with other characters and objects. Tell Me Why is another success.
This time, the story is about a set of young adult twins dealing with the fallout of a traumatic childhood incident. One of the siblings is close to completing their transition to male, and Dontnod is wonderfully deft and sensitive, simultaneously making this detail both central and peripheral to proceedings as you dive deeper into the narrative.
Tell Me Why reviewDeveloper: Dontnod EntertainmentPublisher: Xbox Game StudiosPlatform: Reviewed on Xbox OneAvailability: Releasing on PC and Xbox One in three weekly episodes, commencing August 27th
Tyler Ronan has returned to a sleepy Alaskan village, reuniting with his sister Alyson, after a decade in juvenile detention. Together again, the twins are determined to understand exactly what happened during their difficult and precarious childhood. This is complicated by the fact they both have different ideas about how to seek out the truth, especially as Alyson never stopped living close to the people who might have answers.
The game alternates between siblings, as you guide them between different environments and conversations. Like the Life is Strange games, bedrooms are heavily featured, private worlds where Dontnod is able to convey so much of their characters’ personality, hobbies and habits through possessions and artefacts. It’s wonderful.
But a hallmark of this series of games is the addition of the supernatural, and how the characters use some special ability they have to their aid. Here, Tyler and Alyson are able to share their memories as they explore this strange, cold world. But tension arises when you’re given the choice between whose memory you think is factually correct at certain moments in the story. There’s much research into the way our minds work regarding memories, all the more relevant given that 2020 has broken our brains entirely. I’m glad the designers used this very human fragility as a game mechanic; it’s an interesting example of how Dontnod expands and refreshes its formulas for different games.