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Dontnod Entertainment struck gold withLife is Strange . The adventure game managed to blend the excited shock of a coming of age fib with interesting time reversal mechanics , to make a memorable casting of graphic symbol that lasted long in the computer storage . The series was followed up with a prequel and awell - received continuation , cement Dontnod ’s plaza as one the prime storytelling developer around and building deal of excitement forTell Me Why .
For those who are familiar withLife is Strange , say Me Whywill feel atrociously similar . It ’s another character and dialogue driven adventure game with magical realist element , represent over the course of incrementally released episodes . report theme of growth , home , and personal account , the player unravels a mystery while find out about characters through digging around in their property and have heartfelt conversation .
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Tell Me Whyfocuses on similitude Tyler and Alyson Ronan . Tyler is return to his home township of Delos Crossing , Alaska , after spend a decade in the Fireweed Residential Center following the destruction of their mother Mary - Ann . The Gemini are looking to sell their syndicate home , reconnect after such a long time aside , and understand the calamity that encounter ten yr prior .
Of of course , since this is a Dontnod plot there is a flake of a twist . The counterpart can not only communicate non - verbally with one another , but also have the ability to replay storage from when they were child . Because of this newfound skill , they attempt to tack together together their fractured childhoods to find some closure . However , it ’s not without knock - on trouble that make out along the manner , albeit more pernicious than the world - ending sort realise inLife is Strange .
This memory mechanic is used well byTell Me Why . It plays with how the twins can sometimes comprehend their history in different ways , often tied to their bias towards the action and words of other inhabitants of Delos Crossing and how they have been treated . There ’s a sense of never truly knowing the material history of events , and the player will call for to resolve with version of the true statement they take to think . What is percept , and what is reality ?
Alyson and Tyler therefore have two skill at their administration to observe out the truth . Between the grounded resolution from tactful conversation and teaser clear through to their latent powers , Tell Me Whyis relatively light and windy in comparability moretraditional escapade games . It ’s about the story and the enigma , incite from set musical composition to set piece as the histrion steady grows more connected to the game ’s cast .
To Dontnod ’s creditTell Me Whydoes deliver a well structured and pace tale , particularly within its final episode where everything come to a head . Delos Crossing itself has flagellation of the pocket-sized Ithiel Town vibe of Arcadia Bay , although it ’s a bit more sparse thanLife is Strange ’s context , reliant on beautiful vista more than the complex World Wide Web ofTwin Peaks - style drama . It ’s a Ithiel Town that has never truly healed from Mary - Ann ’s decease , but that can not address its past .
It ’s an intoxicating mount , leavingTell Me Whytied up in type relationships and sometime wounds . The secret plan can feel a little too binary in footing of option , and much likeLife is Strangeclosure can be discover a little too cleanly and the exposition can be a little too heavy . Although its three episodes do need to overlay a lot in a short amount of clock time , being strict with the player and leaving more semisweet notes might have made it feel more impactful .
One of the key talk point ofTell Me Whyahead of dismission was the fact that Tyler is a trans man . Given his place as reportedly the first transgender playable character in a major release , Dontnod is understandably punctilious in its attack , avoiding deadnaming him when looking over history and events that happened before he set off his transition . The inhabitants of Delos Crossing are also refreshingly tolerant , avoiding the figure of Tyler ’s position as a trans world becoming all that defines him as a character . From here , Tell Me Whycan adulterate its legs and focus more on interpersonal relationships .
It does sense a little on the nozzle at times , though , with Tyler sometimes kick in a small too much information about his lifetime when a round-eyed " I do n’t need to tell you that " would feel more naturalistic . There ’s a alike result with another of the aware moments of the plot , asTell Me Whyalso ensures representation of the Tlingit culture of Alaska through the underused character of Michael , a queer Tlingit serviceman . The game struggles to find a middle ground between informing its consultation and forfend contextual info dumps from character who should be mass rather than walk encyclopediae of their minority condition . However , in comparing to some of the much more sticky attempts in gaming , withMass Effect Andromedaan egregious example , say Me Whyis positively refreshing .
Although there are a few ungainly element here and there , gratefully the nub kinship between Alyson and Tyler is impregnable . This is at its good duringTell Me Why ’s introspective moments , with the game not afraid to let the silence fall while build the quirkiness of the duo . sib are hard to portray in picture games , but the leads do seem to have a special adhesiveness beyond their powers , intensify by the exploration of childhood account of goblins and timber creatures which act as an allegory for their other old age .
The tautness between Tyler and Alyson is also well handle . Alyson was stuck in Delos Crossing while Tyler was at Fireweed , and therefore she experience first hand how things changed - and did n’t change - over the trend of ten years . Her perspective is very different from his , with the weight of what happened to their mother changing her worldview in subtle ways .
It ’s here whereTell Me Whyturns a lens system to the world outside of its telecasting plot confines , away from its aforesaid plus representation . The shock of genial illness of Mary - Ann ’s life - and to a less extent Alyson ’s - is explored , and is perhaps the most long - running thematic thread in the game . It ’s not double-dyed in how it approach mental health , but it does drive some interesting discourse points forward .
The most important of these isTell Me Why ’s subtext of the want of social care for mental unwellness in company as a whole . In Delos Crossing , much like in large swathes of the real world , there is no chance of therapy , and no chance of United States Department of State or medical keep , and instead vulnerable individuals with mental illnesses are left to be care for by the local community of interests . These communities have limited knowledge , resources and patience to confirm those in need , particularly when genial ill health can not be delimit by the sparse medical assistance uncommitted , and individual can easily be tap by those who look to do so , with fatal consequences .
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It ’s a sheer statement , althoughTell Me Whydoes still come down into some long - standing traps . It is , after all , still a account about the potential vehemence bring down by those who live with mental illness , even if it eventually pivot to discourse the violence and peril face by them as well . Meanwhile a lack of clarity over the point means that the game never really gets into unmanageable conversations as much as it could , preferring rather to focus on external trauma , leaving it a small unsure of games likeHellblade : Senua ’s Sacrificein term of representation .
All in all , secernate Me Whyis another inviolable travail from Dontnod . The care it takes with its character is to be applauded , and although it does n’t always strike the perfect spot with its themes the fact that it is talk about them at all is laudable . Those who enjoyedLife is Strangewill get a boot ( and a yell ) out of its cast and plot , and at least it ’s not afraid to talk about uncomfortable topics in an age where so many developer are trying so unvoiced to be apolitical .
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Tell Me Whyreleases its first episode on 27 August 2020 for PC and Xbox One , with subsequent episodes on 3 September and 10 September . Screen Rant was provide with a PC download computer code for the purposes of this revue .
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