User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 286 Ratings

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  1. Aug 31, 2020
    1
    The game has absolutely no playability, just by pressing a button we finish it, the story will be hard but it is not entertaining and it is very boring. I can't even consider it a game, because you don't play, you just pass text.
  2. Jan 14, 2022
    7
    This is kind of a family drama. It is very emotional and has very good graphics.

    Very good german voices. Game starts very slowly but in the end gets really exciting. A little too much political correctness (transexual). Dontnod should stop their political messages in game, it is getting on my nerves. Some dialogues are a bit silly, but so be it. Overall I have enjoyed it.
    This is kind of a family drama. It is very emotional and has very good graphics.

    Very good german voices.

    Game starts very slowly but in the end gets really exciting.

    A little too much political correctness (transexual). Dontnod should stop their political messages in game, it is getting on my nerves.

    Some dialogues are a bit silly, but so be it.

    Overall I have enjoyed it. But it is not as good as Life Is Strange. You should only play this if you are open for emotions and deep feelings.
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  3. Dec 10, 2021
    10
    I recently finished this game, and I like it, I'm playing a second run to get the other ending and all achievements. This is a game that tells a story, it is based on decisions and dialogs and there are puzzles, don't expect action scenes, you need to feel and experience the story. I think gameplay should let you skip dialogs you just heard, because I reproduced a few by accident, but atI recently finished this game, and I like it, I'm playing a second run to get the other ending and all achievements. This is a game that tells a story, it is based on decisions and dialogs and there are puzzles, don't expect action scenes, you need to feel and experience the story. I think gameplay should let you skip dialogs you just heard, because I reproduced a few by accident, but at least this feature is available once tou finish the game.
    One awesome feature is that on Steam you can connect to Xbox Live and get achievements on both platforms.
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  4. Aug 5, 2021
    0
    predictable history.
    slow and boring game.
    predictable end.
    boring puzzle.
    stupid motivation
    one of the worst games i played
  5. Jan 1, 2022
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I liked the story, the characters were interesting, the artwork was amazing and the graphics were also pretty good. Still I always had the feeling it didn't exploit its full potential.
    There were too many boring tasks. Like walking around in a house and thinking about what to keep and what to threw away, or counting stock in a store. These are tasks you should get paid for... that's just not what you want to do in a game.

    Also the book of goblins... It's a cute idea and nicely done, but you really don't want to read about 40 pages of children stories. That was just waaaay to much.

    Another annoying aspect were these lengthy exploration tours, where 95% of the information you can find is irrelevant and useless, but you still don't want to miss out on that important 5%.

    I generally enjoyed playing the game, and can recommend to play it, but it does require a certain amount of patience.
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  6. Mar 16, 2021
    0
    Low effort, pointless, and pandering. This like most episodic games in the past 5+ are an easy way for developers to make money as long as they find a niche that think it's a masterpiece
  7. Jul 2, 2021
    10
    At firsr its a great story but gameplay is so slow but its okay i enjoyed playing this game
  8. Sep 8, 2020
    1
    Games it self is completely boring with a ridiculous story, bad writing unrelatable characters. Jerky animation and visually its like a 360 game running at a higher resolution. You walk around looking and picking up stuff, your characters blab boring stuff, you find what you need and use it then sit though minutes of cringe cut scenes rinse and repeat. Feels very budget and uninspired.
  9. Sep 4, 2020
    2
    For me it is incredibly insane how fast DONTNOD went from masters of storytelling to erm... this. LiS, followed by BTS were one of my favourite games story-wise. Fantastic, somehow relatable characters, a bunch of twists and most importantly pace. This game on the other hand lacks interesting characters (you can easily foresee that when the game's marketing bases on "Tyler - mainFor me it is incredibly insane how fast DONTNOD went from masters of storytelling to erm... this. LiS, followed by BTS were one of my favourite games story-wise. Fantastic, somehow relatable characters, a bunch of twists and most importantly pace. This game on the other hand lacks interesting characters (you can easily foresee that when the game's marketing bases on "Tyler - main character is lgbt"), story so far (2 episodes) is boring and un-engaging. Honestly, though, the worst part is VA. While dialogue might have some interesting stuff in it, VA completely buries it in the sea of mediocrity. Expand
  10. Sep 3, 2020
    0
    Lack of good story, only arrogant dialogue options, boring gameplay where you only have to search for things in an open area. Besides all of this, the game is featuring a lot of politics.
  11. Aug 28, 2020
    4
    This first chapter is really boring.

    The story is not intriguing at all.

    The graphics and the atmosphere are nice though.
  12. Sep 5, 2020
    0
    It`s a shame that Dontnod take this direction. The original Life Is Strange and Deck Nines Before The Storm were good games. Life Is Strange 2 and Tell Me Why are so political and focus on current situations.
    That will be okay if they don`t make this huge turn from a great gameplay to linear story.
  13. Aug 29, 2020
    0
    This game is a story based game with a bad story.

    A game made for American audiences but it seems the English script can be off at times.

    The story has cliche story points where story points are just there to fill in time.

    The story's pacing and writing is just a bore and it is excruciating to finish it really is.
  14. Aug 29, 2020
    4
    This is game is aimed primarily at American Audiences, both in the dialogue and phraseology of dialogue. I know that DONTNOD want to ‘keep it real’ and natural between the two protagonists, but some words such as ‘Potlatch’ and ‘Tlingit’, both to do with Native Americans and their culture. The problem is that unless you are American, you are unlikely to understand or even be aware of theseThis is game is aimed primarily at American Audiences, both in the dialogue and phraseology of dialogue. I know that DONTNOD want to ‘keep it real’ and natural between the two protagonists, but some words such as ‘Potlatch’ and ‘Tlingit’, both to do with Native Americans and their culture. The problem is that unless you are American, you are unlikely to understand or even be aware of these terms, thus some of the choices could be ‘ill-fated’ which in a game like this matters. For a non-American therefore, this game is difficult as a ‘true choice’ cannot be made, because of not understanding of basic American indigenous culture. In the previous games, whilst they have again been aimed at American audiences, it only went as far a ‘Pop culture’ and it was usually relative easy to ‘work-out’ what was happening (though again there were times when it could get a bit confusing). I realise that DONTNOD want to ‘keep it real’, but to non-American’s it may be an idea just to have a basic glossary of words that may be unfamiliar to non-American’s, so that they (non-American’s) can make ‘full choices’, rather than just ‘half choices’ which may alter the game but not in a conscious way.

    I was trying to plough through the game, but as it 'got going' the game was slightly 'clichéd' (even though it was trying very hard not to be given the subject), but then there were topics on there that being a Brit really didn't agree with, such as 'trophy hunting', 'hibernation killing' (why?) and the continued used of Americanisms/words. I thought if this is just in the first hour or so of the game, what more to come. I have now (with regret as I would imagine it would have been quite good), I have deleted the game.
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  15. Sep 24, 2020
    0
    one giant agenda, hateful childish decisions, hot garbage, too much politics, feels like The Last Of Us Part 2 all over again, what a joke
  16. Jun 25, 2021
    7
    It was a very slow paced kind of boring start, but kept playing and it gets better.
    At first I found the characters annoying and ungrateful, quite negative. Which is understandable as a traumatic experience can make you see everything negatively and not see the positives.
    It gripped me and I kept playing wanting to find out what happened. The graphics are beautiful and the emotions
    It was a very slow paced kind of boring start, but kept playing and it gets better.
    At first I found the characters annoying and ungrateful, quite negative. Which is understandable as a traumatic experience can make you see everything negatively and not see the positives.

    It gripped me and I kept playing wanting to find out what happened.
    The graphics are beautiful and the emotions on characters faces are done really well.
    I liked seeing where my choices in the game led me to what kind of outcome.
    Though the ending is ok it felt a bit underwhelming.
    I liked the story overall.
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  17. Sep 19, 2020
    7
    A game that is certainly appreciable and, in the end, also mature. In the end, the good thing is that, as you might think at the beginning, it's not all about the transformation of Ollie / Tyler, but rather, it explores so much their childhood and, especially, the life and torments of the mother of the twins, Mary Ann. Game of about 9 hours, never difficult, even if, compared to a Life isA game that is certainly appreciable and, in the end, also mature. In the end, the good thing is that, as you might think at the beginning, it's not all about the transformation of Ollie / Tyler, but rather, it explores so much their childhood and, especially, the life and torments of the mother of the twins, Mary Ann. Game of about 9 hours, never difficult, even if, compared to a Life is Strange, it still presents small puzzles, very simple and logical. Good plot, it is followed with pleasure, and good music and dubbing. The settings that I personally love when they are like this are also beautiful. Among the defects, in my opinion too many filling and useless exploratory phases that break the rhythm a little, and a story that does not reach, in my opinion, but here the sensitivity counts, of such high emotional peaks, as happened to me with LiS for example . Recommended, but provided you do not expect an indispensable masterpiece. Expand
  18. Jun 20, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game literally puts you in a situation where you have to decide whether the main plot point was an act of transphobia or not - it leaves for you, the player, to DECIDE. Yet bigots HAD to whine about it being political, even though the main moral conflict is yours to judge.
    Trying to balance things a little bit, but the actual fair score would be the critics one - the game is decent but wasn't outstanding in any department.
    Don't jump in expecting your decisions throughout the game to be really impactful though, Dontnod made the same mistake as LiS 1 by leaving the only truly important decision to the end, making the others before somewhat pointless.
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  19. Mar 13, 2021
    10
    Most people who say "it's a bad game, bad story" see it compared to "Life is Strange". But this game doesn't want to be "Life is Strange". This game wants to try something new. Please think about what a bad game is. I really enjoyed the game a lot and the ending is nice and actually quite surprising. I like the puzzles our mother made for us and how the game works with the book. You canMost people who say "it's a bad game, bad story" see it compared to "Life is Strange". But this game doesn't want to be "Life is Strange". This game wants to try something new. Please think about what a bad game is. I really enjoyed the game a lot and the ending is nice and actually quite surprising. I like the puzzles our mother made for us and how the game works with the book. You can skip most of the puzzles, but you miss a very large part of the game. Whenever a chapter is over and you're wondering "What's the story going to be now?" the game gives you another great chapter.

    10/10 in my opinion
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  20. Aug 29, 2020
    1
    Another "woke" walking simulator more concerned with modern political ideology and "How do you do, fellow kids?" than crafting an interesting story. Hell, even if you're a member of the Church of Woke, it's a boring ride. At the very least their graphics budget shows, and the game looks good.
  21. Sep 8, 2020
    4
    The story seemed very interesting but the presentation is terrible. It’s too slow paced to be interesting, the tasks like starring at a landscape, looking for a screwdriver or buying snacks in a shop could’ve been easily skipped to make the story flow better. The weird silent pauses and drawn out scenes really don’t help out here. It really tired me out so much I couldn’t finish the firstThe story seemed very interesting but the presentation is terrible. It’s too slow paced to be interesting, the tasks like starring at a landscape, looking for a screwdriver or buying snacks in a shop could’ve been easily skipped to make the story flow better. The weird silent pauses and drawn out scenes really don’t help out here. It really tired me out so much I couldn’t finish the first episode. I really loved their previous games, every Life is Strange game they made, so it’s sad this didn’t live up to my expectations. I hope they change the way they write their stories in the future - it’s supposed to be engaging and gripping, not so boring it makes you exhausted. The first 30 minutes of the game could’ve been easily cut to 5 minute gameplay. I understand they want to flesh out the characters, but they weren’t fleshed out well either: they were also very uninteresting. The graphics and the art is very good though, as long as the music, also the story could’ve been very interesting so that’s why I gave 4 points out of 10. Expand
  22. Sep 9, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Another trash, dog **** game from dontdot entertainment and the casual gamers liked this game.... what the hell is this? Expand
  23. Aug 30, 2020
    9
    Do not trust bad reviews (review bombing). Attention, this is a narrative-driven game or interactive storytelling.
    Will you find action? No. Will you find (a lot of) dialog? Yes.
    This game (and genre) is not sold as action or gameplay which requires skills (i mean, fast response time), if you expect something like that, this is not for you. So let's review the game by what it is. From
    Do not trust bad reviews (review bombing). Attention, this is a narrative-driven game or interactive storytelling.
    Will you find action? No. Will you find (a lot of) dialog? Yes.

    This game (and genre) is not sold as action or gameplay which requires skills (i mean, fast response time), if you expect something like that, this is not for you. So let's review the game by what it is.
    From the same studio as Life Is Strange, we see they learned a lot from the previous game. First, the narrative pace is a lot better: the surprises and twists do not as long to occur as they did in LIS. Most cutscenes add up to the story meaningful details. You can choose how deep you will go in the scenario / environment or if you would prefer a more fast narrative (doing only the necessary to progress in game).

    Just from the beggining (frst scene), we see the story will revolve around the two brothers overcoming their mom's death trauma by trying to revive these memories. From the first episode (the only release yet), it's soon to judge character development and script, but so far they have been very well done.
    Character's personalities are very defined and clear in their actions. Their motivations are also not hollow, there are not "villains versus heroes", but people with different perspectives and believes.
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  24. Aug 29, 2020
    8
    El primer capítulo es muy interesante, te adentra a la historia como es costumbre en estos tipos de juegos, si no estás acostumbrado a tener paciencia explorando cada rincón y prestando total atención a cada detalle de la historia, no podrás disfrutarlo al maximo, yo que he jugado life is strange 1 y 2 y juegos de ese tipo puedo decir que es si te adentra y te hace querer descubrir másEl primer capítulo es muy interesante, te adentra a la historia como es costumbre en estos tipos de juegos, si no estás acostumbrado a tener paciencia explorando cada rincón y prestando total atención a cada detalle de la historia, no podrás disfrutarlo al maximo, yo que he jugado life is strange 1 y 2 y juegos de ese tipo puedo decir que es si te adentra y te hace querer descubrir más sobre la historia es en parte conmovedor hasta donde he jugado me gusta, claro no esta a la altura de los juegos ya antes mencionados incluso life is strange 2 no fue de mis favoritos pero este a mi parecer es más entretenido que el life 2 espero los siguientes capítulos ya que lo juego por Game pass
    Y al precio que esta no lo compraría eso sí no lo compraría Pero si te gustan este tipo de juegos y has jugado varios te lo recomiendo, pero si vas a empezar con este mejor ve a jugar el life strange y después vienes a este juego te familiarisaras mejor
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  25. Aug 31, 2020
    0
    The Graphics are quite fitting, not great but fitting the way the story is told. That's the only positive thing i can say about the game. In three hours you are told a story which could be told in less than a minute. There is a lot to discover but most items have no impact on the story at all. Well you could say it's part of the story but if you call this a story, go shopping with someoneThe Graphics are quite fitting, not great but fitting the way the story is told. That's the only positive thing i can say about the game. In three hours you are told a story which could be told in less than a minute. There is a lot to discover but most items have no impact on the story at all. Well you could say it's part of the story but if you call this a story, go shopping with someone and talk a little bit and compared to this game this will be the greatest adventure of your life. There is also magic and that was a terrible design decision in my opinion. The story could have been told exactly the same way without the magic part. It would have made the charactes a little bit believable. When there is some progress with the story there are also a lot of scenes which are simply ridiculous. Seems they thought the magic stuff is not ridiculous enough, let's go all the way. The US might have it's own way dealing with guns, but i doubt you try to shoot anyone you don't know. No one locks the door of a police office if you leave in the evening and you leave all the interesting stuff lying around. With a s tory which could be told in a minute i would at least expect the studio to get this tiny bit of a story straight. Expand
  26. Sep 2, 2020
    1
    The Spanish translation is disastrous, horrible. I am sick of the mistreatment by Microsoft towards its Spanish users.
  27. Aug 31, 2020
    2
    “GuEsS i AtE mY WhEaTiEs” was the best thing about the episode everything else was just boring really.
  28. Sep 13, 2020
    6
    Played all 3 episodes and ended up feeling the game was made with the sole purpose of Microsoft trying to conquer Twitter sjw audience. While TMW offers smart jokes and interesting puzzles where you really have to stop and think or look for clues in an actual book, at some moments the writing is just awful like 1/10 (characters start talking way out of line and quoting the aforementionedPlayed all 3 episodes and ended up feeling the game was made with the sole purpose of Microsoft trying to conquer Twitter sjw audience. While TMW offers smart jokes and interesting puzzles where you really have to stop and think or look for clues in an actual book, at some moments the writing is just awful like 1/10 (characters start talking way out of line and quoting the aforementioned tweets). Of course the player is not told every minute that 'LGBT good radicals bad' but certain characters seem to exist only to demonstrate this position since they don't take part in the story at all. Moreover, once you get to know all the 'useful' heroes you'll easily figure out the rest of the plot and go 'duh' for another episode and a half.
    I guess Tell Me Why was supposed to teach people not to be shy regardless of who they are and to accept others as they are but our day-to-day realities made the game look like a clumsy childish statement.
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  29. Sep 1, 2020
    0
    Lixo, lacração, nada de novo, e falta de representatividade para a maioria da população. Saudade Life is Strange 1 (O único que prestou)
  30. Aug 29, 2020
    0
    Le jeu est moux est ennuyant l'histoire et a dormir debout , je déconseille
  31. Aug 31, 2020
    1
    Best part of the game was Guess I ate my wheaties and that was it but Guess I ate my wheaties
  32. Aug 29, 2020
    7
    Only talk about first chapter, so boring gameplay and story. Graphics looks nice, looks more beatiful than life is strange 2. Lake and mountain scenes are beatiful. But story not interested me. I hope next chapters better than this one.
  33. Sep 12, 2020
    4
    The main characters are one dimensional and are closed minded to their detriment. Graphics are OK, but need better lighting and facial animations. Nature is depicted beautifully. Game mechanics do not bring much to the table and are sometimes nonsensical.

    This is not a story about humans. This is a story about a cardboard cut out painted to look human, put in a cage, on hormones.
    The main characters are one dimensional and are closed minded to their detriment. Graphics are OK, but need better lighting and facial animations. Nature is depicted beautifully. Game mechanics do not bring much to the table and are sometimes nonsensical.

    This is not a story about humans. This is a story about a cardboard cut out painted to look human, put in a cage, on hormones. Fitter, happier, more productive.
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  34. Sep 18, 2020
    9
    Gran historia y ritmo, con personajes muy carismáticos, y trama interesante y emotiva, te engancha y no te suelta hasta el final, con una gran resolución. Toca problemáticas interesantes como la transexualidad, la familia biológica vs la elegida, la paternidad y el suicidio. Los diálogos son muy estilo Dontnod, con cariño por los personajes, sus emociones y por las decisiones que toman.Gran historia y ritmo, con personajes muy carismáticos, y trama interesante y emotiva, te engancha y no te suelta hasta el final, con una gran resolución. Toca problemáticas interesantes como la transexualidad, la familia biológica vs la elegida, la paternidad y el suicidio. Los diálogos son muy estilo Dontnod, con cariño por los personajes, sus emociones y por las decisiones que toman. Además, la mecánica de los recuerdo y de las voces en la mente me parece un acierto, nunca falta un superpoder en este tipo de historias de Dontnod.

    Nunca pensé que un videojuego con tan poca interactividad me fuera a gustar tanto.
    El apartado artístico (escenarios, diseño de niveles, ambientación, sonido, iluminación, personajes) llega a niveles muy altos, se nota que han ido aprendiendo con el tiempo, pero sin alejarse de lo que quería, con ese diseño de Life is Strange.

    En cuando al tema de las decisiones, no he visto mucha variedad, y creo que es el punto más débil.

    Conclusión: juego infrevalorado que mucha gente debería jugarlo, auque no es el género de todos, y gustará más o menos según la experiencia de cada persona.
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  35. Feb 3, 2021
    0
    This is a pathetic propaganda game and besides that even the game is trash. I highly not recommend to buy it or even try it. Seriously, pathetic.
  36. Sep 20, 2020
    8
    Se vc gosta de jogos no foco em narrativa, então vale a pena jogar, o jogo é bom, apesar que demora um pouco para ficar interessante, a história é interessante. Não é melhor que Life is Strange, mas é bom jogo
  37. Sep 26, 2020
    8
    The series starts off good with some new gameplay and story beats!
    It brings light to some very relevant topics of today but unlike some other games to being in lgbtq subjects it doesnt feel ham fisted or forced.
    Most of the characters are good though the voice acting doesnt always carry the mood well enough to feel substantial.... the end is worth it though.
    Id definitely try episode one.
  38. Oct 10, 2020
    9
    Really good game, the story really drag you into it but it's a little slow at some point. Like in the first episode but it make sense because we need to let the story take place and in the beginning of the third episode who didn't really felt useful for the mystery.
    Talking of mystery, you always want to know more and explore, even the puzzles who aren't a lot, are really nice and really
    Really good game, the story really drag you into it but it's a little slow at some point. Like in the first episode but it make sense because we need to let the story take place and in the beginning of the third episode who didn't really felt useful for the mystery.
    Talking of mystery, you always want to know more and explore, even the puzzles who aren't a lot, are really nice and really well made, you just jump into it and before you realise it you already have the answers. I'm not a puzzle person at all and I would wish to had maybe 2 or 3 more in the game.
    Every character are interesting, you get really attached to the main characters and the romance option is fitting nicely and come slow enough for a game in three episode. The chemestry of the characters is really credible.
    And finally, all the story feel really credible, you feel like it was thought a lot in every reactions of the characters where you can choose between be angry or understanding whitch feel really credible for someone who would have lived those traumas.
    Every environnement have a different set ambiance to it and well made.
    Every decision you make impact the ending, there is 3 or 4 different, and the final choose in every Dontnod game who I felt wasn't really usefull this time but it's just me and I really liked the fact that my first game, I had the ending that I wanted and I was satisfied with the ending.
    I feel like some slow part of the game could have been cut a little more and have some development for the ending because you understand what happened but you don't really see all of it and I would like that.
    Conclusion : this the last game of Dontnod who made awesomes games so far and I really enjoyed every single one of them and this one, even if it's is shorter, have nothing to feel ashamed of, it's a beautiful and cute story about two kids who was unlucky and deserved better so buy it, play it and love it, you won't regret it.
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  39. Jun 1, 2021
    0
    This is easily one of the WORST "games" that I have ever had the displeasure of playing. Why? BECAUSE THERE IS LITERALLY NO GAME. And on top of this, it forces politics down your throat to add insult to injury. It's disgusting that Xbox Game Studios, the publishers who introduced us to such masterpieces as Halo and Gears of War, now undermined to THIS?! And to add to this, I got this gameThis is easily one of the WORST "games" that I have ever had the displeasure of playing. Why? BECAUSE THERE IS LITERALLY NO GAME. And on top of this, it forces politics down your throat to add insult to injury. It's disgusting that Xbox Game Studios, the publishers who introduced us to such masterpieces as Halo and Gears of War, now undermined to THIS?! And to add to this, I got this game for FREE, and I still want a refund for the garbage. Buy something from a small Indie studio instead, Cuphead would be a great place to start. It's time to tell Micro$oft that we don't want this trash, we want real video games. Good day to you all. Expand
  40. Apr 13, 2021
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Some people make beautiful games, some make intriguing games others make action packed games. This falls into none of those categories. If this game were a food, it would be a saltine cracker without salt. Graphics seemed circa 2010

    Gameplay was boring, nothing special here.

    Story was very preachy. A lot of dialog options give you only snide, arrogant comments. Politics were up front and center. I don’t care if someone is trans and won’t judge them for it. However the storytellers trying to preach to be upset because this dudes mom wouldn’t let him transition when he was a little kid is ridiculous. Trans individuals unfortunately have a hard time in life and have a high suicide rate, transitioning most of the time causes permanent changes, most children who identify as the opposite gender change their mind before they are an adult. Therefore, you will never convince me that transitioning little kids is ethical. TLDR: Graphics 3/10
    Gameplay 2/10
    Story 0/10
    Politics -10/10
    Virtue signaling and boring.
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  41. Ndi
    Sep 10, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What a terrible story for a story driven game.

    It was interesting at first, kept me guessing, maybe something supernatural will happen (magic brain link) maybe the clues would pan out, maybe the delivery will contain subtle hints. I actually thought that one of the twins is not real - the embodiment of someone's mental strain.

    Well, _none_ of it pans out. The magic link is just THERE. The mother died because of a misunderstanding. Also, she was on her way to suicide anyway so don't feel bad. Also, she has a kid, died, goodbye. Also, someone is trans for no reason. Also, someone is gay for no reason. None of it pans out, it's just a story someone covered in glue and rolled through a Tumbr thread. This is how 5 YO tell stories.

    The voice acting is atrocious because the trans character isn't a voice actor. It's an "instagram model" (whatever that is) that got the part because he's trans IRL. He can't act, doesn't enunciate, slurs words and I needed subtitles to understand. Emoting is bad and the script doesn't help. Many of the people acting aren't actors but SOME ARE and the difference is jarring.

    At some point the girl confesses to the murder and after you click through she just goes "OK" and goes back to smiling because confession is just a badly made dialogue tree and NOTHING CHANGED. You read that right. We confessed to murder and lying to a cop and nothing changed.

    Someone just took a short story (there is a misunderstanding, mom dies), soaked it in glue and just rolled it up in stuff that nobody asked and will never pan out. What was the point of the psychic link? Why is magic here all of a sudden? Why did the mother protect her door with a puzzle? Why is the puzzle a combo in the kid's book - the only book they had access to? Why is there an old lover? Why is there a different dad? What was the point of the dead kid? Why was anyone trans? What was the benefit to the story? How did she make the room and lights change color with 1980 technology. How do you not notice her working for a year in a barn? Why puzzles?

    I can't stress this enough. You introduce MAGIC PSYCHIC LINK into a realistic story and never address it or give it any weight.

    That's now how you write a story - someone is insane in the story they need to do something insane; you don't just take Moby Dick, make one of the sailors trans and republish it as a walking sim.

    I'll leave you with this:

    TL;DR
    On the dev's site there is an FAQ about endings and the dev explains that all endings are good for the trans character because trans people went through enough already.
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  42. Aug 28, 2020
    6
    At present I just played it for like 10 mins and the 1st impressions are pretty bad. The voice acting, dialogue writing & facial animations are dog $Hit. I will change this review again after finishing the game(gave it 3 before)
    the writing is not as bad as i expected but the facial animations are $hittier than fallout. There is a lot of dialogue in this game , A LOT OF DIALOGUE. this may
    At present I just played it for like 10 mins and the 1st impressions are pretty bad. The voice acting, dialogue writing & facial animations are dog $Hit. I will change this review again after finishing the game(gave it 3 before)
    the writing is not as bad as i expected but the facial animations are $hittier than fallout. There is a lot of dialogue in this game , A LOT OF DIALOGUE. this may be gud or bad for u as there is no gameplay (not even qte) wait till all the chapters come out and DONT BUY THIS EARLY. you might be disappointed
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  43. Sep 9, 2020
    9
    FYI, like other people have mentioned, do not trust the negative reviews on this. They predominantly comes from whiny people who have not actually played the game and simply want to hate it because it features a transgender protagonist. If you want a better ratio, including the number of hours players have played in this game, I recommend checking out the Steam reviews instead. At leastFYI, like other people have mentioned, do not trust the negative reviews on this. They predominantly comes from whiny people who have not actually played the game and simply want to hate it because it features a transgender protagonist. If you want a better ratio, including the number of hours players have played in this game, I recommend checking out the Steam reviews instead. At least you can tell who has actually played the game.

    Now as for the game itself, I never actually played this genre of game before, prior to this game. I always adored story-based games, though I came into it having previously played mostly RPGs, JRPGs, exploration games, etc. Hearing that there was a transgender man featured as a protagonist, and having it be first transgender male protagonist in major video game history, I wanted to try it out, being a transgender man myself. This said, I was not necessarily expecting to be all that engaged in the game, as it is not from a genre that I normally have much interest in, but this game really surprised me at how excellent it really is.

    Obviously, this genre is not a fast-paced action game but is instead a story-based game where the player unravels the world and builds a deeper connection to the characters and the story. The story and characters in this game have been excellent, and the game is emotionally quite moving. It really provides the full range of emotions, from bitter anger, to guilty regret, to confused grief, and to everyday silliness. The characters in this story are multifaceted, and their backgrounds and stories are incorporated into their personalities and development. There is quite a lot of artistic morality and nuance within the game, and I really love how characters who were otherwise horrible people have the opportunity to change and explore a better side of themselves.

    The only real complaints that I have are relatively small. Some of the animations can be a bit clunky, some of the dialogue at the beginning of the game is fairly awkward, and your twin will occasionally decide to body block you into rooms (which is also pretty funny, to be honest). Other than that, there were no real downsides to the game. If you like slower-paced story games, especially from this particular genre, then you will probably love this game.
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  44. Oct 1, 2020
    2
    Basically this is Dontnod thinking that Life Is Strange just wasnt pandering enough to the PCSJW tropedom..

    Its made well with only a few glaring bugs. Though the game itself is a pretty hands off, on rails with little meaningful puzzles or other action mechanisms worth speaking of. Even when comparing them to the likes of the various Telltale model of adventure games, and their
    Basically this is Dontnod thinking that Life Is Strange just wasnt pandering enough to the PCSJW tropedom..

    Its made well with only a few glaring bugs. Though the game itself is a pretty hands off, on rails with little meaningful puzzles or other action mechanisms worth speaking of. Even when comparing them to the likes of the various Telltale model of adventure games, and their descendants like Life Is Strange, Detroit/Heavy Rain etc.

    One thing this potentially has going for it is that this is something unique for Xbox. That said, Xbox is NOT a platform for this sort of game because microsoft actively rejects adventure/RPG gamers as gamers at all. So most people seeking these kinds of experiences would gravitate more toward Sony, Nintendo (for anime variants) and PC before focusing their gaming on Xbox platform. But for that handful of gamers who only have an Xbox and want this kind of content it will surely be welcomed.

    The real problem is that this sort of adventure game has long since become formulaic and predictable. Its supposed to be focused on the narrative possibilities rather than gameplay mechanics and yet they only try to explore a VERY narrow arena of "progressive" story types.

    This falls into that same comfortable rut that others have worn for it and basically brings nothing to the table to justify its existence.

    I would say the rather pedestrian and predictable plot knocks off 5 points because everything this offers you have seen better elsewhere. Loses another 3 points for the pushing the socio political agenda because people do not play games to be preached to, Its supposed to be a form of relaxation and escaping reality. So fixating on social causes completely misses the point of being entertainment. The only real positives are the mechanics, graphics, acting and sound. In a narrative driven game those are not the relevant factors. Well acting is important but writing is infinitely more important cause the best actors in the world cant make a terrible script outstanding.

    So 2/10 seems fair and accurate representation of what this offering merits.
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  45. Sep 7, 2020
    9
    First things first, Graphics. I have to say, the graphics of the game are really good, which works in its favor given the beautiful, snowy scenery.

    Gameplay: the gameplay is relatively simple. What you'd expect from an adventure game. You can talk to characters, have various dialogue options, and this can impact your relationship with other characters either positively or negatively.
    First things first, Graphics. I have to say, the graphics of the game are really good, which works in its favor given the beautiful, snowy scenery.

    Gameplay: the gameplay is relatively simple. What you'd expect from an adventure game. You can talk to characters, have various dialogue options, and this can impact your relationship with other characters either positively or negatively. And yes, I love **** like that. I also love how the game alternates between the two twins, allowing us to care about both of them and making sure that we also question both of them. It would be easy to view character A as an **** if we were only playing as one twin, but then you play as the other, muddling things up. The mechanic of viewing memories is also quite straightforward, and not as interesting as reversing time (like in Life Is Strange), but I still enjoy it. One complaing I have is that we can't use our Voice more often in conversations with other characters.

    Story: the story has a lot of interesting twists and turns. Initially, we (the players and characters) are presented as knowing what happened. But the more the story progresses, the more it turns out we were wrong. There's a mystery going on and the more time I spent with the story, the more invested I became and wanted to figure out what happened to Mary-Ann.

    Characters: I'm just going to focus on the protagonists. I really like both Tyler and Allyson and their relationship. Especially since in my playthrough, I make sure to continually strengthen their bond. And as I said earlier, I really like how the game alternates between putting us in their shoes, affecting how we perceive both the twins and other characters.

    Overall, if you enjoyed Dontnod's previous games, you'll enjoy this too. And having played most of their video games, sans Vampyr, I'd say this is their second best after Life Is Strange. The only BIG complaing I have is that we only have one save, so if I want to replay a previous chapter and continue from there, I have to overwrite my only save.
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  46. Sep 12, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pior jogo que já joguei, entregam o plot nos 5 primeiros minutos de jogo, pra quem consegue ler nas entrelinhas, desenvolvimento extremamente lento, as escolhas não fazem a menor diferença, nem mesmo no final é mais parecido com uma novela em que você escolhe a próxima cena do que um jogo em si, não há jogabilidade é Expand
  47. Sep 17, 2020
    0
    More like Tell Me Why Anyone Should Buy This? Oh DONTNOD... Rushed ep 5 of LiS1, made LiS 2 so embarrassingly laughable, even made Vampyr look horrid, and now TMW? Still below average voice acting, Jump Force has better lip sync, the story- ehm... well... Lacks what a story should have.
  48. Dec 5, 2020
    0
    the game lacks any sort of engagement feels like idk what theyre trying to do
  49. Oct 2, 2021
    0
    sencillamente gratis en game pass

    Juego genial si jugaste el life is strange 1 ,2 y life is strange before the storm se basa en la misma jugabilidad

    el juego es bueno aunque me pareció corto no espere que fueran solo 3 capítulos, pocos personajes en la historia por lo que es muy predecible saber los personajes misteriosos críticos de la historia
  50. Sep 10, 2020
    9
    Tell Me Why has an incredible story that will not easily be forgotten. I haven’t been able to steer my mind away from it, even after finishing the final episode. It has lingered with me. I am very impressed at the detail in the “stories within the story” as well. It all comes together and wraps up nicely with a big, beautiful, haunting bow on top. Graphically, the game is undeniably aTell Me Why has an incredible story that will not easily be forgotten. I haven’t been able to steer my mind away from it, even after finishing the final episode. It has lingered with me. I am very impressed at the detail in the “stories within the story” as well. It all comes together and wraps up nicely with a big, beautiful, haunting bow on top. Graphically, the game is undeniably a step-up from previous DONTNOD productions. While it’s not as breathtaking as other games we’ve seen this generation, it certainly makes up for it with enticing puzzles and real personification of the characters. Sure, there are noticeable differences in texture and animation quality of the main characters versus supporting, but it is much less eye-catching when you are so invested in the moment between these people. Their fate and choices lie within your hands.

    Voice acting was phenomenal and I’m not sure how others may feel otherwise. I really felt emotion in 90% of the dialogue, which only adds positively to the touching, tragic story. The landscapes were works of art, albeit a little monotone at times. Linear level design was not really an issue for me. A vast, open world loaded with secrets is a great thing, but not what this game needed - it unraveled wonderfully in multiple cozy, contained environments.

    Overall, this is a great game that will surely stick with me for years to come.
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  51. Aug 28, 2020
    10
    Historia muito intrigante, puzzles interessantes, graficos lindos e bons personagens, vale a pena jogar.
  52. Aug 28, 2020
    10
    Jogo maravilhoso. Os irmãos são muito carismático, a história é linda e sensível... te prendendo do começo ao fim, e os gráficos melhoraram desde o último jogo da empresa. Vale muito a pena jogar, não vão se arrepender.
  53. UMK
    Aug 29, 2020
    10
    Very Good..................................
    Best story...................................
  54. Sep 24, 2020
    0
    No surprises from the gameplay so it lives or dies by its story. I enjoyed it. Even more so, I liked the week-apart release schedule!

    Date Completed: 2020-09-20
    Playtime: ~ 10h
    Enjoyment: 8/10
    Recommendation: Fans of this style of game will like it.
  55. Sep 2, 2020
    8
    Jugué el primer capítulo y es alucinante.
    Habla muy bien de lo que cuesta ser trans y que no te miren como un bicho raro .
    Mañana día 3 de septiembre sale el segundo capítulo y continuaremos está maravillosa historia que nos ha dejado dotnot Te llevs
  56. Aug 31, 2020
    9
    Wonderful Game, very hard with the dialogs, must have de dontnod. Await t'he segons and This episode.
  57. Aug 30, 2020
    10
    Obra de arte, gráficos bonitos, músicas boas, história boa, quem está criticando maioria não jogou
  58. Sep 5, 2020
    10
    Jogo incrível
    História incrível
    Jogabilidade incrível Gráficos incríveis
    E quem tá dando hate nesse jogo são os fresquinhos que jogaram, gostaram mas dão hate pra dizer que são machos e não gostam de jogo com personagem trans como protagonista!
  59. Sep 11, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This title is an absolutely beautiful work of art. It was the first of its kind that I had played, and because of it, I’m considering playing more in the play style. The story is deep and beautiful, with different facets of family, adventure, powers, and transitioning.

    The visuals are beautiful, the environments and player models and everything are crisp and clean. The handmade storybook you read throughout is adorable, and really looks and reads like some passed-down family fairytale. I love the affects of the powers, and how they’re visually represented. Going through the memories and everything is such a neat idea, especially when they differ between the siblings. I have no complaints with the visuals, and the bugs are incredibly minimal, so the QA testers really did a great job as well!

    As someone who belongs to the LGBTQ+ family, seeing something so well represented is a breath of fresh air. I am hoping that cisgendered people are also playing this, and getting a first-hand feel for what that long, arduous, and scary yet fulfilling adventure, and hopefully therefore holding more compassion and understanding and respect for those facing those challenges.

    I completely recommend this title. It’s a visually stunning, and heart-string pulling story. 10/10 would play through again!! Just pack a lunch for those feels trips. There’s a lot of them.
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  60. Sep 20, 2020
    0
    Um jogo baseado em escolhas onde você não sente que suas decisões impactam o final do game.
    Com investigação em alguns momentos que me surpreendeu, alguns puzzles são realmente divertidos e interessantes de se resolver.
    Jogo divertido mas faltou o sentimento de peso nas decisões.
    Deu pro gasto.
  61. Jan 9, 2021
    0
    What an obnoxious, pretentious, lazy, virtue signaling snoozefest of a game!
  62. Sep 12, 2020
    9
    Jogo muito bom problema que não explicou o lado sobrenatural deles mas ok.
  63. Sep 5, 2020
    10
    Fantástico, os gráficos, a trilha sonora estão muito bons, além da história, que me chamou muita atenção, e está bem desenvolvida. Parabéns a toda a equipe da DONTNOD.
  64. Sep 2, 2020
    10
    Muito bom, me surpreendi, não esperava muito desse game. Esperando o capítulo 2.
  65. Sep 11, 2020
    9
    Historia interesante. Buena duración. Gráficos aceptables. Rendimiento correcto.
    Para jugar unas 9 o 10 horas interesantes sin que se haga muy pesado. Muy buenas horas me pase jugando. Le pondría un 8.50 si se pudiera.
  66. Sep 5, 2020
    10
    Jogo lindo e perfeito, como tudo que a senhora dona da porra toda DontNod faz. Quer o mundo DontNod? Pois eu não posso te dar, mas se quiser meu corpo : I'm ready, sua linda. Sou muito cadelinha mesmo e já apaixonada pelo Tyler e Alyson s2
  67. Mar 10, 2021
    1
    This is not a game. This is an interactive story. If you like woke "`proggresive" stuff that you see everywhere nowadays, you may find it mildy interesting, if not, there is nothing to see here. There is no playability. At all. Even stupid tap mobile games have more playability than this. The story is quite boring, so there's that, a narrative driven interactive woke novel. I'd rather playThis is not a game. This is an interactive story. If you like woke "`proggresive" stuff that you see everywhere nowadays, you may find it mildy interesting, if not, there is nothing to see here. There is no playability. At all. Even stupid tap mobile games have more playability than this. The story is quite boring, so there's that, a narrative driven interactive woke novel. I'd rather play some crappy spectrum games from 40 years ago than this thing. Expand
  68. Jan 2, 2021
    7
    Tell Me Why
    Twin Power
    Tell Me Why is a 7 and a halfhour 3 chapter long cinnmeatic adventure game where you play as two twins, Alyson and her trans twin brother tyler, the set up of the story is that tylers mom was going to kill him because she found out he wanted to be a boy, so he stabbed her in self defense, 10 years later youre released and reuniting with your twin sister. The main
    Tell Me Why
    Twin Power
    Tell Me Why is a 7 and a halfhour 3 chapter long cinnmeatic adventure game where you play as two twins, Alyson and her trans twin brother tyler, the set up of the story is that tylers mom was going to kill him because she found out he wanted to be a boy, so he stabbed her in self defense, 10 years later youre released and reuniting with your twin sister. The main focus is understanding why your mom would try and kill you, reliving your memories with Alyson using your twin powers, not much gameplay here really, walk around, find memories, occasionally do puzzles, the only thing that’s going to keep you pushing is this unique story and its mystery, something dontnod is great it, you cant wait to start the next chapter thanks to its mysterious endings, even if the rest of the game is a drag.. and sadly it is.. Tell My Why’s biggest issue is its pacing, it has so many great story telling and cinematic moments, but so after the story is needlessly drug out to try and hit that 8 hour long number, I don’t want to be sifting through folders in a police station for 20 minutes, I don’t want to be sitting on a fairy just waiting for this ride to be over, walking around the house and figuring out what I can interact with to throw a sticky note on it… Tell Me Why’s story could’ve been told if half the time… it really is tough to get through thanks to these lengthy snooze fest sections…
    But ultimately its story pulled me through…
    I didn’t care much for this world or its characters, but I was after the same answers as tyler was the whole time, and in that.. Tell Me Why succeeds
    I give Tell Me Why
    a 7/10
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  69. Jan 21, 2021
    8
    A very good mystery story with a little hint of sci-fi. A lot of the major plot points are fairly predictable, but that doesn't prevent it from being enjoyable. If you liked Dontnod's Life is Strange series, you'll more than likely enjoy Tell Me Why as well.
  70. Sep 20, 2021
    4
    Boring. I forced myself to continue in the hope it will get interesting. It didn't until the very end. Animations were also bad. Book of goblins (a selection of "fairytales" tied to the story) was the best part of the game.
  71. Dec 25, 2020
    9
    {Gameplay: Level Design, Combat Systems, etc.}
    ☑ 10/10 - A Perfect Score.
    ☐ 9/10 - Fantastic. ☐ 8/10 - Very Good. ☐ 6/10 - Average. ☐ 4/10 - Bad. ☐ 2/10 - Terrible. {Narrative: Dialogue, Cutscene, etc} ☐ 10/10 - A Perfect Score. ☑ 9/10 - Fantastic. ☐ 8/10 - Very Good. ☐ 6/10 - Average. ☐ 4/10 - Bad. ☐ 2/10 - Terrible. {Visuals: Graphics, Aesthetics, animations, etc.} ☑
    {Gameplay: Level Design, Combat Systems, etc.}
    ☑ 10/10 - A Perfect Score.
    ☐ 9/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Very Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Terrible.

    {Narrative: Dialogue, Cutscene, etc}
    ☐ 10/10 - A Perfect Score.
    ☑ 9/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Very Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Terrible.

    {Visuals: Graphics, Aesthetics, animations, etc.}
    ☑ 10/10 - A Perfect Score.
    ☐ 9/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Very Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Terrible.

    {Audio: Sound Effects, Voice Acting, etc.}
    ☐ 10/10 - A Perfect Score.
    ☑ 9/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Very Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Terrible.

    {Technical: Bugs, Performance, Optimization, etc.}
    ☑ 10/10 - A Perfect Score.
    ☐ 9/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Very Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Terrible.

    {Story: Plot, Ending, etc}
    ☐ 10/10 - A Perfect Score.
    ☑ 9/10 - Fantastic.
    ☐ 8/10 - Very Good.
    ☐ 6/10 - Average.
    ☐ 4/10 - Bad.
    ☐ 2/10 - Terrible.

    {Replayability: Replayability, Length To Complete, etc.}
    ☐ 10/10 - A Perfect Score.
    ☐ 9/10 - Fantastic. ☑ 8/10 - Very Good. ☐ 6/10 - Average. ☐ 4/10 - Bad. ☐ 2/10 - Terrible. {Pros & Cons: Pro(+2) and Cons(+1)} ☐ 10/10 - A Perfect Score. ☐ 9/10 - Fantastic. ☑ 8/10 - Very Good. ☐ 6/10 - Average. ☐ 4/10 - Bad. ☐ 2/10 - Terrible. The Level Designs are awesome. The GamePlay is perfectly made for a game like this. The Narrative is simply fantastic. The Visuals are great, both the graphics and the animations are done perfectly. The Voice Acting is fantastic, sets the mood for the story most of the times. I didn't notice bugs or performance issues during my playthrough. The Story is well made, and keeps you interested. The replayability is alright, but i don't see somebody replay it more than 5 times. Pros & Cons: + Story is actually great. + Telepathy ability used very. + Moderate Replayability. - The Memories can be slightly confusing at times. - Character teleports into position before dialogues. "9/10 – Fantastic. I enthusiastically recommend that you add these games to your to-play list. As it does not hit the amazing score, It is still an extremely good game. I recommend getting this game." ~DeathKillerNOR~ ⚠️ IN MY OPINION ⚠️
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  72. Oct 17, 2020
    8
    Good, touching story that made me cry a few times. Beautiful enviro. Great voiceacting. Good job Dontnod!
  73. Nov 12, 2021
    0
    Un juego progre con gente enferma e ideología de género intentando normalizar algo que clínicamente está mal.
  74. Sep 9, 2020
    6
    Es un juego mediocre, si no estuviera en el xbox pass lo hubiese considerado una pérdida de dinero.

    La idea base no es mala, de hecho en momentos puede ser interesante, pero lamentablemente la historia es completamente predecible, los personajes carecen de carisma y el elenco de personajes secundarios son aún menos interesantes que los protagonistas. Él tiene el mismo problema de Chloe
    Es un juego mediocre, si no estuviera en el xbox pass lo hubiese considerado una pérdida de dinero.

    La idea base no es mala, de hecho en momentos puede ser interesante, pero lamentablemente la historia es completamente predecible, los personajes carecen de carisma y el elenco de personajes secundarios son aún menos interesantes que los protagonistas. Él tiene el mismo problema de Chloe de Life is Strange, cree que el mundo le debe algo y que es "especial", ella tiene nada de personalidad (más allá de apoyar a su hermano).

    El como tratan la transexualidad del personaje me parece la forma menos creativa de narrarlo literalmente todas las interacciones al respecto son cliché. Además, ya habiendo jugado la primera y segunda parte, su transexualidad tiene cero impacto en la historia, literalmente podemos eliminar ese elemento (y dejarlo como hombre o mujer) y prácticamente nada cambia (tal vez algún detalle, pero se puede reemplazar con cualquier cosa). Personalmente creo que hubiese sido mucho más interesante que no se le dijera al jugador que él es transexual, y de modo que las interacciones con los npc fueran un puzzle para uno ¿porque se comportan así?.

    Creo que sólo he jugado un juego con un protagonista transexual antes, y tengo que decir que ese juego fue infinitamente superior; tanto en la presentación de la situación, como la forma en que te logra transmitir las emociones del personaje. (el juego es
    THE MISSING: JJ MACFIELD AND THE ISLAND OF MEMORIES -y sorry si fue spoiler-)
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  75. Dec 29, 2020
    10
    A lovely and really positive story that touches many important social topics.
    Storydriven, with interesting characters and a strong bond between the twins who try to find out about their past.
  76. Sep 17, 2020
    5
    First, I didn't even like the main story. There wasn't much to tell. The most fun was the beginning of the childhood story, but after then it felt like chew gum. The main characters are not really recognizable and the decisions they doing are almost that annoying like daniel ist life is strange 2...

    The mechanics are inconstant. It started well with the puzzles and the mind speaking
    First, I didn't even like the main story. There wasn't much to tell. The most fun was the beginning of the childhood story, but after then it felt like chew gum. The main characters are not really recognizable and the decisions they doing are almost that annoying like daniel ist life is strange 2...

    The mechanics are inconstant. It started well with the puzzles and the mind speaking thing but then it was just... nothing? It felt like they forget to include some of the main mechanics and features.
    Then I had a big issue with the animations. I really don't blame a game for having this kind of semi-natural style with not much details. In LiS it was good and doesn't bother me at all but in Tell me why you can see when the Idle animation stops or the new starts. It is soooo stiff.. It was hard to look at it. Has nothing to do with the overall graphics. The graphics are fine and the LoD ist pretty good.

    The main issue was the lake of decision output, the overall game design, and the story plots.
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  77. Sep 11, 2020
    7
    The game really struggles to find its identity. It can't decide if it wants to be a decision-driven game, a game focused on solving puzzles leading to unraveling a mystery or a game that stands out with its idea of presenting the story with the characters telepathic abilities and foggy memories. I has a few interesting ideas in those areas, but the pressure put on them is unbalanced, andThe game really struggles to find its identity. It can't decide if it wants to be a decision-driven game, a game focused on solving puzzles leading to unraveling a mystery or a game that stands out with its idea of presenting the story with the characters telepathic abilities and foggy memories. I has a few interesting ideas in those areas, but the pressure put on them is unbalanced, and they feel more like curious additions rather than inherent mechanics defining the game. As a result, the game feels like it has no basis and I was left wondering what kind of a game am I playing as well as if this story wasn't really meant for a TV series rather than a game.
    Alaskan landscapes covered in snow look astounding for the kind of graphic accessibility their aiming at. Dontnod games have never looked that good. And the graphics really help to properly shape the characters as once again the game creators prove they are able to create memorable characters whether or not they are meaningful in the story.
    And for the story, it has it ups and downs, it has its dragged out scenes and emotionally intense moments (the former happening too often, unfortunately), but I am really thankful to Dontnod for once again being that important voice in the world which still greatly ignores the significance of mental disorders and sexual identity, and I applaud them for creating a game in which these mental occurrences are simply and accurately presented, really showing that they exist in real human lives all around us. They are the natural and immanent parts of the characters, not forced and unjustifiable presentations. They show them for what they are, displaying the world in a broader view, and this is the story's strongest virtue.
    It isn't the greatest game Dontnod ever made, it falls short in comparison to their previous games, but it puts a spotlight on important themes and delivers a rather relaxing and short adventure, and as a small addition to Xbox Game Pass i welcome it with open arms.
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  78. Oct 20, 2020
    8
    Tell me why is imo a little bit too short, but that about the only thing i can say about it that isn't positive.
    The story is cool and I'm glad they turned the tides with this game, LIS2 was too bad and a slap in the face of many people.
    Tell me why is more nuanced, and doesn't particulary hurts certain groups or peoples believes and political stands. that said there still is some
    Tell me why is imo a little bit too short, but that about the only thing i can say about it that isn't positive.
    The story is cool and I'm glad they turned the tides with this game, LIS2 was too bad and a slap in the face of many people.
    Tell me why is more nuanced, and doesn't particulary hurts certain groups or peoples believes and political stands. that said there still is some hurting in but it's managed way better!
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  79. Jan 22, 2021
    8
    Pleasantly surprised with this game. Very good story and beautiful graphics.
  80. Jan 17, 2022
    6
    Tell me why has good game , and beautiful story and high-flying but Tell me why Does not use this potential in termination، The characterization of two characters that complement each other is unique ، Artificial faces and ordinary graphics
  81. Jan 30, 2023
    9
    Great story, characters. Enjoyed going trough this so much. So far my favorite game from Dontnod after Life Is Strange 1. From ones I played.
  82. Apr 13, 2021
    7
    This game realistically depicts how bad upbringing can cause mental and sexual deviations. Not as bad as life is strange 2, but nowhere near as good as 1
  83. Jan 16, 2022
    8
    Fantastic graphics, voice acting, and most importantly, story. It was emotionally draining at times, but a very good story. Ran through all three chapters in one day. Well worth the time and money.

    I see several people commenting on this being and LGBT game/story, and while that is definitely an aspect of the story (especially in the first chapter), the game is much more than that. At
    Fantastic graphics, voice acting, and most importantly, story. It was emotionally draining at times, but a very good story. Ran through all three chapters in one day. Well worth the time and money.

    I see several people commenting on this being and LGBT game/story, and while that is definitely an aspect of the story (especially in the first chapter), the game is much more than that. At its heart, it's a mystery plain and simple.
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  84. Sep 25, 2021
    5
    It may be weird, but I rather play games that are basically full "walking simluators" than playing these cliick here to open this door, click there to turn on the lights, another click to open drawer. I mean, for me, it should be one or the other; the "traditional" games, where you do stuff, colect stuff etc, or games where just the story is important. These mundane stuff like shakingIt may be weird, but I rather play games that are basically full "walking simluators" than playing these cliick here to open this door, click there to turn on the lights, another click to open drawer. I mean, for me, it should be one or the other; the "traditional" games, where you do stuff, colect stuff etc, or games where just the story is important. These mundane stuff like shaking controller to brush teeth is just anoying. It gets in the way of both, playability storytelling.

    After saying that I must add: the thematic is pretty important, and specially among the gaming comunity, but i'm sure a game with this kind of mechanics won't gather much of people willing to stay and listen to the story.
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  85. Mar 12, 2021
    7
    DONTNOD has built up a good reputation over the years with me so I had some pretty lofty expectations for Tell Me Why. In some ways it met them but in many ways it did not. I think the biggest thing I found weak with the game were the main characters. I just couldn’t bring myself to care much about Tyler or Allison. I can’t point to anything specific, just a general feeling. I did howeverDONTNOD has built up a good reputation over the years with me so I had some pretty lofty expectations for Tell Me Why. In some ways it met them but in many ways it did not. I think the biggest thing I found weak with the game were the main characters. I just couldn’t bring myself to care much about Tyler or Allison. I can’t point to anything specific, just a general feeling. I did however enjoy many of the side characters such as Eddy; Sam; Dee; and Michael. I also really was pulled in by the history of their mother Mary Anne and wanting to know more about her past and motivations. Luckily the game got around to that part and I was happy with where it went with it. I was overall alright with the way the main story turned out although I wish I could have pushed it in a different direction on a few points. I will also say the puzzles were very hit and miss. I enjoyed about half of them but many I just felt were obtuse or just made little sense and I solved by luck or trial and error. To the game’s credit you do have ways to bypass certain puzzles by brute force so there is an out on some of them if you want it. I found the gimmick about being able to remember the past and speak through their minds to be both underutilized and lacking depth. The story could have functioned almost as well without it. I do praise the effort that went into creating the lore with the story book the siblings has as children and using it to solve certain puzzles by figuring out which story was needed. It was usually intuitive and only made you read a few pages at a time.

    Graphics wise the game was quite good but also not very well optimized. The hair; clothes; water; and object detail were all above average to great. The vistas were mediocre. I do feel it took more hardware than was needed and the frame rate suffered sometimes when it shouldn’t have. The voice acting was great all around. I also found reports and papers on the wall hard to read as you couldn’t zoom in on them and most were hand written. Most games give an option to display the text and this would have been appreciated here.

    I played Tell Me Why on Linux using Valve’s Proton. It never crashed on me and I didn’t notice any bugs or glitches. There were three AA settings; six other settings; and a Vsync option. The game uses an auto save feature. The pacing wasn’t the worst I have seen but a manual save system would have still been preferred. Alt-Tab works. You can pause cut scenes.

    Game Engine: Unreal
    Disk Space Used: 18.01 GB

    Game Settings Used: All Very High @ 1080P with Vsync on
    GPU Usage: 2-100 %
    VRAM Usage: 1795-5452 MB
    CPU Usage: 12-39 %
    RAM Usage: 3.8-4.7 GB
    Frame Rate: 39-144 FPS

    Overall I would say this was DONTNOD’s weakest game yet but that being said a weak game from them is still better than a lot of other games. There was enough to keep me interested and more positives than negatives. If you enjoyed games like Life is Strange then, while you may not enjoy this as much, you will still probably enjoy it. I finished the game in nine hours and thirty three minutes. It felt like a good and natural length. I was gifted the game for free. I would say the current price for it of $22.79 CAD is a bit steep and think $15 CAD is a better spot for it.

    My Score: 7/10

    My System:

    AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 580 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 20.3.4 | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB | Manjaro 20.2.1 | Mate 1.24.1 | Kernel 5.11.2-1-MANJARO | AOC G2460P 1920*1080 @ 144hz | Proton 5.13.6
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  86. Feb 8, 2021
    5
    With Tell Me Why being primarily marketed as the supposedly first video game with an openly transgender protagonist, i had my obvious doubts whether it would bog down to one dimensional character writing and story telling that are either purely or mostly defined by that identity, but luckily the game comes out with more depth than that.

    Since Dontnod started doing games of this type
    With Tell Me Why being primarily marketed as the supposedly first video game with an openly transgender protagonist, i had my obvious doubts whether it would bog down to one dimensional character writing and story telling that are either purely or mostly defined by that identity, but luckily the game comes out with more depth than that.

    Since Dontnod started doing games of this type with Life is Strange, at their core were relatable, compelling characters that shared satisfying chemistry, and while Tyler and Alyson can somewhat exude those qualities, however for me they didnt come close to the likes of Max and Chloe. Tyler especially can be polarizing, in one moment you feel for him, in another he comes off as an obnoxious prick that stops him from being a character you can bond with. Supporting cast was fairly alright, with characters like Sam, Eddie and Tessa showing some decent character complexity, while someone like Michael felt more like an obvious insert to boost the game's ''D & I'' even further, offering some really awkward and at times cringy moments with him, which Dontnod just couldnt refuse themselves from forcing onto the player.

    At the heart of the game's story is finding out what drove the twins mother to such depression that she was seemingly willing to take her child's life. At the start of the game the motivation is being made quite obvious that it's most likely tied to her inability to cope with the fact that her child identifies as trans, but i have to say, as you dig deeper through the game, step by step it manages to flip your expectations upside down, in a satisfying manner i might add, not Rian Johnson kind of manner.

    Though i have to question how uncritically the writers and developers treat a 10 year old child self diagnosing themselves with gender dysphoria, within the game's context it's just being accepted no questions asked, without any sign of professional health expert involvement. Not every child or more adult person who feels like they're in the ''wrong body'', is necessarily suffering from gender dysphoria, they're simply lead to confusion imposed by regressive notions that are being increasingly pushed in modern society, pop culture under the guise of ''progressiveness''. So that was confusing to experience.

    Tell Me Why's main gameplay hook is the memory recollection mechanic, aswell as the limited chance to telepathically talk between the twins during conversations with NPC's, and while they're no where near as cool or satisfying as for example time rewinding, they still serve their purpose at the core of game's narrative, and are used to make the game's ending feel ambiguous, for better or worse. Also the binary choices that supposedly impact the narrative lacked a sense of gravity, as i didnt feel like they impacted much of anything within the story. Other than that the gameplay is your usual walk, point and click adventure game affair, with the odd puzzle thrown in here and there.

    One of Dontnod's strongest suits has always been their environment design and it remains to be true here aswell. The alaskan setting is quite gorgeous, with some of the levels standing out in particular, such as the Ronin residence, the outlook segment and the cemetary.

    And here is the one thing that dragged down my overall experience, the God damned stuttering that happens when ever you start the game, which persists for some time before going away, only to come back when a new level loads in. I dont know what hell is causing it, the game was installed on a 7200 RPM hard drive and RAM, GPU, CPU requirements were met, so WTF ?

    All that said, somewhere there perhaps is still a decent game, but not with performance issues like that.
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  87. Mar 10, 2021
    6
    Tell Me Why starts off strong and with very high expectations that fade as the hours go by.
    It is a complicated game to evaluate. I'm aware that many people loved it, but I'm not one of them.
    *STORY*: We travel to a small, beautiful Alaskan town, where we meet twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan, who will use their extraordinary bond to unearth old memories of a childhood filled with love,
    Tell Me Why starts off strong and with very high expectations that fade as the hours go by.
    It is a complicated game to evaluate. I'm aware that many people loved it, but I'm not one of them.

    *STORY*: We travel to a small, beautiful Alaskan town, where we meet twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan, who will use their extraordinary bond to unearth old memories of a childhood filled with love, but also difficult times.

    Tell Me Why's script can be summed up as very well written, but very well boring.
    Honestly, I think it's the first interactive adventure that leaves me on the verge of sleep.

    *GAMEPLAY: Interactive adventure. It doesn't stand out, but it's well implemented.

    *GRAPHICS*: Artistically very well done, everything looks very credible. Graphically it doesn't stand out, but it does a good job.

    *SOUND*: Approved, it has never been the most outstanding section of this studio.

    *INNOVATION*: Provides some interesting concepts, but nothing out of the ordinary in this kind of productions.
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  88. Apr 10, 2021
    7
    Chapter 1

    31 August 2020 This chapter was long and quite boring, I guessed all the twist and surprises before they happened, what made me feel more bored while having to control these two boring people, but I have to say some parts drew me back in, mostly the flashbacks but most of it was just dull and felt like I didn't really do much in the way of choices. The brother "Tyler"
    Chapter 1

    31 August 2020

    This chapter was long and quite boring, I guessed all the twist and surprises before they happened, what made me feel more bored while having to control these two boring people, but I have to say some parts drew me back in, mostly the flashbacks but most of it was just dull and felt like I didn't really do much in the way of choices.

    The brother "Tyler" voiced by "August Aiden" and the sister "Alyson" voiced by "Erica Lindbeck" who were mostly annoying and made me feel like I was controlling two 14 year olds who just complained and blamed everyone else for their problems, and moped around.

    the reason why I am giving this a 4 is that voice actors did a good job, and the game looked quite nice, plus the story was not bad all the way through, I hope it gets better in chapter 2 but we will see.

    Chapter 2

    03 September 2020

    Much better, from the story being more interesting, going to more than two places, to the writing being much more engaging, and you actually felt like you were making choices what matter and will affect the Storey, shore there was some parts what felt long, but mostly every game has them.

    Tyler and Alyson seemed much more well written, and I could actually believe they were 21 year olds with them being more positive this chapter, but there was one thing what I I found what I did not like, voice acting seemed much worse, for some part it sounded very flat, but other than that I really like this chapter

    I am putting this up to a 7 having a pretty good time playing throw this.

    Chapter 3

    15 September 2020

    This chapter felt a little mixed up, like I did not like the beginning playing as Alyson once again feeling like I am playing a mopey teenager what is not very much fun, but the end of that part did end nicely giving you a choice what you have to think about and for me what I wanted to do since the beginning of chapter 2, any way the rest of the chapter was good, I liked the ending and found it surprising, and I did not guess Any of the twists or big plot points playing through this chapter, I can't say much more about the story with a lot of it would be spoilers.

    Tyler and Alyson were mostly well written, apart from the beginning with Alyson what sounded like a 12 year old, and there was some cringy dialogue between Alyson and Michael (Alyson's best friend) throughout the chapter, but other than that it was fine, nothing special really, well to sum up this chapter, I found it fun as well as engaging but sometimes can feel that it drags on but other than that I'll say it was a good chapter.

    The game

    Do I think this is worth it, I would say yes, I have had fun and enjoyed the story and plot twists through it, the characters were interesting and well thought out, the town itself is very nice to look at, and interesting to learn about everything what is going on around it, chapter 1 is a big let down, and probably has pushed people away from the game before they could played the next two chapters what are much better in my opinion and well that is what I think of this game.
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  89. Mar 26, 2021
    6
    Порой от игры хочется большей сложности, увлекательности и масштаба, но это всё равно достойное и цепляющее за живое высказывание на непростые темы. И проблемы трансгендеров — далеко не единственная из них.
  90. Sep 16, 2022
    5
    Boring game with a boring story that goes nowhere. The last episode is just awful
  91. Jan 21, 2021
    4
    Зачем эту чушь воплощать в игру ? Крыша совсем едет не спеша у людей...Какие-то меньшинства пытаюсь себя запиарить ? Вымрут как динозавры 100%
  92. Nov 4, 2021
    6
    Tell me Why sigue un poco en la estela de Life is Strange 1 sin llegar a alcanzarla, pero sin duda está muy por encima del 2 y el resto. Una vez más tenemos una historia muy humana con un ligero componente sobrenatural (en este caso, la posibilidad de los protagonistas de comunicarse mentalmente) que habla sobre temas sociales como la transexualidad, el manejo de la pérdida, lasTell me Why sigue un poco en la estela de Life is Strange 1 sin llegar a alcanzarla, pero sin duda está muy por encima del 2 y el resto. Una vez más tenemos una historia muy humana con un ligero componente sobrenatural (en este caso, la posibilidad de los protagonistas de comunicarse mentalmente) que habla sobre temas sociales como la transexualidad, el manejo de la pérdida, las comunidades indígenas, etc. Lo manejan con bastante tacto, a diferencia de LiS 2, de modo que no se siente un panfleto sino una historia con vida. Añade unos cuantos cuentos sobre goblins y unos cuantos puzzles y más o menos tienes el juego. El problema, para mi gusto, es que las decisiones se sienten como que tienen poco impacto en la narrativa, algo muy malo en un juego de este estilo, porque la mayor parte de la historia importante tiene que ver con el pasado y los hechos en el presente no se ven tan afectados, más allá de la relación entre los hermanos.

    A nivel gráfico el juego está bien, con ese look más o menos característico de DontNod y sus momentos de música y escenas. El sonido cumple muy bien, la verdad. Y al menos en mi experiencia solo me encontré con algunos bugs menores (que el juego olvidase que cogí los coleccionables del episodio 1 y una salida a escritorio a mitad del episodio 2). Pero si que es importante señalar que no es un juego largo, unas 10 horitas y ya.

    Por todo ello, no creo que sea un juego que le cambie a nadie la vida, pero es agradable, tierno, interesante y entretenido. Un 6,5.
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  93. Jun 28, 2022
    5
    Don't get me wrong - the story is pretty good. This is not a game as you would expect. It's more like a movie and you have some space to walk around and explore small places.
    It's definitely all about the story and not about gameplay. There are no gameplay mechanics in it (maybe you can call in chapter 3 two parts as "minigames" - but nothing more. The rest is clicking in dialogs and
    Don't get me wrong - the story is pretty good. This is not a game as you would expect. It's more like a movie and you have some space to walk around and explore small places.
    It's definitely all about the story and not about gameplay. There are no gameplay mechanics in it (maybe you can call in chapter 3 two parts as "minigames" - but nothing more. The rest is clicking in dialogs and solving diffuse puzzles.
    The developer really try to give you a picture of being transgender, but sometimes it's just too much. they try to give you the "right" opinion about this an at this point i just feel patronized.
    I would say a Netflix-Production would have been better than a game.
    Play-Time: 10 hours
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  94. Mar 5, 2023
    1
    Just finished playing this game and alongside a couple other ugly games, this almost takes the ugly crown.
    The gameplay first of all is not fun at all, same with the story it simply "Just Sucks." I can't put it in any other words than that.
    I felt almost like a bit of torture trying to play through this game, it again. Was NOT fun and the story is rubbish. I would NOT recommend this game
    Just finished playing this game and alongside a couple other ugly games, this almost takes the ugly crown.
    The gameplay first of all is not fun at all, same with the story it simply "Just Sucks." I can't put it in any other words than that.
    I felt almost like a bit of torture trying to play through this game, it again. Was NOT fun and the story is rubbish. I would NOT recommend this game to anyone.
    Devs just wanna juice the consumer out by maknig episodic type games and we ALL know that, don't get fooled with this oddball Tr@sh of a game.
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  95. Mar 6, 2022
    6
    Creo que no es un juego para mi, es un juego muy de nicho. Te tienen que gustar mucho los juegos de toma de decisiones y además debe gustarte la temática que trata. La historia esta bien, la idea es buena, pero le falta algo. Quizá un doblaje al castellano hubiera ayudado.
  96. May 16, 2021
    4
    Un juego con buena historia pero con un mal resultado

    Los gráficos del juego son muy muy buenos, la iluminación y las texturas son muy buenas, las animaciones están ok; los escenarios son espectaculares, están súper detallados y grandes El juego sigue más o menos la misma temática de Life is Strange pudiendo tomar decisiones, que para mí están muy desaprovechadas, no aportan a la
    Un juego con buena historia pero con un mal resultado

    Los gráficos del juego son muy muy buenos, la iluminación y las texturas son muy buenas, las animaciones están ok; los escenarios son espectaculares, están súper detallados y grandes

    El juego sigue más o menos la misma temática de Life is Strange pudiendo tomar decisiones, que para mí están muy desaprovechadas, no aportan a la historia ni tampoco son muy importantes.

    La temática de la historia está muy buena, pero llena de drama, hay muchas cosas exageradas e innecesarias, además de que el juego tarda muchísimo en arrancar, el primer capítulo es eterno y muy aburrido.

    Lamentablemente esta desarrolladora sigue sin invertir en captura de movimiento o por lo menos en qué los gestos faciales sean menos robóticos.
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  97. Jul 3, 2021
    6
    Summary:
    Not my type of game. Wasn't intrigued by it at all, in contrast to Life is Strange.
  98. Mar 14, 2021
    8
    its a really good game just the puzzles are to hard the way that i like but the story is just a little little boring and the only problem is the story anything else is so good and i recommend every one to play the game
  99. Jul 25, 2022
    9
    It's not the best interactive movie game, but it's definitely good one. Story is interesting and intriguing, though don't expect something extraordinary. Simple story that works. It has lack of choice variety, and consequences for those choices are sosometimes are weird. Transphobic themes are mostly annoying in this game, cause instead of showing real issues characters mostly complain howIt's not the best interactive movie game, but it's definitely good one. Story is interesting and intriguing, though don't expect something extraordinary. Simple story that works. It has lack of choice variety, and consequences for those choices are sosometimes are weird. Transphobic themes are mostly annoying in this game, cause instead of showing real issues characters mostly complain how someone elsewhere doesn't treat trans people well. Missed opportunity. But it's used well for main plot, liked how they implemented it for the story. Ending is good. Really good. Nothing epic, but it really gives some food for thought, pointing that our memories, our perception of other people are too subjective and sometimes lead to great mistakes. I can recommend it, though it's sometimes too slow. Expand
  100. Feb 24, 2023
    7
    The game is good with its story, technically the bad thing is that I personally did not like the character designs, I prefer to stay with the Life is Strange series, but this game is fine because its characteristics of childhood memories of the beginning and the conflict of those problems.
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 34
  2. Negative: 0 out of 34
  1. Jun 27, 2022
    79
    Tell Me Why is kind of a fascinating experience. It feels personal and down-to-earth, even if it can at times be a little dull. The struggle of its twin protagonists to come to terms with the death of their troubled mother is relatable, even if the game never definitively answers their questions about her. Tyler’s experiences as a trans man feel genuine, and the game treats him with respect, even though it also capitalizes on his trauma to move the plot along. In the end, memories can only reveal so much, particularly when they conflict with someone else’s, and the only peace you can really have is the peace you choose to make for yourself.
  2. Feb 16, 2021
    80
    What it lacks in its limited characters and locations, Tell Me Why makes up with a personal, intimate narrative that nicely captures the essence of everyday life and offers a much-needed examination of the human condition, all wrapped in a beautiful presentation in true DONTNOD style.
  3. CD-Action
    Nov 16, 2020
    70
    It’s still good old Dontnod but Tell Me Why falls short of the studio’s previous achievements. Outdated engine aside, the game lacks interesting interactions or a relationship as powerful as Chloe’s and Max’s friendship in Life is Strange. Its simple story is quite linear and fails to surprise, and supporting characters are rather bland. [11/2020, p.62]