Tell Me Why
PC, Xbox One
We tell stories to make sense of our lives. Twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan know all about this: ever since a traumatic childhood incident ending with the death of their mother, for which Tyler was indicted, things haven’t really added up. And so the two reunite in their hometown of Delos Crossing, hoping to piece together the past – we tag along, but struggle to see how things fit together ourselves.
At times, Dontnod’s exploration of the line between myth and reality is beautiful. It feels like an elevation of the Life Is Strange universe’s framework: kid receives a superpower relevant to their struggles, coming-of-age tale ensues. Tyler and Alyson’s ‘powers,’ while presented as supernatural, are grounded in reality. The standout idea is a version of twin telepathy, which lets you check in with your sibling during conversations with others, getting their read on a situation before making choices.
But it’s the second, much duller ability that gets most screentime: you wander to whichever spot makes your controller throb most suspiciously, and press a button to summon the ghosts of small-town dramas past. More intriguing is the Rashomon effect (a reference made with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer) demonstrated by Tyler and Alyson’s differing memories. Select either twin’s version of a fight they saw, or a conversation they had as children, and a symbol indicates whether you’ve brought the two closer or pushed them apart (although many results feel incongruous with what’s transpired). You’re encouraged to draw your own conclusions, an idea the more abstract – and enjoyable – puzzle-solving serves, as you translate allegories in the fairytale tome created by the Ronan family to uncover secrets.
Sadly, despite it being the driving concept of the game, Dontnod ends up leaving little room for interpretation. At the close of episode two, we’re in no doubt as to what really happened that night down on the dock. Then follows a third chapter, which – with the exception of one captivating, if on-the-nose, sequence of puzzle-based storytelling – feels largely pointless. Enter hackneyed quicktime events, leaden pacing, a pantomime villain and an end choice where only one option makes any kind of sense, as the thriller portion of the tale gets its conclusion at the expense of the thematic core of the game. Tell Me Why is another example of Dontnod’s strengths – compelling characterisation and rich worldbuilding – butting up against the weaknesses we’ve seen time and time again, and eventually being usurped by them. The studio cannot seem to reconcile with itself, and in this sense, it’s unwittingly proved the point its latest narrative fails to: with so many sides to consider, not all stories are so easily tied up.