Tell Me Why Reviews
Take a trip down memory lane, but be prepared for a bit of a bumpy ride.
Tell Me Why struggles on the edge of irregular nuances: the game overflows with beautiful ideas, but on the other hand the potential of most of these ideas goes nowhere. Adventure opens you the door to another world, yet it can be one you won't like much at first. But as you dig deeper through the story, you realize that behind another social problem and „controversy" stands much larger narration with detective subtext in its core. Even though you want to compare Tell Me Why to Life is Strange, Tell Me Why is not Life is Strange: not with its story and not with its quality. And that's a shame, because Tell Me Why took some steps that brought the game so close to the line, which Life is Strange back then drew us. Only the small details left it a few steps before the finish line.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Tell Me Why is a beautiful and interesting narrative game with charismatic and complex characters. Its artistic characteristics are well crafted and it discuss sensitive topics in a very respectful and natural way. Despite some specific technical problems, Tell Me Why is recommended to those who like investigative games with intense stories and immersive experiences.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Tell Me Why is a moody and mature-minded mystery focused on family secrets, while touching sensitively on themes like mental health, gender, and indigenous cultural practices. It's slow going but compelling. Less successful is a supernatural gameplay component that's never fully explored, and feels superficially integrated with the storyline.
Everyone should play Tell Me Why for what it says about how we often neglect or don't recognize the love of those around us and how that can effect everyone, not just ourselves.
Tell Me Why tells one of the most mature stories in gaming. It touches on the topics of domestic violence and transgenderism in an incredibly tactful way, creating a world where no character is morally black or white. Unlike in most of Dontnod’s games, there’s almost no fantastical elements to the game, making the story and gameplay surprisingly grounded in reality. Don’t expect much action here, Tell Me Why focuses on its character. The most action-packed moments were a plushie fight and a fishing minigame.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Tell Me Why features a compelling mystery that loses its depth the longer the story progresses but its strong characters and solid puzzles prove that Dontnod hasn’t missed a step.
Tell Me Why is an excellent narrative adventure that talks about childhood dramas and character diversity, but we would have preferred to play more and watch less.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Tell Me Why pushes the boundaries of video-game storytelling with its mature, open-minded approach to its themes and its pioneering representation. The inclusion of a trans lead character is vital but the story is a lot deeper than what's on the surface.
Tell Me Why is quite amazing. It’s very heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. It pulls you in nicely and makes you care for these characters. It makes you one of them. And while this is in no way a perfect game, it’s a fun ride from start to finish, and the players will surely be enticed with this title for its characters and story.
Overall, Tell Me Why is a wonderful and thoughtful game that values both its characters and story. Every little detail that is scattered across the game works in harmony to create a believable and engaging world. It is a game that is constantly teaching us more about its interesting side characters and rarely gives the player a chance to want to put the controller down. Despite not having a wild and climactic ending, Tell Me Why is one of the best stories to come out of Dontnod studios and a must-play for any fans of the adventure genre.
Tell Me Why is an exemplary narrative adventure game. However, it somewhat feels like a missed opportunity.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Tell Me Why is just another great adventure on Dontnod's part and his experience in these types of games is clearly reflected here. The Ronan twins are incredible protagonists who will no doubt stick in my memory for quite a while, and the story does a great job of keeping you immersed in mystery, but with a few bumps along the way.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If you’re looking for a new narrative adventure, you’ll likely love Tell Me Why, but if it’s not your genre of choice, this won’t be the game to make you love them.
Tell Me Why is an astounding addition to an amazing line-up of DONTNOD’s lofty library of occultic tales, and most definitely a must play in 2020.
So, all in all, Tell Me Why is a fun, story-telling video game with memorable protagonists.
But let’s be honest. You aren’t going to decide to pick up and play Tell Me Why based off of how it performs, how it looks, or even how it sounds. You’re going to pick this up and play it because Dontnod Entertainment has shown that they know how to make an engaging choose-your-own-adventure style of game. As usual for anything published by Xbox Game Studios, the game is available through Xbox Game Pass, and for that reason alone, it’s worth a handful of hours of your time.
Tell Me Why could be the best game from Dontnod, but their gameplay is not as charming as the first time. Fortunately, the game offers one of the best stories this year so far.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
When all is said and done, though Tell Me Why doesn't necessarily disturb the established Dontnod template too much, it executes it well enough that that doesn't ever seem like an issue. Excellent characters, strong writing, and a deeply personal plot help the player connect with the story. In the end, that most criticisms of the game can be boiled down to "I wish I had had more time to spend in its world and with its characters" should, ultimately, be all that really needs to be said about Tell Me Why.