Tell Me Why Reviews
Tell Me Why and Dontnod deserve praise for the game’s carefully considered representation of trans protagonist Tyler, but unfortunately, the game struggles on all other fronts.
Tell Me Why takes a more personal direction than previous Dontnod titles. Unlike the Life is Strange series which involved the lives of dozens, something hundreds, of people Tell Me Why has twin siblings simply looking for answers about their past. With a story that provides limited narrative diversity, simple branching paths, and an overall lukewarm ending. Tell Me Why is a checklist of everything a basic story needs to reach mediocrity.
Contrary to its predecessors Tell me Why can't really make an impact in the first episode. Not only due to it being very short but also the cryptic story build up with little to none decision options that can't be rescued by the uninteresting side characters that get introduced in it.
Review in German | Read full review
Tell Me Why tackles a difficult subject quite well thanks to interesting central characters who interact maturely and drive the story forward. But limited use of telepathy, immaterial player choice, and a generally boring delivery tarnish this morose tale.
Despite the craft and heart, Tell Me Why feels like a game at odds with itself.
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
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 My Why" is not a perfect game, but it is definitely very important because of what it shows and how it shows it. Great story, full of interesting and colorful characters, which it was a pity to part with.
Review in Polish | 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.
Dontnod has clearly doubled down on its forte and looks set to continue delivering well-written tales all within that same familiar framework.
Tell Me Why is more of a PR product that suffers from typical problems of Dontnod Entertainment' games, where's the key story bits is exaggerated and backed up by nothing interesting, while the game tries to resonate with players by cheap controversy. The first episode is powerful, but then game descends into a pit of monotony and despondency. And this is sad.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Overall, Tell Me Why has an engaging narrative that will keep you glued until the end.
Tell Me Why respectfully deals with sensitive topics and tells a meaningful story about grief and trauma. The performance and dialogue can be janky at times, but that shouldn't deter you from this experience.
Tell Me Why puts Dontnod's usual bag of tricks to good use in an empathetic but somewhat toothless narrative.
Dontnod continues to lead the world in terms of character diversity and representation, and while Tell Me Why's story can sometimes lack drama it's still engagingly interactive.
Tell Me Why is a good story in a charming world but the choices and plot fail to enthrall.
Tell Me Why arrives to bring us a mature and sensitive story very well executed.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Tell Me Why lacks the emotion of Life is Strange and feels a little restraint in its three-episode structure, however it's a well written story-based game, with a complex and mature plot, and the ability to tell a tale about how extraordinary everyday life is.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Tell Me Why is an exemplary narrative adventure game. However, it somewhat feels like a missed opportunity.
Review in Slovak | Read full review