Random Video Game Review - Tell Me Why

 

So with Xbox Game Studios having a sale on Steam at the time of typing this (and possibly on other shopfronts too), I took the opportunity to check out any games on my wishlist from them that I don't own. Got this for free (albeit with paid DLC) and given my history with episodic games, of course I would want to check this out. It's had an interesting development that led to discussions with various groups of people to get it right and respectful for the LGBTQ+ characters that are in the game. Let's take a look:

The game has you play as two 21-year-old American twins, Tyler (voiced by August Aiden Black) and Alyson Ronan (voiced by Erica Lindbeck) who revisit their childhood home following a traumatic event that led to the death of their mother and their decade long time being separated. You get to not only revisit the house of the twins' childhood, but also other parts of the fictional Delos Crossing, based in Alaska. You can also interact with the NPCs in the town too. The twins have a telepathic ability that allows them to communicate in that way, which allows them to experience visions of past events, among other things. The main focus of the game being that you must piece together all the visions that the twins have to figure out the truth, with both of them having a different interpretation of it all.

So this came out well before Hogwarts Legacy which had a trans character which ended up just being in a supporting role. Comparing that to one of the main characters here being trans, I feel it's handled much better here as you get to connect with the character more because you actually get to play as him. From a story telling perspective, it works reasonably well and the episodic way of how the game plays, works well. Beautifully presented too, but definitely a game for those just wanting story over full on gameplay (as it is with most episodic games and DLC). 8/10