Subverting vapid clichés and obnoxious stereotypes, Dontnod promises an unconventional game swaps the awkward, questionable exposition of childhood trauma for an “optimistic future”.
Tell Me Why is a new project in development at the Life is Strange studio, and features more of the same supernatural and emotional drama with some provocative sociocultural context. Provocative for a game, I mean, because whatever the internet wants to screech about POLITICS and SJW PROPAGANDAS and CANCELLING BOOBS, being queer in reality isn’t even a big deal, so why is this different. Exactly. Anyway.
In a new FAQ on the game’s website, Dontnod explains that Tell Me Why dumps transgender character tropes “with no basis in fact”, and protagonist Tyler – like most trans guys! – has been presenting as male since he was a kid, and not because of some ambiguous-but-also-not-so-ambiguous… incident or pSyChOlOgIcAl problem.
Because so many mainstream narratives about trans people are rooted in pain or trauma, it was important to our team to tell a different, more multi-dimensional story with Tyler.
As such, the game’s plot also won’t include transphobia besides “some ignorant comments” from other characters, because it’s not even super important in a game about magic twins solving puzzles.
It’s out on PC and Xbox on 27 August.