History VideoGame / TellMeWhy

* AmbiguouslyAbsentParent: The twins' father doesn't seem to be in the picture; Sam mentions that Mary-Ann "never had a man around", and following her death, Alyson was sent to live with the local police chief. [[spoiler:Their father is revealed to be a married man willing to go to extremes to stop his affair with Mary-Ann from going public.]]

* ParentsAsPeople: The game's focal mysteries revolve around the twins' mother, Mary-Ann; her troubled relationships with others in the town, her reasons for treating her children harshly despite still caring, and why she attempted to kill Tyler on the night of her death.

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler:Mary-Ann was infamous for sleeping with married men. The Ronan twins's father was married, while whatever happened between Mary-Ann and Sam led to his wife divorcing him.]]

* SpiritualSequel: To DONTNOD's ''Franchise/LifeIsStrange'' franchise. Like ''Life is Strange'', ''Tell Me Why'' is an episodic adventure game featuring heavy emotional and mental health themes, focusing on interpersonal relationships, taking place in [[EverytownAmerica a small town in the USA]] and set TwentyMinutesIntoThePast, starring young adult characters with superpowers, and featuring multiple prominent LGBTQ+ characters. It quickly earned the FanNickname ''Life is Strange 3'' for this reason, despite not being officially part of the series' continuity.

* BaitAndSwitch: The first chapter starts with Tyler confessing that he killed his mother in self-defense. [[spoiler:The end of the chapter reveals that it was Allison and he took the blow for her.]]

** The second poster is a wine glass with the name [[VideoGame/{{Vampyr}} Red Queen]]

* CompanyCrossReferences: Tyler can find a poster for a time travel movie featuring a camera and a butterfly. The film's tagline was "[[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange Life is weird]]"

* AmbiguouslyAbsentParent: The twins' father doesn't seem to be in the picture; Sam mentions that Mary-Ann "never had a man around", and following her death, Alyson was sent to live with the local police chief.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Throughout the first chapter, Alyson is more unwilling to change her view on their mother and wants to erase any memory of her, which makes more sense in light of the twist; she's the one with the most guilt and trauma after stabbing her, and doesn't want to consider that it could have been unjustified.]]

* LovingBully: If Tyler points out the dock while on the boat ride and recalls that it was the neighbor, not him, who always pushed Alyson into the lake, she mentions that they ended up dating and that she "always [seems] to attract the assholes". A photo of her and Bobby from her 2012 prom can be found in her room.

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The game takes place in late 2015, five years prior to its release in 2020.

* SpiritualSequel: To DONTNOD's ''Franchise/LifeIsStrange'' franchise. Like ''Life is Strange'', ''Tell Me Why'' is an episodic adventure game featuring heavy emotional and mental health themes, focusing on interpersonal relationships, taking place in small-town USA and set TwentyMinutesIntoThePast, starring young adult characters with superpowers, and featuring multiple prominent LGBTQ+ characters. It quickly earned the FanNickname ''Life is Strange 3'' for this reason, despite not being officially part of the series' continuity.

* SpiritualSequel: To DONTNOD's ''Franchise/LifeIsStrange'' franchise. Like ''Life is Strange'', ''Tell Me Why'' is an episodic adventure game featuring heavy emotional and mental health themes and focusing on interpersonal relationships, starring young adult characters with superpowers, and featuring multiple prominent LGBTQ+ characters. It quickly earned the FanNickname ''Life is Strange 3'' for this reason, despite not being officially part of the series' continuity.

* SpiritualSequel: To DONTNOD's ''Franchise/LifeIsStrange'' franchise. Like the ''LiS'' games, ''Tell Me Why'' is an episodic adventure game featuring heavy emotional and mental health themes and focusing on interpersonal relationships, young people with superpowers, multiple prominent LGBTQ+ characters. It quickly earned the FanNickname ''Life is Strange 3'' for this reason, despite not being officially part of the series' continuity.

The game consists of three episodes, releasing over the course of three weeks starting from August 27, 2020. It's available on PC and UsefulNotes/XBoxOne, and was available on Xbox Game Pass from release.

* ChoiceAndConsequenceSystem: A summary of choices is shown at the end of each episode. According to promotional material, the strength or weakness of the twins' bond will affect their fate.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Throughout the first episode, Alyson is more unwilling to change her view on their mother and wants to erase any memory of her, which makes more sense in light of the twist; she's the one with the most guilt and trauma after stabbing her, and doesn't want to consider that it could have been unjustified.]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The twins Psychic Link are definitely neither mundane nor imaginary like they thought it might have been. But the characters in The Book of Goblins, especially the Creepy Ones like the Mad Hunter might have been more than just dreamed up character. [[spoiler:In the flashback at the end of chapter one we get a brief flash of Tyler seeing the Mad Hunter, though at the time he was running for his life so its' veracity is somewhat questionable.]]
* MoodWhiplash: One flashback in the first episode shows Alyson giving Tyler his first short haircut, to both their delight. Then he goes to show it to their mother...

* TheStinger: The first episode ends with Tyler telling Alyson of his plan to break and enter into the police archive.

* TransTribulations: {{Downplayed}}. Though Mary-Ann denied him the resources he needed as a child, his transition over a decade at the accepting Fireweed Residential Center went very smoothly; he is secure in his identity as a trans man, and the most bigotry he faces are some ignorant comments and microaggressions during Episode 1. [[spoiler:Evidence later surfaces that Mary-Ann had been trying to educate herself on how to support Tyler's transition; however, Tyler still had to live for a decade with the trauma of believing she was violently transphobic.]]

** [[spoiler:At the end of the first episode, it is revealed that Alyson is the one who stabbed their mother and that Tyler had voluntarily taken the blame.]]

* UnreliableNarrator: The Twins powers don't actually show the past, just their memories of it. Since they don't necessarily remember the same events exactly the same way this can lead to differences in the narrative between one another and, potentially, between themselves and the truth.

* TransTribulations: {{Downplayed}}. Though Mary-Ann denied him the resources he needed as a child, his transition over a decade at the accepting Fireweed Residential Center went very smoothly; he is secure in his identity as a trans man, and the most bigotry he faces are microaggressions fueled by ignorance. [[spoiler:Evidence later surfaces that Mary-Ann had been trying to educate herself on how to support Tyler's transition; however, Tyler still had to live for a decade with the trauma of believing she was violently transphobic.]]

* InMediasRes: The game opens with a young Tyler being questioned by police for the murder of his mother.

* TransTribulations: Mostly {{Averted}}. Though Mary-Ann denied him the resources he needed as a child, his transition over a decade at the accepting Fireweed Residential Center went very smoothly; he is secure in his identity as a trans man, and the most bigotry he faces are microaggressions fueled by ignorance. [[spoiler:Evidence later surfaces that Mary-Ann had been trying to educate herself on how to support Tyler's transition.]]

* AmbiguouslyAbsentParent: The twins' father doesn't seem to be in the picture; Sam mentions that Mary Ann "never had a man around", and following her death, Alyson was sent to live with the local police chief.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** [[spoiler:Throughout the first episode, Alyson is more unwilling to change her view on their mother and wants to erase any memory of her, which makes more sense in light of the twist; she's the one with the most guilt and trauma after stabbing her, and doesn't want to consider that it could have been unjustified.]]

* {{Matricide}}: At age 11, Tyler was sent to a residential center for killing his mother in self-defense. [[spoiler:In reality, Tyler had taken the fall for Alyson, who stabbed their mother with a pair of scissors after finding her hunting Tyler down with a gun.]]

* ParentsAsPeople: The game's focal mysteries revolve around the twins' mother, Mary-Ann; her troubled relationships with others in the town, her reasons for treating her children harshly despite showing care, and why she attempted to kill Tyler on the night of her death.

* TwinTelepathy: Shared when they were children, but disappears for the duration of their decade-long separation.

* TheStinger:
* The first episode ends with Tyler telling Alyson of his plan to break and enter into the police archive.

* AnimalMotifs: The characters within the Ronans' childhood fantasy book, ''The Book of Goblins''', appear to be heavily inspired by people they knew, supported by the themed collectibles being located near their corresponding person.

* {{Matricide}}: At age 11, Tyler was sent to a residential center for killing his mother in self-defense. [[spoiler:In reality, Tyler had taken the fall for Alyson, who stabbed Mary-Ann with a pair of scissors after finding her hunting Tyler down with a gun.]]

''Tell Me Why'' is an episodic game created by Dontnod.

The story talks about twins Allison and Tyler. Ten years ago, Tyler killed his mother in self defense after she drew a shotgun at him, however things aren't what they seem to be and it's up to Allison and Tyler to look through their memories to learn the truth.