Tell Me Why ... the game, not the song
Sep. 11th, 2020 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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The 3rd and final chapter of DontNod's new game is out today! According to many articles it's the first game with a trans man player character from a major studio. I am not sure DontNot counts as a major studio, but hey it's just marketing hype. They are best known for the series Life is Strange.

The game's art direction is amazing and gorgeous, by the way.
Before the game's release, they put up a FAQ where people could spoil themselves on plot elements regarding LGBTIA+ and Native characters. You can check whether Tyler's deadname is revealed or if there is ever violence shown against Michael. Considering what a minefield gaming and other media can be, that's an awesome thing to have. I chose to not read any of the FAQ, especially since it contains spoilers.
Below the cut I am going to talk a bit about how trans rep and issues are handled in the game. There are no plot spoilers past chapter 1, and most of what I am going to talk about was guessed by fans before the game was even out.
The basic idea of the game is that twins are finally clearing out the house of their dead mother. One of the twins killed her when they were kids. And of course the past turns out to be more complicated than either of them knew. The trailers make it look like the mom tried to kill Tyler for being trans and he killed her in self defense.
The game's development was underway before they decided to make one of the twins transgender. So, when trailers came out making it look like the story was going to revolve around an attempted transphobic murder, people who had followed the game at all or were familiar with DontNod games in general were pretty sure that was a red herring. However, not everyone is going to be savvy to that. I watched a stream where the player thought this all did revolve around transphobic hate crimes.
Before we dig in, let's look at a great things about the game's approach. Tyler is called 'Young Tyler' in flashback scenes. They never used a deadname for him. For fans this is great because they don't need to deal with trolls calling him by the wrong name. In police reports, they have 'minor's name redacted' on the copies you look at.
There is no 'big reveal' that Tyler is trans. It's implied in the trailer. There are hints around his bedroom. Later in the game, Young Tyler asks Young Alyson to think of him as a brother rather than a sister. I don't know what at what point a person who is generally unaware of trans men would figure it out, but the game just assumes you pick up on it. Most games, shows and other media fumble the reveal, so it was a refreshing change for the game to not even have one.
Tyler was played by a trans man and they let him tweak some of the lines and make suggestions.
I loved the game. I think they did a great job, but certain aspects aren't going to sit well with everyone.
While the game isn't about hate crimes, it pretends to be for a one third of the game. That type of trauma is thoroughly mined for drama and feels. They even go in for a second helping of putting Tyler in mortal danger over his appearance. The game is trying to have it's cake and eat it, too.
Having a minority think they were the victim of an attempted hate crime and it turns out it was all an mis-understanding? That isn't great. Victims of hate crimes are often accused of just having misunderstood things or having jumped to conclusions.
Playing the game means making choices to forgive or not forgive characters that have been transphobic in the past, including one who tried to get Tyler into conversion therapy. Are you nice to them to gain information? Do you give people second chances or do you protect yourself and your truth? Those are tricky choices. I went one way on those choices, but I understand why some other people will never choose some of the paths I did. Making some of those choices might be very uncomfortable for some people, and not in the fun way.
If you are interested in the game but aren't really the gamer type, point and click games are pretty easy to pick up. I'd recc watching the start of a Let's Play ... and then deciding whether to get the game or just watch it be played. I did play the game myself, but I also watched streams.

The game's art direction is amazing and gorgeous, by the way.
Before the game's release, they put up a FAQ where people could spoil themselves on plot elements regarding LGBTIA+ and Native characters. You can check whether Tyler's deadname is revealed or if there is ever violence shown against Michael. Considering what a minefield gaming and other media can be, that's an awesome thing to have. I chose to not read any of the FAQ, especially since it contains spoilers.
Below the cut I am going to talk a bit about how trans rep and issues are handled in the game. There are no plot spoilers past chapter 1, and most of what I am going to talk about was guessed by fans before the game was even out.
The basic idea of the game is that twins are finally clearing out the house of their dead mother. One of the twins killed her when they were kids. And of course the past turns out to be more complicated than either of them knew. The trailers make it look like the mom tried to kill Tyler for being trans and he killed her in self defense.
The game's development was underway before they decided to make one of the twins transgender. So, when trailers came out making it look like the story was going to revolve around an attempted transphobic murder, people who had followed the game at all or were familiar with DontNod games in general were pretty sure that was a red herring. However, not everyone is going to be savvy to that. I watched a stream where the player thought this all did revolve around transphobic hate crimes.
Before we dig in, let's look at a great things about the game's approach. Tyler is called 'Young Tyler' in flashback scenes. They never used a deadname for him. For fans this is great because they don't need to deal with trolls calling him by the wrong name. In police reports, they have 'minor's name redacted' on the copies you look at.
There is no 'big reveal' that Tyler is trans. It's implied in the trailer. There are hints around his bedroom. Later in the game, Young Tyler asks Young Alyson to think of him as a brother rather than a sister. I don't know what at what point a person who is generally unaware of trans men would figure it out, but the game just assumes you pick up on it. Most games, shows and other media fumble the reveal, so it was a refreshing change for the game to not even have one.
Tyler was played by a trans man and they let him tweak some of the lines and make suggestions.
I loved the game. I think they did a great job, but certain aspects aren't going to sit well with everyone.
While the game isn't about hate crimes, it pretends to be for a one third of the game. That type of trauma is thoroughly mined for drama and feels. They even go in for a second helping of putting Tyler in mortal danger over his appearance. The game is trying to have it's cake and eat it, too.
Having a minority think they were the victim of an attempted hate crime and it turns out it was all an mis-understanding? That isn't great. Victims of hate crimes are often accused of just having misunderstood things or having jumped to conclusions.
Playing the game means making choices to forgive or not forgive characters that have been transphobic in the past, including one who tried to get Tyler into conversion therapy. Are you nice to them to gain information? Do you give people second chances or do you protect yourself and your truth? Those are tricky choices. I went one way on those choices, but I understand why some other people will never choose some of the paths I did. Making some of those choices might be very uncomfortable for some people, and not in the fun way.
If you are interested in the game but aren't really the gamer type, point and click games are pretty easy to pick up. I'd recc watching the start of a Let's Play ... and then deciding whether to get the game or just watch it be played. I did play the game myself, but I also watched streams.
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