Yesterday, Life is Strange: Reunion was unveiled in full, with Deck Nine and Square Enix revealing the next game in the decade-old franchise. It follows directly on from 2024’s Life is Strange: Double Exposure, and for the first time since 2017, it brings back Chloe Price, the other half of the ‘Pricefield’ ship.
She’ll join Max Caulfield in a race against time to once again save the world (or at least their little bit of it) from certain cataclysmic catastrophes. However, following the reveal, much of the Life is Strange community has shared a wave of disappointment about Ashly Burch, the original voice actor for Chloe Price, not reprising her role.
Chloe Price Will Not Be Played by Ashly Burch
Ashly Burch brought Chloe Price to life in the original Life is Strange title, released in 2015. However, she was unable to reprise that role in 2017’s Life is Strange: Before the Storm, a prequel, because of an embroilment in a voice actor’s strike at the time. This meant that Rhianna DeVries stepped in and fulfilled the role, doing a fairly decent job overall.
Yesterday, when Deck Nine unveiled Life is Strange: Reunion, it went with the announcement that DeVries would be returning alongside Hannah Telle (Max Caulfield) to play Chloe Price.
Fans took to social media to stress their concerns about this decision, with many suggesting that it’s not a ‘true reunion’ if the original voice actor isn’t involved.
RELATED: Life is Strange Double Exposure Review
One distressed user wrote, ‘My expectations could not be lower for Life is Strange: Reunion. It’s hard to be excited after the last game, and now we know it’s not even Ashly Burch as Chloe… Like what the f*** are you guys doing?’
Another offered a lengthy explanation to cover the community’s dismay:
Life is strange bringing back Chloe due to fan backlash but still not giving enough of a s*** to fork up enough cash to hire her original voice actor whenever Ashly Burch’s performance was half the reason anyone even liked that character in the first place.
In an attempt to dig deeper, one user raised a fair point:
Something definitely off with this game when Deck Nine brought back Rhianna DeVries for Chloe instead of Ashly Burch while there’s no SAG-AFTRA strike currently happening like during Before the Storm’s development.
For the diehard fans of Life is Strange, Reunion will be more or less a guaranteed purchase, even if it’s a reluctant one. The wrapping of Max and Chloe’s story is too much of a dramatic pull to be ignored, and it’s a sequence that’s almost a decade in the making (and wanting).
Will you still be buying Life is Strange: Reunion this March, even though Ashly Burch isn’t in it? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news about the bizarre Marathon bug that was installing Destiny 2
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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