Want to play a game that will stamp all over your heart, leave you regretting every decision you've ever made and have you questioning why you even bothered in the first place—but in a good way? If your answer to all the above is yes, then might I suggest Life is Strange: Before the Storm. Then, when you've finished all three episodes, come back and read the rest of this article because it contains hella spoilers.

Before the Storm captures the zeitgeist just like its predecessor, Life is Strange. Both games nod to the cult iconography of the Pacific Northwest, and both play out like an indie movie fresh from Sundance. Before the Storm had the extra challenge of weaving themes of love, loss, and recovery into an established and beloved story though. Before the tornado, before the dark room, before time travel, there was Chloe Price (voiced by Rhianna DeVries) and Rachel Amber (voiced by Kylie Brown)—two teenagers drawn together by their own personal pain. That's the story Before the Storm sets out to tell.

In the original, Rachel's absence was the driving force of the narrative, and everything we knew about her was reconstructed through photographs, letters, and Chloe's memories. In Before the Storm Rachel is no longer a plot device, but a fully fleshed out and complex character, making the later events of Life is Strange even more tragic. Before the Storm goes to great lengths to establish Rachel as Chloe's savior and vice versa, injecting hope into a devastating chain of events. It's hard not to fall in love with Rachel just like Chloe does, which is why Episode 3 was met with such a mixed response.

Love at the center of the storm

At the start of Before the Storm, Chloe is isolated. Her diary and texts are filled with messages to Max, who is now in Seattle, leaving her alone to deal with the death of her father and the jarring presence of her mom's commando boyfriend. Rachel quickly fills that gap left by Max in Episode 1, then their relationship deepens and Rachel's influence seeps into every aspect of Chloe's life. 

In dream sequences Chloe's father tells her "sometimes people need you, even when they don't admit it," and refers to their first fight as a "lovers quarrel." Steph, the openly gay student at Blackwell Academy, also asks Chloe the exact nature of their friendship. You learn that Chloe's overuse of the word 'hella' is thanks to Rachel, and you're given the option to adorably flirt with her to pass the time. None of these moments change depending on the decisions you make as the game goes on. It's quite clear from the 73% of people who told Rachel you were more than just friends at the end of Episode 1 that the romantic path is a popular one, which I am all for.

While a romantic relationship between Chloe and Rachel was expected, one this explicit was not. Life is Strange struck a chord with LGBT gamers thanks to Chloe and Max's ambiguous friendship during the first game, and there are several moments where Max can cross that boundary. Before the Storm is different. Rather than a bonus kiss which you only get by making certain choices, Episode 2 leaves no room for uncertainty. 

If Before the Storm were a rollercoaster, Episode 2 would be the moment you reach the top and enjoy the view. The most romantic and meaningful moments happen toward the end, including one of the best interpretations of Shakespeare's play The Tempest I've ever seen. When you get the opportunity to kiss Rachel to prove your devotion, it's the validation that Life is Strange flirted with but wouldn't commit to. When they express their feelings for each other, who could help but root for them to escape Oregon?

Episode 2 is also where the other plot points begin to take shape—in particular the relationship between Chloe's drug dealer Frank, his partner Damon, and Rachel's heroin-addicted mom Sera.

Episode 3 shifts focus onto this storyline dramatically. Gone are the moments of tenderness between Chloe and Rachel, replaced by a balls-to-the-wall finale with a stabbing, a main character who turns homicidal, and the reveal of the real villain of the story. At the start of the episode Chloe creates a lightshow of stars on Rachel’s ceiling, but this is the last moment of genuine intimacy between the two, and given that we know Rachel dies two years later it doesn’t feel like enough. 

While it was not the finale I expected, Deck Nine had a lot of loose ends to tie up and a short amount of time to do it in. Ideally Before the Storm would have been five episodes long like its predecessor—there is so much more of this story that could have been told. 

We get it, Rachel is dead 

The series ends with a decision to lie to Rachel about her father's dirty dealings or tell her the truth. Compared to the ultimatum at the end of Life is Strange, this decision is pretty low stakes but important given how themes of honesty play throughout the game. We're then presented with a montage of Chloe and Rachel's next two years together—Chloe dying her hair, rolling around Arcadia Bay in Chloe's truck, getting their tattoos, etc. This is where it should have ended. It's bittersweet given what we know will happen in the future, but heartwarming to see Chloe and Rachel enjoy some time together.

Yet, for some reason, a post-credits scene was added showing Chloe desperately trying to contact Rachel while the sounds of a camera go off in the background, reminding us of Rachel's fate in the dark room. This kind of emotional manipulation is something that a lot of players, myself included, found unnecessary. It was a twist of the knife that seemed too obvious.

Given the way Chloe and Rachel’s relationship is presented throughout Before the Storm, there's a touch of unusual malice in the decision to include the post-credit scene. It's entirely out of place given the subtlety and thoughtfulness of the previous episodes. The ending also played into a lot of damaging tropes that queer people have been battling against within media—the Bury Your Gays trope for one, the time-worn narrative that homosexuality ultimately ends in tragedy. Queer women in TV, film, and now games seem to have a nasty habit of dying, and after a while it begins to wear you down. While I don’t think Deck Nine, Dontnod or Square Enix considered this when they created their game, I wish they had.  

Having said all this, I was not expecting a happy ending. Rachel is dead when Max returns to Arcadia Bay and Deck Nine had a responsibility to the canon that Dontnod created. However, I find it hard to get behind the decision to keep Rachel dead in every outcome of the game, especially when the mechanic revolves around player choice and, well, time travel. But perhaps that is the point, sometimes people have to die and there’s nothing you can do about it—it’s just a shame it has to be yet another beloved queer character. 

It’s going to take a good while before I can sit through a replay Life is Strange now that we know exactly what it was that Chloe lost when Rachel died, but maybe this time I’ll choose to save Arcadia Bay—at least that way they can finally be together.

[Note: this article contains spoilers for Life is Strange and the first two episodes of Before the Storm.]

While Life is Strange mixed supernatural mystery with teen angst, Deck Nine's prequel Before the Storm has taken a more true-to-life approach, concentrating on protagonist Chloe’s relationships with those around her. In the first two episodes we've been introduced to a younger version of the character with considerably less blue hair dye (voiced by Rhianna DeVries) during a turbulent period of her life—her father was killed in a car accident, her best friend Max has left for Seattle, her mom is dating an unemployed ex-military douchebag, and she's dangerously close to being kicked out of Blackwell Academy. 

Chloe at age 16 is utterly alone—until Rachel Amber crashes into her life.

In the original Life is Strange, Rachel was the enigma that drove the storyline, the missing girl whose absence stirred up the town of Arcadia Bay and brought its secrets to light. But in Before the Storm she's not a plot point. Voiced by Kylie Brown, Rachel's unabashed confidence, dubious motives, and intense relationship with Chloe provide the game’s heart.

With the third and final installment 'Hell is Empty' due on December 20, we caught up with Kylie Brown to talk about the experience of recording Before the Storm, what she would like to see happen to Chloe and Rachel, and how the game has changed her life.

PC Gamer: I just watched the new trailer for Episode 3. How are you feeling given that this is the last time Life is Strange fans will ever see Rachel Amber?

Kylie Brown: It’s kind of a bittersweet thing because this is kinda the last time there will be the hype for an episode. So I’m so excited to see it, but it’s sad! It’s coming to an end, and we all know what Rachel’s fate is. It’s so sad, but it’s been a journey.

How did you get involved with Life is Strange: Before the Storm initially?

Initially, oh God! It’s been a few months, I think the process started in February, and I didn’t even know what I was auditioning for. It had a codename. I can’t remember what it was but I’ve called it Mike before, Project Mike—it was filled with codenames. My character wasn’t even Rachel, it was like Rebecca, I believe. 

When I first went in to the audition I walked into the room and there’s just a microphone. I’m not used to that! It was just Phil [Bache, voice-over director] and a mic, and I didn’t know the protocol for this but it was cool, I could literally just read the lines off the page. So I did that but I wasn’t prepared... I walked in, he gave me a few moments to go over the lines and I did it and thought, "I’m not getting this, that was horrible and I had no preparation." It was all over the place. And then I got a call back.

How do you find the process of voice acting different from traditional acting. Is it more challenging?

I feel like they’re both challenging in their own ways, but they are completely different. When I go to set to film on-screen, you have a call time to be there for hair, wardrobe, makeup, mics—it’s a process until you actually get to set. With voice acting, which caught me completely off guard, I just have to have clothes on [laughs]. It’s such a free experience and I’m so grateful I got to take part. It’s a lot faster as they have a quota of how many lines they want you read per hour, so voice acting they have an A and a B, where you say your lines two different ways and then you move on.

Did you know anything about Life is Strange before taking on the role?

I had never heard of it before now, but Life is Strange has literally changed my life, and I’ve told other people that I’m so thankful that is has come into my life. I get messages from people saying how much strength it’s given them in their life and their sexuality, and that’s such an amazing thing. I’m so grateful to have this opportunity where young girls or young guys that are just like, 'hey, this means a lot to me.' Just because of everything that’s happened, I absolutely love this game. I mean it’s my first big thing, and I’m glad that this thing has an impact on people’s lives in a positive way.

How did you find Rachel’s voice? Did Deck Nine give you much direction or were you free to explore the character for yourself?

Her voice is my voice [laughs]. No, but I didn’t have to do much to find her voice, it was mostly just connecting with the material or being in the emotion. A lot of the time Phil had me in a very sultry voice, so that’s where she lived mostly. A lot of the time he would look at me and I knew something mischievous was going to be coming, and he would say, 'Do that thing that you don’t like to do, but I like you to do because you’re good at it and it works,' and I’m like, goddammit, cause that means being sultry. Bring on the sexy voice!

What were your first thoughts of Rachel from your research and play through of the first game?

When I started doing that research and finding out who she was and how much of an enigma she is and how amazing she is, that’s when the pressure came. I started freaking out cause my main concern was like, 'The fans are not going to like me.'

Rachel is such a polarizing character, people don’t know whether to trust her or not.

I know! I don’t know how to answer that, I just—I love Rachel! I’m biased, I trust her, I love her. She’s a hurt person who’s going through something that none of us wanna go through. Like, you’re in high school and you might have found the love of your life, and you’re finding out that your dad’s been cheating on your mom with your real mom... so her entire life has been a lie. So she’s hurt, and people say she’s a traitor or she cheats or she’s not trustworthy. 

Everything leading up to her finding out about her father, she’s been nothing but googly-eyes towards Chloe. Yeah, she likes to play games, but she is a drama queen! Then after she finds out about her dad, wouldn’t it tear you up? Wouldn’t that tear you up to pieces where you’re not thinking clearly? I don’t see her as not trustworthy, I just see her as broken. The same as Chloe.

When you played through the original Life is Strange, in the infamous Bae vs. Bay decision, did you choose to save Chloe or Arcadia Bay?

I got so much hate for this! I chose B-A-Y, because I just think very logically like, if I kill her I get to save all these families and children. There’s this one phrase from that movie The Wanted with Angelina Jolie that I apply to all my videogames now, and it’s "Kill one, save a thousand," and that’s what I thought about—but people still hated me for it!

What aspects of Rachel’s character or personality did you connect with the most?

I mentioned this recently while doing a Twitch stream with Katy [Bentz, Steph in Before the Storm] and some of the other voice actors that I had really bad anger issues as a kid. It’s something I still have but I have learned to keep inside, and it’s seldom now, but when I was a kid a lot could set me off. So, sad to say I guess that’s a part of Rachel I connect with. I mean I didn’t get physical, I didn’t throw any salad bowls. I didn’t start any fires!

The development of Chloe and Rachel’s relationship has quite obviously meant a lot to the Life is Strange fanbase and LGBTQ gamers. What have you found the fan response to be like so far? Is it what you expected?

Oh my gosh, the fan response has been incredible. Everybody is so nice, I have not gotten a single hate message, which I was almost expecting! But it’s like a family, and I have never seen a fandom like that, so I’m honored that they have accepted me as their Rachel and I know I say that a lot but it’s true, I am. It was nothing like I thought it would be, or that it would be so big… because I didn’t know what it was!

At what point did you know what it was?

Literally the second day of recording, and it wasn’t even [Deck Nine], it was Rhianna that told me! She like pulled it up on her phone and showed me everything and I was like, 'Oh man.' What I mean is that I obviously played Life is Strange and researched Rachel before recording so I knew what it was, but I didn’t know what it was, how big it was, until Rhianna showed me this fandom page she was on and I only then realized what I was getting into—and it kept getting bigger and bigger. I thought it was big right off bat, then suddenly the trailer’s out, and it’s produced by Square Enix, then it’s worldwide, then we might be going on panels to talk about this thing. Next thing I know I’m nominated for an award [Best Performance Golden Joystick] out in the UK. I mean, what? 

If you could choose how Rachel’s story ends, what would you like to see happen?

You know what I just thought of, I think it would be so cool if Deck Nine did dual storylines. Like you play as Chloe, depending on if you’ve played with Chloe and Max or Chloe and Rachel, now you have to decide if you want to go to LA with Rachel or stay with Max, and then whatever you decide you can get to go on adventures and whatnot, with different obstacles they have to overcome. I think that would be super cool if they did that! And then I don’t die!

Do you know how [Before the Storm] ends?

I actually don’t know how it ends. I mean, I know what occurs with my storyline. They only give us our script for our lines, after that I don’t know what happens. Nothing else. It’s very top secret.

What has been your favorite scene from Before the Storm so far?

I love the witty comebacks Chloe has, but for Rachel my favorite scene has to be the one under the lamppost. Well, I guess that might be everyone’s favorite scene [laughs].

Personally, mine was The Tempest scene.

Oh my god, that was a challenge for me. I’m familiar with Shakespeare, I’m familiar with iambic pentameter, but I hadn’t done it in a really long time. I thought the scene was just going to be your typical drama club version of The Tempest, and Webb [Pickersgill, co-game director] was like 'Yeah so we need this in iambic.' So I told him I would brutally attempt this because it’s not gonna go well.

You did a fantastic job.

Thank you. That was a challenge to do, but it was a great scene and a lot of fun, but the one on the street, right before they kiss, has to be my favorite so far in the series because it’s so grounded and so real. They’re at their most vulnerable in that moment, because they’re first giving in to their feelings for each other. I think that’s the moment when Chloe and Rachel become 'Amberprice', because everyone is rooting for it and now Chloe and Rachel have accepted it and are moving forward with it.

I know you can’t give away anything, but can you sum up what we can expect from Episode 3 'Hell is Empty' in three words?

I have to think about it, because as I said I only know my half of it, but honestly I’ll say 'things get crazy'. Because they really do!

Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 3 will be out on December 20.

The videogame voice actor strike that recently concluded led to kind of an unusual situation this summer, when union member Ashly Burch, who provided the voice of Chloe Price in the first series, was replaced with a non-union performer for the prequel Life is Strange: Before the Storm. By all reports the new performer, Rhianna DeVries, did excellent work on the series, but with the strike settled, Burch is returning to the role for the bonus episode, Farewell. 

"We’re very excited to tell you that Before the Storm’s bonus episode 'Farewell' will be releasing in early 2018 and in even more exciting news; Hannah Telle and Ashly Burch will be returning to play Max and Chloe!" Square Enix revealed. "As you are all aware, Ashly has been working with the writing team at Deck Nine and we’re ecstatic that she will be returning to play the role of young Chloe." 

Farewell is a bonus episode included with the Life is Strange: Before the Storm Deluxe Edition that will give players the opportunity to "play one last time as a young Max Caulfield." What the bonus episode will be about is a mystery, as Square Enix said the developers are "focused on completing the final stages of polish for episode three," but it warned, as the episode description hints, that "this may very well be the last time that you will get to see Max and Chloe together." 

And just as Burch remained with Before the Storm as a writing consultant, so DeVries will be involved with Farewell, continuing to perform as Chloe's motion capture actor. 

"Rhianna DeVries has done a fantastic job for the voice and motion capture of 16 year old Chloe so far, bringing a little bit of herself to the role, just as Ashly had in the previous game," Square Enix wrote. "We are forever thankful to Rhianna for the work she has put into Before the Storm and she will continue to work with us for the motion capture of young Chloe in Farewell."   

Life is Strange: Before the Storm – Farewell is expected to be out sometime in early 2018. A release date for the third and final part of Before the Storm, entitled Hell is Empty, hasn't been announced. 

Update: Before the Storm's second episode is out now, and it seems to no longer be shackled to Denuvo, the unpopular anti-tamper software. Square Enix uses Denuvo in a lot of the games it publishes, including Before the Storm. Until now. It only took a day for took a day for another Denuvo-protected game, Shadow of War, to be cracked, so it doesn't look like it's been doing much good. 

Original story: The second and penultimate episode in Deck Nine’s Life is Strange prequel, Before the Storm, is due out next week, the new trailer has revealed. Titled A Brave New World, it will launch on October 19. So you’ve got less than a week to emotionally prepare yourself. 

In the trailer, we see Chloe continuing to struggle with her family, especially her soon-to-be stepdad, David, and meet Frank, the deadbeat dealer who Max has run ins with in the first series. We already know that she’s hurtling down an unfortunate path, and Frank’s a big part of that.

Even from the brief bit of footage, we can see Chloe turning into the girl who Max reconnects with in the first episode of season one.  

“As Chloe and Rachel’s family life continues to crumble, their friendship blossoms and the two girls discuss running away together,” Square Enix summarises. “But before they can go, Chloe gets involved with an errand for Frank Bowers which puts her in a dangerous situation and exposes an uglier side to Arcadia Bay.”

Last week, Life is Strange: Before the Storm launched a typically moody and at times angry launch trailer. It's out today and, in what seems like a bid to soften the blow, has dropped a heart-wrenching short designed to underscore the value of friendship. 

"'An Open Letter' has been created to reflect the strong themes of friendship, love and support in the game," so reads a statement from publisher Square Enix. 

Seriously, it's a tear-jerker. See how you can last without welling up:  

Again, Life is Strange: Before the Storm is out later today. If you fancy reading about it in the meantime, check out James' early impressions over here. 

The first episode of the Life is Strange prequel is out on August 31, which makes this Gamescom launch trailer a little premature. Still, we get a dose of the hazy coming-of-age teen drama vibe and some angst from Chloe, who was angry long before the events of the first series. In fairness she could have used those time travelling powers more than Max.

Playing as a more brash, rebellious character does sound fun though. James has played a bit of episode one: "during a 10-minute hands-on preview, I managed to steal money, smoke a ‘J’ (that’s weed, dad), drink beer, mosh, and get into a fight." 

Teenage troublemaking aside, the series seems to focus on Chloe's relationships with her stepdad, David, and the mysterious Rachel Amber. Expect adolescent nihilism, raging arguments, woozy guitar soundtracks and "feels." I'm normally allergic to high school dramas, but I'm halfway through the first series and enjoying it a lot. Max can unbearably earnest, though, so I'm all for a switch to her more adventurous pal.

Time travel is for posers. Hear me out. In the original Life is Strange, you played as Max, a sensitive photography student with the power to travel back in time. With her powers, she unraveled a mystery around a missing person case while trying to please everyone in the process. The result was like taking a Telltale adventure game and shoving it into a VCR. With a magic rewind button you could replay conversations over and over until everyone was as happy as possible—a tall, often impossible order.

In Before the Storm, an episodic prequel series to Life is Strange starting August 31, you play as Max’s rebellious childhood friend Chloe—and she can’t alter time. While the system is what initially made Life is Strange stand out from similar episodic story-focused adventures (think Telltale’s games), tumbling through Chloe’s unstable life drunk, high, and angry, without looking back feels appropriate to a teen who is very often drunk, high, and angry. It may be a surprising omission, but I didn’t miss it much. Chloe’s the type to make decisions she’ll regret and roll with (or hand out) the punches anyway. 

Max is on the left, a pensive, insecure art student. Chloe's pictured right, a brash punk looking for purpose. They make a good duo. 

I’d know, because during a 10-minute hands-on preview, I managed to steal money, smoke a ‘J’ (that’s weed, dad), drink beer, mosh, and get into a fight. While Max appeals to teens with a pastel collection, Chloe will please the teens-with-tats-and-shitty-stepfathers demographic. With the same stilted writing and offbeat interpretation of Pacific Northwest youth culture, Life is Strange’s quirks will be harder to ignore this time around. (“Can't wait to get in there and thrash!”, says Chloe out loud to no one) But for people like me, Before the Storm has potential to cut closer to our experiences of growing up and become the story we were more interested in from the start.

Cabin fever 

My demo opens with Chloe out on the town—the town being a remote, repurposed barn somewhere in the iconic Pacific Northwest pines. The shack is host to a rock show, crowded with unsavory, severe people wearing black band tees and sporting an assortment of piercings and spiked accessories. It’s like looking at the Nirvana merch section at a modern Hot Topic through dirty stained glass—an uncanny reflection of modern youth as depicted by a relatively Big Game Studio. Men with bad haircuts and fixed grimaces knock back beers and mime conversation. Laughable graffiti and stickers plaster the walls and countertops, one reads—brace yourself—”HARD F**K CORE”, asterisks and all. But I get the intent: poor, disaffected youth and their loud outlets.

I direct Chloe over to a sawblade hanging from a far wall, which we deface with a big swirling eye as a listless gesture of solidarity. It’s the kind of doodle Max would’ve kept on a trapper keeper, away from scrutiny. Why she’s there isn’t exactly clear, but I enjoy playing as Chloe. Despite Life is Strange’s tendency to be on-the-nose with characterization, she’s easy to identify with, a reminder of my Modest Mouse (the early stuff, obviously) and mullet years. I’m still sorry, dad.  

So I lean into the role. A man tries to sell Chloe a band t-shirt we can’t afford from the back of his car, parked on a steep embankment. While the fool isn’t looking, we release his parking brake, watch his car crash into another, and with the merchant distracted we take a shirt. But his earnings for the evening are sitting right there too, and coming by cash as a teen isn’t easy, so, given the option, we steal that too. ‘This action will have consequences’, fades in at the top of the screen, but who cares? We bring the money to Frank, a drug dealer you might recognize from the original game, and he gives us that good-good, the power salad, yes, I’m talking about weed. Chloe lights up and Frank, like the other men in the room, returns to hardening his face and swigging a cheap beer.

Stepdad: Origins  

With Chloe 'lit af', it’s time to mosh. I direct her to the next room where the band is playing, but in navigating the thick crowd, we bump into some grumpy men drinking beer, spilling it onto one’s shirt. It’s a damn shame, really, but a forgivable party foul on the fringes of mosh territory. Still, the guy isn’t happy and doesn’t let Chloe by. I choose the rudest responses possible, but we’re forced back into the bar area anyway. No worries though: I notice some stairs in the back of the room and take Chloe up them to a loft with a clear view of the band and pit below. It’s a perfect place for her to unwind, above it all and away from angry beer men, so she thrashes. 

But, as angry beer men do, the angry beer men show up, angry about beer. Chloe’s freedom is interrupted, and I get the option to de-escalate or insult the boys. I don’t get the impression Chloe would back down now, so we insult them further, and without the ability to rewind time, I want to see how much trouble Before the Storm allows you to get into. “Limpdick asshole” she calls him, which prompts one beer man to bust his empty bottle open and hold it menacingly. Well, damn. 

Suddenly, from behind them, Rachel shows up and confronts the beer men. Yes, that Rachel, the missing woman from the original game who Chloe is completely busted up about. This is how they meet, men waving around broken bottles between them. I get the option to run or fight, so I choose the Chloe option and attack. A short scuffle ensues, Rachel weans the beer men off their beer agenda by hitting one in the face with a beer bottle, and they scramble downstairs to the crowd below and dance. I get the impression losing her will be hard, and knowing what happens to her, I’m already a bit broken up. Before the Storm may not be a necessary story, but has potential to be a good one. But if they drop the ball with Rachel’s characterization, explaining Chloe’s blue-hair origins, or retcon events from the first game with reckless abandon, Before the Storm could very well diminish the original Life is Strange.

In a short video showing how events from the following morning could pan out, I watch a hungover Chloe wake to No Below by Speedy Ortiz and pick out a t-shirt for the day, the one stolen from the night prior an option among them. She trundles downstairs and talks to her mom, who lightly chastises her about being nicer to David, the soon-to-be stepfather and questionable school security guard from the original series.

In a short conversation with the man himself, Chloe has the choice—surprise—to be rude or just less than rude, their conversation climaxing in one of the greatest moral choices I’ve seen in a game: whether or not to leave David’s proposed fistbump hanging. It’s a scene that colors between the hard lines, detailing what was already heavily implied in the first game. So far, none of it feels revelatory and none of it plays or feels different from the first game, but if Before the Storm avoids feeling like a total parody of teenage fury, getting to know Chloe better can’t hurt. 

The debut trailer for the Life is Strange prequel Before the Storm was shown during Microsoft's pre-E3 press event, and if it seemed to you that Chloe's voice in it was a little bit "off" from what you remember, you're not wrong. Voice actor Ashly Burch, whose most recent appearances include Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battleborn, and the lead role in Horizon: Zero Dawn, confirmed on Twitter yesterday that, because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, she wasn't able to perform the role for the new game. 

The voice actors strike has been ongoing since last year, and while some projects were "safe harbored," meaning that development with union talent was allowed during the strike because the contracts were signed prior to its start, newer ones, like Before the Storm, were not. Because of that, game makers have two choices: They can hire non-union talent, or they can strike a stand-alone deal for their project—if, presumably, they are not one the "Interactive Video Games Companies" that are negotiating collectively with SAG-AFTRA: Activision, Blindlight, Disney, Electronic Arts, Inc., Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Take 2, VoiceWorks Productions, and, WB Games.

Life is Strange publisher Square Enix is not one of their number, opening the door to a one-off deal to bring Burch back for the new game without violating any sort of covenant with its industry partners. But in this case, non-union talent won out, which attracted the ire of actor and high-profile professional nerd Felicia Day. 

Noted voice actor Steven Blum also expressed disappointment in the situation.  

The first part of the three-part Life is Strange: Before the Storm is set to come out on August 31.