"I miss the rasp and sass in her voice": League of Legends community showcases disappointment over Akali's new VA within the game

sportskeeda.com:

Akali, one of League of Legends' most popular champions, received a brand new voiceover for all her dialog in the PBE (Public Beta Environment) version of the game. Initially, the new voice actress (VA), Ashly Burch, was only supposed to be involved with Akali's Star Guardian skin voicelines.

However, it seems that Riot Games decided to do a revamp of the voicelines for her base skin as well. It goes without saying that the community is not at all pleased with the decision.

Regarding the sudden change, one community member commented in an ongoing Reddit thread, stating:

Players are complaining that Akali used to be a chaotic kind of person. However, the latest VA makes her sound more like a cheerful hero, which goes against the entire lore and history of the character.

Akali's brand new voiceover in the PBE sparked major controversy within the community. Many players were disappointed that it was done without any prior notice from Riot Games.

Obviously, Akali players felt especially betrayed as they are of the opinion that the character has lost her identity with the new voiceover. Nevertheless, League of Legends developer NeoLexical took to Reddit to interact with the players regarding the issue.

The developer claimed that it is true that the changes do make Akali sound a lot more heroic. In fact, it does take a major shift from the aspect where Akali should stand in the middle ground between Zed and Shen.

However, she also feels that Ashly Burch, the new voice actress, has done a great job and, if needed, they can create the same tone by re-recording the voice lines in the future. Nevertheless, the Riot Games developer wants players to spend some more time getting habituated with the new voiceover before jumping to any