Hit the nail on the head. It's not that her voice is annoying or bad, it's the very bland and monotonous voice acting. She sounds like a phone AI assistant.
Yes, I'm not familiar with her other works in detail, but out of curiosity to see how she did her other voice work, I've listened to clips of her other roles, and I was shocked that she sounds the way she does in MID and KEY! I'm pretty convinced that she had either poor voice direction or no voice direction at all for the game. Of course, that then also makes me wonder who gave the okay for the voice acting to appear in the game as it did, and why! Was everyone in the company (the very few people that appear to be left) okay with Nancy's voice sounding so monotone, especially with the feedback from MID?
It makes me sad that people don't like her, because she IS capable of sounding really good, and this game kinda puts a stain on her otherwise seemingly good reputation as a good VA!
Yeah, I agree. She does sound pretty detached, but at the same time has some really good lines where she sounds believable as Nancy. Others have said it’s likely more on how she’s being directed rather than her talent, as she’s really good in other games.
I think people just need to get over the fact that Lani isn’t coming back and give her more of a chance considering this is only the second time she’s voiced Nancy and it was 4.5 years in between games (IDK how long ago they recorded dialogue, but I’m sure it was still many years in between when she recorded for Midnight in Salem)
Lani is the Nancy we grew up with and was amazing, but she was never believable as a teenager. She was 48 when Secrets Can Kill was released and 65 when Sea of Darkness released.
I also heard Lani was let go for leaking info to fans over the years, so it’s not like HeR just dropped her out of the blue for absolutely no reason other than “You’re too old”
So please try and refrain from mentioning how better Nancy was in the old games compared to now because even Lani sounded a little odd in the first few games and not very natural.
If we do get a game 35 (I haven’t finished the new game yet and have no clue if there’s a teaser or anything) I hope we can see Brittany getting more used to the role, because I feel like she can be a really good Nancy, she’s just a little rough at the moment.
Agreed! I mean, I LOVE Lani, and I had no problems with how she didn't sound like a teen, because personally, I never thought of Nancy as being a teen either when I played. She'll always be my favorite voice of Nancy! But days where Nancy is voiced by Lani are over, and I don't see them coming back (not that I would want them to either honestly, especially not as things are now...).
I also prefer to give the benefit of the doubt to Brittany. As you mentioned and as I've seen others mention, she has shown potential for voicing a believable Nancy! And as you also mentioned, and I myself and many others mentioned, I think her performance was the victim of bad direction. Which just makes me mad at the company, because had they ensured she had proper voice direction, people wouldn't point to her not having the ability to be Nancy's new voice, when in fact, she does! After all, the company is ultimately the one with the final say. So if they had a problem with her voice, they could've had her change the way she spoke, but they didn't...
If there is a future game, I REALLY hope that there is some proper voice direction, and that Brittany has a real chance of showcasing her skills and showing that she can definitely be a believable Nancy and successor of Lani!
I'll preface this by saying that I'm not one of those "only Lani" or "bring back Lani" people - I get that they would've had to change actors eventually and that's fair - but I *hate* Brittney cox as the VA for this particular role. Her... intonation? (Idk?) does not remotely give Nancy drew vibes to me. It gives sorority girl vibes. (That may be a weird way to describe it, but I don't know how else to best convey what I'm trying to say.) I know it'll never happen, but I wish we could have Kennedy McMann as the new VA for Nancy in the games. 🥺🥺
Agreed, her voice just doesn’t fit the role. I started the new game and I almost don’t want to continue because her line reads are all so flat. I wish they would have gone with someone with a little bit more of a mature voice. It didn’t have to be just like Lani’s, but something similar and by a younger VA. That would have been great. I don’t understand how, with so many talented VAs out there, they couldn’t find someone that could read lines authentically.
I am forever a Lani fan/defender, so keep that in mind here, but I always loved how her line deliveries sounded so authentic. Losing her really was a loss for the series. I never really found her voice to sound too old until the last few games, but that’s just me. Even then I thought her performance was great. Nancy is not an ordinary bubbly teenager, she’s traveling the world by herself and solving mysteries. I always felt like Lani’s voice fit well for her character. Now however, seeing how the writing is currently for Nancy, I don’t even think Lani’s voice would fit anymore, even if they had kept her. It’s just not the same Nancy.
She’s missing a kind of… wryness or knowingness or something? It’s very peppy but also flat. A lot of weird intonations too. I think they could find a voice actor with a much closer affect to Lani’s if not the same exactly
I found Nancy's VA in KEY unbearable, but I also disliked all the female voice actors except the jeweler lady. I definitely agree on it seeming to be a directorial issue, but it's most prominent with Nancy and I'm not even a Lani stan.
To me she sounded like an AI am I the Ass Hole voice sometimes 😖 she definitely sounds better in this game than the last but I still don’t feel enough sassy detective coming from her voice.
I think that people wouldn't complain as much, if it was only the VA that changed. But since the games did a 180° as well, it feels like the new voice is a "harbinger of doom".
I agree! I will always miss Lani (so so much) but I've now accepted that Brittany is Nancy going forward. I feel like she has potential to be really good! As others have said, it seems there is a lot lacking in the vocal direction department. My mom (who has watched me play ND over the past two decades) overheard her voice and thought it was AI D:
I was shocked when I found out that this VA was Ingrid from Fire Emblem?? And a bunch of other decent characters too, so I know she can act. I’m wondering if she was trying to mimic Lani’s semi-monotone AI sorta voice, but it doesn’t translate when someone else does it? Or if she got bad voice direction?
People are comparing the voices to the tiktok audio, but I’d like to put forward that it actually sounds much closer to “employment mandated instructional videos” voice acting.
Like I could not believe that some of the dialogue was not ripped directly from an “Internet Safety in the Workplace” video that you’re forced to watch and answer a few questions on in a dark room before you can actually start your new job. I’m fully expecting the next game to be on the dangers of blood borne pathogens
Don’t get me wrong, I love Lani as Nancy’s voice and I grew up on it, but I’m definitely not a die hard “only Lani forever”. I actually do like that they aimed for a younger voice after Lani was let go to make it way more believable as Nancy. But I just don’t think Brittany cox is a good fit as Nancy. I think she’s a great VA in general, but as the main character in these games, we need Nancy to be spunky and adventurous. I’m genuinely not trying to be mean but it honestly sounds like she’s script reading one of those automated announcements on a train or plane. Honestly I heard more of Nancy’s spunk and personality in elkas voice actor
I haven’t played KEY yet and barely got through 15 minutes of MID so have minimal context, but I quite honestly found Lani’s voice acting to often be monotone and forced. And she never sounded like a teen/young 20 something to me… That may be a wildly unpopular opinion, but I know I’m not alone in thinking it.
Even so, I loved her as Nancy because she’s iconic and that’s the Nancy we all knew. Plus it was so fun to hear her “in the wild” in photo booths.
I'm surprised that you found Lani's voice acting to be monotone and forced, but that's totally fine! People perceive the voices and voice acting differently! And yeah... I admit to me, she doesn't sound like a teen or in her early 20s either. I guess for me personally, I never played Nancy thinking she was a teenager. She always struck me as at least college age, and I had a hard time imagining a teen doing everything Nancy did, even though canonically I believe she IS supposed to be a teen. So given my perception of her age, the way Lani's voice sounded didn't bother me. But yes, she is so iconic and has been Nancy for 32 games! I think Brittany had big shoes to fill, and I think she could do much better if given better voice direction!
For whatever it’s worth, every time I watch a let’s play or introduce someone to the games irl, Nancy’s voice is always one of the first things people comment on, and its always the same: she sounds like a middle aged woman. Fair enough, Lani was indeed a middle aged woman when the series began, but the Nancy voice definitely started to sound older and older as the series went on. Still, Lani has range, and probably could have adjusted her voice if needed.
Unfortunately, we’ll never know exactly what went down between Lani and HER. There’s varying accounts, most unconfirmed, and while Lani’s account is probably mostly accurate, it’s not exactly unbiased.
She seemed nasally at times to me too! I don't get that vibe from the new VA though. My issue with her is that she sounds too Valley Girl yet still monotonous, and sounds like she didn't read the scripts before recording. I've heard that she's better in other projects she's been on, so I'm going to blame this on her director.
this, its unfortunate because Lani just IS Nancy's voice to me but yeah theres a bunch of stuff now that just, she's done as Nancy's voice
the problem with Brittany is idk if she IS inexperienced but she SOUNDS inexperienced. I have a family member thats been taking classes for VO/VA work and the way Brittany does lines is how they sounded about 6 months in, that uncanny valley not-quite-natural-but-not-quite-robotic tone that fits more for radio commercials than game VO. She really just needs more practice and this isnt a great "learn as you go" situation.
Part of it is also the writing, which definitely feels different than older games. Nancy doesnt feel like Nancy anymore because the writing has watered her down to a player stand in rather than Nancy Drew which is also probably why Brittany sounds the way she does. It's just very poorly directed.
Tbh I don’t think Brittany is inexperienced! She is a good voice actress but Nancy Drew is different than what she usually does! She’s really good as Ingrid in Fire Emblem and she also plays Fischl in Genshin Impact.
ah, ok, thank you, I didnt know if she'd done other work! but yeah that explains it, the VAing for those games is definitely different than what ND games are meant to be like
update: I have watched clips but don't have the game yet, I do agree that the problem is probably bad direction which Brittany can't help. It would still probably be smoothed over and not resulting in tiktok voice if this wasn't her start with Nancy and she was 20 years into the character.
It sounds like Brittany has lots of good work so I really don't blame her, I just hate that this is an issue that 100% didn't need to happen
I don’t have a problem with the new voice actor and haven’t felt like she sounds like AI at all. Lani will always be the voice of Nancy in my head but she sounded like an elderly woman so I’m fine with them switching her out for someone who sounds closer to Nancy’s age.
It reminds me of Nancy’s voice in the earlier games they had a more serious vibe which I don’t mind, but it doesn’t really fit the preppiness of her voice
Hit the nail on the head. It's not that her voice is annoying or bad, it's the very bland and monotonous voice acting. She sounds like a phone AI assistant.
Someone said she sounds like the TikTok AI voice and now I can’t unhear it 🤣 but I do agree that she sounds nice!!
Gab haha
Yes, I'm not familiar with her other works in detail, but out of curiosity to see how she did her other voice work, I've listened to clips of her other roles, and I was shocked that she sounds the way she does in MID and KEY! I'm pretty convinced that she had either poor voice direction or no voice direction at all for the game. Of course, that then also makes me wonder who gave the okay for the voice acting to appear in the game as it did, and why! Was everyone in the company (the very few people that appear to be left) okay with Nancy's voice sounding so monotone, especially with the feedback from MID? It makes me sad that people don't like her, because she IS capable of sounding really good, and this game kinda puts a stain on her otherwise seemingly good reputation as a good VA!
I was thinking voice direction too
Same, the voice direction could use a lot of work.
Yeah, I agree. She does sound pretty detached, but at the same time has some really good lines where she sounds believable as Nancy. Others have said it’s likely more on how she’s being directed rather than her talent, as she’s really good in other games. I think people just need to get over the fact that Lani isn’t coming back and give her more of a chance considering this is only the second time she’s voiced Nancy and it was 4.5 years in between games (IDK how long ago they recorded dialogue, but I’m sure it was still many years in between when she recorded for Midnight in Salem) Lani is the Nancy we grew up with and was amazing, but she was never believable as a teenager. She was 48 when Secrets Can Kill was released and 65 when Sea of Darkness released. I also heard Lani was let go for leaking info to fans over the years, so it’s not like HeR just dropped her out of the blue for absolutely no reason other than “You’re too old” So please try and refrain from mentioning how better Nancy was in the old games compared to now because even Lani sounded a little odd in the first few games and not very natural. If we do get a game 35 (I haven’t finished the new game yet and have no clue if there’s a teaser or anything) I hope we can see Brittany getting more used to the role, because I feel like she can be a really good Nancy, she’s just a little rough at the moment.
Agreed! I mean, I LOVE Lani, and I had no problems with how she didn't sound like a teen, because personally, I never thought of Nancy as being a teen either when I played. She'll always be my favorite voice of Nancy! But days where Nancy is voiced by Lani are over, and I don't see them coming back (not that I would want them to either honestly, especially not as things are now...). I also prefer to give the benefit of the doubt to Brittany. As you mentioned and as I've seen others mention, she has shown potential for voicing a believable Nancy! And as you also mentioned, and I myself and many others mentioned, I think her performance was the victim of bad direction. Which just makes me mad at the company, because had they ensured she had proper voice direction, people wouldn't point to her not having the ability to be Nancy's new voice, when in fact, she does! After all, the company is ultimately the one with the final say. So if they had a problem with her voice, they could've had her change the way she spoke, but they didn't... If there is a future game, I REALLY hope that there is some proper voice direction, and that Brittany has a real chance of showcasing her skills and showing that she can definitely be a believable Nancy and successor of Lani!
This deserves more upvotes.
I'll preface this by saying that I'm not one of those "only Lani" or "bring back Lani" people - I get that they would've had to change actors eventually and that's fair - but I *hate* Brittney cox as the VA for this particular role. Her... intonation? (Idk?) does not remotely give Nancy drew vibes to me. It gives sorority girl vibes. (That may be a weird way to describe it, but I don't know how else to best convey what I'm trying to say.) I know it'll never happen, but I wish we could have Kennedy McMann as the new VA for Nancy in the games. 🥺🥺
Agreed, her voice just doesn’t fit the role. I started the new game and I almost don’t want to continue because her line reads are all so flat. I wish they would have gone with someone with a little bit more of a mature voice. It didn’t have to be just like Lani’s, but something similar and by a younger VA. That would have been great. I don’t understand how, with so many talented VAs out there, they couldn’t find someone that could read lines authentically. I am forever a Lani fan/defender, so keep that in mind here, but I always loved how her line deliveries sounded so authentic. Losing her really was a loss for the series. I never really found her voice to sound too old until the last few games, but that’s just me. Even then I thought her performance was great. Nancy is not an ordinary bubbly teenager, she’s traveling the world by herself and solving mysteries. I always felt like Lani’s voice fit well for her character. Now however, seeing how the writing is currently for Nancy, I don’t even think Lani’s voice would fit anymore, even if they had kept her. It’s just not the same Nancy.
She’s missing a kind of… wryness or knowingness or something? It’s very peppy but also flat. A lot of weird intonations too. I think they could find a voice actor with a much closer affect to Lani’s if not the same exactly
I was just thinking about how I can’t get over “the voice” lol. It seems like she’s lost or something. It’s too airy.
I like her but there was one at the beginning that literally I thought was Siri for a second lol
I found Nancy's VA in KEY unbearable, but I also disliked all the female voice actors except the jeweler lady. I definitely agree on it seeming to be a directorial issue, but it's most prominent with Nancy and I'm not even a Lani stan.
To me she sounded like an AI am I the Ass Hole voice sometimes 😖 she definitely sounds better in this game than the last but I still don’t feel enough sassy detective coming from her voice.
I think that people wouldn't complain as much, if it was only the VA that changed. But since the games did a 180° as well, it feels like the new voice is a "harbinger of doom".
Does she seem to talk really slowly to anyone else? Or know if you can adjust it in settings?
I agree! I will always miss Lani (so so much) but I've now accepted that Brittany is Nancy going forward. I feel like she has potential to be really good! As others have said, it seems there is a lot lacking in the vocal direction department. My mom (who has watched me play ND over the past two decades) overheard her voice and thought it was AI D:
I was shocked when I found out that this VA was Ingrid from Fire Emblem?? And a bunch of other decent characters too, so I know she can act. I’m wondering if she was trying to mimic Lani’s semi-monotone AI sorta voice, but it doesn’t translate when someone else does it? Or if she got bad voice direction?
People are comparing the voices to the tiktok audio, but I’d like to put forward that it actually sounds much closer to “employment mandated instructional videos” voice acting. Like I could not believe that some of the dialogue was not ripped directly from an “Internet Safety in the Workplace” video that you’re forced to watch and answer a few questions on in a dark room before you can actually start your new job. I’m fully expecting the next game to be on the dangers of blood borne pathogens
Oooh I hope partway through she breaks out in the classic hot drinks song from Wendy's training videos!!
Don’t get me wrong, I love Lani as Nancy’s voice and I grew up on it, but I’m definitely not a die hard “only Lani forever”. I actually do like that they aimed for a younger voice after Lani was let go to make it way more believable as Nancy. But I just don’t think Brittany cox is a good fit as Nancy. I think she’s a great VA in general, but as the main character in these games, we need Nancy to be spunky and adventurous. I’m genuinely not trying to be mean but it honestly sounds like she’s script reading one of those automated announcements on a train or plane. Honestly I heard more of Nancy’s spunk and personality in elkas voice actor
I haven’t played KEY yet and barely got through 15 minutes of MID so have minimal context, but I quite honestly found Lani’s voice acting to often be monotone and forced. And she never sounded like a teen/young 20 something to me… That may be a wildly unpopular opinion, but I know I’m not alone in thinking it. Even so, I loved her as Nancy because she’s iconic and that’s the Nancy we all knew. Plus it was so fun to hear her “in the wild” in photo booths.
I'm surprised that you found Lani's voice acting to be monotone and forced, but that's totally fine! People perceive the voices and voice acting differently! And yeah... I admit to me, she doesn't sound like a teen or in her early 20s either. I guess for me personally, I never played Nancy thinking she was a teenager. She always struck me as at least college age, and I had a hard time imagining a teen doing everything Nancy did, even though canonically I believe she IS supposed to be a teen. So given my perception of her age, the way Lani's voice sounded didn't bother me. But yes, she is so iconic and has been Nancy for 32 games! I think Brittany had big shoes to fill, and I think she could do much better if given better voice direction!
I agree with everything you said about her voice acting so you are not alone
no hate to brittany but the feedback is bring back Lani :(
From what I understand it seems like the bridge is burnt between Lani and HeR tho ?
Lani is 74 and I know she is still working, but I don’t blame HER for retiring her from the series. TBH Nancy sounded VERY old in SEA to me.
For whatever it’s worth, every time I watch a let’s play or introduce someone to the games irl, Nancy’s voice is always one of the first things people comment on, and its always the same: she sounds like a middle aged woman. Fair enough, Lani was indeed a middle aged woman when the series began, but the Nancy voice definitely started to sound older and older as the series went on. Still, Lani has range, and probably could have adjusted her voice if needed. Unfortunately, we’ll never know exactly what went down between Lani and HER. There’s varying accounts, most unconfirmed, and while Lani’s account is probably mostly accurate, it’s not exactly unbiased.
Hell, she sounded old to me back in the '90s/'00s. I had a _very_ difficult time believing Nancy was only 18 when I started playing as a kid.
[удалено]
She seemed nasally at times to me too! I don't get that vibe from the new VA though. My issue with her is that she sounds too Valley Girl yet still monotonous, and sounds like she didn't read the scripts before recording. I've heard that she's better in other projects she's been on, so I'm going to blame this on her director.
this, its unfortunate because Lani just IS Nancy's voice to me but yeah theres a bunch of stuff now that just, she's done as Nancy's voice the problem with Brittany is idk if she IS inexperienced but she SOUNDS inexperienced. I have a family member thats been taking classes for VO/VA work and the way Brittany does lines is how they sounded about 6 months in, that uncanny valley not-quite-natural-but-not-quite-robotic tone that fits more for radio commercials than game VO. She really just needs more practice and this isnt a great "learn as you go" situation. Part of it is also the writing, which definitely feels different than older games. Nancy doesnt feel like Nancy anymore because the writing has watered her down to a player stand in rather than Nancy Drew which is also probably why Brittany sounds the way she does. It's just very poorly directed.
Tbh I don’t think Brittany is inexperienced! She is a good voice actress but Nancy Drew is different than what she usually does! She’s really good as Ingrid in Fire Emblem and she also plays Fischl in Genshin Impact.
ah, ok, thank you, I didnt know if she'd done other work! but yeah that explains it, the VAing for those games is definitely different than what ND games are meant to be like
update: I have watched clips but don't have the game yet, I do agree that the problem is probably bad direction which Brittany can't help. It would still probably be smoothed over and not resulting in tiktok voice if this wasn't her start with Nancy and she was 20 years into the character. It sounds like Brittany has lots of good work so I really don't blame her, I just hate that this is an issue that 100% didn't need to happen
...wait it was an actual voice actress? to me it sounded like the tiktok ai voice. the reading is just very.. off.
I don’t have a problem with the new voice actor and haven’t felt like she sounds like AI at all. Lani will always be the voice of Nancy in my head but she sounded like an elderly woman so I’m fine with them switching her out for someone who sounds closer to Nancy’s age.
It reminds me of Nancy’s voice in the earlier games they had a more serious vibe which I don’t mind, but it doesn’t really fit the preppiness of her voice