Resident Evil 4 revolves around Leon’s quest to rescue Ashley Graham, the daughter of the US president. She is kidnapped by a mysterious cult and held captive in a rural Spanish village that the player must find and survive. When you find Ashley, you become her protector and sometimes partner. Her mechanics and interactions with Leon have had some major changes, so as part of our larger cover story, I asked directors Yasuhiro Ampo and Kazunori Kadoi to explain why they did it. create them.
By clicking on the right analog stick, Leon can command Ashley to either get close (scream “forward!”) or maintain distance (“spread”). You can no longer command her to stop; she follows through no matter what. That means no longer dropping her in a safe place to wipe out the enemies ahead like in the original RE4. Capcom wanted Ashley to be with Leon because, in fact, she would never want to be left alone in such a dangerous environment.
“As a character, we wanted to have her by your side so she could leave an impression,” says Ampo, who says a character like Ashley and then letting her disappear for a while basically feels like a waste of time. We want to avoid that in the remake.”
Kadoi then added, “As AI, you don’t want them to get in your way. But if you can just forget about them and they take care of themselves, it doesn’t sound like you’re really protecting them. It is very difficult to find a balance between the two.”
Ashley also lacks a health bar. Absorbing too many hits will cause her to go into a state of decay and the player must revive her – if she is attacked while she is damaged, it’s Game Over. She can still be picked up and carried away by enemies, which also leads to failure if they are too far from Leon. Thankfully, Leon can prevent this by shooting the kidnapper or, in a new twist, performing a close-range execution by stabbing the enemy in the neck, freeing Ashley.
While this means you’ll have to keep an eye on Ashley more often, she’ll pay off this by losing more weight. Resident Evil 4 features more tag-team-focused environmental obstacles, such as getting Ashley through gaps to unlock the door from the inside. These cooperative barriers can be found long before you rescue Ashley, giving players a reason to revisit areas they can now access with Ashley’s help.
“We wanted to change the game when Ashley was with you,” Ampo said.
Perhaps the best benefit of Ashley’s new usefulness? She’s finally learned to climb down the ladder, meaning Leon won’t have to wait long to catch her. Well, save it for an occasion when you first meet her, but that’s like a callback to the original.
Ashley looked at Leon appreciatively after he first caught her.
Ashley’s personality has also been adjusted. Don’t expect her to behave like a completely different person, but as someone more trustworthy and hopefully more likeable.
“Her character is a bit more serious than the original,” Ampo said. We think a lot about how someone would realistically react when placed in those situations. And in that context, we reinforced the reality of her interactions with Leon. That matches her conversations with Leon when they travel.
Ampo says the team redesigned parts from the original “very game-like” to be more human. Directors even suggested an idea early in the development to help cement this stronger relationship.
“At one point, we even intended to take her hand and lead her away, but this guy *points at Ampo* thinking it looks like they’re too close and doesn’t like it,” said Kadoi. speak. So in the end we didn’t do it.
Resident Evil 4 launches on March 24 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Be sure to click the banner below to visit our online coverage hub to find more exclusive features and videos throughout the month.
