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[IbizaPocholo]

Resident Evil 4 Remake Director Explains Reasons For Changes To Ashley's Character And Co-Operative Mechanics

Ashely will be Leon's equal and just as dependable in every way.

www.dualshockers.com

Originally, the story put players in control of U.S. government special agent Leon S. Kennedy as he embarked on a mission to rescue Ashley Graham, the kidnapped daughter of the U.S. president. The rescue takes place in the first quarter of the story, and the rest of the campaign focuses on the duo's escape from the rural Spanish village where Ashley was being held. The changes involved making this return journey more humane and realistic, both for Ashley's character and for the players.

For example, in the original Resident Evil 4, players could tell Ashley to stay put until they've finished clearing the enemies, but that's no longer possible. Ashley will continue to follow Leon, as it’s realistically inconceivable that she would be left alone in such a dangerous environment. "Having her hide while you went and fought in the original, that was fun in some ways," Ampo elaborated on the new change. "But having a character like Ashley and then having her basically disappear for a while felt like a waste. We wanted to avoid that in the remake.”

The goal was to convey the feeling of protecting someone to the players, so having Ashley come and go in the original game didn't really establish that. "We wanted the game to change when Ashley is with you" Ampo adds, explaining the need to make her ever-present in the players' mind, and remove her health bar so that players would keep a more constant eye on her. Ashley will also be more dominant gameplay-wise, as she will now be able to climb ladders and crawl through spaces, making the obstacles harder and more focused on her tag-team cooperation with Leon, not just being rescued by him.

All of this has been done to enhance the impression Ashley gives in a way that the original never did, and the changes even extend to her character. Ashley will now be more serious and believable, and will interact with Leon in a way that exudes more humanity than the game-like manner of the original.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

 

[Nankatsu]

I mean, they could have tweaked the AI in that regard, to allow stop and follow commands in a more serious and natural way.

Same way I understand their argument, one could say that having her following you around like a puppy is not exactly realistic either.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Hopefully the changes won’t make it more of an escort mission, I did enjoy being able to control her and keep her away from harm while I played at my own pace.

 

[Signal Rockets]

Is Ashley even playable?

 

[rofif]

As long as she is not annoying

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

I wish them luck.

Escort missioned are never loved, ever. Mostly because bugs happen and gamers hate it when the escort kill themselves in stupid ways. Most games these days just have the escorted be a non-target. I hope they know what they are doing, because npc AI haven't improved much all through the generations. The goal is to LIKE your fellow NPC, not to hate them. And nothing fosters hate more than NPCs suiciding.

 

[Signal Rockets]

I remember people got worried about Krauser being cut.

That wouldn't have worked.

Ashley needed a kidnapper. Barry not saving Jill in that God awful RE3 remake is an actual example of cut content being unnecessary.

 

[Drizzlehell]

The only reason why she didn't ruin the original was specifically because you could put her in the dumpster, where all escort quest NPCs belong, and go focus on having fun shooting zombies. Reading this makes me worried that they're gonna fuck it up and make her into everything that's annoying about babysitting a clueless fucking NPC.

 

[PillsOff]

explanation that is not about "inclusivity n diversity" n "treatment of woman" n all this other shit but making changes due to creatives actually wanting to convey something is music to my ears

 

[Grizzled Ghost]

RE 4 somehow managed to take the worst kind of video game mission, stretch it out for almost the entire playtime, and make one of the best games ever. I'm not sure they should be trying to tweak it too much.

Especially for the sake of "realism" in a game where you suplex brain-slug-infested cultists with flaming crossbows while their hammy ancient child leader in Capn' Crunch cosplay taunts you over the radio.

And if they cut that other stuff, well...

 

[DenchDeckard]

Don't do this to me capcom once I've now pre ordered on xbox.

 

[JakeWolf]

Again, the Remake team failed to understand what makes the original great. The team peaked at RE2 Remake and even in that game they screwed up the B playthroughs.

 

[Inspector Q]

Is Ashley even playable?

They show a short clip of the playable Ashley section during one of the recent preview vids. About 1:05 into this vid:



Looks like it's just going to be a stealth section where you have to avoid those Knight enemies. She probably won't be armed or able to defend herself. Wonder if they will add her to merc mode. Would probably have to make unique melee animations since it wouldn't make much sense for her to be doing roundhouse kicks and suplexes, lol.

Have they said anything about Ada yet? Assignment Ada, Separate Ways, etc? I assume she will be in Merc Mode, but I wonder if those other modes will be part of the game.

 

[Matt_Fox]

"Ashley will also be more dominant gameplay-wise, as she will now be able to climb ladders and crawl through spaces, making the obstacles harder and more focused on her tag-team cooperation with Leon"

Does anyone else think this sounds like prep for Resident Evil 5: Remake?

 

[adamsapple]

Is Ashley even playable?

Yes.

 

[John Bilbo]

Removing the health bar could mean she cannot take damage any longer, but I bet she can still be kidnapped... I mean they wouldn't remove that feature as well would they?

The more mechanics regarding Ashley they remove the more of an non-entity she will become.

Edit: I just watched some gameplay with comparisons between the original and remake. Ashley can still be kidnapped and although she doesn't have a healthbar she can be knocked down to the ground by enemies and has to be pulled up from the ground afterwards.

 

[John Bilbo]

it’s realistically inconceivable that she would be left alone in such a dangerous environment

I disagree with this point. I'm currently playing the original game and it makes more sense to take Ashley physically out of the danger's way and escort her further after you have dealt with the danger.

 

[Signal Rockets]

It would be cool if a second player could play as Ashley or Luis. But yeah. That won't be happening.

 

[Madflavor]

Removing the health bar could mean she cannot take damage any longer, but I bet she can still be kidnapped... I mean they wouldn't remove that feature as well would they?

The more mechanics regarding Ashley they remove the more of an non-entity she will become.

Good. The less I have to babysit her candy ass, the better.

 

[nkarafo]

I always hated the gameplay mechanic of escorting/protecting other characters. Seems like this game is not for me then.

 

[Signal Rockets]

You'll really hate the Siren games then.

Oh my God. Was that series difficult?

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I disagree with this point. I'm currently playing the original game and it makes more sense to take Ashley physically out of the danger's way and escort her further after you have dealt with the danger.

Precisely. Their explanation makes no sense.

 

[Mediocre Arachno-Lad]

Meh.
Dupsters were a rare sight as is.
There's total of, what, 5 of them throughout the game?
If there's one in the area it means shit's about to get real, and devs just don't want you to be weighted down by Ashley for the next 5 minutes.
Normally you'll see them in areas where non-human enemies that attack Ashley on sight instead of kidnapping her are prevalent.
They are a solution to very specific design problems that reboot might as well not have, with Ahley's lack of healthbar and general relaxation of 1-hit kills. I'm willing to wait and see.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Are they dumb? So they are saying it’s best to bring a defenseless, non combatant into the most dangerous areas, as long as they are next to the person with the gun?

I wonder why police don’t have a bring kids to drug house raid day? “Just stay close to me kids! Much safer here than literally anywhere else!” *kicks in door*

 

[Signal Rockets]

Granted, I think Capcom really only whored this game out 'cause everyone and their grandma has often proclaimed RE4 as the holy grail of RE games, when it's, um... really not. People just got it into their heads that RE4 was top tier, when I see it as the turning point of the series, and not always in a good retrospective. Sort of like when John Cena and others came to the main WWE roster back in 2002. That year changed WWE forever. People see it like Marmite.

Basically, they are milking RE dry, and have done so for years by this point. I know this already. This is why they've kept on taken the franchise back to 1998, for example. That was irritating me for a while, to be honest. As if 1998 and Raccoon City were the only two aspects that actually mattered.

Rest in peace Lance Reddick, by the way. Personally, I didn't think he was right for playing Wesker. But he was probably an awesome talent in anything else he starred in...

 

[K' Dash]

Granted, I think Capcom really only whored this game out 'cause everyone and their grandma has often proclaimed RE4 as the holy grail of RE games, when it's, um... really not. People just got it into their heads that RE4 was top tier, when I see it as the turning point of the series, and not always in a good retrospective. Sort of like when John Cena and others came to the main WWE roster back in 2002. That year changed WWE forever. People see it like Marmite.

Basically, they are milking RE dry, and have done so for years by this point. I know this already. This is why they've kept on taken the franchise back to 1998, for example. That was irritating me for a while, to be honest. As if 1998 and Raccoon City were the only two aspects that actually mattered.

Rest in peace Lance Reddick, by the way. Personally, I didn't think he was right for playing Wesker. But he was probably an awesome talent in anything else he starred in...

Your take is so fucking wrong that I’m just going to laugh and get out of this thread.

 

[Jada_Li]

I remember people got worried about Krauser being cut.

That wouldn't have worked.

Ashley needed a kidnapper. Barry not saving Jill in that God awful RE3 remake is an actual example of cut content being unnecessary.

From what I understand the original RE3 has multiple endings but only one of them is canon. In the RE3 remake they just clarified which ending is canon. And this is why I think the REmakes are more than just fan requests because it appears to either change a few things in how something happens and/or clarifies what is canon.

 

[Signal Rockets]

Thank you for that great post, Dash.