With the plethora of changes fans have experienced in the Resident Evil 4 Remake in its story, gameplay, and characters, one of the major notes is the changes made to Ashley Graham. Given the large and significant portion of time spent protecting the character playing as Leon S. Kennedy, many hoped that Ashley would be revamped to be less annoying and repetitive and rather more interesting in her interactions with Leon.
Fortunately, Capcom has nailed this, especially with the great work of Ashley's voice and motion capture actress Genevieve Buechner, and Ashley in the remake is a drastic improvement compared to the original in a variety of ways.
5 Relatable
One of the more impressive aspects of Resident Evil 4 Remake is the realistic nature of its characters and how they behave. In particular, Ashley is the most realistic and relatable depiction of how a person would react and behave in the terrifying situation both she and Leon are in. When players are attacked and on their last legs with very little health remaining, Ashley will let out a realistic cry of panic suggesting her genuine fear of Leon's potential death as she realizes it would mean her life is also over once the Las Plagas parasite takes full control.
Aside from Leon S. Kennedy who is a trained, experienced, and specialized agent in Resident Evil 4 contrary to Resident Evil 2, any individual who is incapable of an advanced level of defense would be incredibly frightened of the violent and dangerous controlled monsters roaming around. This is one of the major components in why fans have been drawn closer to Ashley's character as a likable and relatable individual as opposed to the original.
4 Sense Of Humor
In addition to the character's relatable nature, Capcom was sure to add layers of humor to Ashley Graham, sometimes edging a little close to Leon's one-liners and quips. During her playable segment within the castle section of the game, which has been revamped entirely, Ashley is clearly very terrified and afraid of the knights that are chasing her as she attempts to make her way back to Leon but makes light of the situation.
After assuming that she could catch a break after escaping their clutches in the library, she showcases her frustration by saying "Didn't I just say I was done?" after stumbling upon another set of enemies. This is just one example of the many moments where Ashley displays a light-hearted and positive-humored attitude with Leon in some of the game's tense and horrifying scenarios and is a perfect demonstration of the development Capcom has given this character.
3 Trustworthy
In both adhering to Leon's commands in the heat of the moment and holding her own without Leon, Ashley appears to be far more trustworthy this time around. Rather than cower in fear while left alone during her aforementioned playable section, Ashley does her best to fend off enemies, and unlike the original, developers have implemented a lamp that enables players to slow down the knights for a few seconds, helping her to maneuver her way out of impending danger.
These additions have helped contribute to making Ashley much more endearing and less irritating, and while the original's playable Ashley segment certainly contained some level of defense to it, it appears to be more prominent and refined on this occasion.
2 No Longer A Damsel In Distress In Gameplay
In the original game, veterans will be aware that for a large majority of the time every journey with Ashley Graham felt like being forced to control every action and movement of Ashley. When enemies would be in the way or if Leon would aim in her direction, she would stay crouched without any sense of movement until the enemies are taken out, often resulting in a lot of retries for players.
In the Resident Evil 4 Remake, Ashley still maintains a few elements in this region, but depending on the commands given Ashley will quickly move out of the way when enemies hunt her or after Leon tells her that she is in the way. This massively benefits players' control of encounters with Ganados and other enemies, as they no longer have to worry about Ashley blocking the path as much as they did in the original, with the AI being far more responsive and aware.
1 Helpful
During all of Leon's battles in the original, there is no point at which Ashley is capable of helping Leon in any capacity in terms of combat. While fighting off the first set of knights known as Armaduras in the castle, Ashley uses the same flame-like lamp to freeze enemies in their tracks in order for Leon to take them out one by one. This is very drastic from the prior characteristics showcased in Resident Evil 4 (2005) displaying a more confident Ashley who is not shy of helping in any way possible.
Capcom managed to find the perfect balance between a helpful Ashley without this becoming a heavy focus to the point where she becomes a partner-like character, which is present in Resident Evil 5 with Sheva alongside Chris. It ensures that the game sticks to its roots of survival horror where saving a vulnerable woman is the priority, and is not an annoying task to get done.
Resident Evil 4 Remake is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.