Resident Evil 4 VR cuts out the sleaziness around Ashley

Leon sits on a throne in Resi 4.
(Image credit: Capcom)

Resident Evil 4 VR is now in the wild (we'll have a review soon), a port-remake of Capcom's survival horror classic, developed by Facebook's Oculus Studios and Armature Studios. First released in 2005 for the Nintendo Gamecube, Resident Evil 4 basically invented the modern style of third-person action game, and its influence can be seen in everything from Resident Evil Village to God of War.

It was first rumoured a month ago that the port will remove certain aspects of the original that, in 2021, don't hold up so well. Most of this revolves around Ashley, the president's daughter and the person that Leon has to protect for most of the game. Ashley is a young woman and the original game includes several moments where male characters express an attraction towards her or comment on her physique.

For example, upon meeting Ashley the supporting character Luis Sera says in a cutscene "I see the president has equipped his daughter with ballistics", where the context and camera angle makes it clear he's referring to Ashley's breasts. Or when Ashley is at a higher level in the environment, Leon can try to aim up her skirt, which causes Ashley's character model to hide the area and call the player a pervert (there are several responses she has to this: all along similar lines).

These elements have been removed from Resident Evil 4 VR (thanks, IGN). As well as the Ashley elements, Leon's flirting with his US handler Ingrid Hunnigan is toned-down.

At the most obvious level this is about the changing attitudes to misogynistic tropes in games and the general objectification of women over the last decade-plus. It's not exactly core to Resident Evil 4 that the male characters would sometimes be slimeballs to Ashley, so it seems like an easy decision to snip it out. And when it comes to the 'upskirting' the cringe is surely squared by the idea of players being able to do it in VR.

"Oculus Studios, Armature, and Capcom partnered closely to remaster Resident Evil 4 from the ground up for VR," said a Facebook statement. "This includes immersive environments and high-resolution graphics. It also includes select changes to in-game dialogue and animations that we believe will update Resident Evil 4 for a modern audience."

Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

Read more
Resident Evil Re:Verse
Resident Evil Re:Verse is reversing right off Steam, as Capcom claims it has served its 'original, celebratory purpose' despite mostly negative reviews
Naoe looking at the wrist blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows will be censored in Japan to remove dismemberment and decapitations
Lara stands in the cut training area from the Paris level of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
The worst Tomb Raider game is getting cut weapons, areas and voice lines restored as part of its upcoming remaster
Alice from Resident Evil movie holding a big gun and a regular gun
It's been about four years, so yeah, let's go ahead and give Resident Evil yet another movie reboot
A man in Code Violet holding a gun while looking frightened.
Developer behind the Dino Crisis spiritual successor says 'vulgar' mods are the reason we're not getting a PC port
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Latest in Resident Evil
Resident Evil Re:Verse
Resident Evil Re:Verse is reversing right off Steam, as Capcom claims it has served its 'original, celebratory purpose' despite mostly negative reviews
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
Terrifyingly good Humble Bundle deal nets you 11 Resident Evil games for less than the price of Resi 4 remake
Chris Redfield fights a zombie in 1996's Resident Evil.
I spent the last week roaming the Spencer Mansion and I'm here to tell you not to sleep on the new GOG release of 1996's Resident Evil
Resident Evil 7
Capcom announces the next mainline Resident Evil is in development, and the great news is it's being helmed by Resident Evil 7's director
Resident Evil 1 zombie
GOG is bringing the original Resident Evil trilogy back from the dead, and to digital PC storefronts for the first time
Box art for the original Resident Evil, showing a man with a weird face holding a shotgun.
A PEGI rating for the OG 1996 Resident Evil has me once again preparing to enter the world of survival horror
Latest in News
Max, protagonist of Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Double Exposure, stares with trepidation at something off-screen with her friend.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure reportedly a 'large loss' for Square Enix, says analyst, who adds: 'The company's IP fundamentally varies too much between good and bad'
R.E.P.O. screenshots
'REPO is fun': Lethal Company creator recants their criticism of the new co-op horror game after trying to move a grand piano through a mansion
A "sensor-actuator–coupled gustatory interface chemically connecting virtual and real environments for remote tasting," or essentially a virtual reality tongue in an artificial mouth
Would you like to taste fish soup in VR? Me neither, but this electronic tongue does it anyway
Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro gaming mouse on a blue background
The DeathAdder V3 Pro is currently so cheap it's put the usually more affordable HyperSpeed version out of a job
KOTOR remake returns for annual tradition of reminding you it's still alive, but no you can't hear anything more about it until it comes back next year to say it again
Official artwork of Valorant showing the game's characters in a row
Valorant dev accepts there's too much random crap cluttering up the screen: 'The balance team generally agrees with this take'