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pink-strawberry-kissess · 7 months

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my separate ways analysis (spoilers for gameplay, story/plot, characters, aeon)

for my re4r post, click here (it was written without the knowledge of SW so my opinions there may not be the same as here.

gameplay

as many of us anticipated, the separate ways campaign ended up having a lot of the "cut content" from the main campaign

similarly to the original SW, the campaign is a lot shorter than the main one however it does have a few added scenes and similar style of gameplay where Ada runs faster or is faster than Leon and you're also able to travel throughout the map faster with the help of her hookshot

because of the changes between the main campaign and SW, the laser scene, which was given to Ada- which always made more sense stylistically and for her story as well

overall her chapters did seem a bit short, but I think it's this is due to the capacity of the game in general because you're going through the same locations as Leon but you're able to go through it faster so it only makes sense that you go through the areas faster

I do think that there should've been additional time spent in each location but I'm not exactly sure how they could've implemented this (but also with the new locations as a lot of ada's missions were easier than leon's)

ADA'S SOUNDTRACK FUCKING SLAPS SO FUCKING HARD

also WHY WERE ADA'S DEATH SCENES SO MUCH MORE INTENSE THAN LEON'S

ada's campaign is objectively way more fun than leon's

story/plot

what one the main changes from the original campaign and the remake one is the addition of Ada's infection

it made sense to me when we were first presented it in the trailer, however I feel like there was a lot of missed opportunities with her infection

because she ends up just throwing up the plaga after she defeats the "mother" one, all tension essentially is gone afterwards. Because this is so early in the campaign it feels like her infection doesn't really matter, and I guess it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, as we know that she's going to get out of it at some point- but because it happened so early it just feels like there's no tension with this further along in the game

one of my main complaints is that in the main campaign, because we are viewing the mission through Leon's eyes, I think we were free to speculate that he is hallucinating at points during the game.

(this was a way to have potentially added the choking scene if he were hallucinating the entire thing and we wouldn't have seen it from his POV but we would have seen it from ada's.)

And because separate ways was always meant to be a mirror, an alternate side of the game- it would only make sense to have additional scenes that we wouldn't have seen in separate ways

I feel as though even though we did get additional scenes that are from Ada's perspective- they weren't really enough to supplement the amount of scenes that actually cut from in the original separate ways

especially because a lot of the main changes such as ada saving Leon from krauser which was changed to luis saving leon, instead

I still hold the opinion that a lot of scenes that were originally ada's in the original game and were given to luis- and I see a lot of arguments that "this isn't the case" but I find it funny that most of the arguments that I hear from people saying that luis didn't take Ada scenes- are funnily enough from luis stan's

(so i find this opinion to be fairly biased. there were absolutely scenes in original re4 and SW that are strictly ada's that were just given to luis instead. you can not argue away from this, this is just objectively true)

Circling back to Ada's infection, because it was gotten rid of so early on in the game. It removes any sort of tension for any sort of follow up with Ashley and Leon's infection.

many people, myself included along with several of the actors for re4r, have pointed out that in the main campaign when Ashley is miraculously able to lift Leon up onto the chair and cure his plagas- that it is not questioned and it is simply accepted as truth-

one of the potential pivotal changes could've actually have been because of ada's new infection in the remake, she would have to get her plagas removed as well at some point. but because her plagas was different and she was able to get rid of hers earlier it removes this potential scenario to happen

many fans were speculating that because of her infection, she would have to meet up with Ashley and Leon afterwards, and help Ashley to actually put Leon onto the chair so that they could both rid their infections at the same time, and this would've also actually potentially added a aeon scene as well (which would've fit into the narrative without feeling forced) which would really help with the story as well and keep in the infection for longer as well as providing more tension for her health as well

Because the SW remake was changed in some aspects but kept the same in other aspects in ways, (as in it didn't really seem like they were pivotal to the story) it felt as though we were missing more scenes that kept us on our toes. A lot of the things that were changed were rectified fairly quickly and because of this, a lot of the scenes that followed the original beat by beat, felt too predictable and felt like the same

I was left wanting more because all of the changes that were made were fixed too quickly or they weren't really that pivotal and everything that could've changed things weren't added

that being said, i do love the contact lense update as the glasses were a bit much for today's standards, and i could suspend my belief enough for a high tech contact lense in 2004 lol

characters

Ada

although I think a lot of the "criticism" for ada's changes in the remake are in bad faith, I feel like a lot of the changes makes sense with the potential route that they want to go with ada

i've always held the opinion that remake ada was meant to show a fatal flaw and then to have her have her redemption arc as soon as possible. ada was never meant to be evil, she was never meant to be a villain, however people were unable to disconnect her with this idea.

because of the remake highlighting so many aspects of her having a heart and "changing," it really goes to show how much effort they've put into characterizing her.

we have to remember that up until 2011 even, all we really had were these hyper sexualized flirty iterations of ada where she is really just as femme fatale with little regard for the people around her, but people who have seen and played re6 and have actually spent more time with her character has seen her grow.

arguably re6, has always been her redemption arc, but because this happens so late in the series, it's hard as an audience (particularly people who don't pay attention) to really see her be this multi-faceted character.

sure, we have original SW where she essentially spends the entire campaign saving leon's ass, but it lacked a lot of her characterization beyond her desire to keep leon safe and a few quips here and there about the villagers and her interactions with wesker and krauser.

and because i don't want to talk about her voice too too much, i do LOVE ada's voice in SW. it's clear that a few of her lines were fixed in a sense, the audio changes are small but there, but a lot of her lines are adorable and really add to her being more than just a femme fatale.

the colder aspect of her makes sense with her narrative opening, that she had made peace with what she was doing. but that she still questions everything

additionally i do think that her infection was a way to make the audience sympathize with her and make her seem weaker and more human as she's particularly overpowered in og SW imo

Leon

we had very few additional scenes with leon and i was hoping for more but wasn't expecting it, it just would've been nice

the two ish scenes we got with his face were nice lol

Wesker

the changes with wesker being near or on the island were fairly interesting, it makes us question why he was there or if he was just so concerned about it ada's "incompetence" on her mission. the banter between her and wesker about leon was interesting and furthers the ideas that they had much more history that we know of.

I saw a lot of criticisms between the scene where ada passes out and wesker saves her and brings her to the bedroom. And the discourse seems to be somehow shaming ada for "flirting" with wesker despite the fact that I never interpreted as genuine flirting.

It's clear at this point in her campaign wesker has commented several times on ada's incompetent and insubordinate nature and that because she is in a position of being "dismissed " or "taken off the case" or just plainly, "gotten rid of," she resorts to "flirting" as a way to keep herself in a position of power. she knows that wesker finds her unuseful at this time, and sees no real issue with doing this as a means to keep herself safe in sense.

she doesn't fear him, but she is wary of him. but she'll still go against his demands several times.

i thought it was interesting that we could've seen potential repercussions for her ada's. wesker being told about the explosions not all going off and the ability to take down her helicopter, but he decides to let her go anyways.

the "think that gun's gonna be enough?" "interesting..." MADE ME PURRRR HELP

Because we finally have more lines with wesker, I feel like I can appropriately gauge my opinion on his voice now. I thought that I was on the opposite side of things where I held an unpopular opinion of liking wesker's new voice... but it appears a lot of people actually enjoys his new voice far more than the original. i have already stated before that i've never been a fan of the comical voices from before, and obviously due to the controversy with wesker's original VA, it makes sense that he was recast. and it would've felt a bit gross for the new VA to emulate the same kind of voice IMO

Krauser

because of the changes in the remake, it made sense that ada and krauser barely interact, (mostly due to the removal of ada saving leon scene and was changed to luis) so it didn't make sense for ada and krauser to talk. i don't think that i hate this change (the removal of them talking) but it does make this relationship odd because it removes a lot of tension between the two and also makes it so that krauser's vendetta against leon a bit odd

it felt more interconnected in the OG, whereas in the remake it really did feel like multiple stories happening at the same time where they don't connect

Luis

since seeing more of SW and more of Luis (unfortunately) I've started to hold the opinion and I believe that I actually had this prior to SW, I feel the luis' redemption arc and backstory is severely lacking any actualization.

And I think this may actually be because of the additional scenes of luis, that it has been detrimental for his overall story

the more I was forced to see more luis the more I felt like his moral standing and his desire to help Leon and Ashley and Ada, it felt like it was lacking any motivation. His desire to "do the good thing," because it "makes him feel better," has never been enough, and WILL never be enough (for me and some audiences who like to gauge WHY characters do things)

we get the verbal confirmation on why luis is doing these things, but it doesn't align with his actual desire to do the good thing in the end. his redemption arc (to me) seems pointless, and i guess that adds to the pointlessness of his character arc and his unfulfilled desired to really right the wrongs he had already done.

his dying act could serve as his last chance to really do the right thing, but it feels undeserved.

(regarding his connection to nemesis and re3r) sure his bloodshed is "secondhand," but it doesn't excuse what he had already done. i just felt as thought even though we got this expansion of his character and it helped the story of re4r and SW-

his characterization was used a plot device RATHER THAN ACTUAL GOOD STORYTELLING. every time we need something- it's luis. every time there's a problem, it's luis. every time there has to be something ELSE happening, it's luis

he was a plot device MORE than an actual character (and i don't think to praise him for his characterization in this way is THAT GREAT OF A THING TO DO)

AND THAT'S FINE. we were never meant to see more of him in the long term. luis was always meant to die and in the remake, he was at least fleshed out more

but i still feel like it was at the detriment to ada's expansion. a lot of her story was "given to luis" and a lot of her scenes were ALSO given to luis, and you CAN NOT OBJECTIVELY deny this as fact. the fact that these scenes were ORIGINALLY ADA'S in the og and then were luis' in the remake, is an UNDENIABLE FACT THAT THEY GAVE THOSE SCENES TO HIM.

we got more luis, we should've NEVER HAD MORE. this is STILL ada's story. and so much additional luis for the sake of plot felt like a disservice to Ada AND Luis.

THAT ALL BEING SAID I STILL LIKE LUIS. I THINK HIS ADDITION WAS GOOD, I JUST WISH THAT ADA HAD MORE. I THINK THEM ARE COOL AS FRIENDS. still see luis as the gay friend sjkbfsjkf

Ashley

i thought it was weird that ashley had weird npc behaviour for the ashley ada interaction

also ashley had weird 90s yaoi hands and i couldn't unsee it

enemies

WHY WERE THE ENEMIES SO MUCH FUCKING SCARIER WITH ADA

aeon

a lot of people were complaining that the aeon moments weren't as pivotal in this campaign, and while I do agree to some extent, I don't think that they were necessarily required for this remake

this may seem contradictory because of what i had said prior (luis taking ada's scenes) but because of the route that they went, i feel as though the scene where (potentially) ada saves leon from krauser couldn't have been written any other way. because of how they wrote luis to be with leon nearly constantly, it would've been difficult to change this scene.

because ada is much more in the shadows in this remake, we still have some scenes, like the boat and reunion scene. but the eagerness of ada saving leon was seen more as an afterthought than a outright desire like in og

i don't think these are wrong decisions per say but they do allow us to see a progression of ada obviously still caring for leon afterwards as the plot gives us these scenes of convenience. (like ada ringing the bell because she was supposed to meet luis there as opposed to her directly going to the bell to ring it. she still does it, noticing that leon is struggling. which i think is enough tbh)

the changes of the original boat scene having additional dialogue helped to change things, particularly in conjunction with ada's monologue that she did change, just maybe not in the overt ways that leon had expected.

i still feel as though although we lacked a few aeon scenes, it made sense with what we had.

allegedly nick apostolides opted out of saying the "she's like a part of me i can't let go," because he felt as though this line belonged to the previous VA, but i can not confirm this as fact.

i never expected nick to say this line as it didn't appear to fit narratively, however the the "true ending" of SW really showed more wesker than more of aeon which was disappointing but not surprising.

the fact that re4r had an ending with ada, and sw had an ending with just wesker felt blegh.

one of the biggest complaints i kept getting was that re4r retconned aeon. which is just kind of a weird thing because why would capcom retcon a relationship in the second date? we have to remember that re4 has always been their second meeting. they still have damnation, re6 and potentially even more aeon that we haven't see like off screen re5.

one of the biggest things that they criticized was that leon and ada, "fell in love immediately," and they wanted to rectify that with a more realistic interpretation of the ship. this makes sense to me, and although it's a lot more angst filled, we still have to remember this is early as fuck in their relationship.

additionally, i still think that when ada gives leon the rocket launcher at the end, he has a sudden realization that ada had been helping him all along, that she was the one that gave him the one in raccoon city. that the keychain for the jetski was always her making sure that he could get out as well. because TO BE FAIR. he HAD LITTLE WAYS OF ESCAPE. he lost track of hunnigan and his potential route off the island. realistically, leon was FUCKED and he had no way off the island. even if ada didn't give him the key, he was STILL KINDA FUCKED because of the bombs because of wesker.

once the things fall into place, he realizes things along the boat ride, and i think that's also for us as an audience to speculate. older audiences knows that leon and ada see each other again. i want them to see each other again to bridge the gaps.

things to note

SW being made by the same team that did re3r is a bit funny since re3r was a pretty big disappointment to a lot of fans

similarly a lot of people were mad at the $10 price tag for SW despite the fact that this is a additional campaign and was longer than re3r and funner.

OG SW was always free, which is why a lot of people were mad, but like- get fucked dude. if you want to be mad at that, you also have to be mad at the microtransactions in the main campaign then.

SW was still well done, i just have a few things that i thought were lacking.

wesker absolutely had ada's DNA (from the bed scene, i think he also injected her with an inhibitor (of sorts like luis had) but also took something from her, and i think it would tie nicely into a re6r if he and simmons had contact prior to re5.

we still never got to see what was in bob bear kennedy (is that the name? lol)

gameplay 9/10

story/plot 7/10

characters 7/10

aeon 7/10

overall 30/40

i might have additional things to say but that's all i got for now lol

thanks for reading my garbage

and again

“take it however you like it.”