She is briefly held captive by the Spanish cult Los Iluminados as a means of gaining influence over the United States President before being rescued by the game's protagonist, Leon S. Kennedy.

Her characterization has received a largely negative reception from video game publications, with many questioning her relevance as a stereotypical damsel in distress or usefulness as a sidekick character.

[5] Ashley is predominantly controlled by artificial intelligence, but can be directed to wait or hide,[6] and there are certain narrative segments of the game that are played from her perspective.

Yasuhiro Ampo, co-director of the remake, explained the change: "As a character, we wanted to have her by your side so she left an impression, and as a game, having her hide while you went and fought in the original was fun in some ways.

[9] Carolyn Lawrence, who provided the voice for Ashley Graham in Resident Evil 4, described her character as "vulnerable, because Leon has to come to her rescue all the time".

After finding her, it becomes clear that she has been implanted with a Plaga parasite as part of the cult's plan to gain control of her before returning her to the United States.

"[28] In Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian also described Ashley as a damsel in distress who appears to be helpless, arguing that defending her caused players a lot of frustration.

"[29] Conversely, Shacknews cited Ashley as one of his favorite video game companions, saying that "When you are saddled with her, she's perfectly content to hide in a dumpster while you clear out enemies.

"[30] Andrei Nae of Immersion, Narrative, and Gender Crisis in Survival Horror Video Games said that Ashley Graham fully embodies the gender role of damsel in distress with her constants pleas to Leon Kennedy to help her,[31] while Bernard Perron of The World of Scary Video Games: A Study in Videoludic Horror felt that some characters, like Ashley, have been eroticized in which she can swap her schoolgirl uniform into a white starlet costume that "highlights her breasts".

Elijah Beahm of DualShockers appreciated her chapter where she was playable, commenting that she now gets a chance to demonstrate her true competence rather than just a latent capacity to crank old machines extremely quickly and pull switches like she did in the initial game.

[34] Jade King of TheGamer noted that the remake avoided sexualizing Ashley, including by eliminating the possibility of players looking up her skirt.

[38] Joseph Yaden of Inverse and Ed Smith of PCGamesN both noted that Ashley had shifted from being a helpless damsel in distress to more of a partner.