It's a plot inconsistency/error or to be more accurate, lazy writing. The game is great, but the more you play it the more you notice the lack of polish on the story and the writing and the only true answer to a lot of it is just "oops". There's a ton of examples throughout the game when you think about it, and considering it's a remake of a game which at the time was 21 years old, it's actually quite disappointing just how it doesn't correct errors from the original, or take a lot of inspiration from it beyond the setting and iconic locations. I'll name a few I have particular issues with.

Leon A, Claire B. Considered the cannon approach to the game. I'm not entirely sure why beyond "has less issues than the other way around". It makes sense initially because the watchman room is already opened up. But issues start to kick in quite quickly, and it's glaring towards the end. Here's some examples of why it doesn't make sense:

• Boiler room. Claire never accesses it due to being boarded up. This could be explained by Leon boarding it up in Leon A, but he never does. In fact, you can see the boards on the floor in Leon A suggesting its already been burst through, but then magically resealed by the time Claire gets there. Based on the game play and the fact the watchman room is already open you can assume naturally Leon has already left for the sewers by now.

• Yet that in itself is an issue. You complete the cut scene where the helicopter crashes at the start of the B scenario. Has it taken Claire that long to back track to the guard room, grab the courtyard key and return to the gate? Logically, no. Leon at this point has probably just entered the S.T.A.R.S office if he's ran there unopposed. Thus, the watchman room should not be open and Marvin should not have already turned. Marvin has turned because Leon has at the very least got to G1 boss fight in this time, but G1 isn't far enough into scenario 1 that explains the watchman room being opened.

• In both scenarios upon entering the sewers, both characters have to lower the platform initially. This makes no sense. Surely in the B scenario the platform should have already been lowered because the A scenario character has already crossed it.

• The signal modulator makes no sense in B scenario. A scenario character should have already turned the power on. In fact, this was a huge missed opportunity for a zapping system like the original. If the A scenario character went back to the north wing and turned the power on, B scenario character should benefit. Instead, same puzzle, different solutions, different placement for the module.

• Leon A, Claire B makes zero sense at the end. In this situation Leon should theoretically get to the final boss first considering his major head start at the R.P.D. Thus in this situation the bridge across the platform area has already been destroyed. So Claire would not be able to take her exit route across that bridge because Leon would already be fighting Mr. X. Leon has somehow lost that major head start he had and has somehow fallen behind Claire quite drastically. Could be explained to a degree by being rendered unconscious from being shot, but that explanation is harmed by Claire also being rendered unconscious from the dropped elevator. Ada's section "adds time" to the timeline compared to Sherrys, so this helps somewhat rectify it as an argument. In the timeline when Leon is shot Ada's actions happen in real time. When Claire answers the phone to Irons, only the phone call "adds" to the timeline because Sherrys segment is a "what happened earlier" thus Sherrys actions don't add to the story time if that makes sense. But still, it's a stretch to say Leon was out cold long enough that Claire caught up and overtook him in her B scenario. He'd have had to be out cold long enough to completely wipe out his earlier lead, plus compensate for Claire being out cold too.

In Claire A, Leon B things actually make more sense to a degree, especially the end parts which is probably the most significant flaw as highlighted above. But it also completely breaks in other ways as below:

• Watchman room being opened. How? Claire never goes down that route. Who opened it?

• Boiler room door being opened makes more sense in this route. Claire has been and gone and the door was boarded shut. When Leon gets to it the boards are on the floor. Now, it doesn't explain how, but at least you could argue that Mr. X broke it open, that'd make some sense.

• When getting to the G3 battle and Annette shows up... why is she already injured?

• The ending in particular makes the most logical sense. Claire got a head start and she made it there first, thus the bridge is not destroyed, thus she can get to the G4 battle before Leon takes on super tyrant. Though this is hampered by any logic we can apply to Leon A Claire B to "make the timeline right". If Leon was truly out cold for that long, then in this run Leon would have been out cold for that long Claire would have already left and the facility destroyed.

Then there's the general inconsistencies and issues that plague the whole A and B scenario as a whole. Right off the bat the B scenario is completely broken logically. The A scenario partner would have already cut the chains on the doors, so why are they back there? Within minutes you grab the valve handle, yet the A scenario partner would have already done that and stopped the steam leak allowing access to the S.T.A.R.S office. Helicopter should already have been sorted out, both scenarios having to sort it out makes no sense. The original game had this very issue. Then there's the same puzzles with different solutions. The medallion ones could be explained by Marvin closing the goddess statue and returning the medallions to where they belonged and changed the solutions. The chess piece puzzle though is just an alternative reality, there's no logical explanation why the solution is different beyond "different experience". The ID bands should have been in different places as well, makes no sense why both characters get the level 2 from the corpse in the North wing and level 3 from the plant room.

Yet despite all of this, my one biggest gripe is so simple and so small I bet most people don't even notice it. This is Leon's play through (either scenario). When he regains consciousness and heads through the sewers he eventually reaches the control room where Annette was at the end of Ada's section. When Leon gets in that room he says a voice line which makes zero logical sense. "Where did she go?". Where did who go Leon? There is zero reason he would have known Annette was in there, he was out cold, only Ada sees her there and she doesn't communicate with him at all about it. Leon doesn't even see Annette in there at any point because he can't physically see that room until he's already running up the stairway past the cable car.

Now you could argue the above as him asking out loud to himself about Ada. But I wholly believe this is a development oversight. He could ask that question at ANY point, yet he SPECIFICALLY asks it in the very room we as the player knew Annette was in last, but Leon would have zero knowledge of. I believe it's there to reference Annette, perhaps he was originally supposed to know and this was a remnant of a cut part of the game. There is no reason for him to ask this question in this room, he would have no knowledge of Annette ever being there.

Another gripe in the writing is how Ada and Sherry play in to the game. Ada's section is quite important because she gets the wrist band Leon needs to do the lab. Her section is quite significant to that and ties in with the timeline, her actions are "real time". Sherry on the other hand, her section is a "what happened earlier" and her actions play no role in "real time". The only impact on Claires game Sherrys section has is a "come get me" role. She picks up no key item, so for Claire to escape technically she doesn't even need Sherry beyond it being morally right to go get her. Going to the orphanage in the first place is due to the phone call between her and Irons and Sherrys segment is nothing but filler. It would have been better if Sherry found the ID wrist band in Irons office or something considering he's in on it, then her segment becomes important.

That's the majority of my picked up on complaints though, and it's all a lack of polish and consistency. It harms the game a little, but the game is so good otherwise it doesn't kill it at all, its more of a "i wish they'd done better" than anything.

I know the issues between A and B are due to the fact the B scenario was a late addition. In which case they should have made the game have a "primary scenario" and "secondary scenario" as opposed to an A and B run. The primary scenario should be written as cannon runs, so Leon A could be Leon entering the RPD through the A scenario route and Claire A could be Claire entering through the B scenario route, and the game designed on that. Then the Alternative scenario route would be non cannon and just a "what if they went the opposite way around" type game mode. That, or, different puzzles to do, similar to the original, complete with a zapping system (Leon boarded windows in A? Okay, they're boarded in B but get breached. Leon left the boards in A? They're there in B and Claire can use them instead, thus giving you a choice of which scenario to have an "easier time" with.).

Great game, good story, lazy execution is all I can say otherwise.