>>538222074
Is this "anime" style?
SA2 was also chasing realism, especially as an evolution to SA1. It just had better art direction.

I feel like Maria had the advantage of not being very present in SA2. She only has one powerful scene in the game so her job of endearing herself to an audience was easier since it was concentrated on that scene. In contrast than Elise was expected to go on a game-length journey with Sonic and most of that is her getting kidnapped.