#no spices from the west either... what's the point of this update even | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

videogamesincolor · 6 years

Text

Resident Evil 2 (2019) - Not quite the ‘re-imagining’ it purports to be (SPOILERS)

[Written: Feb 4-25, 2019. As always, act brand new on my post, you will catch the fastest block in the west.]

The 2019 iteration of Resident Evil 2 shares a lot of common ground with games like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories versus something like Bluepoint Games’ Shadow of the Colossus or even Sega’s Yakuza Kiwami series.

The first game is a re-imagining – effectively a reboot –, recreated from the ground up with almost little to do with its predecessor. The others are genuine remakes that change very little in the way of the framework or structure of the game and merely recreate or repair its presentation with the graphical fidelity (or control schemes) of the present era.

While both profit and rely on nostalgia, a remake has the specific ‘obligation’ to maintain what came before it. A re-imagining has cart blanche to do what it wants under the pretense that it has no obligation to restore or replicate. In the case of Resident Evil 2, it’s a bit funny in the fact that the existence of its reboot was reliant on the 2002 remake of Resident Evil.

During the re-release of the 2002 Resident Evil remake in 2015, Capcom more or less ransomed the idea of making a “remake” of Resident Evil 2 by placing the burden of that reality on the shoulders of Resident Evil HD. Or rather, the shoulders of their consumer base.

If Resident Evil HD didn’t meet publisher sales expectations, no “remake”. It was an easy sell, of course, because the Gamecube remake was not a game everyone played (on account of Nintendo console exclusivity). To no surprise, Resident Evil HD ended up being their “fastest selling digital title” in 2015. That same year, Capcom officially announced the Resident Evil 2 “remake” was becoming reality, went radio silent, and the aged fandom wept.

Common knowledge, but Capcom originally wanted a remake for RE2O in the vein of the 2002 remake. Mikami, however, was preoccupied with Resident Evil 4. He would never return to look back on the series because Capcom was Capcom, which inspired Mikami to depart from the company.

I think the assumption folk made (at the time), was that because the reboot was necessitated by the financial success of Resident Evil HD, Capcom might go for an experience similar to the 2002 remake, but with the graphical fidelity of present day consoles.

Graphical remasters and remakes are a “hit and miss” production. They happen because publishers (and by extension, developers), know there is profit to made in the machine of nostalgia, not (necessarily) because they’re interested in preserving or restoring old games. You see developers clearly holding back the desire to remix instead of being completely restorative, removing things they either didn’t like or expanding on things that couldn’t be done with previous hardware.

Yet, “if it ain’t broke, just update the visuals, maintain the rest”, is an adage some prefer. More often than not, remakes end up splitting older and younger audiences down the middle regardless of what changes or what remains. And that’s without taking into account bugged and half-hearted releases that never get addressed by devs.

But, Resident Evil 7 (“we swear it’s not a reboot”) happened, and it was fairly clear what direction Capcom was going to go in. While Capcom and fanbase for the game were content with calling Resident Evil 2 a “remake”, Capcom later insisted, “This is not a remake. It’s a retelling, a new game built from the ground up.” So, on the surface, RE2R definitely has more common with Shattered Memories than it does 2002’s Resident Evil. But, where Shattered Memories wasn’t interested in treading so familiar waters, the same cannot be said of this reboot.

The 2019 iteration of Resident Evil 2 is a monkey’s paw wish of a game, just based on the observation of how the established fanbase is reacting and my own personal feelings (as someone with no nostalgia for it). For some, they got exactly the experience they wanted (more RE7). For others, modifying the game (on PC, naturally) to recreate an experience closer to the 1998 release is a must. And then there are some who are simply disinterested in the game, content with the original, or dissatisfied with the creative or business choices made by Capcom (and given Capcom’s track record, I can’t blame them).

Within the game itself, there is a lot about the reboot that feels unfocused, hindered by budget, last minute decisions, a blandly retold narrative, and trying to cling to abstract bones in an effort to maintain the audience it courted, when abandoning those bones might’ve been a better idea.

I. Presentation – The "Realistic” “Re-Imagining”

If Marvin’s final moments with Leon or Claire weren’t enough to convince you the of the severity of the situation, maybe a emotionally manipulative scene with Dad and Zombie child will.

The Resident Evil series is not one known for its screenwriting. If anyone’s being real honest themselves, the shit’s bad 90% of the time, reached peak stupidity in RE6 and just kinda self-destructed from there. YMMV, but Resident Evil is the “so-bad-bad-its-good” game you could enjoy up to a point. The 2002 Resident Evil remake took a particularly poor script localization and improved upon its delivery, right down to the voice direction (which could still be a bit stilted). Yet, you never got the feeling RE1R was striving to be anything other than what it was: A cinematic-based video game that reveled in the aesthetic of Gothic environment design, mood, and b-movie monsters with a world domination plot thrown for extra spice. It had a decent sense of humor, and often poked fun at itself.

RE2O built its foundation on the basic principles of the original (isolation, aesthetic, framing, mood), but focused a little more on its humor, body horror and action-movie flair. The plot of RE2O was as bare-bones as it got with the presentation of its narrative. A new cop and an AWOL cop’s bike enthusiast sister wind up trapped in a police station, accidentally stumble across a corporate conspiracy and must escape a giant underground complex before it blows up. Simple stuff. And the dialog – with a fairly improved localization and English performances – got you from point A to point B.

For everything I didn’t like about RE7 (from its aesthetic, plot, combat, creature design, and its bologna white characters), it was, to some degree, an attempt to recapture the camp and b-movie horror that RE4 so firmly embraced without damaging its atmosphere. RE7 was self-aware enough to embrace the inanity that was its premise in a way the series had only recently attempted again in Resident Evil Revelations 2, which also had its tongue firmly placed in its cheek. Resident Evil is a game comfortable with its silliness, but can still deliver a tense mood and atmosphere.

It’s disappointing that RE2R adopts the tone of, “Please, take me seriously”, with all the self-awareness that RE6 had when it tried to be an action/thriller.

RE2R’s primary issue is tone and presentation. From the jump you can tell the scenario writers of RE2R want the game to be this gritty drama with “complex characters”, grounded in reality, right down to the HBO-levels of profanity and the redundant use of “bitch” littered throughout the script. In an attempt to remold a cast of characters designed for the absurd into “realistic” persons, what you get characters largely disinterested in their circumstances. Claire and Leon seem only mildly inconvenienced by the end of the world. They casually shout over explosions (that might as well not have happened), and often can’t be arsed to sound anything other than annoyed by most events that unfold around them as repetitive canned reactions regurgitate through the speakers.

The script doesn’t trust scenes like Leon’s one-to-one moments with Marvin to sell the dire circumstance. So, casually chauvinistic characters like the Gunshop owner (who got comically bodied by zombies) becomes a saccharine drama piece that stalls the progression of the plot in what might be one of most disingenuous moments I’ve seen in a game. When monsters like William Birkin, Mr. X, the Licker, and the plant monsters eventually begin to appear, they stand out and heighten the already problematic uncanny valley present in the game, and seem better suited for the elder games of the series.

You never really get moments like Chief Irons sorrowfully lamenting, “And to think taxidermy used to be my hobby”, Ada shrugging dismissively at Leon’s pride as a police officer, Annette getting conked upside the head by falling debris, or Claire tricking Mr. X into jumping over the ledge to go after the G-Virus hidden in Sherry’s locket and straight up calling him a sucker. The drab, washed out presentation of the plot, played so deadly serious, honestly made for a joyless experience.

RE2R asks and answers the questions like, “What if Leon was wearing civvies on the way to work?” or “What if Ada Wong pretended to be an FBI agent?” A lot of it comes off like a fan novelization that proudly boasts “My version of how Resident Evil 2 would go”. The first time you read it, maybe it’s an interesting take to indulge, but the more you revisit it, the more unessential or cosmetic the changes end up feeling. (The only real cosmetic change that doesn’t seem weird to me is the idea that the police hijacked a museum and made it their dumping grounds.)

A lot of changes to the plot seem to function largely on the assumption that things like Ada posing as a civilian, Sherry being sent to the police station by her parents (as opposed to leaving her in a unprotected living residence with no immediate help), the RPD knowing about the Mansion Incident and brushing off the survivors (Chris, Jill, Barry, etc.), or Ben the reporter locking himself a jail cell to avoid other monsters, are things that strain suspension of belief or just wouldn’t happen in “real life”. So things of that nature either get removed or reworked altogether, often times for jump scares telegraphed a mile away, or left hanging for prequel baiting (because Capcom knows folk are going to be clamoring for another remake of RE1 and RE3).

The plot and its progression feels condensed down to something that’s like the bullet points version of RE2O. It over-simplifies what was already a simpleton of a narrative, largely to compress a lot of events into two campaigns that now never work in harmony. To add insult to that injury, Claire and Leon never communicate, let alone work together. They pretty much forget the other exists, thus making that friendship pretty non-existent.

Say hello to your friends. Say hello people who care. Nothing’s better than friends.

With regard to the two campaigns, for all the focus Capcom places on Leon – the mascot of the reboot itself –, Claire’s campaign is probably a better presentation of a rebooted RE2O, even with its drawbacks to Claire as a character overall (more on that later). The highlight of Claire’s campaign is the fact that her friendship with Sherry Birkin remains intact. I actually think it gets a better representation here than in the original, or what was only marginally improved in side-games like Darkside Chronicles. The downside is that the two interact even less than they did in RE2O, the plot separating them immediately after forming a partnership.

There are some genuine moments of scripted walk-n-talk between Claire and Sherry as they explore the early parts of the game, which in turn makes Claire a far more engaging character than she is with Leon (who is devoid of any real charm or personality in this reboot). The downside, however, is that Sherry is reduced to a prop, where she was a far more proactive party in the original game. That and by the end of Claire’s campaign, there is a lot of “shitty mom” apologia from Claire, whose basic human decency makes her better guardian than Annette Birkin.

Annette Birkin is questionably re-framed as a sympathetic and even tragic hero character who “never meant for this to happen”, never-mind she and her husband (who is also framed as a victim) were involved in the testing, abuse and deaths of orphaned children in the name of science. Then there’s the whole virus that turns people into zombies. But, yeah, what a tragic figure.

My primary issue with the narrative of Leon’s campaign is that they decide to tie him more into the Umbrella plot (aka, Ada and Claire’s shtick) instead of having him focus on finding a way out and helping other people. The reboot actually had the opportunity to employ the “help the other survivors” bit I always felt was dropped in the original (but revisited in Outbreak), and put Leon’s altruistic character into more action. But, then the reboot removes this motivation altogether by making Marvin and RPD’s rescue efforts a complete and utter failure (thanks, Capcom).

His plot lacks any real momentum, largely because the game nixes his original cast dynamic. Despite nothing crucial happening in his campaign until the end of it, his bears the greatest consequence on the reboot’s compressed narrative. The outright removal of his friendship with Claire, and even the briefest interaction he has with Sherry, makes Leon pretty bland as hell.

The only time he comes off as remotely personable is when he interacted with Marvin. Otherwise, it’s one eye open, one eye closed with this iteration of the character. The fact that he’s less of a take charge personality, and more of pushover (to sad degrees) also makes for less entertaining interaction all around.

You can tell someone with no ability to write or direct romantic subplots handled this. Whoof.

And while I’m not against reworking the Ada/Leon dynamic where the start of an attraction is a little less like a brick to the head (”Ada wouldn’t do that. I KNOW her!”)? A): this is Capcom, so that didn’t happen, B): It’s still pretty much like a brick to the head, only this time it’s last minute, with less foundation, and outright unimaginative. Nothing about the execution of the “romance” in this game works at all. Where Ada and Leon at the very least had a functional rapport and partnership in RE2O, in the reboot the majority of their time is spent in passive aggressive disharmony. The outright antagonism between the two characters in the reboot is not only boring, but not remotely conducive for what follows near the climax.

As something that takes up the majority of his narrative, for worse instead of better, a lot the dialog – a direct consequence of what they choose to do with Ada – is comprised of uninspired “enemies-to-lovers” shtick, right down to drab flirt dialog and throwing one’s words back at the other (“I didn’t realize you were keeping score” / “I didn’t realize we were keeping score”).

The worst thing about his campaign is Ada’s depiction. The reboot effectively turns her into a character who does more damage to her own agenda than Leon being remotely present. I get the writers think having Ada posing as a federal agent is “smart” or “realistic”, but the character instead comes off as more suspicious than a civvie with a gun. She’s a pretty terrible spy in this reboot. Reboot Ada is an antagonistic character with zero charisma or personality, there’s no fun in finding out her ulterior motives. On top of that, the FBI shtick is probably the dullest iteration of the character since her “fringe observer” status in her RE6 campaign.

But, where you had complete control of her and she was motivated by her own subplot (that did intersect with Leon, sometimes), realized in gameplay and plot, RE2R reduces Ada to a purely cinematic and expositional tag-along character with no agency in the narrative. A lot of what was done to and happens to Ada’s character is purely in service of Leon’s plot and actions. They really fire-bombed the character, but if you’re a hardcore Ada/Leon shipper, then her function will have served its purpose, both for you and Leon’s arc.

Marvin Branagh is humanized on such a level he is no longer the same character from the original game, but his role is effectively the same one. Like Ada, Marvin was re-contextualized largely as a sacrifice to Leon’s character arc (this is not a vibe you get with Claire’s campaign ever). Chief Irons, who feels like he appears out of nowhere, with no buildup, has been reduced to this kind’ve ineffectual kidnapper who disappears just as quickly.

Resident Evil is at its best when it knows it’s an interactive horror b-movie – with action elements – and has a director who knows how to balance all those elements. Beyond the singular moment wherein Claire Redfield declares “I’m gonna kill the monster” while wielding a six shooter and Annette Birkin is actively cheering for the death of her Frankenstein husband, RE2R never tries to be that kind’ve game. It actively runs away from schlock, and so it is the less remarkable product.

Things gleamed from Resident Evil 2′s abandoned direction offer a far more interesting “re-imagining” than 2019 end result. To a degree.

Part of the problem with Capcom’s attempt to “re-imagine” RE2O is that it wants to cling so badly to the framework and story beats of the original game instead of creating an identity of its own. It wants the ability to say, “we’re a totally different story!”, but at the same time does very little to become a different story, and exiles itself to this island of nowhere because it actively alienates the connections to the games that come before and after it.

This is where I think, while a lot of people disliked Shattered Memories, it’s a better re-imagining of the original Silent Hill, because its bold enough to actually commit to that definition. Capcom’s execution here is pretty half-hearted, deliberately so.

I’ve only just chosen to acknowledge the prototype of Resident Evil 2, but despite knowing the devs were not happy with the end result (and just scrapped it), it does a lot of things that this reboot honestly should’ve at least attempted.

Not only does it handle the character plots in a way where scenario nonsense would not be a problem, you basically had (what are now) established (or nixed) characters in different roles, reasonably isolated from the RE1 plot, working in tandem with your player characters (Eliza and Leon) and their cast of characters, who were never designed to meet until the apparent end of the game. Also, Marvin had a larger role and a functional relationship with Leon (I hate Capcom).

As a “retelling” of RE2O, RE2R is pretty weak. There are so many ways Capcom could’ve “re-imagine” RE2O if they were being genuine about that, but the final product more or less proves they weren’t. It’s over-reliance on referencing or leaning on things from RE2O hinders more than helps the game. It invites comparison to what is a better product despite its age.

The reboot wants to be taken seriously, and does everything it can to project that image to the detriment of its presentation. RE2O more or less reveled in its silliness, and shlocky horror movie tropes and knew you would enjoy the ride anyway.

Separate Ways, Broken Scenarios

Claire and Leon working together, solving the problems...

RE2O’s scenario system was a fairly interesting way of presenting the story of two characters, and I always wondered why this was never more of a thing in games. Claire and Leon’s plot were separated on two discs (PS1). Leon was first, Claire, second. Completing one character’s “A Scenario” unlocked the other character’s “B Scenario”. Certain gameplay actions created minor consequences to affect the respective character’s scenarios (if you took a certain weapon or item over another, it wouldn’t appear in the other character’s alternate scenario).

The scenario system and the corresponding plots of the player characters were clearly developed in tandem with each other. Whatever goofs arose from therein, the narrative position of the characters remained firmly in place (largely because they were told through cinematics).

Claire’s B scenario always felt the most changed because the cinematics had to accommodate for a change to get Claire in places I was otherwise unaccustomed to seeing her. Legit, some of the cinematic differences were wild.

Back in June 2018, Capcom made it clear that RE2R was not intended to have a scenario campaign at all. The decision was (apparently) made back in 2017, when it was clear doing an A/B scenario was going to be costly on a AAA budget. It was only going to be a single campaign for Leon and Claire. So, Claire and Leon’s campaigns in RE2R are, structurally and plot-wise, “Scenario A and B did a fusion dance”.

In execution, their campaigns are like choose your own adventures. It asks the question “what if you went with Claire?” and its answer is “Leon de-spawns and doesn’t appear again until the end of the game”. It’s definitely not “Two strangers walkie-talkie a plan to escape a zombie infested city”.

Inside or outside, the B Scenario for the player characters barely differentiates itself from Scenario A

In this case, they should’ve stuck to their guns, just released one campaign per character (it’s not exactly like the absence of the B scenarios would actually impact their sales. Not with the fans whipped into a frenzy) and focused on getting their plot to work a little better.

“Claire B” and “Leon B” come off like a slapdash cut-and-paste job that made me question whether or not I had hit something on the controller that was causing the sequences to skip right through whole gameplay segments. Yet, now armed with the knowledge of a year before, it would explain why nothing in this game’s presentation ever feels like it gels, or was hastily put together.

Another issue the RE2R’s alternate scenarios make is not maintaining the characters static narrative placement as RE2O did. I think this is where you really start to see how little interest Capcom had in Claire as a character versus Leon.

RE2R’s “Claire A” Scenario opens with a brief clip of Claire on her bike, talking to someone on the phone about Chris, then hearing something in the gas station store. The game then proceeds to put her in the exact same circumstances as Leon, which is baffling. They really have her doing the Leon shtick and repeats what she did in “Leon A”, but inside the gas station. Whack.

If you play “Leon A” first, she appears out of nowhere like she’s been attacked outside the gas station somewhere nearby. Her motorcycle isn’t even anywhere in view, so, the natural assumption you make is that maybe they’ll show that later when you play “Claire B”. Maybe there’s another area you can explore.

Nah. In “Claire B” the exact same cinematic plays again, trailer music starts, cut to black, and, it jumps to her intro scene in “Leon A”. At no point are you given a unique gameplay level or cinematic for Claire to bridge the gap between Leon heading for the store exit and Claire being chased by zombies that suddenly surrounded the gas station. She lit. just spawned into the area! Whack.

Now for some awkward car dialog

The original game was smart enough to give you a cinematic where she scoped out an empty diner and happened across some zombies while Leon’s boots were being accosted outside by zombies near his jeep. It really sold the idea of events happening concurrently to two different people within the same area.

Claire in “Claire B” doesn’t even get a section where she runs through the city after escaping the T-bone incident. The game just drops you in the graveyard, and then drops you at the rear police station gate where Leon spots her outside. You do a lot of backtracking in RPD with zero character interaction, and then, about an hour into the game, you end up on the exact same track as you did in “Claire A” (meeting Sherry, saving Sherry, Birkin #3-5 fight, escape) with no scene restructuring or whatnot, just the standard “Extended Ending” shtick.

“Leon B” in RE2R shares the exact same problems as “Claire B”. It feels like an abridged version of “Leon A”. Beyond Leon standing outside the gas station store and instant transmission’ing to the back of the police station there are zero story differences. But, with Leon you always have the reassurance that you can just play “Leon A” if you want a more complete experience.

Driving motorcycles in the rain is, factually, an accident waiting to happen

Claire regardless of the scenario you choose for her, A or B, will never get a unique starting gameplay moment of her own. While I think they did a far better job of reworking “Claire A” better than either of Leon’s scenarios, that’s disappointing. Claire really feels like something of a afterthought.

Other detractors from the scenario nightmare include Mr. X following you around in the A Scenario and the B Scenario, instead of the B scenario only. Mr. X went from a fairly unsettling stalker of a boss enemy, who worked on slasher movie principals (the monster appears out of nowhere when you least expect him), then quickly transformed in a wearying exercise of dodging an enemy type that overstays its welcome. Both scenarios feature the helicopter crash and skylight Licker ambush, etc., etc..

If they couldn’t build upon or better realize what the 1998 game did, then the B Scenario was best left to the wayside. Naturally, Capcom didn’t follow their own advice and the want to cater to nostalgia bit them in the ass.

Water is wet.

II. Gameplay – Night of the Living Bullet Sponges

Lickers (who are still terrifying) are practically one-hit-kill monsters now. Yippie.

There is a lot about the cinematic presentation of the elder Resident Evil games that defines much of its identity. An identity strong enough that most games that came out during the high point of its career were content to copy or refine its formula (Temco’s Fatal Frame, Konami’s Silent Hill 3, and Capcom’s Onimusha and Haunting Ground for example). There is a lot that loses the more it – a two decade old franchise – attempts to keep up with an ever-changing landscape of what’s considered modern-gaming-at-the-moment, instead of going to sleep like Onimusha, or even being forcefully put out to pasture like Silent Hill and Dead Space.

RE2R is a standard third person shooter that de-emphasizes cinematic presentation within its plot and its game space. There are no establishing cinematics, and the Kamiya action-movie-esque flair that made the last stretch of the climax what it is, is thoroughly absent. RE2R instead opts to – present the plot of the game completely within the game space itself with minimal cinematics. Sometimes it works, other times, it doesn’t.

Lickers drop unceremoniously on your head in your first encounter, Mr. X just appears out of nowhere then hounds you like Jehovah’s Witnesses, the sound of a helicopter crash goes whizzing by in time for you to walk past the model that’s already in the wall, Marvin becomes a zombie with no real sense of mourning or terror about his passing, Ada Wong gets the worst on-screen send off, etc. Cinematic moments that were meant to emphasize and foreshadow the decaying situation of the police station and the stakes of the characters are just kinda nullified.

Sherry Birkin’s gameplay segment is one of my favorite parts of the reboot.

I think one of the reasons Claire’s campaign leaves a better impression on me than that of Leon’s is what they decided to with Sherry Birkin’s part in her plot. Leon’s scenario has Ada trudging through a boring sewer corridor hunting for fuse boxes and then the game knocks her out so Leon can come to her rescue. With Sherry, you get something a little more creative, something that doesn’t treat her like a momentary distraction from the player character like it does with Ada. The entire orphanage level, from its presentation, to its level design, is probably what I would’ve liked to haven seen more of in the game.

The game puts you in the shoes of Sherry, but instead of traveling through sewers on your own, you’re exploring and searching an empty building that invokes a mood similar to – but not like – 2002’s Resident Evil. Obviously, this choice was made to keep Leon and Claire’s paths from intersecting (fuck that, I guess), and in a lot of ways, the game abandons the mechanics of Resident Evil and becomes a modern Clocktower game.

Chief Irons becomes the scissorman to Sherry’s Jennifer Simpson, and you, the player, have to navigate a fairly limited space to get away from him. They basically expand upon the Natalia stealth segments from Resident Evil Revelations 2 and create a fantastic gameplay segment full of distressing near misses and a legitimate win for Sherry. (I only wish they had allowed her to lock Irons in the bathroom. He would’ve Nicholson’ed his way out anyway.) Unfortunately, it ends with a Deus Ex Birkin appearance and leaves the player asking more questions that it’s not interested in answering on any level. Also Mr. X just spontaneously appears as well, which only compounds the Deus Ex Birkin thing.

Where you could soccer kick a head from a zombie in the original, Claire and Leon can barely expend energy to shake ‘em off their shins. Fantastic.

Combat wise, in a lot of ways, RE2R feels like a chore. A regression of the advancements that RE4 and RE1R was able to strike a balance with, but later iterations leaned too heavily on or used too little. Hell, I even think it’s a regression of how Dead Space approached combat. RE1R encouraged the player of doing away with zombies much in the same fashion as its counterpart and RE2O, with tactile and visible indicators that the zombies were dead (pools of blood under the body, dismemberment, headshots), but, it also threw in the risk of dealing with a new threat (Crimson Heads) if you chose not to oil and burn the bodies you left behind as you cleared the area. The gameplay was solid about letting the player know their resources had been put to good use.

RE4 encouraged smarter gunplay, aided by laser sight, and critical damage hits to other areas of the Ganados. The risk of taking headshots were being attacked by the parasites that could take large chunks of your health out in tandem with the mobs that – one way or another – would catch up to you. Dead Space took the critical hit system of RE4 and transformed it into a mechanic that made the complete dismemberment of the Necromorph critical to survival. Effectively, both you and the enemies were fairly balanced against each the other. You were never so strong that you could blast through your opponents and your opponents were never so OP that you lost unnecessary resources trying to kill them.

The same really cannot be said of RE2R. Nothing about the combat or enemy encounters feels particularly balanced for much of anything save busywork and resource death. There is no real balance between yours and the strength your opponent. I’ve heard RE4’s adaptive difficulty is still in play here, but if it is, its implementation here is not great. I certainly never reached that flow-state where I felt I was in harmony with the game.

Yeah, I didn’t miss this bit at all.

Headshots are nullified in a way they’ve never been in the series, and right off you can tell what the devs consider a “challenge” in terms of gameplay. Zombies eat bullets as badly as any mid-tier B.O.W., regardless of what difficulty setting you choose. In standard I saw six-to-nine bullets go into the head of a zombie and there was no guarantee they were dead until you saw their head explode or maybe saw them twitch. In hardcore (my sister’s preferred mode), zombies will eat eight-to-twelve-or-more bullets to the head and the consequence is the same.

It’s imperative to try and incapacitate the undead, because minimizing your enemy count in RE2R is an exercise of frustration and often, a waste of bullets. Zombies move far faster than they did the original iteration of this game, practically zapping over to you no matter how much space is between you and them. They do just about the same, if not more, damage to you. The common defense against this is grenades, flashbangs and knives. If you haven’t used them for other things (like Ninja vanishing or crowd control), it’s the quickest way to get out of their hold. It’s simply not as reliable or was enjoyable a method to fight the zombies off in the vein RE4 provided (German Suplexes, kicks, elbows to the face, a knife that isn’t dollar store plastic, dodging, etc.).

If you can avoid them, by all means, avoid them. The consequence, however, is if you have to backtrack, well, you might be running into a bigger crowd, one that may include the problem monster of the given area (Lickers, Mr. X, Dogs, Plant Monsters, etc.) and potentially less resources. It’s a particular problem in the police station with Mr. X following you everywhere and not being remotely helpful enough to do some of the killing for you. He just gently pushes them out of the way.

A lot of the time, my sister was preoccupied with head-shots (against all odds) while I spent my time (trying to) cap their knees, and remove their limbs (so they couldn’t grab us after I capped their knees) so we could sprint our way through environments when the opportunity presented itself (largely to save ammo for another problem area). She’s the better shot, I’m only great with projectile weapons (so Claire’s campaign is even better to me in that regard), which I largely prefer on principal of strength. For me, there is no real satisfaction in the game’s combat, not even in a fight-or-flight sense (prime example: the village and castle encounters in RE4), or on a level capable of inducing the worst panic attack in me like Dead Space 2′s opening hospital sequence.

I was frustrated with near misses. My sister was a little more forgiving about the changes despite never being to make the clean headshots she wanted. We only really agreed on mutual dislike of the boss battles, but’s more or less how we feel about all of RE’s bosses. There is not a single one we’ve enjoyed fighting, and the worst ones were all in RE6 (which literally had us not talking to each other for days afterward) and Revelations 2.

Local zombie mocks police station’s lack of shutters

RE2R is pretty generous with its ammo cashes, with most of what you need readily available. The map, for the most part, makes locating items easier, but spotting them poorly lit environments, and around mini horde-like numbers that seemingly materialize out of nowhere is a bit of chore. Rarer types of ammo, like shotgun or automatic weapon ammo are often hidden in safes or lockers with combination locks.

Resource management returns in the reboot, copy-pasted from RE7, right down to the stark menu and a minimalist design that makes item management, I guess, less busy (color wise). It works, so it doesn’t bother me in context. The maps are definitely easier to read and a little more explicit about what items are where, but have otherwise maintained the “cleared” / “in progress” blue and red dynamic.

Depending on the difficulty level you’re playing on --- easy (assisted), normal (standard), or hard (hardcore) ---, your resources will be readily available to you, somewhere in the middle, or few and far between (in practice). Hard mode will have you rely on ink ribbons to save your game (like a standard PS1-PS2 game), and I think there are no checkpoints. Save points are scattered in new locations and are a brief safe haven.

Puzzles in Resident Evil have always been a series of frustrating events, particularly slide-and-complete-the-picture and “find the missing themed piece” puzzles. But, this game actually made me appreciate them, largely because the gun-play is no longer a satisfying aspect (and probably will never be again).

Mechanically speaking, a lot of the puzzles or item hunts from RE2O are sort’ve retained, but they’ve been mixed up or their importance to getting to one place or another has been (extremely) reduced or made even more convoluted. The reboot is definitely not that interested in puzzles, so it feels and is designed less like a dungeon crawler.

Item hunting in order to solve puzzles requires you backtrack quite a number of times through the environment-of-the-moment. However, backtracking is perhaps more nightmare-ish and gauntlet-like than previous entries because it seems like the game spawns more zombies into the area. And with Mr. X basically breaking the exploratory pace of the game, the want to explore your environment is actively discouraged.

[Sighs Loudly For a Thousand Years]

Despite the game’s over-reliance on Mr. X, breaking from the series formula of not over-exposing its mini-bosses (the Regeneradors, Verdugo, or even that huge Centipede in a Trenchcoat for example, were not following you everywhere), Mr. X was, for a short time, the only ‘combat’ element in this game that invoked the right kind of déjà vu.

It was actually satisfying knocking him down, and ducking his punches at the last minute. I mean, at least it was in levels having nothing to do that Ada Wong segment. (Then. he. kept. coming. back.)

Ending him isn’t quite as satisfying as it is in the original game. Not because he effectively became an SNK boss, but because the component that makes that fun (The Resurrection of Ada Wong and the emancipation of the Rocket Launcher) was removed entirely from the game for a sequence far, far blander in comparison.

III. Non-Union for Billion Dollar Corporations

Around 2015 or so, there were rumblings (outright vocalizations) from unionized voice actors that shed some light on some particularly horrible business practices that developers and publishers were carrying out on voice actors. They were either not being paid their due, or not allowed proper rest-time during the jobs they worked on. Big studios like Insomniac Games, EA Games, Activison, and the like were mistreating voice actors, often to the point where some confessed to experiencing vocal damage, stress or injuries sustained from shitty work conditions and people who clearly viewed their occupation as a lesser division of their project’s production.

At the same time, well before the strike became officiated, Capcom made the conscious decision not to hire unionized voice actors for the production of the Resident Evil 2 reboot. No one knew about this until 2017, when the game was well on its way to being released the following year (before a delay pushed it to 2019) and the Strike was ongoing. Alyson Court (on-again-off-again VA of Claire Redfield), Matthew Mercer (the most recent VA for Leon), and Courtenay Taylor (the most recent VA for Ada Wong) all announced that they weren’t reprising their roles in the game because the reboot was not a union project, but it was not a result of the strike.

Some vocalized their displeasure with this, even going as far as to say that they wouldn’t buy the game in a show of support of the actors. Others aren’t sparing it a glance because they’re otherwise disappointed with the creative direction anyway. But if the reception of the game from basic users – aware of the circumstances or not – is anything to go by, solidarity will typically lose out to FOMA (Fear of Missing Out). Especially if you’re not getting anything out of it personally or emotionally as a consumer of media.

I’m not particularly interested in demeaning non-union voice actors, (I’ve watched and paid for many a-thing that used non-union labor). Capcom, despite working on union projects, also continues to dabble in non-union label as well. I know Capcom’s likely wasn’t interested nor aiming to help voice actors not represented by SAG-AFTRA (or other organizations) become better known or gain better opportunities.

The less money they can probably shell out with non-union work, the better it is for them in the long run. Knowing the striking voice actors didn’t remotely get what they wanted out of negations (and probably didn’t get the support they wanted on account of whataboutism) will probably only embolden Capcom and other publishers and developers to make/continue behavior like this, whether or not another strike ever occur.

Resident Evil has never been particularly known for its voice acting beyond the scope of how terribly it started out in 1996 and kinda petered out on the platform of “meh, it’s not completely terrible” with later entries.

The series could hire some fantastic voice actors (Rino Ramano, Karen Dyer, Sally Cahill, and Paul Mercier, for example), and a lot of them can deliver some dud performances regardless of experience. At the end of the day, unless they have an equally strong director and screenwriter, you’re going to end up with an embarrassment of riches that may become memes one day (“Complete. Global. Saturation.”).

That said, RE2R’s issue seems to lie primarily within the writing. In an attempt “humanize” characters, major to minor, the script is often littered with profanity that not only distracts from the point of what you’re reading or listening to, but adds unnecessary fat to a script that’s already bogged down with dialog and text.

The downside to a rebooting a 20 year old game, is when corporations indulge in fandom bullshit. RE2R is pretty rife with cutesy dialog meant to whip the “Cleon” shippers into a frenzy. Its nauseating, really.

Claire and Leon’s conversation at the back of the police station is a prime example of that: Instead of having the dialog delivering urgency of the scene, the objective of the characters we get an aimless exchange full of flirty dialog, and two characters not all that concerned with zombies materializing behind them (given they take forever to put the fire under their boots). In RE2O, at least the writers were smart enough to have the characters meet in a zombie-free room or hall.

I’ve seen people make the Realism™ argument constantly with this game (esp. when counterpointing the gameplay criticisms), but, "realism” is a weak argument and esp. when you’re simply looking to be dismissive. When dialog begins to wander from its point, when profanity hinders more than helps your delivery, your story not only loses impact, it rather shows you’re a mite lazy or weak as a writer.

Comparatively, RE2O was able to communicate the urgency, anger and tone of their characters, and under no circumstances were they this reliant on profanity or long-winded dialog. The issue isn’t that profanity is present, or that the game is text or dialog heavy, it’s how its executed. And at present, the execution is lacking in a strong focus or reduces the game to script written by someone who just realized, “wait, I can make characters swear????”

I can honestly see why a lot of protagonists in survival-horror games were silent for so long outside of cinematics, or simply had substituted thoughts (”I better find Ashley quick”). Running commentary really does break the immersion.

Claire and Leon go from mildly relatable to mechanical models spewing canned reactions that lost their bite forty minutes ago. It’s like being stuck with multiple versions of the Generic Husband from RE7 who “what the fucks?” at every single thing when given the opportunity. So, in a lot of ways, it has a lot of the same problems that made the dialog in Resident Evil Revelations 2 anguish to listen to (hello, Moria Burton), but it lacks such charming (/s) quips like, “Holy balls, my life is awesome!”

That said, not all of the performances are terrible. The voice actors for Claire (Stephanie Panisello), Marvin (Christopher Mychael Watson) and Sherry (Eliza Pryor) probably leave the greatest impression, and are arguably the strongest performers in the game. Christopher Mychael Watson in particular gives a wildly different performance depending on who you’re playing as (Leon or Claire) and has the strongest rapport with Stephanie Panisello.

Nick Apostolides, on the other hand, he just turns in a really unremarkable performance as Leon. Like, in comparison to Mercer, Mercier, he simply does not charisma to inject personality into what is an otherwise really boring version of Leon. He definitely doesn’t have the hammy, but dead-serious delivery of Paul ”why does no one listen to me?” Haddad (Leon’s original VA).

I think one of the more disappointing sequences in the game is when Leon returns to the main lobby in the station and gets jumped by zombie Marvin. Instead of sounding devastated, Leon just sounds mildly disappointed his C.O is a zombie (Panisello gives you a better impression of Claire’s heartbreak). And because this scene isn’t a cinematic, you as a player are just running around in circles hoping you have enough ammo to kill the bullet sponge zombie Marvin. When Marvin is finally a gory mess on the ground, Leon saying, “Don’t worry, Lieutenant. I’ll stop this” (paraphrasing) to the pieces of Marvin’s body, comes off as unintentionally hilarious, right down to the delivery of Apostolides.

My feelings are about the same on Jolene Andersen (but we all can’t be Sally Cahill, can we?), but also makes me wonder why Capcom didn’t go the distance to hire a Chinese-American voice actress for Ada. They clearly had the opportunity to do so, they found a Black actor for Marvin, but they just didn’t bother with Ada.

The worst performances out of the bunch is probably Daddy Gunshop owner, “Hello Human” reporter guy, Annette “You’ll Never Get the G-Virus” Birkin, and Chief Irons.

IV. Capcom’s Adventures in Sexism Rebooted

One of these characters had some thought put into their design. It’s not the character on the left.

The Resident Evil series is no stranger the sexualization or objectification of female characters. Historically, for every step forward Resident Evil takes with the presentation of its female characters, it takes six steps back. If there is a female character in the series, the chances are she’s going to be wearing something meant purely for the male gaze, while her male companions wear something far more appropriate for the game’s plot. It only gets worse with alternate costumes, which are typically comprised of sexy school girl fantasies, Daisy Duke hot pants, anti-Black fetishism, and little red riding hood looks. (And no, costumes like Chris’ Sailor Man and Mad Max looks aren’t a counterpoint gotcha.)

RE2R, on the surface, seems to be yet another step-up in the presentation department for female characters in the series. Claire is wearing a leather jacket over a black tank top and sports jeans instead of shorts in new her default costume, they even presented Ada Wong in a world’s ugliest looking trenchcoat. Even better, one of Claire’s alternate costumes is a suit pants and shirt look. Claire has three alternate costumes that aren’t even remotely fanservice-y in the least and it’s great.

Then Capcom announced the “Classic Costume” for Claire and finally revealed Ada Wong without the trenchcoat, and it was business as usual. Claire Redfield’s “Classic Costume” in the reboot is, for lack of a better word, closer to fanservice-y than the original leotard under shorts, black shirt, and vest combo ever turned out to be. The only marked improvement made are the shorts are equal to the length of the leotards and no longer look like underwear.

Where the tank top worked with her new jacket and jeans, it throws the entire look of the original costume’s framing off, and based on the cinematics. While it’s nowhere near as sexualized as her Revelations 2 alt costume, Capcom’s intent here is pretty clear.

Effectively, Claire looks closer to a character who would appear in a Michael Bay produced horror film, whose talking points are usually how sexy the actress makes being terrified look. In the original she was simply meant to look “cool”. When she removed the vest, and wore the holster over her black shirt, she did.

Ada Wong goes from wearing a halter top dress with leggings, and flat heeled shoes that looked fairly maneuverable in, to looking as though she’s been zip-locked into a red slip that doesn’t fit her, finished off with a tacky tiny black bow, a choker and two inch heels.

The entire look of it rather screams at you like a flashing ad banner advertising for an explicit website fetishizing Chinese-American woman. A lot of the fan art coming out of the fandom for Ada Wong in the remake is reflecting more or less that, so the target audience has been completely satisfied in this regard.

She looks absolutely ridiculous in gameplay segments because the dress was designed with no reactionary physics. It doesn’t flex the way a dress does around legs. It looks like a bad mod made by a fan that wanted a “sexier” looking Ada Wong.

Even outside the context of alternate costumes, female characters like 18-Year old Rebecca Chambers (who isn’t even in this game) ends up being oddly sexualized in a photograph where she was originally just sitting on the ground with a basketball in front of her leg, grinning like a goofy kid on a Scholastic paperback from the 90s.

Were it not for the fact that they were legitimately aiming to make Annette Birkin look undesirable, I’d be surprised that she didn’t appear in this game wearing a lab coat, half-open dress shirt, office skirt and three inch heels with heavy makeup.

Meanwhile, Leon Kennedy gets a “Classic Costume” that gets no [major] alternations to its look and thus is restored, unlike Claire or Ada, normal civilian clothing, and a Noir costume. Ada basically got no alternate costumes despite her playability, and I think it was the same with Sherry as well?

Standard, tried and true sexism aside, when it comes right down to it, even if your female character has the reputation of characters like Leon, “How can I make her sexier?” is a question Capcom all too readily answers instead of being creative.

V. RE Engine or, a Trip into the Dark Valley of Uncanny Gray People Land

Photorealism in games isn’t something I’m crazy about and how I react to it ultimately depends on the developer. A lot of video games have been worse for it – dead eye and plastic looking characters is an issue that persists – while very few have used it to the advantage of their creativity.

The major thing that puts me off is the blandness of a photo-realistic white faces. Developers are have shown they can sleepwalk a photo-realistic white face with no issues, but when it comes to the faces of people of color, well, either their biases start to show in the designs (its real easy to make a caricature of Black or non-Black face for video game devs) or their limitations are inherent in their how they see faces that don’t look like them.

I find myself struggling to say what I enjoyed about this game on a visual aspect, because its biggest detriment is without a doubt the RE Engine.

Environment Design - You want it Darker

Creative Assembly’s Alien Isolation did something I really liked. And that’s make the player reliant upon its darkness. You spend as much time in the light as you do enshrouded in the dark. The A.I. systems of Amanda Ripley’s enemies: Hostile humans, androids on an aggressive warpath of helpfulness, and the Xenomorph make hyper-aware of just how exposed you are bathed in the light, just as the dark and shadow make you equally aware that you’re just as open to an attack from the Xenomorph who needs no light to see you should it ever spot you therein.

A lot of the design philosophies in RE2R were built on the groundwork established by RE7, but its disadvantage was the player’s familiarity with RE2O’s level design. In a lot ways, I think they opted for pitch black environments to break that confidence. There are several environments throughout the presentation of RE2R that are turn-the-lights-off dark (which makes for an unpleasant experience for my eyes), but in a way that’s more superficial than essential.

Most areas in the game contain low-level lightning most of the series is known for, but it lacks any of the color and saturation from older games that make set pieces stand out. The most light you’ll see in RE2R is within the lobby, library and upper offices of the police station and the underground lab at the climax of the game.

The closest the game ever gets to replicating the atmosphere and mood of the older Resident Evil games is probably the orphanage level and the later street level in Claire’s campaign. The lightning and shadows are perfect there. But, more often than not, RE2R is content to plunge you into a adversarial darkness repeatedly with a flashlight. In addition to the game’s muted or desaturated colors and washed out look, nothing about the environment design really stands out as remarkable outside of the aforementioned levels.

I don’t think I’ve read so many complaints about having to adjust the contrast, color, brightness, and etc just to get one area or another to look normal before this game (in relation to RE). It’s apparently bad enough that PC Modders are creating mods that fix the overall presentation of the game (more color contrast, sharper image, improved lightning). Devil May Cry 5‘s environment and lightning design tends to looks leagues better than this game, and its got its fair share of bland looking levels.

The screenshot is edited, but this is a solid approximation of how dark it is in a lot of areas.

Where almost no light worked in a game like Amnesia: The Dark Descent, SOMA, Penumbra, or even Silent Hill, RE2R’s design template actively discourages exploration in a way the older games did the opposite. It gives you the impression that the game has more to hide than it does to show you. The 2002 Resident Evil remake is still one of the best examples of cinematic light, dark, and shadow created purely for navigation purposes. The game is seventeen years old (holy shit), and legit, I don’t think there is a Resident Evil game in the series that nails how essential lightning is to your environment like this one.

On an aesthetic level, the reboot fails to capture the period of the world that its predecessor was basically developed, lived and breathed in. Setting aside product placement (“Pepsi”) and musical cues (“Baby one More Time”) is beyond Capcom’s budget, it’s the little things about the environment and level design in the reboot that really fails to say, “Here lay 1998. We’re a year away from the full-blown Y2K craze, floppy discs, and pagers were still a thing.”

There’s a tape recorder, yes, there are big, blocky computers sitting on hardwood desks and gas prices I still can’t believe my father grouched over in comparison to the shit they have us paying now, but, a lot of those things feel like superficial window dressing on a poster board.

The environment design and world of RE2R feels very much like a 2019 era world with very little ringing true of the 90s.. I don’t think any damages the authenticity of the world much like the design of the characters – who look a little too 21st century as opposed to individuals trapped in a moment of time – now twenty years ago – and the same can be said of the secret evil lair of the Umbrella Corporation.

Everything in the final level of the game feels like something of Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil (The HIVE), and less like a lab that was built and constructed with what a 90s era architect would think was cutting edge tech and aesthetic of the late 1990s. It got to a point where I honestly think they should’ve just set the reboot in 2018.

Character Design - Petrified Faces and Awkward Mouths

He’s lit. melting in the rain right now.

Photo-realistic characters live and die by how well they imitate life without setting off the alarms in your mind. RE2R falls on the spectrum of “missing your mark” in a lot of ways. Characters in RE7 had the look of wax mannequin dolls walking around terrorizing you’re equally doll-esque player characters (with no heads). Nothing about how these characters were rendered and animated was particularly great, and it constantly triggered the meant response of “there is something wrong with what I’m looking at” that often comes with the uncanny valley.

The biggest issue facing the grand majority of the white characters RE2R is the fact that Capcom is still manipulating faces like they’re still using stylized animation and not an engine “based in reality” to its detriment. Characters are puppet-esque, or look particularly unfinished in the washed out environment and desaturated colors. This is noticeable in throwaway characters like the trucker in the opening cinematic (eating a burger that reacts unlike food) with a face that seems ready to melt off of its model at any moment, Chief Irons, “Hello Human” reporter guy, and the father and zombie daughter from the trite Gunshop sequence begging for its SAG award. None of these characters emote or animate well and draw the eye to the imperfections of the engine than wow you with its animation.

Among the central cast, the characters that look the worst rendered in the RE Engine are probably Claire Redfield and Annette Birkin. Both characters look as though the face models simply did not cooperate with Capcom tweaking the faces. Annette is more puppet-like than say, Claire (who at least has genuine moments of humanity). The less than stellar facial and lip animation is extremely noticeable on Annette's model who might’ve been promoted to minor antagonist at the last minute, because she has no business moving so robotically. It probably doesn’t help matters that Capcom designed her character with the philosophy of “working women don’t care about their appearances” (paraphrased) in mind, which makes their changes to Ada and Claire all the more suspect.

Claire’s biggest issue seems to be that Capcom simply spent less time on her than they did Leon. The model’s face is often stiff and under-animated, so it looks like Claire’s face is struggling to emote. This is especially notifiable when you compare Claire’s model to her living counterpart (who is far more expressive in a still image than her 3D model). Capcom more than likely tweaked the model’s face more than a little bit, and to the character’s detriment. Honestly, it’s comparable to how she ended up looking in CGI film Degeneration (where her face barley animated). Claire’s model really, really, really needed more work, or Capcom needed to find a face they could work with better than the one they chose.

Leon is the character they clearly spent more time on, at least in terms of details. In general, his animations are probably stiffer than Claire. Most of the cinematics involving close-ups of Leon’s face make it appear as though Leon has mastered the art of talking through one’s teeth without moving their lips, and he’s not particularly emotive unless the emotion is an extreme one.

Out of the characters with any remote screen-time or plot-related dialog, the only ones that look slightly more remarkable are Ada Wong and Marvin Branagh. Marvin in particular might be the best example of what the RE Engine can do with unique faces and competent performance from the animators and the actor.

Ada Wong looks better than she ever did in Resident Evil 6, and while this not my favorite rendition of her character on any level, she is only female character in the game – in terms of character design – that got a decent face model.

The only drawback with these two characters that Marvin looks as ashy white as the white characters (and no blood-loss isn’t a justification for that) and he shares the same thousand yard dead-eye look in his eyes that a lot of the other characters have. The less-than-stellar facial animation is more than a little noticeable in Ada Wong’s sequences a well (was she snarling or trying to annunciate words at Annette?).

The zombies and non-human enemy types look better suited the grayscale, clay-esque look the RE Engine gives everything. Zombies require almost little to no real facial animation, but against the backdrop of reality they are truly out of place (to reiterate). The same can be said of characters like Mr. X or William Birkin’s monster form.

The big sell Capcom made with the zombies and monsters in RE2R is that they could render insane amounts of gore, based on the human anatomy. On paper, it definitely sounds like a cool idea, in execution? I’ve been so desensitized to gore and human guts – within the fictional spectrum – that this really doesn’t impress me. (My sister, on the other hand, needed a moment.)

It’s like, “Yeah, that guy’s arm is are hanging off alright.” But, unless you’re giving me RE4 or Dead Space level styled deaths, where the gore is put on display with a sort’ve Evil Dead irreverence, well, the most your doing is just demonstrating gross anatomy. It’s cool, but not exactly satisfying, esp. when taking the clay-esque look of the models into consideration. The masturbatory gore dislay is also probably a big reason why firearms and explosives against zombies no longer have the desired effect. The most you’ll be doing a lot of the time is peeling the skin off of a model, which I guess, is your cue to go, “Wow, look these physics, look at that gore.”

There are some developers who really know how to work with photo-realistic environments and, even moreso, how to render photo-realistic characters, be they based on living people or not. Remedy Entertainment (using the in-house engine, Northlight Engine), is one, and Naughty Dog – who still rely heavily on stylization – has only recently entered that threshold during the PS4 era.

A lot of this of course, is a consequence of experience with that medium. Naughty Dog’s history with more animated styles definitely helps more than harms their photo-realistic models and environment. Remedy Entertainment’s persistent desire to render the real world in a 3D environment has simply improved as the tech has gotten better.

Capcom, like Square Enix and the late Konami, was always at its best with hybrid blend of animation and photo-realism. Resident Evil was rendered and designed in such a way that it straddled the line of photo-realism and stylistic animation in way no other games did. It wasn’t too real, and it wasn’t too cartoony.

That creative style lent itself to their level design as one was often not without the other. The Gothic horror design of mansions or European countries, and the stark familiarity of places like a police station, a cruise ship or a prison island, were often picture-esque or surreal by design. The RE Engine is probably the biggest step backward in terms of design and atmosphere.

VI. Conclusion – “All Employees Proceed to the Bottom Platform.”

Hey, look, a callback to Resident Evil 2. Neat.

As a game I played with my sister, passing he controller to her every fifteen minutes, I had fun based purely on how she reacted to the game. Whatever my quibbles, the most fun I’ve had with this game is probably screaming and yelling with my sister, and acting as her personal exposition machine.

She asks so many questions about what the hell is going on in the greater scheme of the plot. She doesn’t care, per-say, but she asks anyway because she knows I like reading Wikipedia and thus have the answers. I can only tell her what I know from the previous games, which I know effectively don’t count for shit with this reboot.

That said, the reboot just made me weirdly appreciative of what went into the creation of the original Resident Evil 2, especially in terms of structure, gameplay and presentation. The reboot is ultimately something that feels like it was produced within a AAA space, right down to its paid DLC offerings, which once would’ve been natural unlockables in the game. It’s budget was probably sunk by the over-lavish requirements of the RE Engine, and just from looking at it, this game had budget it was straining against. It ultimately ends up making its predecessor all the more crucial and unique.

It kinda highlights just how useless exploiting nostalgia is in the process of replicating things. You don’t get the same results, and in the end you’re only playing an imitation of something that was a consequence of the right people coming together at the right period of time. It’s what makes things like polygonal character skins, or “play this game with lower resolution settings”, give the impression that devs largely miss the point or misunderstand what people like or continue to like about older productions, even when a newer imitation of it comes out (the discussions people have about Metal Gear Solid vs. The Twin Snakes highlights this best, I think).

I enjoyed Bluepoint’s Shadow of the Colossus, they went above and beyond the call of duty to reproduce the original, but I often find myself playing the older far more than its 2018 remake, because the latter ultimately lacks what Team Ico put into that game.

In its attempts to be a retelling of the game, RE2R probably would’ve been better off abandoning the entire framework and creating something entirely new (I say again). But because it never tries to be different enough from its counterpart, especially in terms of story beats, the end result is a condensed soup with missing flavor. Otherwise, I think restorative would’ve been a better move than remixing it. Not something I could say about Shattered Memories. If I could describe RE2R, outside of the interaction I had with it in the company of my sister, “boring” would be the kindest descriptor I could give it. Everything about its aesthetic, to the delivery as a much toned down version of RE2O, was not gripping [for] me.

Comparing this reboot to something like DMC5, something using the same engine, but manages to be more vibrant in design and presentation, makes RE2R look unremarkable in comparison. The visual quality of the game tended to remind me of the presentation of Ready at Dawn’s The Order 1886, which was also heavily reliant on photo-realistic graphics and a washed out presentation.

This game is nowhere near as engaging as its original. And because the campaigns are basically a Frankenstein hybrid of the original A/B set up, a lot of the changes to the plot seem really superfluous or detrimental to the structure overall.

They really did Ada dirty in this game.

Playing the events of RE2O as more overly dramatic or serious effectively makes for a really dull game. A more reality-based RE isn’t something I’m particularly interested in, especially since the end result appears to be a less exciting product. The fact that they did so little with or reduced characters like Marvin and Ada – who are nowhere near as present or independent of the scenario characters as they should be, just makes for a greater disappointment.

RE2R is a reboot of the original 1998 game in all the ways that are reflective of RE7’s design principals, carrying the pretense of realism on its shoulders. RE2R keeps some of the bones of RE2O, but discards the rest in exchange for something trying really hard to be different, but familiar enough to invoke déjà vu. If you spent the radio silence hoping for the lavish recreation Mikami made of his 1996 original in 2002 for Gamecube audiences, you sadly won’t find it here. If anything this more or less proves something like that will never happen again.

RE2R strives to be a third person iteration of RE7 with an older title. If you weren’t crazy for what a lot of people more or less called “Resident Evil in Name Only” when it was released in 2017, chances are you won’t enjoy your time with RE2R. If you were completely and utterly for RE7, the RE Engine and all that this blueprint entails, you’ll basically have a good time with RE2R and whatever else gets remade under this umbrella.

The last temptation I have toward this game is playing it heavily modified on the PC because the mods for this game actually look like something to mess with. I’m just waiting for the “Classic Ada” costume mod, because that dress is some of the laziest character design I’ve ever seen.

#resident evil 2 remake #resident evil #capcom #re engine #re2 remake spoilers #videogamesincolor #marvin branagh #reboot ada wong #resident evil series #resident evil 2 reimagined

11 notes · View notes

wineanddinosaur · 3 years

Text

Wine 101: Rioja

This episode of “Wine 101” is sponsored by Las Rocas Wine. Las Rocas Wines hail from an arid, hilly region in the northeast of Spain, where the air is dry and the terrain is unforgiving. Against all odds, Garnacha vines thrive here on these steep, rocky slopes, producing grapes with a signature palate of spice and minerality. These robust vines, some more than a hundred years old, lend their lively spirit and character to all Las Rocas wines. Sample the rich and full-bodied flavors of Spain: Las Rocas Wine.

In this episode of “Wine 101,” VinePair tastings director Keith Beavers discusses all things Rioja. Listeners will learn about the very small region that produces some of Spain’s finest wine. That region, a province called La Rioja, has a rich, unique history dating back to the mid-19th century.

Rioja made a name for itself because of French winemakers and the barrels they brought to the region. Beavers also explains that Rioja is unique in that it is not defined by any political boundaries. That freedom, Beavers says, has resulted in wines with a prominent place on the American market.

Tune in to become an expert on wines from Rioja.

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check out the Conversation Here

Keith Beavers: My name is Keith Beavers. And beavers, how cool are beavers? They’re awesome.

What’s going on, wine lovers? Welcome to Episode 11 of VinePair’s “Wine 101” podcast, Season 2. My name is Keith Beavers. I am the tasting director of VinePair. How are you? Now we’re getting famous. We’re talking about the most well-known wine region in Spain, it’s called Rioja. It’s not that big, but it has a lot of interesting stuff. Let’s get to know Rioja. What do you say?

Rioja is a word that I believe, if you’re into wine in the United States, you’ve heard. It might actually be the only word or the only wine from Spain that you may have heard of. Wines from the Rioja region of Spain are the most prominent Spanish wines on our market. That’s changing dramatically. There have always been other Spanish wines on our market. But as far as getting eyeballs on it and understanding it, Rioja has had a place on the American market that other Spanish wines haven’t. This is not an official statement, but I personally believe that Rioja is Spain’s fine-wine region. There’s other amazing wine all over, don’t get me wrong: Priorat, Ribera Del Duero. There are great wines all over Spain. I’m just saying there’s a reputation that Rioja has that other wine regions in Spain don’t. That reputation is what we know on the American market, but what do we really know about Rioja? We get that it’s from Spain. Some of us might know that it’s Tempranillo and maybe some other varieties. Some of us may know words like Crianza, and Gran Reserva. What does it all mean? Let’s break down Rioja because it’s on our market, and it’s great stuff. It’s awesome wine. Let’s understand a little bit more so when you do go and buy a Rioja wine, you know what you’re looking at.

Just inland from the coast of northeast Spain is a range of mountains called Sierra de Cantabria. If you cross the Cantabrian Mountain range, you go into a valley, of course, and that valley has a river that is called the Ebro River. If you keep on going even further south through the valley, you’ll see another mountain range called Sierra de la Demanda. This valley, guided by the geological history of the Ebro River, flowing from the Cantabrian Mountains through this valley towards the Mediterranean, runs northwest to southeast. It’s on an angle, if you will. The mountain ranges on either side of this valley, as you go southeast, those mountains start to get lower and you move into a lower-elevation area, which will eventually go into the Mediterranean. In the northwestern corner of this valley, all the way towards the foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains, is a town called Haro. There is a small tributary of the Ebro River that flows into the city of Haro. That river is called Oja. That river is what lends its name to the province that it exists in and the wine region that exists within the province. La Rioja. Rio Oja is basically what it means.

From the town of Haro, the Ebro River runs southeast through the capital of the region or province called Logroño. Then, it passes and goes even further south, then we get into the lower-lying areas. It passes a major town called Calahorra. Then, it ends in Alfaro, the town of Alfaro. You basically have 60-plus miles of the Ebro River. Spanning out from the banks of those rivers are vineyards. The vineyards basically just run along the river, and they spread out. If you go to the northwestern part of the river, it’s more mountainous. They spread out into the foothills of the Cantabrians. As you get down towards the Mediterranean, the vineyards spread out towards the Mediterranean geography. That’s the wine region of Rioja. We’re going to get into the boundaries in a second because it is interesting that the majority of this wine region is in the province of La Rioja, but it also dips into other places like the Basque region in a place called Navarre, which we’ll get into.

This little pocket, one of the smallest regions in Spain, the second smallest region in Spain — this little pocket of awesome right here has been making wine for a very long time. Yet, this is the thing talking about European wine regions, it gets a little bit repetitive after a while — especially with France, England, and Spain because of the similarities during antiquity and the Medieval times. When modern times come around, that’s when things start getting different.

In Spain, typically in this region, you would have had Roman rule and the wine was being made then. Then there was Moorish rule, which was Muslim, and they tolerated winemaking but they weren’t allowed to drink it. Then after that, you would go into Medieval times. We all know what happened in Medieval times, the monks making wine in isolation, recording things fully funded by the church, doing their thing, saving wine all over Europe. The thing about this place is during all those times, the Rioja region was pretty isolated. It’s between two mountains. It’s very hard to get to the most populated areas on the other side of the Cantabrian mountains towards the coast, going north. However, when a trade route was created to Bilbao, which is a port town in the Basque region on the north coast of Spain, that is how the floodgates opened up with Rioja. That wasn’t how Rioja made itself Rioja. Rioja made itself Rioja because of French winemakers. Not really, but kind of. OK, let me explain.

In the mid-19th century, around the 1840s, a disease from North America made its way into the vineyards of Europe, specifically France. It’s called powdery mildew. It’s a disease that attacks the green parts of vines and creates these spores that look like spider webs. It retards the growth of the plant. It interferes with certain growth processes of a plant so that it doesn’t fully form. It’s bad. It was so bad in the 1840s in Europe, especially in France, that wine merchants left France and actually came to the Rioja region of Spain. They began collaborating with winemakers in Rioja to make wine along with French ideas and French lines to sell wine that way. Basically, leaving the people in France saying, “You guys figure out your powdery mold stuff. We wine merchants are going to go over the Pyrenees to hang out with the Spanish over in La Rioja and make things happen.”

Well, by the time the French were over there doing this, there were already commercial wineries opening up in the region that were selling to colonies. The Spanish colonies, actually, and enjoying that trade route to Bilbao. This time period defined the standard of wines being made in Rioja going forward.

Then in 1901, the first document of Phylloxera in Rioja happened. By that time, the French are back over the Pyrenees and back dealing with their situation over there. Phylloxera did come to Spain, to Rioja. From that period until about the 1970s, so much happens with politics, economics, and it goes up and down. What’s important about the Rioja region is to understand what it is today, because the thing is, it’s a region that is changing. There are things changing in Rioja, and in the future, we’re going to start seeing more nuances, more details on wine labels. I am not really sure, but they’re talking about it.

Let’s get an idea of what Rioja looks like and just understand it so wine shopping could be fun again. As I said before, the wine region of Rioja is mostly in the province of La Rioja. But part of the northern borders of this wine region dip into other places. Part of it dips into Álava, which is an autonomous region in the Basque country. Part of it dips into Navarre, which is another province. As far as terroir is concerned, the Rioja region is split into three sections, which is very interesting because those three sections don’t define what you see on labels so much. However, it does define what kind of wine is in your bottle. It’s a little bit confusing, and that’s why there are some things going on in this wine region that they’re trying to update.

Imagine a diagonal line. In the middle of that line, just above it, Logroño, which is the capital of this region, is an axis point where you can see where the wine regions are. On the eastern side of Logroño, on that diagonal line going southeast, that entire section to the end of that line is Rioja Baja. It was formerly known as Rioja Baja, but it’s now called Rioja Oriental. I’m telling you both because you’re going to hear them both. This is the region that you’re going away from the elevation of the mountain towards the Mediterranean, a more low-lying, fertile area. Back to the dot, that is Logroño, the capital. The majority of the land to the west of Logroño is a wine-growing region called Rioja Alta. Alta, meaning tall. We’re getting into the foothills of the Cantabrians. It’s a more hilly region, with poorer soils. Those are the two big regions in Rioja. Now, just northwest of the town of Logroño is a separate wine region that is cut out of the Rioja Alta. Then, there’s another little section that is bisected on the other side, which is a small region they call Rioja Alavesa. The reason they call it Alavesa is that this is the wine region that goes across the border and into the Basque region, into a town called Álava. Alavesa, Álava. We have Rioja Baja, Rioja Alta, and Rioja Alavesa. Those are the three main regions of the Rioja wine-growing region.

Rioja is unique and stands aside from other wine regions because this wine region is not defined by political boundaries, it is defined by geography alone. Dare I say terroir. When a wine region dips into other autonomous regions, it’s mostly about that. The other unique thing about this region is how they classify their wine, which we’ll talk about in a second. White wine is made in Rioja. But when you’re at a wine shop looking in the Rioja section, you’re going to see a lot of red. It’s primarily a red wine region and it’s often blended. There are more mono-varietal wines being made these days. I believe that it is because of the French influence, there’s a blending culture going on here. The No. 1 variety in Rioja is a red grape called Tempranillo. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. If you listened to the Spanish episode last season, you’ll know this. It’s the country’s most ubiquitous grape variety or red. I believe that’s over 80 percent of the vines in Rioja. They also grow Garnacha or Grenache, they grow a grape called Mazuelo, which in other parts of Spain is called Cariñena and in other parts of the world called Carignane. There’s the red grape Graciano, which is often blended with Tempranillo. Then, there’s this new one. It’s not new, it’s very old, but it’s emerging. Winemakers are trying to bring it out of obscurity and back into the world of Rioja.

The grape is called Maturana Tinta. I’ve never tried wines made from just that grape. I don’t know about how it’s being blended, but there’s a lot of talk about this grape in this area. In Rioja, 85 percent of the blend needs to be made up of these grapes, which is really cool. These are all indigenous varieties. We’re not talking about Cabernet or Syrah. If they wanted to put that in, it’s fine. But it’s very interesting that it’s not. It’s specifically these grapes from this region. It’s pretty cool. Yes, there is Merlot, there is Cabernet Sauvignon, but from what I understand, they’re mostly experimental vines, not prominent in the blends. It is mostly just these indigenous varieties.

It’s pretty much the same with white wine. Even though there’s not a lot of white wine being made in the Rioja region, they are very cool if you get a chance to check them out. They’re primarily blended with grapes like Viura, which is also called Macabeo in other parts of Spain. There’s Garnacha Blanca, a grape called Malvasia, also the Maturana Blanca, which is the white version of the Maturana Tinta. The majority of the blends are made up of these varieties, but of course there is also Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, but like Cabernet and Merlot, they’re not predominantly part of these blends.

As a major wine region in the world, the way Rioja does wine is very interesting. First of all, there’s the geographic thing where it’s not political, it’s geographical. That’s one very interesting thing. The other interesting thing is that the majority of the wine being made in Rioja historically was that you’d have these merchant bodegas. Bodega is a winery. There would be vine growers or grape growers that would supply these bodegas with wine. That’s how it was done. There were also co-ops where you had a large winemaking facility with multiple members, and usually, that wine goes from the vineyard and funnels into these merchant bodegas. All these labels are created, and that’s how Rioja works or has worked. Now, there are wineries that have estates and can make their own wine. However, the merchant bodegas are how unique it is in Rioja because this happened even through into modern times.

The other thing that’s unique to this area is how they classify their wine. For now — and things are changing as I actually say this — but the wines of Rioja are classified specifically by how much time they age in the barrel and in oak. It is classified into three categories, actually four, but three major categories. The blending is very loose. 85 percent has to be these grapes, but do whatever you want. It’s the aging that defines.

These are the aging categories. You have crianza, reserva, and gran reserva. Crianza, which is loosely translated to “upbringing” or “to bring up.” For wines that are labeled crianza, you’ll see it on the wine label. And on the back, you’ll see a red sticker. That’s new. These wines have to be released in their third year. For at least 12 months of that time, the wine needs to be in oak barrels. For white wines, it’s only six months. These are the youngish wines that are soft, supple, fruity, and awesome. They can be very leathery at times, too, depending on the blend, but they’re a little softer and younger. If the wine says reserva on the label, on the back of the wine bottle you’ll see a burgundy-colored sticker. These wines also have a minimum aging of three years, but one of those years needs to be in barrel and six months need to be in bottle before release. If you see gran reserva on the label, and it has a blue sticker on the back, these wines need to be aged a total of 60 months, with a minimum of two years in oak and another two years in bottle. Every other wine from Rioja that you see that is not in those categories is considered generic. I know it’s a weird word, but it doesn’t mean it’s bad. You’ll look in the back of the label and the sticker will be green, almost avocado green. That’s wines that do not adhere to these aging requirements.

My thought is that the benefit to this is the blending of these wines is very individual to the winemaker or the person building the blends. I believe the blends are built to be crianza, reserva, or gran reserva. The amount of time that you age these wines in, you want to have certain varieties that are bigger than other varieties. The majority of the red wines you get from Rioja, even if it’s gran reserva, Tempranillo is a beautiful, medium-bodied type wine. It has good acidity. It’s soft fruit. It gives me a Sangiovese vibe because it has that acidity in medium fruit, and it’s good with food. That’s why it’s really great when it’s blended with Graciano, Garnacha, Cariñena, or Mazuelo to give it a bit more body, structure, and color.

Another interesting thing about Rioja is when the French were there helping out, they brought French barrels. French barrels have been in the Rioja region since the late 1800s. However, at some point, they started favoring American oak. American oak is much more influential on the wine than French oak. French oak is a little more subtle. American oak is big, and it really adds a lot of heft to a wine. These wines in Rioja are very elegant. They are built based on how the winemaker wants to age them. A gran reserva aged in American oak is going to be a nice medium- to full-bodied red wine, but they are using French oak as well.

I need to close out with this, because it’s happening and already happened but Rioja is focusing as we speak. Over the past couple of years, they’ve redefined some of the things they’re doing. They’re trying to focus more on terroir. In the Alavesa region, you’re allowed now to attach a village to your label, similar to what they do in Burgundy. There are over 100 of them. And they are doing single-vineyard stuff now. They’re having designations for single vineyards. All these new things are not as prominent on wine labels on our market. I just want everyone to know about it, because this is where Rioja is going. They’re getting more focused on terroir. We’re going to start seeing more things on labels to help us understand where the wine is from. When we get there, of course, VinePair will let you know all about it.

That’s Rioja in a nutshell. Next time you are at a wine shop and you’re looking at the Rioja section, you’ll know what you’re looking at. Oh, and don’t worry about the netting. Some wine bottles have netting around them. It’s just an aesthetic thing. Don’t worry about that. But enjoy Rioja. I hope you can dig it. I hope this helps you understand it more, and I will see you, wine lovers, next week.

@VinePairKeith is my Insta. Rate and review this podcast, wherever you get your podcasts from. It really helps get the word out there. And now, for some totally awesome credits.

“Wine 101” was produced, recorded, and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers, at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big ol’ shout out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. And I mean big shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darby Cicci for the theme song. Listen to this. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week.

The article Wine 101: Rioja appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-rioja/

0 notes

bill-the-baker · 5 years

Text

Fast food tier list (British edition).

So, I decided to do one of these things. I know that the whole tier list thing is entering it's ironic stage at this point, but I decided to drop in my personal thoughts from a British perspective, to spice things up compared to the usual American stuff.

D-tier:

Nando's - I don't know if this counts as fast food, but I'm gonna say it does anyway, because it's a pretty popular place to get a quick bite to eat. That is, unless you ask me. I mean, it's all right. The food is fine on it's own. It doesn't give you salmonella or anything. But it's just boring! If you want chicken, then that's exactly what you get. But that's all there really is. If you want any alternatives, then you don't have much choice. You’re only getting spicy chicken, and if that isn’t your thing, then a lot of these things aren’t really going to interest you. Not to mention that without the spice, the chicken is dry as shit, especially if it’s in a burger, and the deserts consist of little more than flavourless fro-yo and like three flavours of ice cream. The one good thing about this place though, is that you can drink as much stuff as you want from their machines, keeping you hydrated through all the dry shit!

C-tier:

Subway - I guess this is something more people are likely to agree on than my last point. Subway’s only really a place you go to for lunch if you’re either busy or trying to be healthy (though the chemicals they put in the bread don’t really help matters). I guess it’s a better choice for your health than most other places here, but we’re not hippies, so this stuff is just boring! All I really feel like getting from this place is a simple turkey and lettuce sandwich, because that’s all that really interested me (and also because I’m a fussy eater, so that might affect my opinion). Besides, the only other thing I tried there was the chicken, and you never have cold chicken, because I’m pretty sure that’s a health hazard. Though the one major upside, is that the cookies they have for dessert are just to die for! Even if they’re not that healthy.

B-tier:

Favourite Chicken - If there’s one thing that’s a key staple of British urban cuisine, it’s the chicken shop. And whilst this chain isn’t exactly as well-known as Chicken Cottage for example (a place I wanted to visit for this list, but didn’t have the time to do so), it does have many good things about it. Especially in terms of their chicken burgers, because, my God, those things are amazing! The sauce they offer allows the burger to taste heavenly, and the chicken itself is brilliant. I’ve got my fix of this stuff from their location in West Drayton (about a 5-10 minute drive from Heathrow Airport), and I recommend their burgers to anyone in the area, even if you’re just looking for something quick to eat whilst spending the night waiting for a plane, because they’re open until 11. However, in terms of downsides, I guess that much of their other chicken is kinda dry and a little too pink to ignore at times, their dessert menu is rather lacking and quality really depends on location. Whilst the burgers at West Drayton were always a treat, I’ve only been to their branch in Slough once, and when I was there, the breading felt much more flaky and for the next few days I had pinkeye. That could be my fault, but I figured I might as well say that anyway.

Burger King - Now I suppose this place isn’t very popular in America, though I guess it does seem better in an area with less competition like Britain. Me and my brothers tended to visit Burger King on our birthdays or on a special event when were a little younger than we are now. Nowadays we only really tend to visit Burger King whenever we want a change from KFC or McDonald’s. Now it’s not because I hate their stuff, far from it in fact; the variety of burgers they have are massive and the desserts, like at subway, are absolutely phenomenal, but mainly because they have a few flaws that stop them from being of the highest tier. For one, many of their sides, especially the fries, are really dull, especially when compared to it’s competitors. Another serious downside here are the conditions most of the restaurants are in. They can be pretty damn dirty in places, especially in older restaurants, like the one near Park Royal station, which could really use some renovations. The poor quality of the restaurants is rather apparent when it comes to the reliability of the ice cream machines. Like, your ice cream is incredible, especially those Kit-Kat and the (sadly) discontinued M&M’s Fusions, but that means nothing if I’m unable to eat them! Still, Burger King’s pretty damn good, though I’d probably rank it higher if they brought back the M&M’s Fusion and fixed their stuff.

A-tier:

Harry Ramsden - A place that deals in a much better-known British delicacy: Fish and chips! Though I tend to go more for sausage and chips myself, I was never once disappointed by the quality of this place, except maybe for one time when they ran out of Pepsi. Still, the food has a nice taste to it and it’s definitely a place that I love to eat from. I can’t exactly say much about this place though, because there aren’t that many branches out there, and you’re much more likely to find it in the Northern regions of England than the South. I don’t why this is the only thing the North can have over the South, but I digress.

KFC - Now KFC is generally seen as a shit-tier Popeyes in the States, but here, it’s the prime spot for roadmen to congregate, and for good reason. The chicken is much more moist and flavourful than in places like Favourite Chicken, and they have quite a few things available, considering it’s mostly just chicken. The fries have recently been upgraded, and pack much more flavour than before, especially with salt, and their dessert menu is also much larger than it really needs to be, but it still tastes fantastic nonetheless. Still though, it’s taste still isn’t really great enough for it to be featured in the S-tier.

McDonald’s - A fairly well-known choice, but still one that deserves a spot here. This place is amazing. Though it may have slightly less variety, in terms of food available, than Burger King, it makes up for it in terms of their quality. Though Big Macs do get quite a bad rap, which I can somewhat agree with, their quality lies within their temporary burgers, especially the Big Tasty, which really needs to be a year-long thing, though it might result in the extinction of cows if it was! The desserts are also pretty damn good, with them offering similar ice cream stuff to Burger King, except the machines actually work! The fries also deserve an honourable mention; their just really nice and tasty.

S-tier:

Five Guys - Whenever you visit one of their restaurants, you tend to see that Five Guys really likes to show off their positive reviews, and I’d like to say that these guys deserve every last one of them! Though it does little outside of burgers and fries, it doesn’t need to do anything else! Their burgers are some of the greatest I’ve ever tasted, especially with bacon and cheese. Not to mention the fussy eater in you will be happy to know that you’re not just stuck with a list of pre-set combinations, just a base of a burger, and maybe cheese and/or bacon. The range of drinks, soft or hard, is also massive, not to mention that they’re mainly from their fountain machines, allowing you to drink as much as you want, though I don’t think you’d want to, considering that their burgers are filling enough. The only downside is that it’s pretty expensive compared to other places on this list, but let me ensure you that it’s worth every penny!

So that’s that. I gotta admit, this list was pretty limited in terms of content. I could’ve added in places like Chicken Cottage or Wimpy (an endangered species in it’s British homeland), though it’s been tough trying to get to these places. I could probably update this if I do visit these places, but this is all I’ve got for now

#fast food #britain #tier list #fast food tier list

0 notes

anachef · 6 years

Text

Review! NEW Dinner Menu at Whispering Canyon Cafe in Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

Yee-haw!! Howdy from Disney’s Wilderness Lodge! We decided to mosey on over to Whispering Canyon Cafe, because they changed their dinner menu earlier this week.

Whispering Canyon Cafe

Whispering Canyon Cafe has long been a favorite spot for comfort food, all-you-can-eat skillets, and rowdy antics from the servers, and we were excited to see what new eats they had to offer!

Atmosphere

Located off the gorgeous main lobby at the Wilderness Lodge, Whispering Canyon Cafe is a table service location full of delicious eats and lots of fun. Be prepared for the stick-pony races, silly antics from your servers (yep, they’re still in full swing), and an old fashioned good time!

Whispering Canyon Cafe

From the painted chair backs to the awesome light fixtures, the decor really sets the mood for Wild West fun.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Light Fixture

If you’ve been to Whispering Canyon Cafe, this may be no secret to you. But for those who haven’t visited, you will definitely want to ask for some ketchup (like, whether you need it or not). We don’t want to share exactly what happens next so it can be a surprise, but we will say that the result is a lot of fun and any little cowpokes in your group will get a real kick out of it.

Eats

We’re keeping the tour short, though, because as I mentioned, the reason for this particular visit was to try out the new dinner menu! The biggest addition is that they have THREE new all-you-care-to-enjoy skillets! The Traditional Skillet has been a staple at Whispering Canyon Cafe, and now they have expanded their skillet offerings with a few variations.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Menu

The flip side of that change is they have greatly reduced the number of a la carte entrees and appetizers. But they also shook up their specialty drinks selection!

Whispering Canyon Cafe Drink Menu

Everything besides the Magical Star Cocktail (which is a staple around Disney World lounges), is either a new addition or the recipe has been updated. We decided to try two brand new drinks — Bourbon Sweet Tea and the Mountaineer Margarita — and one revamped classic, the Moonshine Lemonade.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Cocktails

The Bourbon Sweet Tea is just two simple ingredients. You guessed it: Maker’s Mark Bourbon and sweet tea.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Bourbon Sweet Tea

This was a great drink — albeit pretty strong, so heads up! If you are a big bourbon fan, adding the sweet tea is a unique twist that fits nicely with the Whispering Canyon vibe. It’s a fun and simple cocktail that I’d certainly try again.

Next up, the Moonshine Lemonade! The Moonshine Lemonade comes with your choice of flavored lemonade — strawberry, blackberry, or watermelon. We went with Strawberry.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Moonshine Lemonade

I was prepared for this to be super strong considering the moonshine, but it was actually very refreshing! The strawberry wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet and added a nice light, freshness to the alcohol. Overall, this is something we’d absolutely try again, and I look forward to sampling the other flavors at some point! (So, there’s a little “note to self…”)

Last up, the Mountaineer Margarita. This is a classic margarita made with Don Julio Tequila, Cointreau, fresh Lime Juice and Agave Nectar, but it has a cowboy twist — Smoked Hickory Syrup!

Whispering Canyon Cafe Mountaineer Margarita

This drink was fantastic and ended up being the favorite of the night. It was a good margarita to begin with, but the smokey syrup really shines through and takes it to the next level. Highly recommend this one!

Now for the eats! The first thing we tried was the new Smoked Beef and Vegetable Soup.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Smoked Beef and Vegetable Soup

This hearty soup was really more of a stew, full of smoked beef chunks, potatoes, onions, and carrots.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Smoked Beef and Vegetable Soup

This was certainly a good stick-to-your-ribs soup that you’d expect from Whispering Canyon. The beef was plentiful, and the potatoes were nice and soft. This relatively simple dish was comfort food at its finest, and paired with a salad this would make a great meal on its own!

Next up, we HAD to try out these new skillets! From left to right, you’ll see The Land and Sea, The Pig, and The Plant-Based. Don’t forget that all of these skillets (and the Traditional) are all-you-care-to-enjoy so come hungry!

Whispering Canyon Cafe Skillets

When you order any of the skillets, the first thing to arrive is delicious fresh cornbread and honey butter!

Whispering Canyon Cafe Corn Bread and Honey Butter

You can literally see the honey oozing throughout the butter. (As our awesome server, Mike, said “Do with it as you must.”) Also available upon request is coleslaw.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Coleslaw

The coleslaw is crisp and fresh, and not too overdressed, which happens easily with slaw.

There is also a vegan slaw available if you’d prefer. Unlike its mayo-based cousin, the Vegan Coleslaw has a vinegar-based dressing.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Vegan Coleslaw

It’s not too overwhelming or acidic, and I actually preferred it over the regular slaw even though I am not vegan.

First up, we decided to try the Plant-Based Skillet. This dish made its debut on the menu as an “on request” item last fall, so it’s nice to see it graduated to a regular menu item! And it definitely made us curious…

Whispering Canyon Cafe The Plant Based Skillet

That’s right, this isn’t just vegetarian, it’s completely vegan friendly! The Plant Based Skillet comes with Maple-Chipotle BBQ Jackfruit, Spicy “Sausage”, Mustard Glazed Beefless Tips, Herb Brushed Trick’n Chick’n, Oven Roasted Carrots, Sauteed Green Beans, and Charred Peppers.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Plant Based Skillet Proteins

Out of all the proteins, the Chick’n was my favorite. The moho sauce was delicious — I would gladly put that on just about any meat (or “not meat”!) The beefless tips were also seasoned nicely and the sauce was delightful. The sausage is full of flavor as well, with strong hints of coriander and garlic. Lastly, the jackfruit! This is a common vegan substitution for pulled pork, and was an especially nice addition to the skillet because it gave it the western flavors you expect at Whispering Canyon.

The team at Whispering Canyon even made sure the vegetables would be completely vegan-friendly by steaming them or roasting them in oils instead of butter. The green beans and carrots were good, if nothing special, but the peppers were amazing! Nice and charred with a little kick!

Overall, this isn’t something that I would necessarily order again or recommend to someone that isn’t vegan. Meat substitutes certainly have an acquired taste and texture. That said, if you are vegan (or vegetarian), this is an awesome option for you! It’s one of the most unique vegan offerings we’ve seen around Walt Disney World… and at a restaurant where you’d least expect it, no less.

Next up, the Land and Sea Skillet. This skillet comes with House-Smoked Salmon, Citrus Herb Chicken, Spicy Vegan Sausage, Charred Portabella Mushrooms, BBQ Cauliflower, Roasted Potatoes, Sauteed Green Beans, and Oven-Roasted Carrots.

Whispering Canyon Cafe The Land and Sea Proteins

The House-Smoked Salmon was the favorite from our table! It had a perfectly crisp skin, and a bright, fresh flavor. The Herb Chicken was also a big hit thanks to its perfectly roasted skin, as was the BBQ cauliflower for spicing up an otherwise ordinary vegetable. The sausage is the same offered on the Plant-based Skillet, and the Portabellas were perfectly cooked! If you are a mushroom fan, you are seriously going to love these buttery ‘shrooms.

The green beans, carrots, and potatoes were all delicious and perfectly cooked as well. Nothing too exciting, but they certainly taste fresh and add a nice light addition to all of the meats. Overall, the Land and Sea is a great healthier option for those who want to enjoy the rowdy atmosphere at Whispering Canyon, but want something a little lighter.

Whispering Canyon Cafe The Pig Skillet

Last up: The Pig Skillet. This skillet comes with Braised Pork Belly, Maple-Chipotle BBQ Pork Ribs, Slow-smoked Pulled Pork, Mustard BBQ “Piggy Wings,” and Western-style Sausage and is accompanied by Mashed Yukon Potatoes, Buttered Corn, and Sauteed Green Beans. The Pig is the closest to the Traditional Skillet and the kind of eats you think of when you come to Whispering Canyon Cafe.

Whispering Canyon Cafe The Pig Pulled Pork, Pork Belly, and Sausage

The Ribs were our favorite, as the sauce is terrific and the meat literally falls off the bone. The Pork Belly was some of the best I’ve had at Disney, and getting it in the skillet is a great way for less-adventurous eaters to try it. The Pulled Pork has a nice smokey flavor, and we highly recommend getting a bite of it with the deliciously buttery mashed potatoes. The “piggy wings” were actually my least favorite on the plate, as they were a little under-sauced for my taste. The sausage, green beans, and corn were all good, but again, nothing too exciting. Overall, this was the favorite skillet of the night, and we absolutely asked for more ribs.

Even though we were stuffed, we couldn’t resist trying their new desserts!

Whispering Canyon Cafe Dessert Menu

Our server let us know that once again, most desserts on the menu are new or have been updated. We decided to try the Whispering Canyon Pioneer Chocolate Cake, Granny Smith Apple Pie, and Seasonal Cobbler.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Desserts

First up, the Chocolate Cake. They recently went to a flour-less recipe instead of a traditional chocolate cake, and it comes served a la mode.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Chocolate Cake

This was more like a lava cake, and the warm, gooey cake is a perfect bite with the vanilla ice cream. This dessert is very rich, especially after the big meal you just had, so we recommend sharing!

Whispering Canyon Cafe Chocolate Cake Bite

Next up, the Granny-Smith Apple Pie! This is also served with vanilla ice cream.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Apple Pie

The pie is topped with slivered almonds, and comes in a crisp and crumbly crust. There are big chunks of fresh Granny-smith apples, which give the pie a tart flavor. It matches perfectly with the ice cream, and even though we were stuffed, we licked this plate clean!

Last but not least, the Seasonal Cobbler which was Peach for us.

Whispering Canyon Cafe Seasonal Cobbler

Some of you may remember the seasonal cobbler being a very popular dessert at Artist Point, before it was transformed into Storybook Dining with Snow White. While we love the new character dining experience, we were sad to see this go — so we are SO happy it’s back at the Lodge!

The crust is crumbly and sweet, but not too sugary. Most of the sweetness from the tart comes from the fresh peaches. This was absolutely my favorite dessert, and possibly my favorite thing I ate all night!

Overall

Overall, Whispering Canyon Cafe’s new offerings were pleasant surprises! It’s nice that they have expanded the menu to accommodate people who would prefer a lighter or vegan meal. We never thought we’d recommend Whispering Canyon as one of the top vegan meals on property, but here we are!

All three drinks we tried were unique and fitting to the location, as were all of the desserts (especially the cobbler!!). Whispering Canyon Cafe still lands as a great dinner spot, especially with kids, thanks to the rowdy antics, and reliable comfort food. We will certainly be back… and, don’t forget that starting March 26th, some new Skillets will be joining the breakfast menu at Whispering Canyon Cafe, too!

For a full tour of all the dining options at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, check out our video below!

youtube

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

What do you think of Whispering Canyon Cafe? Will you stop by on your next vacation? Let us know in the comments!

Spotted: Vegan Skillet at Whispering Canyon Cafe in Disney World’s Wilderness Lodge

Don’t Forget to Order Ketchup at Whispering Canyon Cafe Breakfast in Disney World!

Review and Food Photos: Whispering Canyon Cafe Dinner at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge!

from the disney food blog https://ift.tt/2CmbtE6 via https://ift.tt/LNvO3e

0 notes

tennistravelsite-blog · 7 years

Text

When life gives you lemons make a gin and tonic (on the wall of G & Tea Bar, Marriott West India Quay, London, England), or better yet, pack your bags and go to a tennis tournament!

Whenever I’ve been out with injury or had surgery, I have tried to plan it around watching Grand Slam tournaments on television, such as the Australia Open and the US Open, guaranteed two weeks of exciting professional tennis. Recently, my husband had surgery with a six week recovery time. When we first found out about the surgery, I suggested that we plan a weekend getaway to London, England, to watch the ATP World Finals at the O2 Arena. This was how we made our London weekend happen.

After flying the Thursday evening, red eye, United Airlines flight from Newark to London Heathrow Airport, we arrived at London Heathrow Airport at around 9:30 am Friday. We chose to stay near the tennis venue, the Canary Wharf area. During the morning rush hour, it is over an hour ride from London Heathrow Airport to the Canary Wharf area. We ordered an Uber ride. At London Heathrow Airport, the Uber pick up was at the short term parking, pick up area. We stayed at the Marriott West India Quay, right on Canary Wharf. We checked in with our mobile app the day before, and our room was ready when we arrived! With our Marriott gold status, our room was upgraded to a nice view of the water and we were provided access to the Executive Lounge, which offered beverages and food presentations throughout the day. This was great option for enjoying something light, with a great view of the wharf, on our way out to out for the evening.

On our first evening, we explored the Canary Wharf area and dined at a restaurant called The Pagination. This restaurant had indoor and outdoor seating, with close proximity to canary wharf. If you chose to sit outdoors, each table had blankets and hot water bottles, to keep you warm. Indoors, there were quaint tables and seating areas with plenty of pillows and throws. We ordered a glass of sparkling wine and ordered a cheeseburger, on a gluten free roll, with a side of Cajun spiced french fries. This restaurant was super inviting, and a great place to meet for drinks, after work, after shopping, or on your way to the O2 arena.

We had a few transportation choices to the venue, Uber, taxi, the tube (subway), or ferry. We chose to take an Uber since a train or ferry ticket for two was the same price as taking an Uber. We were told that the tube was just one stop away from where we were staying. Our Uber driver dropped us off outside the O2 arena near the many restaurants, bars, movie theatres, and shops. The O2 arena was a great venue for the tennis tournament. As we walked around the arena, we noticed that the Intercontinental hotel was adjacent to the O2 arena. This hotel offered direct access to the arena from their hotel guests. This would be a great hotel to stay at if you didn’t want to worry about transportation to the venue. The location of the entrance from the hotel to the venue is by the “H” gate. The main gate to the arena is “B.” The pounding music and light show in the arena, during the introduction of the players was exciting. We sat courtside, for our matches, but it didn’t look like there was a bad seat in the house. The upper seating area was completely packed, as the crowd took in the fantastic tennis matches.

Each night at the ATP year end finals, your admissions ticket included one doubles match and one singles match. The doubles match (Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares vs. Lucasz Kubot /Marcelo Melo) was played with no-ad scoring with a third set tie break. No ad scoring was used to speed up the game. So if the score reaches 40 all (deuce), then the receiving team selected which player will receive the serve. The singles matches were played with best of three sets (tie break sets). When the tournament began, we thought we would be watching Nadal and or Federer playing matches. In the end, Nadal had to withdraw from the tournament, due to injury, and Federer lost in the semi-finals. During the last round, we witnessed Grigor Dimitrov play so well against Pablo Carreño Busta (who was the alternate for injured Raphael Nadal), that he seemed unstoppable. On our last evening, we watched the semi-final match, as American, Jack Sock, almost took down the very hot player, Grigor Dimitrov. Although we were in the minority, we rooted loudly for Jack Sock. After the match, Jack Sock gained two more admirers of his game. He came very close to earning a spot in the finals. The semi-final, doubles teams were equally amazing, Peers and Kontinen overcame crowd favorite, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, as they created points and carved winners throughout the thrilling semi-final match at the O2 arena. (Tennis tip, serve and volley to the opposite side, with partner switching sides. Also, return and switch sides, both ending up at the service line. We are going to implement that move into our doubles game). We returned to the hotel from the O2 arena without difficulty. We did not want to wait for an Uber or taxi ride, so we had a choice, the tube or the ferry. We spoke to one of the security guards to ask his opinion. He said, it is less of a walk to take the ferry, and then it is only three or four stops. The tube is one stop away, but it is a longer walk to the tube. We walked over to the ferry and got into the que. It didn’t take long. The Thames River ferry had comfortable seats, and it was a smooth ride. We got off at the Canary Row stop…and then it was just a few minutes’ walk to our hotel. We enjoyed a gin and tonic at the G and Tea restaurant and bar, before our next adventure.

Although traveling to London to watch the tennis tournament was the main goal; discovering new places to visit in England was also part of our agenda. We put together a day trip on our second day, for our by renting a car at the London City Airport, a few minutes away from Canary Wharf. We caught an Uber ride from our hotel to the City airport Avis Rental Car. Our rental was upgraded to a Citreon which had an automatic transmission. This eased our challenge of driving on the right side of the road. The car also included passenger leg rest (like a first class Airline seat!), which made for a comfy ride for me during our three stop trip. (Tip: Spend the extra money for an automatic because shifting on the left could be challenging. In our case, we booked a manual but got upgraded. You could certainly ask when picking up your car how much an upgrade to automatic would cost! Also, do not forget your passport, you will need it; rookie mistake by my husband who magically had a picture of his passport which included the proper number)

Our first stop was The White Cliffs of Dover. The massive white cliffs, overlooked the English Channel, toward France. Not only could we see France from the cliff; but, my cell phone announced welcome to France. There were active ferries and shipping below the cliffs. The romantic, peaceful hike up and over the cliffs was breathtaking. You could easily spend a long morning or day hiking and exploring the area. One of our Uber drivers later told us that would often take his family to France during the warmer months on the ferry out of Dover.

We then quickly drove through Canterbury, England. Canterbury was best known for the Canterbury Cathedral, and the Canterbury Tales. (bringing me back to high school literature class memories) The town had many cobble street areas which were great for exploring, dining and bringing to life a little bit of classic literature. We didn’t plan enough time for a proper walk through this area, the drive showed us that we will be back and will make time to spend in such a quaint area.

Lastly, we stopped at Leeds Castle, the loveliest castle in the world, in Kent, England. This castle was set back about a mile from the road, on the English countryside property. After your purchase tickets – adults price was 25 pounds each (your ticket was an annual pass of unlimited visits within that year), you could either take a Segway tour to the castle, walk to the castle, or ride on the castle train. On the way there, we chose to walk to the castle. We hiked through beautiful rolling hills with ponds as we approached the castle, which was surrounded by moat, followed by a lush golf course, with golfers in the mist. It was awesome to see such a castle, which parts were built in the 1200s and 1800s. This castle reminded me of what it must have been like at Downton Abbey. When we walked through the castle, you could see that some of the areas were updated; however, the grandness and structure of the castle were well maintained through the years. (Tip: You can book a room for overnight visits and golf at Leed’s castle.)

Our gin and tonic turned out great. Although we weren’t able to play tennis on this trip, we created a weekend opportunity to see great professional tennis, the ATP World Finals, as well as to see some of the beautiful areas of England. Taking time out was a good opportunity to see and experience things we wouldn’t normally do. That is what we accomplished during our tennis trip to London, England.

The Camera roll:

ATP Finals, 2018

This will make you want to visit London! -TennisTravelSite.com When life gives you lemons make a gin and tonic (on the wall of G &

0 notes

hotelregalenclave-blog · 7 years

Text

Create a website like Shaddi.com

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri, Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

Value of Internet Site Style and Advancement A site is an on the internet identity of a company or of a private related to Online marketing. The task pertaining to the website is to represent a business, deal business's name, draw in more visitors, produce even more service leads, promote more sale of business's solutions as well as things and also ultimately, support to acquire more roi. In this age of advanced development, digital business have really extremely dominated the marketing practice, as well as a result of very easy accessibility as well as cost of the Internet, people are following it as well as making significant revenue at the convenience of their residence. As a severe online company individual, exactly just what is crucial for your service is, to prepare an internet site that is well produced, appealing, easy to browse, highly useful, great material, filled with important details, sufficient performances as well as are capable of maintaining site visitors for lengthy and make them return once again. We know, Internet is the visual user interface as well as just what people search the Internet will certainly be controlled and translated into their mind as well as assumption. So being a site developer and designer, you have to be careful concerning making use of color results, lights, visual effects, putting as well as size of materials as well as use of online search engine pleasant development, so that individuals need to remember your website name originally and surf you initially on the internet. To accomplish all the above talked about methods, your internet site building requires a specialist touch from professional website designers and also developers that can place their ideal obtained knowledge and experience making a suitable web site that can turn each site visitors into prospective customers. There are two types of website style such as; vibrant and fixed internet site style. You could pick static along with vibrant website design where previous is based upon very easy HTML code as well as latter is developed with cutting-edge and advanced innovations based upon the info supplied in the data source. Dynamic site is in truth offering nowadays, because of that aside from its appeal and also varied applicability, it offers the ease of quick and also self information updating center to site administrator without exceling technically. One more essential factor for a well developed as well as set website is the top quality search engine optimization (Search Engine Optimization) solution. SEO is the basis of internet search engine marketing success, considering that site optimization procedure spice-up the internet site with relevant keyword phrases, aid with one-way link, boost link-popularity as well as place site at top or near the top of on-line online search engine result web page that at some point assist in attracting inspired buyers and also more website traffic to internet site. Aforesaid methods of web site style and development must be managed exceptional care if you prefer to succeed high in your on the internet company. There are numerous such business which could offer appealing internet site establishing as well as growth service at an economical rate, at the identical time, false guarantee making individuals are additionally in lots. For economical Site design and also improvement, you could even think about any kind of overseas website style and development organisation with comprehensive research study on their portfolios. There are two types of website style such as; fixed and dynamic website layout. There are different such company which could provide appealing site creating and development choice at a budget friendly rate, at the similar time, wrong guarantee making dudes are also in lots. For affordable Website design as well as advancement, you could even think of any type of offshore site layout and development company with detailed research study on their profiles. They've listened to that they need to be found in Google which the "point" they require is SEO. They concern me in order to help them get several of this Search Engine Optimization excellent stuff, then fact attacks. You see, the internet is littered with adverts for quick-fixes. I've seen promotions appear in my Facebook feed for "100 ranking-boosting web links for $17-- assured to obtain you to top", and so the expectation is set that this is all they require. Task done. As with a lot of points, it's not that simple. Do these techniques function? Regrettably, in the short term, such strategies can give you a ranking boost, as well as I have actually seen websites suddenly rocket to the leading ten, even leading after simply one purchase of these marvel links. Nevertheless, soon, they can go away again. Links are one of one of the most crucial consider why a website ranks well, so obtaining web links is just what most of us want to do, yet there are good web links as well as bad web links. Good links are the ones that are earned. They're the web links that are all-natural, that we get over time as well as are from good quality websites. Bad web links come under a great deal of different semblances, yet there's an easy guideline you could stay with that will certainly ensure you don't obtain the worst links-- don't pay for them. I need to clarify links a little bit extra. Allow's say you're surfing the BBC site as well as there's a post regarding an owning teacher who has a new take on how to aid people to pass their test. This short article may have a connect to the driving trainer's website. That web link is just what aids the website do better in Google, and also as a web site proprietor, you wish to obtain lots of those indicating your website. Obtaining such a link from the BBC is difficult though, so obviously there are brief cuts. These routes are usually in the form of teams of internet sites that have actually developed a certain quantity of "authority," and after that they begin to offer links to others. And also this is where Google gets a bit dismayed. Exactly what could take place? Google states purchasing as well as selling web links is a bad point to do. If it discovers you've been doing either, it might choose to penalise you my eliminating you from it's online search engine. Yes, it's that bad. I have actually seen this occur to a great deal of businesses, as well as it could spoil them. One business I recognize increased massively when they were suddenly able to compete with several of the largest names in the industry. They got new facilities, tackled brand-new team and also expanded their network. They had transformed to a SEO company that guaranteed them the planet, for an extremely low monthly fee. When Google overtook them, they went away entirely. People looking for their items could no more locate them, so they had to make individuals repetitive, sell off the new premises and also cut back manufacturing. It virtually destroyed their business entirely. So just what's the very best way to do it, then? The steps that currently adhere to are truly very easy. There's obvious formula as well as no techniques. You do not have to have researched computer technology; it's all just common sense, so let's dive in. 1-- Establish your expectations The largest trouble most entrepreneur have is that they expect every little thing to happen now. I see this a whole lot. No matter how many times I say "it takes a while for anything to take place," when somebody has actually engaged us on Monday, by Wednesday they're on the phone asking why they still can't find their internet site. It can take months for any kind of huge modifications to take place, so you just need to wait. Yes, there could be signs you can determine that will show an enhancement, however up until your site remains in the leading 10, you're not going to get reams of site visitors via Google (or any other online search engine). It takes a long period of time, and also this is when individuals generally get discouraged. Nonetheless, you should play the long game. The course to the top will certainly be using a lot of extremely small wins. Beginning currently, as well as keep going and then at some point, you'll locate you obtain more busy and more busy. 2-- Do the basic points first I've shed matter of the number of web sites I see where the title of their web page is "home page." The very first page of your site need to have a title that is a recap of what you do. It ought to be concise, perhaps an optimum of five words. The remainder of your pages ought to define just what's on those web pages. The two greatest errors in my experience are at both ends of the spectrum.

#website #seo #wordpress #troika #ecommerce

0 notes

packersandmoversinsurat-blog · 7 years

Text

Create a website like Shaddi.com

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri, Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#website #seo #wordpress #troika #ecommerce

0 notes

makeupartistinmumbai-blog · 7 years

Text

Create a website like Shaddi.com

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri, Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#website #seo #wordpress #troika #ecommerce

0 notes

mumbaipunetaxiservices-blog · 7 years

Text

Create a website like Shaddi.com

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri, Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#website #seo #wordpress #troika #ecommerce

0 notes

clearperception-blog1 · 7 years

Text

Create a website like Shaddi.com

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri, Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#website #seo #wordpress #troika #ecommerce

0 notes

oldagehomeinmumbai-blog · 7 years

Text

Create a website like Shaddi.com

Troika Tech Services - Website Designers in Mumbai

107, Kothari Milestone, Near Railway Station, Malad, Malad West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400064

Troika Tech Best - eCommerce Website Designing & Development Company in Andheri, Bandra

102, Sagar Shopping Centre, Dawood Baug, Opposite PK Jewellers,, J.P. Road, Andheri (West) Station, Mumbai, Near Metro Station, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400058

Troika Tech - Website Designers & Developers Company in Sakinaka Marol and Andheri East

4, Summit Business Park, Kurla Rd, Mota Nagar, Shivaji Colony, Mota Nagar, Andheri, Andheri East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099

#website #seo #wordpress #troika #ecommerce

0 notes

charllieeldridge · 5 years

Text

61 Fun Things To Do in Grenada (2020 Edition)

The island of Grenada in the Caribbean is a true jewel. There are numerous things to do in Grenada, but there isn’t a lot of information online about this tiny island nation. We’ve lived here for over 4 years, so we know lots of unique things to do in Grenada and this blog has more information than any other online today.

The Isle of Spice is located just far enough south in the Caribbean to avoid the tourism masses that the northern islands see, yet it’s still easy enough to travel to Grenada on a cruise ship or a direct flight from North America. There are so many things to do in Grenada, you could spend a year and never be bored!

If you’re wondering what to do in Grenada during your trip, I’ve got you covered. Here is my list of 61 awesome things to do in Grenada:

*This post has been updated 2020. These items are in no particular order and the Parishes are listed in brackets.

1. Try “Doubles” (St. George) – one of the best things to do in Grenada for foodies

Doubles are a delicious breakfast found in the southern Caribbean and while they’re originally from Trinidad, they’re so delicious that they make our list of things to do in Grenada.

Sweet and spicy chickpea curry is wrapped inside of a soft bara bread. Latta makes the best ones on the island, and you can find her serving doubles out of the back of her orange van on Wall Street in Grand Anse. Update: Latta and Frank now have an orange and dark coloured van! Look for either one of them.

youtube

2. Grand Etang National Park (St. Andrews)

This beautiful, lush park is set high in the mountains of Grenada. At 1,900ft, this is the perfect spot to escape the heat and enjoy nature. With waterfalls, a lake, and endless walking trails, Grand Etang is a place you could return to again and again. Visiting this National Park is one of the top things to do in Grenada for sure.

*Note* These days there’s a new highwire canopy obstacle course that has been built in the rainforest at Grand Etang falls. Many people enjoy this activity and it’s something fun to do in Grenada with kids.

3. La Sagesse Beach (St. David)

A stunning cove with soft sand, clear waters and lined with palm trees. This is one of the best beaches in Grenada. You can walk the length of the beach and hardly see another person. There’s only one hotel on this beach, which has a restaurant open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

*Note: as La Sagesse is often quite quiet, be mindful of your belongings and your safety when on this beach.

Do you have a day to spare and want to take a tour around the island? Many people aren’t comfortable driving abroad (and, the driving in Grenada can be a bit crazy!), but a great option is to take a half-day tour, or a full-day tour while ticking off some of the main activities in Grenada along the way.

This highly-rated half-day tour takes in St. George’s town, Annadale Falls, Grand Etang Lake, a rum distillery, and the stunning Morne Rouge Beach. Learn more and read traveller reviews here.

This highly-rated full-day tour is a bit longer and offers many of the things to do in Grenada that I list in this article. You’ll visit St. George’s town, Grand Etang rainforest, Concord waterfalls, Douglas Spice Plantation, and River Antoine rum distillery. Learn more and read traveller reviews here.

4. Sunsets at La Luna (St. George)

There are many places to enjoy the golden sunset with a glass of wine in hand, but the best spot has to be at the gorgeous La Luna Hotel. Going for a swim, lounging on beach chairs and enjoying the sunset with a drink is one of the best things to do in Grenada. You can come here for a drink at the beautiful open-air bar even if you’re not a hotel guest.

Sunset at Laluna is a real secret on the island! Even the locals don’t know about the half-price drinks, so you won’t likely find this on any other list of things to do in Grenada.

☞ Click here to see the latest price of Laluna on Booking.com.

youtube

5. Sailing (St. George)

Getting out on the water is a must when visiting an island! Sailing up the and down the Caribbean coastline aboard a catamaran is a magical experience. Check out Footloose Tours for a great day (or multiple days) of sailing. (Update: our favourite company to sail with is Savvy, more on them below).

youtube

6. BBQ’s in Grenada (Island Wide)

Every weekend, local vendors set up their BBQs on the street and serve up some delicious pork and chicken. Check out the BBQ at D’Cliff, St. Paul’s, Jerk chicken in Grand Anse Valley, and Rosanne’s BBQ near Red Gate (St. David) it’s the best BBQ on the island!

youtube

7. Dodgy Dock (True Blue, St. George)

This awesome marina-side restaurant and bar is a nice place to meet up with friends for an afternoon beer or dinner. The views of the water and sailboats are lovely. Plus, you can also stay here at the True Blue Bay Resort. Click here to see the latest prices, and photos, on Booking.com.

8. Hashing: One of The Most Unique Things To Do in Grenada (Island Wide)

The Hash House Harriers are a social running/walking group that meets every Saturday. Someone sets up a trail around the island (usually about 2 hours long) and the runners/walkers follow piles of shredded paper until they reach the finish line. The starting and finishing point is typically at a rum shack! It’s a lot of fun and a very unique thing to do in Grenada.

Check out our article: On! On! The Art of Hashing in Grenada

Fun Note: Hashing is one of the best things to do on Grenada because you can become a part of a pretty cool community with loads of locals, expats, students and tourists on the island.

9. Scuba Diving

The diving around Grenada is stunning. This island isn’t really known for being a diving destination, but with the first Underwater Sculpture Park in the world, shipwrecks, and coral that has been virtually untouched, it really should be more popular. Check out Dive Grenada, the best dive shop on the island with excellent divemasters, and equipment.

Don’t miss this article and video: Under The Caribbean Sea With Dive Grenada

10. Friday Bonfire & BBQ (St. George)

This is one of the best things to do in Grenada on a Friday night. If you like bonfires, s’mores, steel pan music and BBQs (and who doesn’t?!) head to the Savvy Beach Cabana, which is one of the best restaurants in Grenada.

Dine under the stars with your feet submerged in the soft sand, while the local steel pan band serenades you with their tunes. For dinner, take your pick between chicken, steak, fish, lobster and more, which are all served with a side of rice and peas, mashed pumpkin, roast potatoes and house salad.

For dessert, relive your childhood by toasting a marshmallow on the beach bonfire to create your own s’more, complete with graham crackers and a square of Grenadian chocolate.

Savvy Beach Cabana during the day. A gorgeous location – don’t miss Friday nights here and lunches any day of the week

Insider Tip: Many guests assume that the side dishes are served in hollowed-out coconut shells, but they’re actually made from calabash – impress your server with your island knowledge!

Outside of Friday nights, the Savvy Beach Cabana is open for lunch and drinks from 10:00am to sundown. This is a great lunchtime spot with a diverse, tasty and affordable menu. Don’t miss the catch of the day, the chuck burger and (when in season) the lobster linguine.

The lobster linguine with parmesan at Savvy Beach Cabana is a must try

Savvy Beach Cabana is a part of Mount Cinnamon Grenada, one of the top-rated accommodation options here on the island. If you’re looking for a great place to have dinner outside of Friday nights, then check out their second restaurant, Savvy’s.

11. Whisper Cove Marina (St. David)

If you’re looking for something to do in Grenada on Saturday afternoons, look no further! For only $10 USD you can enjoy a steak lunch with french fries, salad, and a cold beer! (Update 2020: This restaurant is now under new management. On Saturdays, they now offer Spicy wings, Fish cakes, Fish tacos or Battered fish, with fries for $11 USD).

12. Hog Island (St. David)

This gorgeous island is just a 10-minute boat ride from Whisper Cove Marina, or you can drive the bumpy road from Mt. Hartman Dove Sanctuary, and then walk across the bridge. Hog Island has a great trail for hiking, a nice (shallow beach), and wonderful views. This is one of the more offtrack places to visit in Grenada.

13. Roger’s Bar (Hog Island)

There’s a little ramshackle bar located on Hog Island and every Sunday, Roger puts on a lunch BBQ consisting of chicken or fish, green salad, macaroni salad and potato salad. It’s the perfect spot to enjoy a beer while swimming in the stunning water.

14. St. George’s Carenage (St. George)

St. George’s (what the locals call “town”) is a very colourful capital city! Walking along the carenage while enjoying the views of the water, the buildings and the boats coming and going makes for a great afternoon.

15. Fort George (St. George)

This fort was built in 1705 by the French and is located to the west of the harbour. The views from atop the fort looking down on St. George’s are fabulous. An entrance fee of $5EC is payable when you enter the fort.

16. Volunteer at the GSPCA (St. George)

Do some good during your holiday and spend a couple of hours helping the sweet dogs and cats at the GSPCA. You can stop by for a visit to give the animals some love, spend an hour or so taking a dog for a walk, or, if you don’t have the time, you could always donate some cash to this non-profit company. Be warned, the fur babies are so cute you’ll want to take one home with you!

youtube

While looking for things to do in Grenada, consider activities that give back to the local communities. The GSPCA helps provide affordable animal care to locals through donations and volunteer work.

17. Belmont Estate (St. Patrick)

This gorgeous 17th-century plantation is a great place to go to learn about cocoa processing. You can also visit gardens, the goat dairy farm and enjoy a delicious Grenadian lunch. To go on a tour of the plantation and learn about cocoa, the cost is only 13EC ($4.80) /person, which includes tasting some delicious chocolate at the end!

youtube

18. See The Leatherback Turtles (St. Patrick)

Leatherback turtles start their nesting season on Levera Beach in March, and the hatchlings head out to the water by July. Seeing these massive turtles haul themselves up on shore, dig a canal in the sand to drop their eggs, cover them up and head back out to sea is an unforgettable experience. You need to come here in the evening with a guide in order to see the turtles. Learn more about volunteering with the conservation of leatherback turtles here.

19. River Antoine Rum Distillery (St. Patrick)

It’s a known fact that rum is the drink of choice throughout the Caribbean. The River Antoine Rum Distillery’s processes have changed very little since the 1800’s. This is the oldest functioning water-propelled distillery not only in Grenada, but in the whole Caribbean.

The best Grenada rum depends on who you ask, but if you’re looking for an interesting tour, check out this place. Tours here are $5EC ($1.85) and you get a tasting at the end. Bottom’s up!

20. Prickly Bay Marina (Lance Aux Epines, St. George)

This is where lots of sailors and yachties hangout. The vibe here is good, the pizzas are delicious (1/2 price on Monday and 2-for-1 on Saturday) and happy hour runs from 5:00 – 6:00pm. The sunsets over the marina here are nice as well.

21. Try Oil Down – Grenada’s National Dish (Islandwide)

This one-pot dish is actually very complex and time-consuming to make. The ingredients are coconut, saffron, callaloo, chicken, crab, dumplings, breadfruit (and more). We’ve only seen it made at friend’s houses, or at get-togethers, so if you want to sample a taste of Grenada, ask at your hotel where you can try it!

While we’ve listed oil down as one of the things to do in Grenada, it’s actually quite hard to find because it’s so difficult to prepare that most restaurants won’t feature it on their menu. To maximize your chance of trying this delicious dish, come around Carnival time when there’s an oil down on many street corners.

youtube

22. Sunset Sailing (St. George)

For an amazing afternoon of sailing (or multi-day trips), check out Savvy. They sail on a traditional sloop boat and offer fun times on the sea. You’ll sail up the west coast, do some swimming, some drinking and of course, enjoy the company of Danny and his crew. Click here to read about our experience aboard the Savvy, it is definitely one of our favourite things to do in Grenada.

*Note: Savvy is locally owned and operated. Danny runs private tours on his boat, so you’ll never be stuck with a group of people who you don’t know. Click here to contact Savvy and arrange your day at sea.

23. Levera Beach (St. Patrick)

Located at the very northern tip of the island, the beach here is lovely and is a great spot for a picnic. The beach is usually quite empty, so be mindful of your belongings. Also, this is not a good beach for swimming as currents are very strong.

24. Carib’s Leap (St. Patrick)

Located in the town of Sauteurs, this is a very historical spot in Grenada. In 1651, rather than face domination by the French invasion, the native Carib people leaped to their death off of this cliff.

25. Royal Mt. Carmel Waterfalls (St. Andrew)

Located just 3 km south of Grenville, these are the tallest waterfalls in Grenada. After an easy 20 – 30 minute walk you’ll arrive at the falls. A great place for a picnic and a swim.

youtube

26. Grand Anse Beach: One Of The Best Things To Do in Grenada! (St. George)

This is the largest beach in Grenada, and arguably the most beautiful. The sand is soft and white and the waters are clear and calm. This is the most popular beach in Grenada, yet it’s practically empty.

You can go diving, swimming, kayaking, snorkelling, or just chill out on the sand with a book in hand. It’s also a good spot to watch the sun set. This beach is one of the top tourist attractions in Grenada, and for good reason.

youtube

27. Umbrella’s Beach Bar (Grand Anse Beach, St. George)

Located on Grand Anse Beach, this is a popular spot for locals, students, tourists and expats. The food is good and it’s a casual place to head in for a drink. Try the Umbrella Burger! Fridays and Saturdays they have live music from 7:00 – 9:00 and on Sundays from 5:30 – 7:30pm.

28. Morne Rouge Beach (St. George)

Located one bay over from Grand Anse Beach on the south end, this is a gorgeous cove. The waters here are very calm and perfectly clear. This beach is much quieter than Grand Anse, and is one of the best beaches in Grenada.

youtube

29. Fort Frederick (St. George)

Built by the French, this fort is a great place to come for views of St. George’s and the Caribbean Sea. It’s right next to Fort Mathew (below) and they both make our list of things to do in Grenada because they both have great views over the nation’s capital, St.George.

30. Fort Mathew Bar (St. George)

Just adjacent to Fort Frederick, this was once an insane asylum! Interested in drinking cold beer inside tunnels with rum barrels used as tables? Check out this unique bar.

☞ SEE ALSO: Travel to Grenada: The Ultimate Budget Guide

31. Practice Yoga (St. George)

Practicing yoga is one of the best things to do in Grenada after a long flight… or if you’ve been sitting on the beach for too long! There are a few great yoga spots around Grenada. Check out Spice Harmony Yoga in St. George, MitSukha at Coyaba Beach Resort (St. George) and Sankalpa at True Blue Resort (St. George).

32. Annandale Falls (St. George)

Located just 15 minutes from St. George’s, these are the easiest falls to visit on the island. The 15 meter high waterfall is beautiful and a great spot for a swim.

This is one of the most popular things to do in Grenada, so you’ll likely see lots of people (locals and tourists) at this refreshing hot spot.

33. Laura’s Spice Garden (St. David)

Grenada is known as the Island of Spice and a trip here wouldn’t be complete without learning about the nutmeg and other spices this island is famous for. The tour here is about 20 minutes and the guide will explain every use for each herb and plant on the property (if you’re lucky, she’ll smile). There’s a $5EC ($1.85) entrance fee.

34. Ronda’s Ice Cream (St. David)

This small, side of the road ice cream shop has local ice cream on offer. Make sure to try the cookies n’ cream! Located on your right-hand side when driving to La Sagesse Beach, if you’re coming from the south.

35. Levera National Park & Bathway Beach (St. Patrick)

A lovely area at the very northern reaches of the island. Walk around the lagoon, or enjoy the bird-watching. Bathway Beach is a great place to enjoy the afternoon as well, just be aware of strong surf here. A trip “up island” may seem like a long way to go, but it’s worth the drive and is one of the best things to do in Grenada.

36. Dragon Bay (St. George)

This local beach is a nice spot to enjoy a picnic and do some snorkelling. Here you’ll rarely see another tourist, it’s a great spot to get to know the locals.

37. Fish Friday in Gouyave (St. John)

An open-air event held each Friday. All sorts of fresh, local seafood is available and sold at little vendors. This is a very local event filled with good food, music and dancing in the street. It starts around 6:00pm and ends around 1:00am. This is one of the most popular things to do in Grenada.

38. Go For a Craft Beer (St. George)

Located near the Calabash Hotel in Lance Aux Epines is the West Indies Beer Company. The beers are brewed in-house and are very tasty. Try the IPA! Food here is also very affordable, and they often have live music. Click here to learn more.

39. Cycle Tour (St. George)

Mocha Spoke is a cool company here on the island offering cycle trips around Grenada. The guides are professional and the bikes are top-notch. Mocha Spoke is also an open air cafe, serving up waffles, paninis, and of course, coffee!

40. Carnival (St. George)

Carnival in Grenada is held every year, with the main music competitions and parades in July / early August. Music, costume and dance competitions happen all over the island. It’s a bright, colourful, crazy festival! Don’t miss J’ouvert, Monday Night Mas and Pretty Mas. If you’re looking for things to do in Grenada, this celebration is our top choice.

In our opinion, this is one of the absolute best things to do in Grenada.

youtube

41. Kayak Tour (St. David)

Conservation Kayak is the company to go with if you want to do a kayak tour. They leave from Le Phare Bleu after a good 30 minute or so briefing. Tours vary, but most paddle out near Hog Island.

42. Deep-Sea Fishing (Leave From St. George)

Grenada has some excellent fishing opportunities. Sailfish, marlin, tuna, mahi-mahi and barracuda are just some of the many fish you could hook into! If you’re an avid fisherman or woman, you’ll want to check out the Billfish Tournament which takes place each year in January.

But either way, if you’re interested in a fun day at sea with a professional, safety-oriented, fun crew, contact Frank, the owner of the Oceanus. We went on a 6 hour trip with this Grenadian owned and operated company, and highly recommend it.

Click here to learn more about the Oceanus and book your deep-sea fishing excursion.

43. Concord Falls (St. John)

There are actually three waterfalls here. The first is easily reached, while the other two require a bit of a hike through gorgeous scenery. It’s about 45 minutes to the second fall. This is a great place to spend the day, pack a picnic.

44. Mt. Moritz Breakfast (St. George)

This breakfast is held on the last Sunday of each month. Many local foods are on offer and there’s music as well. It’s a well-attended event and there’s lots of seating and parking.

45. Saturday Morning Grenada Market (St. George)

If you’re looking for some fresh fruits and veggies, this is the place to come on Saturdays! Located right in the center of St. George’s, just one street back from the Grenada fish market.

46. Mount. St. Catherine (St. Mark)

At 840m (2,760ft), this is the highest point on the island. Mt. St. Catherine is actually a stratovolcano and the youngest of the 5 volcanoes that Grenada is comprised of. You can hike up to the top, but you’ll need to take a guide. Tours are available out of Victoria, or you could arrange it in St. George’s.

47. Magazine Beach (St. George)

This is one of the best beaches in Grenada. You’ll be sharing the beach with the guests of the Rex Grenadian hotel and Maca Bana Villas, but it’s still pretty quiet. At the southern end of the beach is the Aquarium Restaurant which has an awesome Sunday BBQ, or bring your own food and drinks to the beach. You can snorkel here as well if you have your own gear.

48. Lake Antoine (St. Patrick)

This shallow crater lake is a great place for bird watching. There’s a trail that circles it as well. Bring some food and spend a couple of hours chilling out.

49. Grenada Fish Market (St. George)

A great place to find fresh fish! Snapper, barracuda, mahi-mahi and more are on offer. Shore fishing in Grenada is quite popular, but to haul in these big fish, these fishermen will be out on their boats. Prices are about $8EC ($3) / pound. Even if you’re not interested in purchasing anything, it’s an interesting and bustling place to visit.

50. Black Bay Beach with Amerindian markings (St. John)

About a 20-minute hike from Concord off the main road is this secluded beach. There’s also a cave here with Amerindian markings inside.

51. Dougaldston Spice Estate (St. John)

Learn about various spices while on tour at this 600-acre nutmeg plantation. This is a non-working spice factory now, but you can still visit to see the old buildings and machinery and get a glimpse of what a working plantation might have been like in its hey-day.

52. St. George’s Anglican Church (St. George)

This church was built in 1825, but suffered during Hurricane Ivan. This church has no roof, but a bell, clock tower, some stained glass, and tiled flooring remains.

53. National Museum (St. George)

This building has been a lot of things in the past – French Barracks, a prison, two different hotels and a warehouse. In 1976 the museum was established. The sections here are: Slavery, First Inhabitants, Plantation Economy, Whaling & Fishing Archaeology, and Early Transport & Technology. You’ll also find Carib and Arawak artifacts here. For history buffs, this is one of the things to do in Grenada that you won’t want to miss.

54. Drive Around the Island

This is a must-do when in Grenada. You’ll probably get lost a couple of times as there aren’t many road signs, but just pull over and ask someone where you’d like to go! Get a good map, bring some food and enjoy the day. We recommend having a picnic up near Bathway Beach. Car rentals cost around $50 / day, but once you have a car it’s easy to tick many items off your list of things to do in Grenada.

55. Creole Shack Restaurant (St. George)

Just down the street from the Fish Market, this restaurant serves up local, buffet-style food. The cost of the meal is based on weight. There’s a bar here, lots of seating, both inside and out. The food is really good and the cost is not too bad either. (Update 2020: This restaurant is now permanently closed.)

56. Go Bowling (St. George)

This is one of the newer things to do in Grenada. Lavo Lanes are on the road to the airport, and they have about 8 lanes for bowling. Upstairs and the rooftop terrace are more of the party areas, complete with a bar and oftentimes, live music. If you’re wondering what to do in Grenada when it’s raining, this is a good idea. Click here to learn more.

57. Le Phare Bleu (St. David)

The actual Le Phare Bleu is a marina, restaurant and boutique hotel. The surrounding area is residential and is a great place for walking. Try to find your way down to one of the little beaches!

58. Golfing at Grenada Golf & Country Club (Grand Anse/St. George)

You can play 9 holes ($20USD) or 18 holes ($30USD) here. The cost of a caddy and club rental is on top of the initial cost. The views of the Caribbean Sea from the greens are stunning.

59. Visit Carriacou & Petit Martinique

The island country of Grenada actually consists of 6 smaller islands, as well as the largest island, Grenada. The sister isles of Carriacou and Petite Martinique are really the only other two islands you’ll hear about. You can take the Osprey Ferry to visit these islands (about a 2-hour journey from Grenada to Carriacou), fly with SVG Air, or you can take a sailboat for a journey up the Grenadine chain with Savvy.

60. Listen to Steel Pan Music in Grenada

Listening to steel pan bands while in Grenada is a must. The sound is incredible, the vibe is great and the music will make you want to dance. You can find the music at Prickly Bay on certain nights, Friday nights at Savvy Beach Cabana, during Carnival season and at the Spice Basket as well.

61. Pure Grenada Music Festival (St. George)

April 2016 was the debut of this music festival and it’s been going on every year since! In fact, it was listed by Billboard Magazine as a top 7 must-see festival in the Caribbean. The venue is the grassy area at Port Louis Marina, and the entire production is top-notch. The stage, sound, vendors, and performers all come together to create this incredible event.

2018 had three different music nights: Soul, Reggae & Caribbean, with top international artists such as Daley from the UK, Chrisette Michele, and Morgan Heritage from the USA, Jah9 and Protoje from Jamaica, Alison Hinds from the UK/Barbados and numerous Grenadian performers as well!

The local talent on this island is phenomenal. Click here to learn more about the festival, and check out our live Facebook video from the event:

2019 Grenada Music Fest was held at Quarantine Point, with some top performers, such as Ky-Mani Marley, Maxi Priest, Busy Signal, Patrice Roberts, and the Grenadian artists Lavaman, Luni Spark & Electrify, Wuss Wayz and more. To learn more about the 2020 event, click here.

Now You Know What To Do in Grenada!

Grenada is one of the most jam-packed islands (or countries) that we’ve ever come across. For such a small nation, it really does pack a punch. There are many more things to do in Grenada that I could add to this list, but I don’t want to give away all of our secrets…

Your Turn! Have you ever been to Grenada? Do you know more things to do in Grenada? Anything you don’t think belongs here? Share below!

For more articles and videos about living and travelling in Grenada, click here.

Like This Article? Pin it!

The post 61 Fun Things To Do in Grenada (2020 Edition) appeared first on Goats On The Road.

61 Fun Things To Do in Grenada (2020 Edition) published first on https://travelaspire.weebly.com/

0 notes