Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Dan Brown - Inferno (3/10)

Inferno suffers from the same major problem that many Dan Brown novels have: there is a constant sense of running. Even when a dialogue or an interesting piece of exposition begins, you almost expect someone to start chasing the characters again within a few pages.

Another issue is that the villains always seem to have an obsession with art history, symbols, or obscure intellectual references. I hope one day Robert Langdon ends up dealing with something completely outside his academic comfort zone.

Even the humor feels familiar at this point, and honestly, there is not a single truly striking or emotionally powerful twist in the novel. (The classic “turns out character X was secretly the villain all along” reveal does not really count.)

Without question, Brown’s greatest strength is his descriptive writing. He genuinely makes you feel as if you are running through the streets of Italy alongside the characters. But does every story really need to revolve around saving the world?

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered 2024 (5/10)

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered has graphics that still feel remarkably impressive considering the original game came out in 2017. The combat system is genuinely outstanding. Hunting robotic creatures with a bow is an incredibly smart and satisfying design choice. It is also one of the best examples of trap mechanics being used effectively in an open-world game. On the hardest difficulty, the gameplay becomes truly rewarding and delivers a very satisfying combat experience.

Personally, I think the visual style of the original version looks better than the remaster. The skill trees feel somewhat generic, which is disappointing because the core gameplay mechanics deserved something more ambitious and creative. The story also feels a bit too small compared to the scale and uniqueness of the world they created.

The character progression has some issues as well. The transition from an outcast child to a heroic figure does not feel as emotionally powerful or convincing as it could have been. My biggest criticism, however, is the lack of enemy variety. The game clearly had the potential for many more machine types and combat encounters.