The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

After a blinding first run where I was very careful and got miles, I've super sucked at every subsequent run. And I've got a bit of a good/shite item at the moment: remote-controlled tears.

That item is cracking! You can basically hide on the other side of the room from enemies and take them out that way. Have you encountered any rooms appearing after boss fights, Stu?

I have, yeah. A couple of curse rooms(?)

I do sort of like that item, but it's quite advanced for someone as cackhanded as me at this stage.

Like, rooms with a devil statue and a few items? Some of the best items in the game come from there.

Yep, they're the ones! I can't remember what I've pulled out of such rooms, but any item pickup is interesting to me at this stage. I thought I was stumbling into another boss room on my first run.

I wish Rebirth gave you a stats overload on your profile. I'm a bit disappointed about that, considering the nature of the game. You don't even get a total playtime.

That's something rumoured to be coming in the DLC - a bestiary was rumoured too!

Yay!

You'll be happy to know that I'm addicted to this game, despite my level of shitness. No hope of me remembering what a lot of the items do, too. I've seen loads that look practically identical by their icons.

Superb! Don't worry, both your skill level and recognition of the items will come in time! There's still some I don't quite remember myself - there's a group of items named after signs of the Zodiac and I can't for the life of me remember which is which.

"Touch Fuzzy, get dizzy." That genuinely made me grin.

It's just one of those games where you think "Next run, next run I'll beat it..."

Ah, what item's that? The game's chock-full of references like that.

Have you tried any of the challenge runs Stu? There's some item unlocks hidden behind those too.

I think it was a trinket which activated on contact. I'm getting there slowly, but it doesn't help when you stumble blindly into a bonus room and accidentally pick up three new items with no clue about what they do.

I did have a brief go at one if the challenges, but I'm more likely to give them a proper look once I've finished my first run in the main quest. Are you in a win streak at the moment, Jay?

Yeah - not played it since I got 100%, but I'm on a 4 win streak.

Wow, that's pretty good going!

I made it all the way to Mom this morning and got trounced because I had the stupid 9 lives item that basically gives you two hits per attempt.

Beat Mom twice yesterday! Once in story mode, and once in the first challenge on the list. Died against her twice, too. Once because I was woefully underpowered.

Congratulations Stu! Have you tried a normal run since you've beat Mom? You might notice something different...

Yup! There are more stages up to the showdown.

Also: who the crap chooses Isaac once Azazel becomes a thing? He's badass!

(And possibly an easier choice, despite his main shortcoming)

Yeah, Azazel's widely considered the best character. He's got a shorter range version of one of the best items in the game and he can fly, so he's very powerful from the outset. However, you do need to use the other characters - there's a checklist next to each character on the character select screen, and each character has item unlocks which require filling out that checklist on both normal and hard mode. But yeah, Azazel rocks.

Either I'm being thick, or I don't see any checklists...

I seem to be having a huge influx of angel rooms at the moment, too. Had never seen one before today.

Not a checklist - like a post-it note of sorts? It'll be blank just now, I think.

Once you get one angel room you're more likely to get others the same run - there's a hidden sin/purity stat that influences this.

There is a blank post it note somewhere, I recall.

Made it all the way to the boss of the womb and made a schoolboy error earlier. I'm guessing the luck stat has something to do with the quality of drops or frequency of hearts or something?

Ah! How did you cope against the boss? I'm assuming you're on about Womb II, yep?

I think the luck stat counts for consumable drops like keys and whatnot, but the main effect I've seen it having is that slot machines pay out more often. Useful, I suppose! Oh, and bonus item effects will activate more often, like freezing tears freezing the enemy more often.

I was very low on health and got careless. It was a leap out of the ground earthworm type thing.

I've also unlocked the Necropolis, apparently. I'm guessing I'm a way off fighting Satan just yet...

Ah, Womb I. Yeah, there's a pool of bosses that appear on the Womb I, and a few of them are more difficult variants of bosses you'll fight on earlier floors. The Womb II's boss is another thing entirely...

The Necropolis is a harder floor variant for the Depths - you'll unlock a few of those as you progress, and they'll randomly pop up in your runs in place of a floor.

As for Satan (surprised you know about that yet! I guess it's sort of obvious by the religious imagery in the game), yep, still aways to go. Speaking of the imagery, and the artstyle in general - how are you finding it? I know some people are put off by how grotesque the game can be.

JayMoyles wrote:

As for Satan (surprised you know about that yet! I guess it's sort of obvious by the religious imagery in the game), yep, still aways to go. Speaking of the imagery, and the artstyle in general - how are you finding it? I know some people are put off by how grotesque the game can be.

I saw spoilers online that revealed Satan to me. Odd choice really, since Isaac's using all these satanic artifacts to gain strength. The sinister powerups outnumber the wholesome ones.

I love the art style! It just fits the sinister tone so well, and I also love how much detail has gone into the organs that spill all over the place when you clear a room out. It can look a bit cheap sometimes, but the sheer variety makes up for that somewhat.

The only thing that disappoints me really is the soundtrack. The revamped pixel graphics coupled with the gameplay demand a chiptune soundtrack to me, though that would somewhat diminish the tone of the game.

EDIT

D'OH! I went up against Isaac with one heart left and got lost out.

I like the soundtrack, although it does pale in comparison to Danny B's original tracks.

You reached Isaac! Nice! Who was your first Mom's Heart win with?