The Binding of Isaac

Anyone playing/played this fantastic little game?

If you haven't, I really recommend it. It's super cheap - I picked it up for 99p - and I've put 90 hours into it. It's sort of like Zelda 1 meets a roguelike RPG.

Here's a video to help you get an idea of it.



To those that have played the game - how close to 100% are you? I've got two more items to get, then I've finally finally finished this game.

I'd love to play this, and apparently it's slated for Vita this year. Win!

I totally forgot they were remaking it for consoles and handhelds. I'd hold off for that then, for sure, because they'll do a lot of rebalancing and new items. The visuals for that remake look beautiful too, they're going for a GBA pixelart look with it.

Oh, wow! I didn't know this. I'm sure it'll look superb on Vita's screen.

And now I really ought to download Retro City Rampage...

That's a mock-up though, so it is subject to change. Have a read through this, Edmund McMillen knows what he's talking about.

I read an interpretation of that interview on PushSquare. I must've missed some mention of the demake visuals, though. This is a good thing for me: I'm not a huge fan of things that look like Flash things.

(Though I did enjoy Alien Hominid on the original Xbox a great deal).

The Flash is actually a huge limitation in the PC version. Regardless of how good your system is, because of the fact that Flash engine in Isaac is unoptimised, it frequently lags like hell, which in a game where every hit and dodge counts, is a huge problem.

I picked up the latest indie bundle for this, I was kind of dissapointed, maybe it's just cos I'm bad

Oh, I was the exact same for ages. It clicks eventually, and you find yourself making huge progress. It's definitely not a pick-up-and-play sort of game at first.

With the DLC imminent, I was wondering what people thought of Rebirth, if they've played it?

Played a bit on PS4 and honestly couldn't tell you the difference. It felt like Binding of Isaac I've not exactly played THAT much of either though. Certainly never finished it

Well, it is, at its core. It's just better optimised and has a lot more shit in it. I guess if you don't like the core game, you're not going to get along with Rebirth.

I don't dislike it, I just feel it lacks the purpose of other Roguelikes. The analogue movement is definitely a massive aid.

I came in here thinking I was in the Vita version's topic and was puzzled as to why all my posts had disappeared.

I think there's like three different threads for the Binding of Isaac and its remake.

Funnily enough, the original is getting an update soon, with new super-hard bosses. Surprising considering you'd assume they'd rather you bought Rebirth, but nice to see nonetheless.

It's good to see it's still being supported. Fingers crossed I get on with the remake!

I hope you enjoy it - as I said in the podcast though, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't. It caters to very niche tastes.

Just one question, Jay: does the entire game completely restart each time, with all items lost? I made it to something like floor six before meeting my maker. D:

Yep, unfortunately so! Your next run could have the same items or an entirely different group of items - that's the roguelike aspect of the game.

Ah, I see...

Yeah, the perils of the genre. Definitely takes patience, but it is so rewarding when you finish a run.

I like Isaac as a protagonist, which is remarkable really because that's achieved simply by the opening cinematic and those ace little nightmare sequences between floors.

Yeah, Edmund McMillen has a really nice art style. They're adding more of those nightmare sequences in the upcoming DLC - those have been unchanged since the original.

Have you got Rebirth too, Jay? It all looks really rather lovely, yet still Flash-esque.

Yep! I've 100% both the original and Rebirth. Much prefer Rebirth's art style too - hate the original's going back to it. Thankfully they moved away from the Flash engine too, as it crashed regularly.