Daily Review: The Binding of Isaac

Daily Review

The Binding of Isaac

System: PC (Steam)
Status: Beaten
Currently: Beat the game for the first time with Isaac, know I still have way more to go.

So my friend recommended this to me a while back, but I didn't pick it up till the summer sale had it and the DLC for cheap. Picked it up today, and it was refreshing to play a rogue-like again. That is basically what this is after all, sort of a Legend of Zelda / Twin Stick Shooter / Rogue-like hybrid. Very fun, and at the same time difficult, but never unfairly so, which is a good balance to strike. The unlockables keep coming at a steady pace, so you're getting new items or characters for the dungeon consistently, and each time you beat it you unlock something new.

The gameplay is solid, though it takes a bit to get used to 'nudging' your bullets off center with movement. There's also little description for the items, so you either have to hit up the wikia or figure out what they do through trial and error (and some you really can't). Still, it is based on rogue-likes, so that is to happen, the trial and error gameplay and finding a style that fits you is part of the genre.

The main thing that might (and will in the case of Nintendo considering it for the DS and turning it down) turn people off is the visuals and the story. Piles of feces, tortured children, gushing blood, bosses that are taken from rather unsanitary body parts, the whole thing feels very juvenile even if most of the story and characters are biblical references. You can see the fact that the designers were doing flash on Newgrounds before this, it shows through easily in the game. The game itself is still coded in flash, so I had some slowdown issues for an otherwise pretty mundane game, and I know others have issues with making it look pretty and not have slowdown, even on high end PCs. I still recommend playing it full screen with as high of a resolution as you can, it makes the game play easier when you can see the bullets.