04-23-2015, 04:33 AM | #1 |
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The Binding of Isaac
Where to begin?
By now I'm sure most anyone who plays games probably knows what BoI is. For the uninitiated, it's a top down dungeon crawling rogue-like that draws heavily from the original Legend of Zelda for the NES. The premise is that Isaac's mother hears God tell her to prove her love and faith in Him by killing her child Isaac as he has become corrupted with evil. Isaac escapes his mother by falling through a trap door to his basement. There he must fight all kinds of weird and crude enemies and monstrosities, from flies and spiders to deformed babies, poop monsters, demons, and many, many biblical figures, getting ready to face his mom and what lies beyond. Personally, I played a very small amount of the original game and just couldn't get into it. I had a hard time looking past the aesthetic of how crude the enemy design was, and the seemingly constant toilet related content just really put me off. But when Rebirth, the remake of the original, came out, I gave it another shot. After the first hour or so of playing I had already found myself looking past it and it had become a much easier pill to swallow. The biggest draw to Rebirth is the items. While the original game only has 196 total items, Rebirth has 343 and adds a semi-new feature to them, synergies. Essentially, the main method of combat is shooting your tears at enemies. A large majority of items in the game affect or change your tears in some way, whether it's giving you damage and speed upgrades, the ability to shoot three or four tears at a time, toxic and fear shots, or even creating tears that orbit around you or giant lasers of blood. So, for example, picking up the ability to shoot four tears at once, and also picking up the ability to turn your tears into blood lasers, the two combine and synergize allowing you to shoot four blood lasers. And that's what the main draw is to the game, at least for me. Every time you load up a run, the map is randomly generated, and you'll almost never pick up most of the same items you get in a run twice, so the experience is unique each time you play. On top of that, the games are riddled with unlockables. So many unlockables. Characters, bosses, items... Wanting to see what else the game has in store for you is a large part of replaying too. You (spoilers) defeat Mom the first time on your first run and think that's that? Think again - you haven't even begun to crack the surface of how deep the game goes. There are a ton more levels and bosses to explore and items to unlock that go way beyond Mom, as you soon begin to realize that way more shenanigans are afoot than just the need to avoid Isaac's deranged mom... but that's up to you to solve those mysteries yourself. The original game goes on sale quite frequently on Steam, quite often for under $1. The remake of the original, Rebirth, is $15, and is on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and is coming to Wii U and 3DS this summer (Nintendo finally lightened up on them when they realized it was actually a good game past all of the questionably religious and occult content). I know a few UPNers play Isaac. Figured this would be a thread to share our experiences and OP runs and the like. While we're at it, Afterbirth, the first expansion to Rebirth is coming out this summer, and they recently announced a new item, the friend ball, which is basically a Pokeball. And it looks pretty damn sweet (though truthfully it probably won't be used too often in favor of more powerful items). For me, I'm about to hit the 100 hour mark in Rebirth and just completed The Family Man, Glass Cannon, Cat Got Your Tongue, and got my third ??? boss kill last night. I figure there's no point in spoiler tagging that bit given that any new Isaac players probably have no idea what I'm talking about, so.
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04-23-2015, 05:19 AM | #3 | |
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The only things that carry over between playthroughs are items you unlocked and things such as, say, how many times you've defeated a certain boss, which then unlocks further bosses and levels for future runs. So really the only thing that carries over at all is all of the unlockable content, but that's really the main point of the game, to play and unlock content so you can find and discover the content you unlock in future runs. For instance in Rogue Legacy, which is a rogue-lite, your goal is to explore the castle until you die, use the gold you earn to build buildings and invest in abilities and shops/items for future descendants of your lineage to use, until eventually you're strong enough to use the items your ancestors have managed to unlock for you, to defeat to the entire castle. It's like that. But that said it's still a rogue-like through and through. |
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04-23-2015, 11:34 AM | #4 |
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So yeah, anyone who has me on steam has probably seen me play this game at least once xd; I haven't lately though due to finals and the last unlockables being really annoying to get :'D I do plan on getting Rebirth eventually, but I want to beat the original first! I'm super excited though, Rebirth looks like a ton of fun! BULLET HELLS |
06-15-2015, 11:41 AM | #5 |
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GUESS WHO JUST GOT REBIRTH YEAAAAAAAHHHHH
I'm having a ton of fun so far! Since I haven't unlocked many items yet I keep getting some really good things like the Halo and Stigmata and I'm just like BD My goodness this game runs so much more nicely than the first xd; I've almost logged 200 hours in that one though, only got the eternal achievements left to do? Which sucks, because otherwise I think I would have 100% everything by now OTL Apparently there's a sort of multiplayer co-op mode where the second player takes the form of a baby familiar? Deo if you're reading this lemme know if you've done that :v |
06-16-2015, 07:44 PM | #6 |
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Yay! Awesome! \o/
Yeah so the small baby co-op is unfortunately local only so you can only play if someone else has a controller hooked up to the PC I believe. There's a multitude of different ways to unlock different co-op babies including beating Mom's Heart on Hard with each character, and each baby has a different special ability or can fire special types of tears. I've never played it, but I've watched Northernlion and his wife play Co-Op. Halo is a REALLY good item, I'm pretty sure it and Magic Mushroom are the best upgrade items in the game. Rebirth has a crazy ton of secrets to be had and found, so I really hope you enjoy your time with it. The amount of content is utterly insane. You'll easily be able to sink 250+ hours into it. What do you think about item synergies so far? Have any really good ones yet? |
06-16-2015, 09:04 PM | #7 |
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Ooh, I guess I need to buy a controller then! I'd like to have my brother co-op with me~ Hard mode is something I'm not going to be doing for a long while though xd;
Oh god yeah the halo is amazing. Having unlocked more things now it's been harder to get better items, but it's always cool finding something that didn't exist in the first game! I totally believe I'll get over the 200 hr mark easy *nod* I really love how the items have more synergies with each other! Spoon Bender just became that much more awesome with Brimstone and Technologies 1/2 \o/ And speaking of Brimstone, getting that with the Orbiting tears item made me super happy because now I could have the RING OF DEATH and destroy everything! I'm looking forward to when I unlock the Ludovico Technique and have fun with that~ |
07-06-2015, 02:19 PM | #8 |
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This is basically all I do during my spare time xd;
It's been about 3 weeks since my last post, and now I can say I've finished all the challenges! \o/
They were for the most part pretty easy! Solar System was one my first ones completed and that probably took the most tries, along with Suicide King. Cat Got Your Tongue was my last one to do, and I completed that one a few minutes before making this post~ Beans! was fun! And Slow Roll is one of my faves just because of how EASY it is~ Now that the challenges are done, my next goal is to beat everything with everyone on normal mode ;~; Haven't unlocked the Lost yet, but I'm also not looking forward to playing as Eve or Blue Baby :x |
07-12-2015, 05:28 AM | #9 |
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Have gotten this for my Vita recently. Dr. Fetus + Ipecac is pretty damn interesting - your bombs explode on contact and become poisonous, and it seems you become immune to recoil provided it's not damaged a foe? It's weird.
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12-07-2015, 04:09 PM | #11 |
Ducks gonna duck
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Oh my God Daisy HOW
HOW HOW |
12-07-2015, 04:11 PM | #12 |
a quick fly cuppa
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You're missing Mega Satan.
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12-07-2015, 05:00 PM | #13 |
Sarasaland represent!
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I'll probs get Afterbirth after finals *nod*
I HAVE NO IDEA I JUST HAD REALLY GOOD LUCK I CAN'T BELIEVE IT EITHER
Aw poops, you're right! Fortunately for me, Rebirth by itself doesn't have any rewards for beating Mega Satan so to me I still beat it \o/ |
12-07-2015, 05:40 PM | #14 |
Ducks gonna duck
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 2,824
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EXPLAIN
EXPLAIIIIIIIIIIN |
12-07-2015, 06:07 PM | #15 |
a quick fly cuppa
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We'll see how far luck gets you when you try and 100% Afterbirth, especially given the first time you go up against Hush.
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12-07-2015, 06:30 PM | #16 |
Sarasaland represent!
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I totally played a normal mode run with Azazel just to make my streak positive again
FFFF I dunno!! I got all the way to the Lamb with pretty subpar damage but I made up for it by having Holy Mantle and the Book of Shadows, but I also had Cricket's Body and Flaming Tears so LOTS OF EXPLOSIONS. When I fought the Lamb he was so nice and did more of the easier to dodge moves!
Boss Rush I went in with Mom's Knife, some orbitals and pretty good damage and said "F IT I WILL FACE GOD AND WALK BACKWARDS INTO HELL" and SOMEHOW I MADE IT IDK MAN I know, I'm not looking forward to Hush or Ultra Greed based on some videos of Afterbirth I watched :< |
01-30-2016, 05:51 PM | #17 |
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Beating Mega Satan with Maggie and Blue Baby took so many tries for some reason?? smh
Here's my progress in Afterbirth so far! The bf gave it to me as a Christmas present~ (caution: spoilered because it's a bit long)
Spoiler: show So yeah! All I have left is the Lost and the Keeper once I unlock him, but because FUCK GREED AND HIS MACHINE I have no idea how long it'll take! Afterbirth is super fun, though I also still have to finish all the challenges fffff |
01-31-2016, 05:57 AM | #18 |
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I fought Hush for the first time last night. Considering I had Tech X, Mom's Knife and Infamy, I didn't struggle too much, winning the run with Blue Baby. Though I do wish I'd been able to continue to the Cathedral... I need to unlock the D6 on this file damn it.
EDIT: Did it. Ipecac/Bob's Brain/Sad Bombs/Crystal Ball/Dark Bum is a beautiful combination. Here's where I share the most broken item in the game in my opinion: Sack Head. God damn Sack Head is honestly TOO good for the price. It's a better Contract from Below/Humbling Bundle that synergises well with them and provides you with far more consumables, battery charges and cards than you could ever possibly need. It's amazing. Last edited by SoS; 01-31-2016 at 08:33 AM. |
02-07-2016, 05:56 PM | #19 |
Sarasaland represent!
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Incubus MVP
THE BRAINS!!! CHALLENGE CAN SUUUUUUUUUUUUCK IT
AND WITH THAT I'M FINISHED WITH ALL THE CHALLENGES NOW TO FILL UP THE DAMN GREED MACHINE TO GET THE LOST TO START WITH THE HOLY MANTLE SEE Y'ALL IN 2017 |
02-09-2016, 02:24 PM | #20 |
Ducks gonna duck
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 2,824
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ARE YOU SAYING THE AFTERBIRTH CHALLENGES ARE WORSE THAN REBIRTH BECAUSE FUCK
SOLAR SYSTEM SUICIDE KING WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY |
02-09-2016, 03:33 PM | #21 | |
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Quote:
The rest of them are somewhat okay! The Blue Bomber one was pretty hard at first, but now that I know what to do it's actually kinda fun! The same went for Solar System- it took me a ton of tries and I rage quit but then when I came back to it later I cleared it quickly ^^; Fuck Suicide King and Cat Got Your Tongue though, those ones aren't fun at all OTL |
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02-09-2016, 06:29 PM | #22 |
Ducks gonna duck
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BFF and Krampus Head carried me through Cat. Incubus carried through Family Man. I need something to save me in Solar System. Suicide King I have cheesed by getting a red chest on the first floor that teleported me to a Devil Deal with Brimstone.
I have heard... things about Speed. 16 minute Mom's Heart is a complete fuck you without really good opening items. |
02-09-2016, 07:06 PM | #23 |
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If you can get good enough damage, finding Magic Fingers in the store is suuuuuuper helpful. Otherwise try getting Cubes of Meat/bandage ball and sacrifical knife to help you with the damage output but that's really all I got xd;
Speed is really intimidating at first, when I first played I didn't even know about the 16 minute time limit :x I don't remember how I did it, but the Emperor Card is easily the best consumable to look for, especially if you get hit with floor curses OTL |
02-10-2016, 07:18 AM | #24 |
Ducks gonna duck
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Oh god curse of the lost would be such a fuck you you lose... This strikes me as poorly designed.
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