You may be wondering, "why is this game so popular?" or "Why does everyone play it?" This review will hopefully explain why this game is big/why it got big and why as of this review,. I put in 352 hours so far. First a bit of a history lesson, and then its on to the game itself and its gameplay


This game, although great, did NOT re-invent the rouge like genre, HOWEVER, what it did do was bring that genre into the indie game scene and made rouge likes and rouge lites a more relevant genre these days and made rouge like games "infect" for a lack of better term, the indie game scene.

Not to mention, that, if you pay attention,the game is actually very remincisent of Edmund Macmillan's childhood, this game obviously has a strong religious influence and deffinately gets its basis around the Story of Abraham and the ACTUAL Binding of Isaac, although this is using that story as a way to represent/ interperet Edmund's religious upbringing. As he also grew up around an extreme fundamentalist Christian (For the record I'm Christian too, Catholic Christian precisely, but im not trying to shove my Catholic Christian beliefs down anyone's throats, just talking)

Some may view this game as sacreligious or disturbing, and while I can see where they are coming from with this games obvious strong religious theme, whats ironic is that while Edmund Macmillan doesn't consider himself Christian, he does think there is life after death (I believe in God and Jesus, and people either end up in Heaven or heck, but I digress)

The game the Binding of Isaac doesn't necessarily mock the bible or the story, but it more so is a reflection on how Edmund grew up and if you will, a "what if" or a different interperitation of the story, as a well as an exaggeration on how he grew up,. as previously mentioned


But enough with the history lesson, on to the game

Where this game shines is 4 places-Replayability, Unlockables and Secrets, and Gameplay

Replay Value and Content Variety

With plenty of different characters, hidden chapters (which are more so dungeons) and tons of items at your disposal (sometimes to your aid, sometimes to your detriment) and with this obviously being a rouge like game, every game can vary from how far you get to how much you upgrade yourself and with who you can encounter

With over 400 items by default (meaning the additions via updates and add on content) plus a vibrant addition of more by the community, 12 characters (again with more added) and over 60 bosses (71 total, not counting the seven deadly sins mini bosses) its NO WONDER that this game eats up so much time

It should be noted that each character plays similarly control wise but is different enough that you need to adapt your planning and strategy as you go along

Gameplay

The game plays to the letter in terms of gameplay like an NES Zelda game, but with rouge like elements and its own twists,. It also requires a lot more thinking than you'd intially think (no pun intended). You constantly want to keep moving to avoid getting hurt, wondering if you should sacrifice health to get to an item or a chest, or try your luck blowing up a wall to fnd a hidden room or have enough keys for a treasure room, hoping to hit the jackpot and become crazy powerful, sometimes you feel unstoppable, while others you feel crippled

Secrets and Unlockables

As brought up, there are over 400 items, 71 bosses, and many hidden chapters and characters to come around, some you might get lucky enough to get as you go along, some might seem obvious with what you have to do (ie, maybe defeat a boss to get an item,) while others might have you do some confusing or convoluted things and some items may make you wonder why or how you unlocked them,but this is one of those times where achievments matter, because EVERY achievement is tied to an in game unlock, so getting the achievements is actually something you would want to do, you might even encounter a room you never saw before or a type of special doorway and wonder what kind of secrets are behind that doorway? There's even challenges with custom ones being made by the community to make you jittery as you dash trhough rooms with ease, or make you slam your computer desk as you get sprinkled with a salt shaker after getting screwed over

As great as this game can be, its does have problems, mainly that it (to my knowledge) has NO ONLINE, which it could have benefited from MAJORLY, and also, as mentioned beforehand, some of the unlockables can be convoluted on how to get them (to avoid spoiling the fun tho, unless u don't mind walkthroughs or wikis unlike me, I slowly try to beat the game with each character and each ending)

In conclusion, these are what make the Binding of Isaac (Video Game) what it is,and here's hoping that Nicalis gets that Isaac amiibo out there (an amiibo has been teased for those that don't know)


As a minor note, compared to the original game, this game is easier, but DON'T let that fool you, this games difficulty is all over the place, some runs may be easy to the point where your eyes could be closed and you'd win, while others you won't even make it past the caves

And while on topic, this game actually inspired a game I'm making (also a rouge like dungeon crawler, but a different theme and approach with other inspirations as well)