The Binding of Isaac

[ratsoalbion]

It’s a whopper. I’ve been playing since PS4 release (four years ago now) and I still don’t have both of the photographs completed.

[hazeredmist]

I reached Mom twice tonight, couldn’t quite get over the line... getting better though touch wood

[hazeredmist]

Got to Mom another couple of times over the weekend, still no kill. My addiction is only growing though...

[dezm0nd]

Thats how it gets ya. Before you know it, Mom will be a walkover

[hazeredmist]

YES! Got a decent build and finally beat “Mom” and got the Epilogue ending & end credits but my Mom Kills is still 0 in the stats, and a shitload more endings are locked. The journey is clearly just beginning. Over the moon, this feels like a massive hurdle.

Having to stop myself from playing more, need sleep...

[Stanshall]

You've opened Pandora's box, my friend. Great work!

[dezm0nd]

Heh yeah, it really does evolve from here. Good work, mate!

[hazeredmist]

Cheers lads! Hold back the champagne though, my mate at work who is obsessed with Isaac and waaaaaay further ahead than me (he'd fit in well here...) has just informed me I haven't actually unlocked anything. I used a seed to repeat the same run I'd just failed as I liked this item I got (Tech X), and I'm told that using a seed means it's not a true kill and explains why I still have 0 as my Mom kills stat... Kinda makes sense that it's like this though so it's cool, I guess you could just use it to learn the run and unlock stuff when that's not really the point. So I won't be using a seed again unless there's any real reason to... But my "streak" shows 1 now rather than -60

I'm just more desperate to get back on it now!

The run I failed, I had it in the palm of my hands but got cocky & lost focus. I went into a room that hurts you when you walk in due to missing another exit, lost a heart in there and when I realised what I'd done I was in the room doomed to have to exit and lose my last half heart. I spent a couple of minutes desperately blowing up the sides of the room to try and find an exit before accepting my fate

[hazeredmist]

Gave this a decent go last night, wondering if I'm doing it wrong. I'm wandering from room to room, killing what's inside, until eventually dying due to lack of hearts. It feels simplistic, random and not that much fun. I like the art style and the sound effects though. Probably played around 45 minutes. Comparisons to Zelda seem way, way off the mark for me (other than the fact you get locked in dungeons)

Hello, former me. Only took 4 years.

Can't stress enough how addicted I am now. I've managed to unlock alt levels without realising it due to beating every boss etc, so my games now more often than not start in the cellar, and there's the catacombs too. A few more unsuccessful but fruitful runs last night, learning new stuff about those levels and enjoying fighting new bosses (widow etc).

I currently have no interest in playing anything else.

[hazeredmist]

YES!!!!!!!! First proper mom kill with no seed, unlocked the womb and tonnes of challenges, absolutely buzzing!

[Stanshall]

Good man! The more you play, the more you'll start to unlock, too, and your runs will be ever crazier. Great stuff.

[hazeredmist]

Aye, I’m just more compelled to keep going now

Checked my playtime - it’s now exceeded my total playtime of Super Mario Odyssey. Madness. If you told me that last year I’d have been ill laughing

[hazeredmist]

Conscious I’m the only active player here so may be my last post on Isaac but I am starting to think after realising this is turning into compulsion, I may need to step away from this game for a bit...

I’m thinking about it way too much, the music is constantly in my head, it’s great escapism but after watching a Theroux doc on crystal meth addicts I laughed and thought I have something similar with Isaac. Not quite as joyless or destructive of course

McMillen hit some kind of formula that if it gets you, Jesus it really, really gets you.

[KSubzero1000]

Conscious I’m the only active player here

Actually, I've been back to it recently as well. My experience is quite the opposite of yours, in fact.

I'm trying to like this game, I really am. I dig the visuals, the tone, the controls, the music..., even the "religious commentary" of sorts. But man, the randomized nature of basically everything is rubbing me the wrong way. I get that it's supposed to be similar to Dark Souls in that it's your knowledge of the systems/items and your personal experience that is meant to be the real "progress", but the bottom line is: "good" runs feel unearned, and "bad" runs feel like a complete waste of time. Skill and strategy barely enter the equation when the next room could either be a one-way ticket to the end boss or a forced restart.

It's funny how people categorize engagement and evaluate playtime, isn't it? When I was knee-deep into DMC4 recently, I have no doubt that most people would have looked at my 6+ hours of failed Bloody Palace runs and thought I was crazy for spending so much time on it without anything to show for it. The difference is, every failure was my failure and not the game arbitrarily refusing to let me pass, which made it significantly easier to accept. Swallow your pride and persevere. Whereas BoI just deflates my enthusiasm with its Wheel of Fortune nonsense.

It's a shame. I bought all DLCs and I'd like nothing more than for it to "click". Alas, hasn't happened yet. I have to force myself to boot it up just to see if I'm gonna get lucky this time around.

[hazeredmist]

Oh that’s cool - I just didn’t want to keep bumping a topic for a game I’m on my lonesome with

Yeah I know what you mean RE the random nature but I think that’s one thing that endears me to it, I do have many runs where I am let down by the first and second gold item rooms and think the run is fucked, but sometimes you’re rewarded for pushing on. The “clicking” did take quite a while for me so I think that is normal.

I was determined to play something else all day for my night time session and I still found myself loading it up and I’ve paused during a potentially great run, hoping to get the next boss kill (my levels are 7+ boss now).

[hazeredmist]

Just killed Mom’s heart. First try! Had a really good build. Literally the day after I tell myself I’m easing off this game, yet still compulsively pick it up. Get in.