The Binding of Isaac (a game from Team Meat's McMullen)

Wow, I think my death counter is dead.

It's stuck at 864 deaths.

Ouch. Either you've had a horrible losing streak, or you've been playing the Lost.

My own worst streak is somewhere in the neighborhood of 67-69 deaths in a goddamn row, which finally got broken today with an Isaac that got Brimstone from the Fallen and Sacred Heart from an Angel Room (one I had to reroll a Holy Water for with the D6, but whatever) which had the effect of turning the Devil Cannon into a homing beam of death that could easily clear rooms, along with a motley collection of buddies including one that gave me half a red heart on completion of many rooms. I got Guppy's Paw during my run in the Womb, only for both fucking levels of it AND THE FUCKING CATHEDRAL to give me the fucking CURSE OF THE UNKNOWN, meaning I could not see my goddamn health bar at all. Thankfully I had enough soul hearts and enough red hearts to actually survive the goddamn trip, otherwise I think I would have gotten fucking apoplexy.

When I got to the Chest, I had four red hearts and about three to four soul hearts, so I converted enough of them into soul hearts to get me through the run. I was running on pure Determinator level fury, and I made up my mind that THIS would be the run that ended the streak. Thankfully, no Adversaries showed up to fuck me running (I absolutely HATE those fuckers, as I have lost more runs to their fucking homing Brimstone than is really conducive to my sanity — it's especially painful if you have Dead Cat and lose many if not all your lives to them), and the only encounter that seriously threatened to end my run were those two fucking Bloats. When I fought the Blue Baby, I relied on the homing Brimstone and the Lost Contact effect to shield me from his bullets as I whittled the little fucker down before he finally went kaput.

edited 24th Aug '16 7:04:41 AM by Dravencour

Wow... People really treat Rebirth like it's the only version of the game that would ever exist, don't they? I'm still playing the original in an attempt to get Judas' Tongue and Guppy State.

I still haven't gotten to Psycho-Mom yet in the original Isaac. I've gotten as far as the Depths/Necropolis, but RNGesus still hates my guts. The last time I went through was on a Brimstone run, but Brimstone in the original takes its sweet fucking time to load compared to Rebirth, and I didn't have anything in the way of damage items, which doomed me in that fucking red Globin room which gave me absolutely no room to dodge or maneuver (which is VITAL when you only have one heart due to the Dead Cat).

edited 24th Aug '16 7:31:07 PM by Dravencour

Oh yeah, that's true. Brimstone sucks in the original. I usually avoid it.

So after loading up Afterbirth and going through some absolute nailbiters of Boss Rush runs, I've beaten one of the two big Bonus Bosses of the DLC. My first Devil Room saw me getting Brimstone and Abaddon. I wasn't really doing all that much damage due to not getting very many damage items, but things didn't really get going until I got my hands on Tammy's Head, which is a fucking room clearer on most rooms, and can even oneshot most bosses. I also got my hands on Gimpy and Dark Bum, meaning I was well stocked with Soul Hearts. I didn't blow through the main sequence fast enough to unlock the Boss Rush, but the two levels of the Womb and It Lives went down pretty quickly with Tammy's Head, which opened up the Blue Womb.

I've only fought Hush several times in my runs on Afterbirth, and save for a seeded run which gave me Ludovico Technique which I ran with Azazel, I was not successful in taking the big guy down. Until now. After getting two major damage items in Steven (the one that mainly gives you damage instead of a psychic buddy) and Blood of the Martyr, and a well-placed Thin Mushroom (which because of God's Flesh and Magic Mushroom was enough to unlock Fun Guy). So with all that plus Little Brimstone, I was ready to do battle. Little Hush didn't put up much of a fight despite my relatively low damage, and it was on to the real Hush. I've fought Hush enough times to get used to his bullet hell style patterns, and though I blew Tammy's Head relatively quickly, I turned out not to need it, as between my Brimstone barrages, my Soul Hearts and my skill in dodging what this guy had to offer, the only trouble I really had was with the beams he threw at me as he was getting low. It helps that Brimstone is very effective against the minions he threw at me at several points during the battle. So after doing for him for real this time, I jumped into the chest for the DLC's final ending, which was sad as all get out.

I'm not sure what Isaac will face once Afterbirth+ is out, or if the poor kid will ever be truly free of the nightmare once everything is said and done.

edited 18th Oct '16 11:37:45 PM by Dravencour

So, the Antibirth mod has been out for a few days now. I haven't gotten around to play it yet, but watched some footage, and it seems to be everything people disappointed with Afterbirth (or even some aspects of Rebirth itself) were hoping for. Less "more of the same" feature bloat, more meaningful changes that have an actual impact on how the game plays. The new alternate areas aren't just themed reskins, but come with their own new mechanics and hazards, and play much more strongly into the Zelda dungeon aspect of the game. Oh, and guess what - the new music is written in the style of Danny Baranowsky's original BOI soundtrack, which should please people who didn't like Rebirth's tunes.

As of the summer WINTER sale, I now own Rebirth.

Maybe I should read up on what all the items do, but on the other hand I've already killed myself with a tarot card.
Something tells me that the learning experience is just as much a part of the fun as the dying experience is.

edited 27th Dec '16 1:46:54 PM by NesClassic

Yup. Reading up on items is gonna make the experience less enjoyable, I feel. Of course, some things might require a guide, because this is a convoluted rogue-lite nonetheless, but it's funnier to just have a go at it.

My preference is to go blind when I find a new item, then check the wiki after the run.

I'll check the wiki whenever I can't figure an item out, then. Already I've had to look up how spacebar items work and what batteries do, but that's about it.

I also accidentally stumbled across the Bible instakilling Mom but that's about it. On that note, I made it to Mom! Bob's Brain managed to carry me all the way through the Depths on my first go... but wound up killing me during the Mom fight. But hey, at least I made it there~!

Bob's Brain is generally one of those items you'll want to avoid in future runs.

Unless you get Kamikaze to go with it.

Pyromaniac is the one you want with that.

Whoops, right. Somehow confused the two.

It's been a while, okay?!

Pyromaniac is pretty great in general. If you luck out and get bomb upgrades, all the better. Dr. Fetus + Pyromaniac is the best.

Oh ho ho, yes. I've had that combo before, plus Pyromaniac + Kamikaze which is even better. Instant health whenever you want it.

And it also turns Satan's second phase into a laughingstock since his stomps count as explosive damage.

edited 28th Dec '16 11:11:50 AM by Anomalocaris20

Well; in the time since my last post I've managed to unlock Magdalene, Lazarus, Cain, Eve, and Samson.

I've also managed to beat Mom twice! The first time I wound up using the instant kill method mentioned above, but the second time I was loaded on devil deals to the point where it was an effortless fight. (I promptly died in Womb I since I was out of red hearts and thus ways to heal.)

As of my most recent attempt to make it to the Womb, I have decided to add Monstro's Lung to my list of items that I will never pick up under any circumstances.

Monstro's Lung is actually really good once you get the hang of it, especially if you have some Tears Up boosts and certain other items like Ipecac or Chocolate Milk.

edited 1st Jan '17 10:29:29 AM by Anomalocaris20

(but be super careful in the case of ipecac)

Eh, maybe it is. It's probably in the same boat as the Ludovico Technique where it's only worth getting if you have a good item to pair with it, and is really annoying to work with otherwise.

Side note that I forgot to mention, apparently on the subreddit for The Binding of Isaac Monstro is now a community meme. As soon as I have a decent idea on how to word it I'll go ahead and peg it on the YMMV page.

Monstro's Lung is pretty good on its own if you know what you're doing, but yeah, it's much better paired with items.

On its own it's still a great bosskiller, though.

Gettin' hyped for Afterbirth+. Already got an idea for an item mod.

Wish it would come out already.

As for modded items... an item that instantly kills you when picked up!

Many of the Anti-birth items will probably be modded into the game as soon as it launches, the popularity of that rebirth mod is pretty nuts right now.

Update is live!