The Binding of Isaac, a journey into the depths of procrastination

The Binding of Isaac's unique blend of understated gameplay and artistic sillyness come together to create a long lasting impression.

I know I'm a little bit late to the party but after investing an awful lot of my time into it I thought I would share my opinion of The Binding of Isaac.

So, I've spent more time than I would care to admit with Isaac and I am still nowhere near done with it. The game stands apart in a huge number of ways, there isn't another game like it.

Yes, that is 90 hours, ninety!

The thing it does best is the most esoteric of attributes, it makes you want more. The first outing since Super Meat Boy from Team Meat designer Edmund McMillen is a slow burn. When you first start out the game is borderline incomprehensible and infuriatingly difficult but it just gives you enough to want pick yourself up, dust yourself off, grit your teeth and try again.

I had so much fun fighting against the game to try and force it to show me its secrets. I don't particularly care for the themes and concepts explored in the game. If anything I found them more of a turn off than turn on, the art style is a little on the nose and if anything detracts from the core of the game by being controversial. The aesthetics are strong despite adding an additional layer to penetrate before you can begin to really enjoy it and although not to my taste, I wouldn't hold a grudge over them. 

Enjoy it you will! Once you get past the barriers to entry, as plentiful as they are, you will find that an extremely strong game lies underneath. Isaac is just ridiculously fun, the same tightness of control, focus of concept and punishing difficulty that made Super Meat Boy so addictive is reborn. 

The different characters add a unexpected
level of nuance to the game.

Isaac is to Zelda what Meat Boy was to Mario. The developers have absolutely understood what made the original Legend of Zelda so good, the ability to explore and discover all sorts of madness and nonsense populates the games world is so compelling you take the pain of the restarting. The horrible roguelike trope of "fuck you and all your progress" punishing your slightest mistake sucks you in further. All the difficulty in the world of course would make no odds without the iv that slowly drips all of the wonders the world is filled with. This is exactly what made the exploration and the adventure we took with Link so compelling. The slow and methodical nature you need to adopt to try and discover what is going on in the game is incredibly rewarding. Why there is a room with spikes in the middle and nothing else, why the doesn't the sword door open every time you pass it and how do I beat that guy who spits flies at you are questions that you will scream at the computer time and time again after dying at the hands of a spider on floor 1.

I really, really hate this guy.

Isaac is a perfect homage to all the games it is influenced by, understanding exactly what made the original experience good and focusing on this purity allows them to create a distilled pure version of what made those games so special. The developers seem to understand what people loved about Nintendo games better than Nintendo do.

The way the game is built lets you continue to explore new deeper levels and fight progressively more difficult final bosses as the player beats the game over and over, with the game simply becoming “harder” once the player has beaten it enough times. The great balance between gameplay and difficulty allows the game to always be balanced as the player improves, increasing its longevity.

The various items really make you feel powerful.

The multitude of pickups in the game make the gameplay really varied keeping it feeling fresh for as long as you want to keep playing. The random nature of drops also adds to that feeling of, "just one more go". The transformation that poor Isaac goes through as he picks up a number of bizarre items throughout the dungeon is not only genuinely funny but also helps you feel really powerful. Some combinations (The Mulligan and Technology 2 being my favourite) are so powerful that you will be able to tear through anything stood in your way. This is super satisfying as you can take revenge on any of the bosses with your own army of flies or with a laser than fills half the screen. This is very cathartic and the promise of the chance of picking up one of those magical combos keeps you coming back for more. 

The Binding of Isaac is a cut above the rest of the competition in terms of focus, clarity of vision and just sheer fun. It's a must play for anyone who likes fun and video games! It's a bargain at ten times the price, I can't name any AAA game in the last 2 years I have spent half the time with that I have with Isaac or one I've had half as much fun with.