Video Game Blog 007: Basement Dungeon

Welcome back to Day 3 of my end of the year wrap up! If you read the previous post, I mentioned getting distracted from my annual Game List by unexpected games. Well, one of those games was The Binding of Isaac, as it released its latest (and final) DLC, Repentance. I was eagerly awaiting this game, as I have the base game and all the previous DLCs (with Repentance there is a total of three) and have logged a lot of hours on them. Needless to say, after release, this was all I played for a couple of weeks, and that set me back on my Game List. (It was worth it, though!)

My roster. (Credit: Edmund McMillen, Nicalis)

The Binding of Isaac is a roguelike game developed by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl. It was originally released for Steam, but was later reprogrammed and re-released for console. I have it on PS4 but have since transferred it to my PS5. The premise of the game is that Isaac has fled his mother and is exploring the dungeon that appears to be under their house. His mother is painfully religious and believes that god has ordered her to kill her son.

Since the game is roguelike, you start from scratch every time you die, but there is some progression in the game in the form of unlockable items and characters. By winning the game in certain ways or with certain characters, you can unlock new items and endings to the game. Certain combinations of items can also unlock things. The main game mode is New Run with three different difficulties. Normal, Hard, or Greed. Greed is actually its own game mode with drastically different game mechanics. There are also Challenges which can grant new unlockables by completing. These are challenging runs with hard-coded items and handicaps to overcome. Daily Challenges are special runs that rotate daily, as the name suggests.

The epic battle against Mom rages on. (Credit: Edmund McMillen, Nicalis)

Every run is different, with different floor layouts, items, monsters, and bosses. Each character has different stats and you can unlock starting items for them to help them in their runs. For instance, Isaac is an average character with balanced stats. Cain starts with a Lucky Foot that raises his luck. He also starts with one less heart than Isaac. Magdalene starts with an extra heart, and you can upgrade her to start with a Yum Heart item that regenerates a heart when charged, and a pill to refill her health once.

There are a ton of items in this game. (Credit: Edmund McMillen, Nicalis)

The main method of attacking in the game is through your tears. (Although Azazel vomits blood.) Your tears can be modified by power-up items, increasing the firing rate and damage, and adding status effects. Three major consumables in the game are coins, bombs and keys. Coins are used for purchasing items in the shops or for putting in the donation machine. You use the bombs to blow holes in the walls and damage enemies. And the keys are used to unlock rooms and chests. You can gain various types of hearts to upgrade your health. You can also have a held item, referred to as a trinket, that could be beneficial or harmful. (Picking up a new one replaces your current trinket.) There are charged items that recharge with batteries or by completing rooms in the dungeon. Single-use items like pills or tarot cards can help in various ways as well. Isaac can gain companions that help in battle.

There is a huge number of items in the game. Over 900 with all the DLC. Some are great, some are better when used in conjunction with other items, and some are just plain harmful and make the run much more difficult. Some items change the character’s appearance.

This game is not for the faint of heart. (Credit: Edmund McMillen, Nicalis)

As you work your way through a floor to find the boss, there are many different events you can encounter. There are mini bosses, shops, treasure rooms, sacrifice rooms, and more. To do a post breaking down everything in the game would take too long, so just know that I’m giving you a very abbreviated version of what you can find.

The main objective when the game begins is to defeat Mom. After that is done, the game increases in difficulty, adding a second final boss in Mom’s Heart. As you continue to progress, secret bosses and floors are added, more difficult mini bosses and enemies are encountered, and new pick-ups are unlocked. The game expands as you play, basically.

This was a really good run. (Credit: Edmund McMillen, Nicalis)

I feel like I need to include a word of warning. This game is not for everyone. First off, it can be extremely difficult, and the further you progress the more difficult it becomes. (Especially if you’re trying to unlock everything.) Secondly, the content may not be to everyone’s liking. (The concept of the game, the potty humor, the blood and gore, etc.)

Some runs fizzle pretty quickly, others are drastically better. It all depends on your items and the choices you make. In some situations your character can become Godlike and sail through the game. A good example is one of my most recent runs, playing as Magdalene. Utilizing my Yum Heart and Full Health pill, I used the Sacrifice room enough times to randomly get teleported to an Angel room, which gave me some sweet buffs and a companion. I got a holy crown, angel wings, and an angel companion. As I continued playing through, I developed laser powers, nearly maxed out my attack, kept getting more health, and got to an optional boss I’d never reached before. This was also the run that I unlocked Samson. I had been trying to unlock Samson since I got the game two years ago. To do this you have to beat two consecutive floors without taking any damage. I could not do this no matter how or what I tried. But this day everything was on my side. After reaching the angel room I blasted through the next two floors without realizing I took no damage until I got the unlock notification. I also went on to win the run and unlocked a new ending and other stuff.

My stats. (Credit: Edmund McMillen, Nicalis)

When you have the base game and all the DLCs, there is a massive amount of unlockable content. Some of it has very involved unlock criteria. I’m under no illusion that I will ever unlock everything in the game. (Greedier mode is hard and the Tainted Characters have insane unlocking requirements.) But I’ll see what I can do.

So far here are my stats in the game:

Characters: 10 out of 34. (This is including the Tainted Characters, which are dark versions of the base characters.)

Items: I have gathered 407 items out of 900+.

Secrets: I have unlocked 104 of 637 secrets

Endings: I have 12 endings so far. There are 23 in total (including the Epilogue and Final Ending.)

Miscellaneous: I have defeated Mom’s Heart 8 times. I have beaten Greed Mode once. I have yet to complete Greedier Mode or defeat Ultra Greed. I have been through Sheol and the Cathedral once each, defeating those bosses. (I won’t give away who they are, but one of them is pictured in a screenshot.) I have one piece of the Negative and have unlocked the Champion bosses.

This game gets crazy. (Credit: Edmund McMillen, Nicalis)

So, to sum up, while The Binding of Isaac may not be for everyone, I find it very enjoyable. I tend to put it on for a few runs here and there. I go in spurts where I will play it every day and then not touch it for a couple of months. Those are the kinds of games I’ve been gravitating towards lately as my schedule gets busier. There’s always more to find in this game and the randomness that the game is built on keeps it fresh. Every run is different and that can be a fun change of pace. It’s a fun game to put on for an evening and just chill with for a few hours to see how far I can get.

Thank you for reading. If all goes well, I should have another post tomorrow. I’m halfway through my end of year wrap up. See you soon!

Mmmm, treasure. (Credit: Edmund McMillen, Nicalis)