This game is...

Aww, who am I kidding? You already know what this game is. This has been on the top 10 list of most-played Steam games since it came out. Chances are you've already played it for at least 20 hours, watched Youtubers play it, or both. Actually, what are you even doing here? Are you looking at reviews for games you've already played, and already have a strong opinion about, just for a sense of validation? Shame. Shame on you. You're grounded. Go back to the basement.

But for the record, I think this game is absolutely fantastic. Improves on the previous game in pratically every way. It's so great to play Isaac without the Flash lag, and all the new items and secrets are wonderful to discover. If the original Isaac and Wrath of the Lamb were a 9.0, this is a 9.8.

Why not 10? Well, personally, I feel it loses some teeny tiny points for some very minor things:

- The new music. Disagree if you want -- and that's fine, I know a lot of people adore the new music -- but personally, I feel it's just not as good as Danny B's soundtrack. Isaac is a very repetitive game -- It's a game where you fight the same enemies in the same environments dozens of times -- and I feel repetitive games deserve catchy soundtracks. Rebirth's music is not catchy and not memorable, but it's moody, creepy, atmospheric, and sometimes downright innovative, but very much resembles the soundtrack to a horror movie rather than the pulse-pounding action game that this is. It does have much higher production values than the original, and the extra music layer that kicks in during tough rooms is a great touch, but as much as it’s grown on me, I still find myself missing the old soundtrack too much. In fact, I’d probably throw money at a DLC that adds the old music back in some form.

- The sprite graphics. All the sprites in this game are not pixel art -- they're actually still the same old flash vectors, but now they have aliased pixels traced over them, making them look low-res. Just... Why?? Why fix what's not broken? Well, I kind of know the answer. It was Ed McMillen's original vision for the game to have pixel graphics, and he eventually came to loathe even looking at the original graphics because he felt they were rushed. I can respect that. But the original graphics had CHARM, dammit. The enemies were deceptively cute, and it was awesome. I loved looking at them. And besides, I always felt that the Binding of Isaac was the ultimate pinnacle of the gross, gory, shocking, irreverent wave of Flash animations that flooded Newgrounds and the internet in the 00's, and Isaac's vector art fit that role so perfectly. Yeah, I know there's a filter you can turn on, but it makes the graphics even worse. At any rate, the particles, backgrounds, effects, and stunning cutscenes more than make up for it in the graphics department, so I don't complain too loudly.

- The game is very, very, very easy. Though I can't tell how much of that is just my skill after having Platinum God'd the original game. But with all the great new items, it seems that Rebirth is less about skill and more about consistently becoming overpowered, and it gives you ample opportunities to do so. I feel like I can always tell if a run is won or lost by the end of the very first level, whereas in the original Isaac I had to stick around for a while before I could tell if a run had potential, because there weren't enough game breakers that you were likely to find one in the first item room and then a good devil deal to synergize with it. But again, I don't complain loudly because repeatedly becoming a god -- especially a different kind of god each time -- is a blast, so maybe this was the direction the game should have taken in the end.

After a few arguable nitpicks, this is still nearly a 10/10 game in my book. But there’s no need to listen to me! Isaac is so ubiquitous now that you either already own it, or know whether or not you want it. Again, why are you even reading reviews? Back to the basement with you!

This game is... Aww, who am I kidding? You already know what this game is. This has been on the top 10 list of most-played Steam games since it came out. Chances are you've already played it for at least 20 hours, watched Youtubers play it, or both. Actually, what are you even doing here? Are you looking at reviews for games you've already played, and already have a strong opinion about, just for a sense of validation? Shame. Shame on you. You're grounded. Go back to the basement. But for the record, I think this game is absolutely fantastic. Improves on the previous game in pratically every way. It's so great to play Isaac without the Flash lag, and all the new items and secrets are wonderful to discover. If the original Isaac and Wrath of the Lamb were a 9.0, this is a 9.8. Why not 10? Well, personally, I feel it loses some teeny tiny points for some very minor things: - The new music. Disagree if you want -- and that's fine, I know a lot of people adore the new music -- but personally, I feel it's just not as good as Danny B's soundtrack. Isaac is a very repetitive game -- It's a game where you fight the same enemies in the same environments dozens of times -- and I feel repetitive games deserve catchy soundtracks. Rebirth's music is not catchy and not memorable, but it's moody, creepy, atmospheric, and sometimes downright innovative, but very much resembles the soundtrack to a horror movie rather than the pulse-pounding action game that this is. It does have much higher production values than the original, and the extra music layer that kicks in during tough rooms is a great touch, but as much as it’s grown on me, I still find myself missing the old soundtrack too much. In fact, I’d probably throw money at a DLC that adds the old music back in some form. - The sprite graphics. All the sprites in this game are not pixel art -- they're actually still the same old flash vectors, but now they have aliased pixels traced over them, making them look low-res. Just... Why?? Why fix what's not broken? Well, I kind of know the answer. It was Ed McMillen's original vision for the game to have pixel graphics, and he eventually came to loathe even looking at the original graphics because he felt they were rushed. I can respect that. But the original graphics had CHARM, dammit. The enemies were deceptively cute, and it was awesome. I loved looking at them. And besides, I always felt that the Binding of Isaac was the ultimate pinnacle of the gross, gory, shocking, irreverent wave of Flash animations that flooded Newgrounds and the internet in the 00's, and Isaac's vector art fit that role so perfectly. Yeah, I know there's a filter you can turn on, but it makes the graphics even worse. At any rate, the particles, backgrounds, effects, and stunning cutscenes more than make up for it in the graphics department, so I don't complain too loudly. - The game is very, very, very easy. Though I can't tell how much of that is just my skill after having Platinum God'd the original game. But with all the great new items, it seems that Rebirth is less about skill and more about consistently becoming overpowered, and it gives you ample opportunities to do so. I feel like I can always tell if a run is won or lost by the end of the very first level, whereas in the original Isaac I had to stick around for a while before I could tell if a run had potential, because there weren't enough game breakers that you were likely to find one in the first item room and then a good devil deal to synergize with it. But again, I don't complain loudly because repeatedly becoming a god -- especially a different kind of god each time -- is a blast, so maybe this was the direction the game should have taken in the end. After a few arguable nitpicks, this is still nearly a 10/10 game in my book. But there’s no need to listen to me! Isaac is so ubiquitous now that you either already own it, or know whether or not you want it. Again, why are you even reading reviews? Back to the basement with you!