The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth

is almost finished. No, actually, for real this time. Two years after it’s announcement, five years after Afterbirth+ and almost a decade after the game’s flash debut, Edmund McMillen reckons The Binding Of Isaac: Repentance is just shy of finished – closing out the roguelike with one final DLC that promises a sequel-scale faecal basement adventure.

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AGDQ is over for another year, leaving us with hundreds of hours of fantastic speedrunning VODs to keep us entertained for weeks. I’ve had a browse through some of the best (and also sat at home binging them because I love me a good speedrun), and found a few more essential runs that I’d be foolish not to point everyone to.

Before we get to that though, the real news: Awesome Games Done Quick 2020 raised $3,155,199.56 (about 2.3 million) for the Prevent Cancer Foundation!

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By my estimates, roughly seven trillion so-called roguelikes have come out since Edmund McMillan first offered up The Binding Of Isaac back in (oh no) 2011. But you can’t keep McMillan and his naked infant children out of the basement for long. The Legend Of Bum-bo, a strange deckbuilding/match-four mashup painted in cardboard, embarks on its gross-out adventure today.

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Nicalis, an indie developer and publisher best known for games like The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth and Cave Story+, are at the center of a new report alleging mistreatment of its employees and partners. Speaking today with Kotaku, seven developers with links to the indie house have come forward with grievances against the company’s founder and president Tyrone Rodriguez, citing racism, abuse, and exploitation.

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Every year on December 6th, the birthday of former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata (who died in 2015), The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth pays tribute to him and the Nintendo games which inspired Isaac in a special daily challenge run. We get to play as a wee Iwata, clad in his smart suit and clutching the ‘Gamekid’ item, while loot pools are slanted towards many of the items Isaac borrows from Mario and Zelda and whatnot. It’s nice. And then Iwata slaps a fetus on his face, starts wearing a sacrificial goat’s scalp, and… look, it’s still Isaac, okay.

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Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the basement, another expansion for The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth has been announced. Following the small-ish Afterbirth+, which was supposed to be the roguelikelike cry ’em up’s final expansion, The Binding Of Isaac: Repentance will be a big’un: rolling in the wild mod Antibirth, along with new stuff. First released in 2016, Antibirth adds so many new characters and floors and enemies and things that work in different and surprising ways, and feels mighty polished too. As someone still playing Isaac every day, I’m always up for more.

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I settled a ‘Dracula vs. Frankenstein’ debate the other day by referring to the authority on power rankings: Top Trumps cards, where Dracula trounces Frankenstein. Granted the debate was about the books rather than a monsterfight, but it’s still fun to throw fictional folks together to see who’d win a rumble. Enter Blade Strangers, a crossover fighting game released today. Along with pugilists from previous games by developers Studio Saizensen, it draws characters from games including Shovel Knight, The Binding Of Isaac, Azure Striker Gunvolt, and Cave Story. But which is better, a spade-swinging knight or a weeping dead child? There’s only one way to find out: fiiight!

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A party’s not a party until you’ve necked a handful of mystery pills and wept over a poo, I always say, and soon that experience will be available in a more hygienic form. Edmund McMillen, the big man of The Binding Of Isaac, has designed a physical multiplayer card game based on the rad roguelikelike shoot ’em up, and it already smashed its Kickstarter goal. Like the virtual version, The Binding Of Isaac: Four Souls will send players to battle terrible (and often faecal) monsters and nab loot. (more…)

As an avid The Binding Of Isaac player and a fan of absurd disparity in fighting game crossovers, I’m delighted to hear that Isaac has joined the cast of Blade Strangers. Isaac, a murdered child who in his native roguelikelike top-down shooter fights sentient poos by crying on them, will face a roster of heavily-armed crossover characters including Quote, the warbot hero of Cave Story. A bit like watching Butt-Head fight Godzilla on Salty Bet. That said, seeing Isaac in action in the new trailer below, I am surprised by how much of a scrapper the wee guy is. Even if he does cheat by getting his mum to fight for him. (more…)

The fifth and final free ‘Booster Pack’ content update has arrived for The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth‘s Afterbirth+ expansion, bringing a new secret character, new items, new enemies, new room layouts, and heaps more to the roguelikelike cry ’em up. The update fixes a load of longstanding glitches and irritants in Isaac too, bringing back a feeling of polish to a game which has been a bit scrappy since Afterbirth+ in particular. I’m very keen to dive in and check everything out, and especially to unlock the new character. (more…)