The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

I have to admit, I was intrigued with this game when I saw a friend of mine playing it, I wish they let me try it out before I bought it as that would've saved me the trouble of buying into its hype with how repetitive and ultimately time wasting it is.

The biggest problem here is that this is essentially a game you're expected to complete in one sitting given how it's a clear throwback to older games that didn't have a save feature. The problem here is that a: there's so many dungeons to explore (not helped with the rgn aspect of the game) and b: there's an intricate story that goes along with the gameplay which is something many older games lacked and thus, made this format excusable back then. Speaking of the story and overall lore, I don't care for it as I find it to be rather distasteful due to the bizarre setup, they both have. Yes I understand the games themes as it's about a cowardly boy standing up to his abusive mother as well as its message about domestic violence and committing evil for what you believe to be the greater good, however playing as a kid who is butt naked because his evil bitch of a mother stripped him of all his possessions only to then hunt him down to kill him all because some deranged voice told her to do so? It's just a concept I find too bizarre to take seriously which admittedly I think is the point due to how the game tends to be tongue in cheek throughout the campaign. All of this would be fine (OK it wouldn’t but let's pretend going forward it is) were the gameplay not so repetitive, seriously all you do is go through each room in a dungeon before coming across a boss battle you have to win to proceed to the next floor. Rinse and repeat until you come across the final boss, although if you die at any point, you have to start from the very beginning. All I can say is that this isn't my idea of fun.

So yeah, this is a highly acclaimed game I don't like, I get why other people do mainly due to its themes, but the story is beyond distasteful, and the gameplay is mind numbingly repetitive for my taste.

It would be absolutely perfect if the developers were more proactive and interested on some QOL changes, except for that, it is an absolute banger.

This is the quintessential roguelite game out there. If you wanna dive into this style of game, if you like challenging games, Binding of Isaac Rebirth is what I recommend. It's not the first roguelite, it's might not even be the best roguelite, but it was the first to really perfect the blueprint for so may other roguelites. A huge amount of enemies and bosses, hidden rooms and treasures, a crushing difficulty curve, and a little bit of luck make this a roguelite you don't wanna pass by.
Furthermore, the story is something I haven't ever seen done before, especially in a video game context.
Probably the only criticism I have with this game is the music. It works, but it could be a lot more standout and exciting. I feel it's a little generic, but the gameplay more than covers up for it.

800.8 hrs on record (682.8 hrs at review time)
What Day is it?

I recently beat all the Rebirth endings (finally lmao), and with having all of the DLC, this is one of the most replayable games I've ever had the pleasure of coming back to every day. There's just something so fun about how chaotic the RNG can be, and how everything ties in to the narrative, and the vibes are simply immaculate. I know this games been out for eight years just about but I swear with the Repentance DLC this has just breathed a new life into it. What a treat it is to play this game for way too long.

The "rebirth" of The Binding of Isaac breathes new life into this game, but with the glaring flaw of a lack of replay-ability with the small item pool and just general low difficulty of this game it makes playing through it a fun breeze, but wins feel less rewarding as winning it what you'd usually be doing, it's more of a surprise if you die.