[Smiling Spectre]

Originally Posted by twillight

What "random modifiers"?

Um, there are several rooms where you can exchange current items for something random. Terribly random. Not my sort of gamble, but sometimes, when you have extremely sucking equip, it works.

Which version do you play? Because your explanation badly discrepant with what I can see.

Steam has:
Binding of Isaac - original (actually, like, 3rd incarnation of original, with twice rebuilded engine).

BoS: Rebirth. New engine, new "big" rooms, rebalanced items, ton of new stuff.

BoS:R - Afterbirth. Technically, add-on to second one, but it heavily rebalanced game and add many random/special stuff. Not recommended for novices.

But any of them not exactly matches your description.

9 out of 10 times I get small rooms with hordes of enemies, total lack of healing, and to be honest the design of enemies/rooms are entirely lacking, blurring things like "ye,you do stuff, whatever". Entirely lack feeling of progress.

Um, no. Initially you have quite low amount of enemies, and every level rises difficulty slightly more. Things become really struggling somewhere about L10 and up. And I have terrible reflexes, mind you.

And there are _a lot_ of healing. Red hearts replenish a life, and omnipresent. Blue hearts works like shield, quite common, and limited to 20, I believe. White hearts works like blue, but can "regen" to full red heart, if not damaged for level. Black hearts the same as blue, but "blown" on destroy, damaging everyone around.

One thing, maybe: game intended initially to play from keyboard - one hand for moving, second for firing. Gamepad, added lately, works perfect with it too. Mouse highly NOT recommended. Too hard to fire.

The fact that the random is also present for the story told in the cutseensmakes the whole thing a joke.

It's not story. It's "lore", maybe. Story is almost non-existant, if not count intro movie and boss wins. (_Real_ bosses, I mean. At the end of walkthru).

You get no description of any of the 1,000 items makes them a big middle-finger, and the item-effect is like not even present.

Umm, no. In-game encyclopedia have short description of every equip item you found. _After_ you wear it, unfortunately. Active items are described too, but more cryptic way. Pills are randomized, so no description. Tarot is fixed, but haven't proper description anyway - memorize or write it. Jingamabobs gives the same subtle effect each time, but it's supposed that you'll figure effect by yourself (or check wiki .

Anyway, you can change everything, except equip, almost anytime, so it's not really too bad.

Sure, 1:100 chance for a +1 lifebulb item (for one of the unlocks you need to collect these random shits 7 times in 1 game - good luck with that), but the others are just nothing.

Um, I haven't game in hand (it's at home, and I am at work), but I am positively sure that it is about metric ton of +1 life. And why all this weapons, effects, shields, etc. you treat as "just nothing" is mystery for me.

Your weapon does not get improved.

Wrong. You can change weapons quite often. And there are a lot positive (and sometimes negative) modifiers from equip. Try to press Esc during game. It shows attack-damage-speed of character, and I am sure, you'll found how exactly it changes from different equip.

The active items are just plain shit (I saw 1, and only 1 useful stuff, it revealed the map of the level, still no help for fighting).

Um, "active" items are right from weapon in original, upper-left corner in Rebirth, they charged for each won room, right? From memory I can remember time-limited hero transformation, free lives, free tarot card, randomized teleportation, bombs... No, I cannot remember _totally_ useless items, even if half of them are niche using, or not very useful due randomization of effect.

The consumables are at leas half the times are only cosmetics, and most didn't even made into the game's wiki they are such shit.

Yes, as I remember, consumables falls either in pill category (terribly random, and randomized each game) or tarot (not in wiki). Tarot is very useful, actually - if you know what cards do.

So the enemies/rooms don't differ, you don't get stronger, and by conept everything is a pile of shit. Did I miss anything?

Looks like you missed half of this shit.

1. Every level has guaranteed 3 special rooms: free upgrade/weapon (beyond locked door though); store where you can buy something for coins; and boss room (another guaranteed upgrade/weapon). So you most probably will rise in power with each level. There is also often (maybe always) hidden room with additional prize, but if you haven't full map upgrade, you can only guess it's position.

2. Bombs broke stones. Some stones (specifically marked) have prizes and chests. Your fire kills fires (unintuitive, I know), and destroys shit - there can be prizes here too. You can try to blow up other things too, and see for effects...

Youget 3 lifebulbs,

Actually, if you unlocked different characters, you can get more than 3 lifes...

and you have to pass 13+ times this unfair pile of crap, like the intention was to make Ghosts'n'Goblins 2!

Um, basically, yes, intention of almost every roguelike is finish the game in one pass. And _accumulating_ stuff (that BoI does) actually is step back, to mainstream...

Anyway, checking side-by-side original BoI and Rebirth, I think, you'll be happier with Rebirth. It's much more forgiving, and gives you more, right from the start. It have more modifiers too and streamlined the weapon.