ExistentialSolid's "Please Destroy Me" Detour

[ExistentialSolid]

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ~ Update #1

Trophies Unlocked: 

 

Awarded for: having 7+ red hearts at once, having 4+ soul hearts at once, defeating the 6th floor boss for the first time ("Mom"), beating 2 levels in a row without taking damage, beating the basement/cellar without taking damage, beating the Womb for the first time (floors 7 and 8), killing all 7 sins (random mini-bosses), holding 55 pennies at one time, defeating the 8th floor boss 3 times ("Mom's Heart"), and killing Isaac with Lazarus (finishing the Cathedral with Lazarus).

What's been happening? 

As my first clumsy steps into the roguelike abyss of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth come to an end, I've been left with a lot to chew on. With every run, items drop in overwhelming numbers; some buried away in chests, corpses, and debris, others gifted to you by angels or won in a game of chance. I can't help but feel, with every collection of items I amass during a run, that I'm like some deranged chef trying to concoct a hearty soup. Since I tend to pick up every item with little regard for the consequences, my item soups often coalesce into this mystery sludge with effects both beneficial and detrimental mingling together in an ugly sort of harmony.      

Up to this point, I've made due with my mystery sludge and powered through 4 successful runs. I've hardly learned a thing about the ingredients I've haphazardly thrown together or anything about the dungeon I've been wandering, but this blissfully ignorant approach isn't really sustainable in the long term. I mean, just look at what my character looked like after reaching the Cathedral (floor 9 variant) for the first time while chugging 8-floors worth of my item soup:



Nightmare fuel at its finest (pretty damn powerful though!). Eventually, I'll need to carefully consider whether an item is worth adding to my "soup" by consulting the wikis or reading up on some of the mysteries surrounding the dungeon, but I'll save that for another day. 

Anyway, enough of this soup nonsense. Let's get down to business! In my first few days, I've unlocked 6 new characters, beaten the 6-floor variant of the game, and stomped my way through the 8-floor variant of the game 3 separate times. My very first run was a trial by fire as I got used to the game's mechanics but I've recorded it for anyone that likes to watch someone stand around awkwardly performing button checks and roaming around aimlessly. ? 

First Run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy49BYtUQ0o

I've learned little tidbits here and there throughout my runs: certain walls are breakable (but I'm not sure how to identify them), certain darker colored rocks have goodies in them, pills that are littered all over the place typically have the label "???" but each will be identified in future runs if you take the risk and consume them, the in-game store can be upgraded by putting extra pennies into the donation box, being able to hover makes life so much easier, besides the Devil rooms, angel rooms will appear sometimes (although I don't know the conditions for either room type appearing), and items that are dropped after main boss battles seem to always be beneficial (?). There's still a lot to learn, especially if I stop being lazy and check out the wikis, but I'm making progress nonetheless!

Now, there's one last thing I've learned over the past few days that will disappoint some of you: the extent to which Isaac can be save-scummed. After hearing from several of you about the ability to save-scum, I decided to look into it for myself and do some testing. I've found that, at almost any time, you can pause the game and exit to the main menu where your progress in the dungeon will be saved right where you left off (down to the room you were standing in). From here, simply close the game and upload your save to the cloud or to a USB and you can retry from that point as many times as you would like by redownloading that save if a run ends in failure. Essentially, this tactic allows you to save anywhere at almost any time without consequence. This can be used to practice difficult bosses, experiment with different items, and effectively makes the challenge of Isaac largely optional. 

While taking advantage of the ability to save-scum cheapens the challenge, I'm gonna be honest with you all: I find that I'm enjoying myself more when I save-scum my way through this game. Is the challenge dramatically reduced? Yes, but it makes for a really chill experience where you can zone out, put on some music or a podcast, and experiment without risking the run's success on some deceptively cool looking item that actually makes the game way more difficult (I'm looking at you "Tiny Planet" and your unhelpful orbiting tears *shakes fist*):


(https://imgur.com/ejyAw6j - in case the gif fails to load - credit to Syncer for the footage) 

 

While I'm still learning about the game, I've decided to continue taking advantage of save-scumming to give myself more freedom to do whatever and still clear most of my runs (we could all use a break from getting destroyed sometimes, right?). My first run past floor 8 to the Cathedral was achieved during my save-scumming tests and I've filmed one last video for this update containing only the Cathedral (floor 9 variant) for anyone that would like to see the nightmare fuel that was pictured earlier in this update (along with a cool spoilery boss fight).

First Cathedral: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy8POh_TaDU

What's next?
So far, I've finished step 1 on last week's "plan of action" by beating the boss of the 6th floor and have started work on step 2 which is to beat the 8-floor variant of the game 11 times. Doing so will unlock a guaranteed option to progress to either the Cathedral or to Sheol (both of the floor 9 variants) which will be helpful once we get to step 3 of the plan which will require us to beat both of these variants 5 times each. Normally, access to either of these areas is dependent on whether an Angel/Devil room spawns after the boss battle on floor 8.

I'm keeping my goals for the next update simple:

• Beat the game 8 more times to finish step 2
• Dedicate more time to learning about the game (time to study!)
• Optional: Beat Cathedral/Sheol as many times as possible along the way!

The next update will be posted 7 days from now, on March 31st, and will detail any progress I've made towards these goals!

Thanks you for sticking with me and see you all soon! ?

Edited March 24, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[freeman4200]

Sinvicta is the best person to watch play boi.

 

Also you have to take pills every run to find out what they are. Also the walls that break are secret rooms. After playing so much I know exactly where the secret room is every time. Super secret room tho not so much. Pretty sure it's on the right side of where the boss is on the map. Not next to it, but on that side of map. It's usually next to two or 4 rooms. Sometimes next to one but rarely.

 

Also you can use the mirror to change your appearance or use a bonb and blow it up to get pills. Sometimes cards come out.

 

You gotta know which space bar items helps get good items as well. Like the card maker or the pill maker. If you pick one up then all you will pick up will be that type of item, so all cards or all pills.

 

It's crazy how much it takes to plat this game. I was on a roll with greed mode but I stopped playing. I need that holy mantle on the lost. I think I'm at 600 coins donated.

 

Well I'm actually trying to 100% isaac but no pressure luckily. Then there is repentance coming out in 4 days! Not on ps4 tho but Q3 this year the dev said. Can't wait to see what there is in this new add on! Good time to play boi around this time for sure! Gotta get better for this new dlc. Haha. 

 

Can't wait to see how far you'll go by 31st!

 

69th post! Nice!

 

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by freeman4200

[FrediPy_]

Nice progress you did there in only your first week at the game. As someone who has done everything except The Lost, I think I can give you some tips and answer some of the doubts I think you still have:

 

1. The best way of learning what items do is by using them, obviously, and nothing makes you learn more than having an item completely destroy a good run because it doesn't mix well with your build or simply because it is absolute trash. However, there are so many items that you may forget their effect, or you might confuse them with a similar one, or you find yourself in a run so good that you are afraid of picking up anything just in case, potentially missing even better objects. For those things, I recommend you to start using the cheat sheet platinumgod at some point, where you can look for items based on their appearance (colour, shape, object, etc.) and get what it is and what it does. You can check there the effect of runes and cards as well. It comes in handy.

 

2. About Secret Rooms: There are two types of them, regular secret rooms and super secret rooms. You'll slowly get the feel of where they are, but basically you want to know that the regular ones are typically adjacent to three or four rooms, and super ones can be accessed from only one room that tends to be near the floor boss. Also, you want to know that secret rooms shall be accessed from all rooms adjacent to it, so if you have a spot for a potential secret room because it is next to three rooms but one of them has got a pit where the secret door could be opened with a bomb, it can't be it. Look for another potential spot. Oh, and secret rooms are a very useful way of getting into key-locked rooms when you have no keys but lots of bombs.

 

3. Insert as many coins in the Donation Machine as you can: You will get very interesting rewards from it, for example store upgrades that increase the number of available items for you to purchase, and some good items that you'll be able to buy at the store, such as the candles, which do a lot of damage, and the stopwatch (999 coins), that will put every single enemy in slow motion. Donating will sometimes jam the machine, so you can't wait for a very good run with lots of coins to donate, because there's a chance (and it does happen, I'm telling ya) of jamming it after one or two coins. When you get to 999 and get the stopwatch, DON'T put another coin, it will overflow in a very dramatic way (exploding) and with reset the count to zero. Instead, leave it at 999 and bomb it in future runs to get some spare coins when needed.

 

4. Do some of the Challenges to give yourself a break from the regular gameplay, and also in order to unlock some good items. You can look at the wiki and see which unlocks what; some are good, some are not worth it.

 

5. In order to reduce the painful almost-ensured post-game grind (assuming you're not doing the DLCs, with them it is easier), I'm going to give you some wise words: If you ever come across a Book of Revelations in the first or second floor (i.e. in the Basement/Cellar) for the love of God keep it, use it on every floor and try to reach the 8th floor. In short, there are two in-game achievements that are a pain to get, and those require to form a Super Meat Boy and a Bandage Girl, which require four cubes of meat and four balls of bandages respectively in a single run. Those objects are rewarded by the Horseman bosses, meaning that you have to fight four of them (Famine in Basement/Cellar, Pestilence in Caves/Catacombs, etc.). The chances of getting all of them at random is very slim, but the Book of Revelations, by using it on a floor, guarantees a Horseman fight at the end of the floor. The only downside to this strat is that in Utero/Womb I you can get to fight Conquest or Death. The second one will reward you with some meat or bandages, but the first one has a different fixed drop, which would kill your attempt.

 

And that would be everything, I'm looking forward to the next update. Keep at it!

[faint-magician2]

On 12/19/2020 at 8:12 AM, ExistentialSolid said:

Hello everyone! I want to get absolutely destroyed courtesy of some soul-crushingly difficult games.

Wow. You've got... something. I'd say but then I'd get slammed for being insensitive. Suffice it to say that you'd made a great team-up with Lady Chou-Chou's Masochist form. I'm a complete 180 from you - I hate being challenged. Otherwise I'd have both the platinums for Persona 4 Golden and 5 vanilla by now.

 

I am sure I didn't read all of the replies, but for me, Kingdom Hearts II Critical Mode is my personal bane. Those Large Bodies can one-shot even at full health with their body slide attack. But if you want a game that has no difficulty other than soul-crushing, I can't think of any except for Dark Souls and its clones, but I'm sure someone already suggested THAT.

 

Good luck, man. You'll NEED IT.

Edited March 28, 2021 by faint-magician2

[ExistentialSolid]

On 3/25/2021 at 0:38 AM, freeman4200 said:

[...]

It's crazy how much it takes to plat this game. [...]

 

Thanks for the tips! I'll be sure to keep them in mind! ? Besides watching part of one of Sinvicta's runs awhile back, I haven't had the chance to check out anything else on his channel but, if there are any shorter tip videos featured there, I'll definitely be watching!
 

Yeah, I've only learned about the Repentance DLC just recently and it definitely seems like a great time to jump in with Rebirth. 
Good luck in earning the 100% (I know you can do it)!
 

On 3/28/2021 at 10:47 AM, FrediPy_ said:

Nice progress you did there in only your first week at the game. As someone who has done everything except The Lost, I think I can give you some tips and answer some of the doubts I think you still have: [...]

These tips are fantastic; thank you for taking the time to put all of this together! 

I'll be referring to the cheatsheet you linked when I could use some guidance, will prioritize putting money into the donation machine (without overflowing), and will especially keep an eye out for a Book of Revelations on the 1st/2nd floors!

 

On 3/28/2021 at 5:37 PM, faint-magician2 said:

Wow. You've got... something. I'd say but then I'd get slammed for being insensitive. Suffice it to say that you'd made a great team-up with Lady Chou-Chou's Masochist form. I'm a complete 180 from you - I hate being challenged. Otherwise I'd have both the platinums for Persona 4 Golden and 5 vanilla by now.

[...]

 

Good luck, man. You'll NEED IT.

 

In trying to figure out who Lady Chou-Chou was, I discovered Mugen Souls and fell down a rabbit hole before eventually realizing that I own Mugen Souls Z thanks to PS+ but have never touched it. 

Surprisingly, no one has mentioned any of the soulsborne games yet but they would definitely present a challenge if nominated. 

Thank you, I'll try my best! ?

[ExistentialSolid]

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ~ Update #2

Trophies Unlocked: 

 

Awarded for: 

• Killing the 6th floor boss ("Mom") using the Bible 
• Clearing Sheol (9th floor variant) with Lazarus, Judas, and Eve 
• Killing the 8th floor boss ("Mom's Heart") for the 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th time
• Clearing the Cathedral (9th floor variant) with Cain
• Beating the Caves/Catacombs (floors 3 and 4) without taking any damage
• Clearing the Boss Rush for the 1st time 

What's been happening? 

(https://imgur.com/Z9QTsx1 - in case the gif fails to load)

It's gonna be one of those days, huh? At least I got a pity soul heart at the end there. 

In the previous update, I set three goals for myself:

1. To beat the 8th floor boss 8 more times to unlock a guaranteed route to Sheol/Cathedral

2. Learn more about the game through wikis/research/tips

3. (Optional) Clear Sheol/Cathedral as many times as possible (I need 5 clears of each)

 

Thanks to those of you that gave me tips and pushed me onwards through Rebirth's unforgiving halls, I managed to wrap up the remaining 8 playthroughs I needed, learned considerably more about the game and it's cryptic inner workings, and even managed to clear both Sheol and the Cathedral a few times each!

Since that first goal may sound confusing without some context, I'll briefly explain! Normally, Rebirth has 8 floors that the player ventures through to reach the end of the game where they face off against "Mom's Heart" (with the exception of the initial playthrough in which you only have access to 6 floors). Defeating Mom's Heart will spawn a massive treasure chest that will end the playthrough if touched but may also spawn a doorway to an Angel or Devil room. Typically, you would avoid the chest and enter one of these rooms to be taken to either the Cathedral or to Sheol where you face off against a bonus boss (Isaac in the Cathedral or Satan in Sheol). However, by beating Mom's Heart a total of 11 times, I've unlocked a bonus boss, "It Lives," which, when defeated, will guarantee that entrances to the Cathedral and to Sheol both spawn.
 

If you'd like to see what a typical 8 floor playthrough of Rebirth looks like, I'll leave one of my playthroughs that I recorded over the past week below.
Floors 1-8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqHIUBbGvi4 (includes the fortune telling gif used in the intro along with the trophy for killing "Mom" with the Bible)

 

With some luck, I made it to Sheol for the first time this week and got to meet Satan! He's not as chill as I imagined though...
 

(https://imgur.com/Q6oBNs5 - in case the gif fails to load)
 

I'll leave a video of the full fight, along with one of my visits to Sheol, below in case you'd like to check it out. 
Sheol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw1HtRyspp0

There's one last bit of progress I'd like to share involving the game's Boss Rush mode. So...I mistakenly assumed that the Boss Rush mode would come much, much, later (it takes place on step 5 of our plan of action after all) and unwittingly stumbled into the room where the Boss Rush takes place. I didn't realize at the time that, to access the Boss Rush room, you need to beat the first 6 floors of the game within 20 minutes. Luckily, my build was strong enough to carry me through it but I was terrified the entire time (having lasers was helpful). If you'd like to see me fumble my way through 15 waves of bosses, you can see my first clear below!
Boss Rush: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ8JDBnXpHE

What's next?

We're going to continue following the previously posted plan of action for now! My goals are to:

• Clear the Cathedral and Sheol 5 times each (so far, I have 2 clears on Cathedral and 3 on Sheol)
• Start clearing "The Dark Room" and "The Chest" (10th floor variants) with every character once our first goal has been completed

More details will be shared next week once I visit those 10th floor variants for the first time. Expect the next update 1 week from now on April 7th!

 

Thank you for sticking with me and see you all soon! ? 

Edited April 1, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[Sword]

I've been looking into playing Binding of Isaac. Originally I was gonna play Rogue Legacy for the Ultra Rare event but the more I look at Isaac the more I just wanna play it... to swap or not to swap... hmm. Looks like you're having a lot of fun with it though! Reallly makes me wanna try it too. I'm curious about this whole "rogue" thing and how difficult it actually is. Do you think someone like me (never played a rogue like in my life) would be able to find it manageable? 

 

Edit: Also thank you for sharing your videos. Your first one was extremely funny because I would totally do the same thing! "Oh what's this button do? Oh what's this?" You see all the time on YT people just blasting through the game and seeing someone completely new and how you tackled the game was really nice.

Edited March 31, 2021 by Sword

[Miles]

35 minutes ago, Sword said:

Do you think someone like me (never played a rogue like in my life) would be able to find it manageable? 

 

You didn't ask me but you should be fine honestly, the fact that you can save scum should take out all the pressure from potentially dying. If you have proper motivation and do some research you'll have a great time. 

[Joe Dubz]

1 hour ago, Sword said:

Do you think someone like me (never played a rogue like in my life) would be able to find it manageable? 

I'll just add my 2 cents you also didn't ask for!! Agreed 100% with Miles, save scumming makes tricky games like that much less daunting! You mentioned Hyper Light Drifter as well in the UR challenge post as well, which I read in its entirety, and that is another game you can utilize save scumming if you are not above it to make the no death run quite trivial. 

 

With that being said, I'm very happy to hear you are stepping outside of your comfort zone a bit @Sword! From someone like me who has never really cared much to be a true completionist, as my completion % very obviously shows, I feel like I would have missed out on a ton of excellent games that I didn't actually plan to see through til the end. Glad to have you on board!

Edited March 31, 2021 by Joe Dubz

[ExistentialSolid]

12 hours ago, Sword said:

I've been looking into playing Binding of Isaac. Originally I was gonna play Rogue Legacy for the Ultra Rare event but the more I look at Isaac the more I just wanna play it... to swap or not to swap... hmm. Looks like you're having a lot of fun with it though! Reallly makes me wanna try it too. I'm curious about this whole "rogue" thing and how difficult it actually is. Do you think someone like me (never played a rogue like in my life) would be able to find it manageable? 

 

Edit: Also thank you for sharing your videos. Your first one was extremely funny because I would totally do the same thing! "Oh what's this button do? Oh what's this?" You see all the time on YT people just blasting through the game and seeing someone completely new and how you tackled the game was really nice.

Yeah, absolutely! I completely agree with @Miles and @Joe Dubz that Isaac feels very manageable if you don't mind save scumming. Having the ability to save at almost any point in a run gives you the freedom to experiment with different items, practice the bosses, undo any major mistakes, and overcome just about any challenge the game throws at you without much headache. Since I don't have much roguelike experience either, I've really enjoyed having the freedom to save anywhere (it makes the game a much more relaxing experience where you can just zone out and listen to music or watch videos during runs).

One reminder for the Ultra Rare event though is that you need to fully complete each game that you put on your tier list. Since Isaac has the Afterbirth and Afterbirth+ DLC (along with the Repentance DLC that will drop sometime Q3), full completion of Isaac will be a very time-consuming endeavor if nothing else. Doing it all could easily take 300-400+ hours not including Repentance. While I believe you should definitely give Isaac a shot if you have an interest in the game, you may want to consider playing Isaac on the side while other, less time-consuming games, are added to your tier. Once you get close to 100% completion for Isaac, you could then add the game into a future tier or swap it in last minute (assuming I continue past the platinum, I'm not placing Isaac anywhere near my tier until the only trophy remaining is the one for 1000000%).

Thanks, I'm glad you've liked the videos! ? I think it can be encouraging to remind players, with videos like this, that just about everyone starts out in the same way. We all fumble around with the controls and make silly mistakes before we ever get close to approaching mastery. 

[Sword]

Thanks for the thoughts you guys ( @Miles, @Joe Dubz, @ExistentialSolid ). 

 

I just bought the entire set of Isaac games (Main game + the 2 DLC) for a new adventure sometime soon™. I agree with you guys that even if the game ended up being hard at some points for me, that would be no excuse to not pass up an opportunity to play what I could (which, looks, so, much, fun!!)

 

Though knowing that you can save scum to learn/practice or try out different combo builds/save your run before going for a trophy is a nice "sigh" of relief. Especially if you get insanely good RNG only to muck it up due to one silly mistake. Anything to make the experience more fun/relaxing is good for me! (though I suppose one might say it would be "unethical" but mehhh).

_____________________________________________

 

@ExistentialSolid Good advice on the "do not put in UR event" until later. Didn't realize that the DLC demanded a full 100% until I looked at the trophy guide. That'll take awhile! Especially because I have already slated Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Got enough on the plate as is.

 

Anyway sorry to "butt in" on your journal of platinum destruction, it's just with my recent interest in Isaac I went "ayyy!" when I was randomly browsing some of these trophy threads and so I decided to take a shot and ask about your thoughts. Thanks for the reply, it helped me get over my "fear" and just seal the deal, no matter if I ever complete it or not (that 1000000% though YIKES).

 

Looking forward to seeing more updates on how you progress through the game. May the RNGesus bless you! ?? 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Sword

[Joe Dubz]

8 hours ago, Sword said:

(though I suppose one might say it would be "unethical" but mehhh).

Agreed, my whole theory on this is that devs shouldn't include such options in their games if they don't want us to utilize them! If you take a look at Nuclear Throne, that would be a good example of a similar style of game with no option to save scum. Hence the rarity being extremely low as it is, as that game just gets brutal on later levels.

 

I'm very glad @ExistentialSolid mentioned that you would need the full completion for the UR challenge tho. I didn't even consider this and although I do have the plat, I never bothered to go for the full combo myself due to the extreme grind! Perhaps I will consider adding this in to a later tier...!

 

Either way, good luck @Sword and I'll be very interested to follow along with your progress ?

[da-Noob123]

Save scum for the win! I see nothing wrong with this method, I am not a kid anymore and to lose hours on a run in vain would irk the hell out of me. I used save scumming for the Hunt is my Mistress and the other time trial in Shadow of Mordor and I still just barely made the requirements.

 

Good updates on Issac so far, loved the accidental boss rush bit in this last update - my hands would probably have been white-knuckled on my controller. 

[faint-magician2]

On 3/31/2021 at 8:06 AM, ExistentialSolid said:

In trying to figure out who Lady Chou-Chou was, I discovered Mugen Souls and fell down a rabbit hole before eventually realizing that I own Mugen Souls Z thanks to PS+ but have never touched it. 

Well, if you wanna destroy yourself, Mugen Souls the original is the way to go. The trophies there are insane grinds. Not that Mugen Souls Z is any easier...

[Moridin83]

Nice update! That Satan fight with your health hidden must have been nerve wracking. I started BoI about a week and a half ago, and am unapologetically save scumming through the later stages. Even with that, it's crazy how much RNGesus can change your run with one or two good items. My successful Blue Baby Chest run took less time than many of my 8 floor runs when the game blessed me with the holy mantle, mom's knife, and super bandage girl, but I've also had runs where I got to stage 7 or 8 without a single damage up item, and gave up because my DPS made it near impossible to do the last levels.

Looking forward to update 3!

[Don_carlito94]

Very impressive list of games you have done and what a unique checklist you’ve got going with the nominations. Maybe some of these games can inspire me in the future. 

[ExistentialSolid]

On 4/1/2021 at 8:34 PM, da-Noob123 said:

Save scum for the win! I see nothing wrong with this method, I am not a kid anymore and to lose hours on a run in vain would irk the hell out of me. I used save scumming for the Hunt is my Mistress and the other time trial in Shadow of Mordor and I still just barely made the requirements.

 

Good updates on Issac so far, loved the accidental boss rush bit in this last update - my hands would probably have been white-knuckled on my controller. 

Definitely! Save scumming can be such a life-saver; I've used it for the three Atari volumes myself, among other games, and most recently with Rive during the game's deathless run (I would have had a much harder time without it). 

Thanks! ? I was really lucky that I found such good items before stumbling into the boss rush room because I'm sure I would have been toast on any ordinary run. I can only hope the rest of the boss rush runs go as smoothly as this one (well, as smooth as stumbling can be anyway)!

 

On 4/2/2021 at 1:57 PM, faint-magician2 said:

Well, if you wanna destroy yourself, Mugen Souls the original is the way to go. The trophies there are insane grinds. Not that Mugen Souls Z is any easier...

Based on some of the 500+ hour completion estimates I've seen, I'm sure Mugen Souls would destroy me with sheer tedium.  I hear Z can be done in much less time though (around 200 hours I think) so maybe that would be worth checking out in the future. Since the combat system is similar to the Neptunia games (I've checked out mk2, V, and VII), it's not really as intimidating as something like Disgaea so at least I would be able to get to grips with the game quickly if I give it a try someday.
 

On 4/2/2021 at 6:05 PM, Moridin83 said:

Nice update! That Satan fight with your health hidden must have been nerve wracking. I started BoI about a week and a half ago, and am unapologetically save scumming through the later stages. Even with that, it's crazy how much RNGesus can change your run with one or two good items. My successful Blue Baby Chest run took less time than many of my 8 floor runs when the game blessed me with the holy mantle, mom's knife, and super bandage girl, but I've also had runs where I got to stage 7 or 8 without a single damage up item, and gave up because my DPS made it near impossible to do the last levels.

Looking forward to update 3!

Thank you!  Yeah, embarrassingly, that hidden health Satan fight took several attempts to clear thanks to poor play and poor RNG (mostly poor play) but it was definitely pretty nerve wracking the first time around! It sounds like you're making great progress with the game yourself since you've managed to beat both the Dark Room and the Chest at this point (and I'm jealous that you managed to get super bandage girl so early)! Nice work! I've had a couple runs go exactly as you've described with low DPS but I'm usually too stubborn to do the smart thing and just let the run die so I end up wasting an hour+ retrying those last few floors until I manage a clear. ?
 

On 4/3/2021 at 5:50 AM, Don_carlito94 said:

Very impressive list of games you have done and what a unique checklist you’ve got going with the nominations. Maybe some of these games can inspire me in the future. 

Thanks, I really appreciate it! ? You have an impressive list yourself; keep it up! 
 

[freeman4200]

The game is just too good. Even when your stats suck, you push through as far as you can or win. Makes the win mean more than when you fly through the game.

 

It seems edmund saw people fly through the game too much, so repentance is super fucking hard I've heard. Messed with all the items and some amazing items are nerfed which when you hear which ones, will make you to insane. 

 

I'm still excited to see how repentance plays. Can't wait for Q3 when it's supposed to come to ps4/ps5.

 

Anyways, I thought I was at 600 coins donated in greed but I guess it was 500. NOW I'm at 600 coins...I'm so close to holy mantle!

[ExistentialSolid]

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ~ Update #3

Trophies Unlocked: 

 

Awarded for: 

• Clearing Sheol (9th floor variant) 5 times
• Clearing the Cathedral (9th floor variant) 5 times
• Killing Satan with ???
• Klling Isaac with Maggy, Isaac, Samson, and Eve
• Beating "The Dark Room" (10th floor variant) for the first time
• Beating "The Chest" (10th floor variant) for the first time

What's been happening?

(https://imgur.com/j4661M5 - in case the gif fails to load)

Note to self: Do not pick up the "Cursed Eye" ever again ? (it's an item that will teleport you to a randomly selected room if you take damage while charging any of your shots; besides the minor inconvenience of having to walk back to where you once were, any enemies and bosses will revert back to full health if you failed to kill them previously). 

In the last update, I set two goals for myself:

1. Clear Sheol and the Cathedral 5 times each.
2. Begin clearing "The Dark Room" and "The Chest" (10th floor variants) with every character.

After some laid back grinding over the past few days, I managed my 5th clear of Sheol and the Cathedral and unlocked two items that would allow me to reach the final floors of Rebirth's gloom-filled dungeon, The Polaroid and the Negative.

Once unlocked, the Polaroid and the Negative both drop as soon as the 6th floor boss is defeated and allows access to either "The Dark Room" or "The Chest" depending on which of the two items you grab on your way out. If you pick up the Polaroid and clear the Cathedral, you gain access to "The Chest." Likewise, if you pick up the Negative and clear Sheol, you gain access to "The Dark Room." Technically, there are several other ways to reach these floors (the easiest being a shortcut through the black market), but, because these items guarantee a path to the desired floor, we shouldn't have to worry about any alternate methods for now. 

While we're on the subject, let's quickly cover some of what makes "The Dark Room" and "The Chest" unique. Unlike the rest of the dungeon, hazards, like the spikes, rocks, and traps that would ordinarily pepper each room, are few and far between. Instead, most of the rooms on these floors serve as small arenas, each filled to the brim with bosses and mini-bosses that must be defeated in order to progress. If you survive long enough to reach the end of the floor, you will go up against a final floor-specific boss. If you are in "The Chest," you will fight ??? (can be seen in the gif above); however, if you are in "The Dark Room," you will fight the Lamb (can be seen in the gif below). 
 

(https://imgur.com/X6pMBIu - in case the gif fails to load)

If you'd like to see a quick run through either of these floors, I've recorded my first clear of each below!

The Dark Room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9lvdDtz4Q4 (includes the "Cursed Eye")

The Chest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWorP6V8EgE

There is one last thing...a mysterious locked door, prominently located in the first room of both of these floors. It looks like it requires a special key and I'm dying to figure out what's beyond it! I'll talk about how to open this door, and what lies behind it in the next update! 



What's Next?
Progress in Rebirth has been slow and steady up to this point, but I'd like to start picking up the pace. As we continue to follow the previously posted plan of action, I have only one goal for the next update:

• To clear "The Dark Room" and "The Chest" with all 10 of the characters currently available to me.

Counting the clears I already have, this will require me to complete 18 playthroughs of Rebirth (each with the full set of 10 floors) by the time the next update drops. It's time to buckle down and get grinding! The next update, with any progress made towards this goal, will be posted 1 week from now, on April 14th!

Thank you for sticking with me and see you all soon! ?

Edited April 7, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[faint-magician2]

They're coming out with a new and final expansion, The Binding of Issac Repentance, which has even more evil bosses, more items, more mechanics and more unlocks. I am sure it will come out for PS4 soon enough. (evil laugh)

Edited April 7, 2021 by faint-magician2

[ExistentialSolid]

On 4/5/2021 at 9:06 PM, freeman4200 said:

The game is just too good. Even when your stats suck, you push through as far as you can or win. Makes the win mean more than when you fly through the game.

 

It seems edmund saw people fly through the game too much, so repentance is super hard I've heard. Messed with all the items and some amazing items are nerfed which when you hear which ones, will make you to insane. 

 

I'm still excited to see how repentance plays. Can't wait for Q3 when it's supposed to come to ps4/ps5.

 

Anyways, I thought I was at 600 coins donated in greed but I guess it was 500. NOW I'm at 600 coins...I'm so close to holy mantle!

While I pushed through with low stats early on, I've started to become less tolerant of bad luck; I often reset in late basement or caves because I can't be bothered to struggle for the rest of the run. I need to get lucky right away or I'll toss the run out. ?

It definitely sounds like an exciting time to be a fan of the game with Repentance recently releasing on PC and coming soon to consoles!

I've only just reached 550 coins donated in the main game so I'm not close to anything!  Good luck and let us know how runs with the lost/holy mantle go! 
 

On 4/7/2021 at 1:31 PM, faint-magician2 said:

They're coming out with a new and final expansion, The Binding of Issac Repentance, which has even more evil bosses, more items, more mechanics and more unlocks. I am sure it will come out for PS4 soon enough. (evil laugh)

It's ridiculous to think that earning the full 100% in The Binding of Isaac may be a 400-500+ hour experience at this point.    

Edited April 9, 2021 by ExistentialSolid

[Moridin83]

On 4/7/2021 at 9:47 AM, ExistentialSolid said:

There is one last thing...a mysterious locked door, prominently located in the first room of both of these floors. It looks like it requires a special key and I'm dying to figure out what's beyond it! I'll talk about how to open this door, and what lies behind it in the next update! 


 

Have fun with that door. It's "special" isn't it? ?  By the way, have you found any items you keep picking up, but almost always regret? Every time I grab Bob's brain I'm mad at myself within 3 rooms.

[faint-magician2]

On 4/5/2021 at 11:54 AM, ExistentialSolid said:

Based on some of the 500+ hour completion estimates I've seen, I'm sure Mugen Souls would destroy me with sheer tedium. 

Then you'd better stay away from FFXIV then. One trophy requires 1000 quests to be completed, and these special quests require you to spend allowances, and you only get three of these allowances every six hours of real time.

[ExistentialSolid]

On 4/10/2021 at 3:01 PM, Moridin83 said:

Have fun with that door. It's "special" isn't it?   By the way, have you found any items you keep picking up, but almost always regret? Every time I grab Bob's brain I'm mad at myself within 3 rooms.

Yeah, it's a "special" door alright. ?

Oh, I regret about 20% of the items I pick up. ? Old habits die hard and I don't refer to the cheat sheet nearly as much as I should so I've ended up picking up awful items like Tiny Planet and the Tick 3-4 times each because I haven't been paying close enough attention to what they do. 

Speaking of "Bob's brain," I tend to have a rough time with most of the "buddy" items because I often either mistake the buddy or the projectiles they fire for enemies/enemy fire. It's usually safest to just assume everything is a threat but it would be nice to have a clearer indication of friendly fire so that I freak out less during battle.
 

On 4/10/2021 at 3:36 PM, faint-magician2 said:

Then you'd better stay away from FFXIV then. One trophy requires 1000 quests to be completed, and these special quests require you to spend allowances, and you only get three of these allowances every six hours of real time.

Trust me, games like FFXIV are not my thing. I barely have enough patience to grind in an ordinary RPG, let alone wait any amount of real time to complete a few mundane fetch quests and kill contracts.  (not to bash FFXIV, I'm sure it could be a blast with the right people)

[faint-magician2]

1 minute ago, ExistentialSolid said:

Trust me, games like FFXIV are not my thing. I barely have enough patience to grind in an ordinary RPG, let alone wait any amount of real time to complete a few mundane fetch quests and kill contracts.  (not to bash FFXIV, I'm sure it could be a blast with the right people)

(Sorry, typing with one hand  due to me tapping the button to platinum A Winters Daydream. )

 

But yeah, I love FFXIV and will probably plat it on my permanent account as you have plenty to do while waiting for levequest allowances to regenerate. I am curious to see what the PS5 trophies are with Patch 5.5.