Topic: Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

[gpw11]

For some reason the original BoI topic is locked.  Anyway, Rebirth is out, the "remake". It's no longer coded in Flash, so it actually runs great and even looks better.  The graphics have been redone to be "16-bit", but honestly, I think that may have been a mistake.  The effect is barely noticeable and it just looks like poor pixel art.  It's not TERRIBLE by any means, but seems unnecessary.  Also, the music has changed (for the worse in my opinion)

What else do you get? Well, like I said the game runs better.  There's now a hard mode, there are about a billion new items, cards, pill effects, etc.  New rooms, mechanics, etc. New characters.  A ton of new content in general. It has it's ups and downs compared to the original, but if you liked the first one you'll definitely like this.   

Oh, and it's free for PSPlus members this month for both Vita and PS4.

[Quemaqua]

I did end up downloading it since I have another bit of free PS+, but I doubt I'll get to it before that expires, so it probably won't matter. I did love the original, and wanted to try this ... I may at least try to give it a spin just to see what it's like and stuff. Sy was mentioning he was down on the new music as well. Wonder if anyone will be able to mod it on the PC to play the old stuff.

[sirean_syan]

I should probably preface by saying that I'm pretty sure the Binding of Isaac was my favorite game from the past several years. Steam says I've put something like 125 hours into it and it has been something I've gone back to several times since it's release. I'm not entirely sure why the game grabbed me so much, but it did.

The short of it is that I've put in a few runs into Rebirth and think it plays much better than the original. That alone makes me happy. It is going to be really hard to go back (and unnecessary really). It feels less cobbled together, moved well, and the new visuals work. I'm not sure if I like them better than the original, but I do like a lot of the new lighting and details. I've enjoyed all the new items and enemies and have no problems with the game proper.

What I do have problems with is the sound work. The music has changed for the worse. Following up the original is a really hard act and it probably would have served the game better to not even try. There's a rumor that the developer had something of a fallout with Danny Baranowsky which is why they were essentially forced to go with someone else. That's impossible to substantiate though. I really felt like the soundtrack was the root of the game's soul and the new one is really the thing that is keeping me from completely embracing Rebith. It's not that the new soundtrack is really bad and after some time I've come to like it well enough, but it just doesn't have the character of the original and changes the tone to be a less oppressive. I really hope someone comes out with a custom soundtrack mod that allows you to import the original music back in. I need that Caves music.

[ Invalid YouTube link ]

The other thing I've come to think is that it feels a little less grungy than the original. The first game was in many ways something thrown together in a garage and with that it had a certain rawness to it that I dug. Rebirth is slicker and more streamlined and for all that it gains through that a little something was lost. It's like some band going big. They still make good stuff, but there's something to be said for a little dirt. As more information about Rebirth was coming out I sort of expected to feel this way, but it doesn't lessen the feeling of loss. The slightly harder part is, as I said above, going back is going to be hard and unlikely. I guess that's just one of those things.

[gpw11]

I agree with pretty much everything you've said here.  The soundtrack gets me the most - that was a big part of what I loved about the original. 

I was trying to find a comparison between the Vita version and PS4/PC to see if the Vita got shafted on lighting effects or anything (I don't notice any dramatic difference) and came across this:



I think I definitely like the old visual style more