Another pass at The Binding of Isaac

I played probably 10 minutes of The Binding of Isaac the other day, before I had to stop. The game didn't save, so I was kind of irritated with it. I decided that maybe I didn't give it a fair shake, so I thought I'd load it up again and see if I couldn't get a better impression of it if I gave it a couple more hours.

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Man, I'd really like to watch a horror movie about an abused child who has been neglected for so long he retreats into some sort of comatose state and has nightmares about the years of abuse and his aborted siblings, but I'm too engrossed in the original Legend of Zelda and I don't want to stop?" Do you sometimes think to yourself, "it would be awesome if I could bleed/pee on a Wizzrobe?" Do you like disturbing but somehow cute art and animation? Well do I have the game for you!

This game straddles the line between borderline offensive and full-tilt offensive. I'm having a hard time accurately describing the negative way I felt all day after playing it for a few hours. I guess the closest I can come to it is "squicked out." My first pass at a review was deemed "too explicit to print" by the the BPAA (Blog Publisher's Association of America). It's got a definite Ren and Stimpy by way of Wind Waker vibe, with the disgusting and disturbing sliders maxed out.

The problem is, the game's mechanics are solid, and it is tons of fun to play. It manages to combine the infinite replayability, exploration and random artifact gathering aspects of a roguelike with the core gameplay of the original Zelda. If it didn't make me feel creeped out, I could really see investing time in playing it to completion and getting the achievements. As it it, I just don't think I can stomach going further.

-agent86