The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth News

First and foremost, Repentance is now up for preorder on steam!!! GO GET IT!

NOTE: Repentance requires all previous DLCs to work! ... so we did you a favor! To celebrate the preorder announcement we put all previous isaac DLCs and the core game on sale for 50% off!!!

Get the full collection HERE! (this includes the repentance preorder)
or if you are waiting to see how things go but still want the DLCs at 50% off, get them HERE!

but if that wasn't confusing enough.. i bring you THE BLUE KING COLLECTION!

The Blue King Collection is a bundle of ALL OF MY WORK that was just released on steam in one very discounted bundle! this bundle includes 8 of my games + 3 dlcs and you even get the ultra cheap basement collection that features over 7 more of my games from the flash days! that's 15+ games for less than the cost of 9 Tall, Cinnamon Dolce Latte's from Starbucks!

but i hear you screaming... NO ONE CARES! BRING ON THE NUDE BOY! WE WANT MORE CHILD ABUSE! WE WANT POOP! WE WANT BLOOD! and i agree.. on to the GIFS!



and what do we have here? some kinda mine cart ride to hell? and those poor children on that ride appear to have their heads cut at the jaw.. SHOCKING!



oh and look at this! on this episode of "preteen mom" a little demon girl appears to be showing off her 4 kids to a few angry neighbors who simply do not approve of her lifestyle choices!



and finally we end with this dapper young chap who appears to be firing small rockets so hard he's shitting out little turds that seem quite impressed with his ability to murder.

now lets cap this post off with a little QA! ( answers pulled from twitter )

Q: how many visual and mechanical changes have been made to the game?
A: we honestly haven't been keeping track but 100s of changes have been made over the years, a lot of the old stuff will feel fresh and new and a great deal of the art will look more vibrant, varied and more squishy. its really impossible to list it and it's still actively happening.

Q: will there be new challenges in Repentance?
A: yes! there are currently 7 new challenges.

Q: is there true co-op ( 2 isaacs ) and can i play online?
A: Isaac will feature true co-op and support up to 4 players, it wont have traditional online functionality but you can def try it out online with steam's "remote play together".

Q: is repentance just the antibirth mod ported over ?
A: no, repentance is the antibirth mod + a ton more content + super secrets + ultra secrets + poop physics. really though it takes the mod and expands on it greatly, ties it into the games story and adds a lot more content over the top that i cant talk about without spoiling too much...

Q: will you be porting more mods officially into the game?
A: no, we have no plans in doing anything like that.

Q: will you be making some of the new repentance characters into plushes and figures like you did in previous kickstarters?
A: for those of you who missed it, we have released official azazel, isaac, Lost and Guppy XL plush dolls via our kickstarter as well as a series of small figurines. we will def be making more of both for the next kickstarter but sadly no, none of the planned characters will be created due to us polling people on what characters they would purchase. next on our Plush list is Lilith and Bumbo, then possibly Keeper and Blue baby. but ill do a post about this when we get closer to the next kickstarter.

Q: i hear you are planning on updating the keeper so he's "more fun", how are you doing this?
A: yes the keeper will get an update, 2 actually.. they wont be ground breaking but they will fix a lot of issues people have with him that feel "unfun". he was designed to be a challenge character like the lost and blue baby.. but yeah, he's getting tweaked.

Q: do you feel like repentance is the definitive DLC to isaac? and does the the game feel complete to you now?
A: yes, isaac feels "done" to me now, in fact it feels like a sequel has been pushed inside Rebirth in a very nontraditional way, a great deal of mechanics and ideas i was saving for a sequel were added to Repentance and its hard for me not to think of it as a new release, kinda like how spelunky 2 built off existing areas and mechanics but didnt reinvent the wheel.. repentance to me feels like a slightly lesser version of that idea, its like isaac 1.9 and i think it closes the book thematically and storywise finally.. so yeah lets call it complete!

GO PREORDER IT!

-Edmund

As some of you know, Repentance will feature a very lush and fun alternate path that runs slightly parallel to the main game. maybe you also know that these alternate chapters will feature a slew of new enemies, bosses and even mechanics that make the game feel super new... and its possible even a few of you remember the initial track we spoiled for the first alternate chapter "Downpour" but ill post it again so you can let it play while you read this post.. i warn you you may feel a bit damp after you do...

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube] now i dunno how many of you played the end is nigh, (probably the best game ive ever made that doesnt feature a crying naked child) but if you havent, FOR SHAME! WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE YOU!? DONT YOU LIKE THINGS THAT ARE GOOD!??! but i digress.. turns out the dev team are fans of said game ( such great taste ) and decided to include some enemies from it.. here is Fissure!



look at em go! flip flopping all around the room looking to dive back into the unknown depths below!



but why bother you with this enemy nonsense... you guys dont care about alt paths and new enemies... you just want some sweet sweet items! well im a people pleaser and prepare to be pleased.





it appears to be an item called Neptunus and it does something something.. i dunno i cant read that chicken scratch, and you aren't reading this anyway so i can probably say whatever i want here and it wont matter anyway cornhole beetle wax isnt orange anymore mama, please hug my fun wrinkles.



oh oh! also i designed this fat thing that pukes!







and finally we leave you with a little boss we call Min Min... she starts out in a really snazzy getup that appears to be the husk of something long dead and salted, but once she does her little turn on the runway she drops that baby and shows it all! her future is so bright, you gotta wear shades! am i right?





Anywho, only a few months go to people! sure hope the world doesn't end by then... what do you guys want to see next? more general posts like this? or something totally different. post your suggestions in the comments! like and subscribe!

xoxo - Edmund

To punch up the fact that this is not only the final DLC but the definitive isaac experience, the boys at the Ridiculon HQ have redone the title track Genesis one final time.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
for those of you that missed last week, Repentance will be launching March 31st! that means we roughly have 2 months more of dev time then a few weeks of heavy testing before release, that also means its time to lock it down and just finish what we have left of our list.. but... a few days ago we decided we NEEDED to add 34 more unlockable items... dont worry though we are still on for the 31st.

Now on to a little QA section!

Q: how much will Repentance be?
A: $14.99

Q: is it stand alone or will i need isaac to play it?
A: you will need Rebirth, Afterbirth and Afterbirth + to play repentance.

Q: will Repentance fix/change/update X Y Z?
A: Repentance has so many balance changes, visual and gameplay updates and fixes its impossible to keep track anymore.

Q: is the features list on the steam page actually true or are you hiding content from us?
A: of course we are hiding content.. we still go back and forth on spoiling stuff via feature page updates or just leaving stuff for you to find then updating it after launch.

Q: will it come to Mac?
A: No.

Q: will it come to console X Y Z?
A: Yes, the goal is to have it launch on more than one console by the end of the year, probably a lot sooner than the end but lets just say the end so we can beat expiations!

Q: will you do booster packs again?
A: I'm gunna publicly confirm that there will be NO booster packs for repentance because last time we did that it felt terrible when we packed in content to each booster and people complained that we didn't just release smaller boosters every month.. that said im sure there will be bug fix updates and content balance updates post launch.

i leave you with this...



see ya next week!
-Edmund-

LETS WATCH!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
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That's right, Repentance will finally be in your hands, hearts and souls on march 31st! me and the team are quite excited for this beast to finally rise from the depths and consume your every waking hour for the years to come, we just want all of its features to be perfect and testing to be a bit more in-depth than our last little release that will go unnamed.

that amazing trailer was done by Alex Hicks and is packed to the brim with nods to the past, present and future... it just all depends on how wide your eyes are when watching and if you have an IQ over like 340.

anyway next week we will get back to the usual blog posts, we have 11 or so left so we gotta make em count! what do you want us to talk more about and spoil without spoiling too much?

hold on to your buttholes!

-Edmund

Hey there! My name's Vinh (maybe better known by some of you as _Kilburn ), and I handle most of the programming and game design stuff in Repentance, along with a few artsy bits such as item sprites and visual effects. Today I'd like to talk about one of the upcoming characters in Repentance: Bethany!



Bethany is my attempt at giving Magdalene a more challenging, attack oriented counterpart. At first she was a white mage type character with an entire set of holy themed spells and a mana counter that would fill up with soul hearts, but I quickly realized that was way overcomplicated and she eventually shifted towards a more exorcist-like archetype, catching souls and using their power to defend herself.

When playing as her, soul hearts will drop more often, but instead of granting health, they count towards a new "soul charge" counter, adding 1 charge per half soul heart. Active items will then draw from that counter when used on an empty or partial charge. This allows you to use your active items more aggressively while still saving charges for when you need them the most.



She also starts with a neat active item: the Book of Virtues! When used, this book spawns one wisp familiar that orbits you, blocks shots, and fires low damage tears. This might not seem like much but...



...this wisp will also follow you between rooms and stick around until it dies! Which happens whenever it comes in contact with an enemy or gets hit by too many projectiles. This means if you play carefully enough, you can end up with a whole bunch of wisps lighting up the room while protecting you.



If you've already experienced the Antibirth mod you're probably thinking "wait I know this character, she sucks, no one wants to be stuck with the same active item and no devil deals for the whole game!!!". Well you got me, I lied, the Book of Virtues isn't quite an active item. Check this out:



That's right, when you pick up any active item, the book will open up and the item will combine with it, allowing both to be used at the same time! You can still swap active items as normal but the Book of Virtues will always stay in your active slot and attach to whatever's in there. Losing your active item, for example after activating a single use item, will simply result in the book reverting to its closed state.

On top of it, many active items will grant a unique effect to the wisps they spawn, which either compliments their original purpose or brings them in a completely different direction.
For example here's My Little Unicorn in action:



As a general rule you can expect items with a short cooldown to produce fragile wisps that are easy to lose, and items with a long cooldown to produce sturdy wisps that stick around for longer.
As for single use items or items with no cooldown? Who knows? Anything is possible!

Okay fine, how about this:



Using How to Jump offensively? Nonsense!!!

I'm very happy with how this turned out (thanks for the design input Edmund!) and I hope this will be a good incentive for you to give some of your least favorite active items another chance!

Of course, keep in mind things are still subject to change before release.

Repentance is coming along well and I really appreciate how understanding the community has been. It will be worth the wait. You guys rock.

Until next time!