The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+

The Binding of Isaac is an indie roguelike video game series that was initially released in 2011. Created by Edward McMillen, its gameplay elements, randomly generated maps and tons of weapons have made it an extremely popular franchise. In 2017, the release of The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ on PC saw this expansion finally arrive in the hands of the self-proclaimed hardcore gamers. With this release, Nicalis added a lot more content to the game. Today, we will review these additions and the current state of the Binding Isaac: Afterbirth+ in 2020.

Additional Content

The new expansion for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth brought together all the previous DLC while improving the overall experience of the game. The gameplay formula is fully fleshed out Afterbirth+.

Afterbirth introduced a total of 180 different enemy types, 600 items and over 90 new bosses that are deadlier than ever. You’ll also have access to play as Lilith and the Keeper, both characters introduce some new variety to the gameplay experience. With the added trackers, you can streamline the new content you’ve seen without getting lost. Also, Afterbirth’s new enemy HP stats help make fights a lot more digestible as you won’t have to worry about damage sponges. In this expansion, you’ll have to persevere with your murder sprees as it takes a long, hard road to finally unlock every one of the 20 ending sequences on Afterbirth+.

Afterbirth+ even gave players more replayability with its new mysterious powerups like the contagion which explodes the first enemy you kill in each room, then poisons all other enemies to slowly replicate the same effect.

Improved Maps

Introducing more cryptic and challenging procedurally generated maps, the game is twice as challenging as before. Many users have even testified to its newfound challenge as a behemoth compared to the default game’s hardest difficulty. Now, you can even play the game longer without encountering the same thing twice.

Steeper Learning Curve

Although the game is much more fun, it also takes more time and external wiki visits to really know what you’re doing. If you thought you were reading a lot with the last version, wait till you see what Afterbirth has for you.

Learning what items do is a part of the process with this sort of game, however, Afterbirth+ makes things harder than they have to be. Although, it might not be a frustrating experience if you’re the sort of player that loves using this to fuel your curiosity. When you’re faced with a challenging situation while equipped with a mystery item, it is satisfying to get a successful dice roll. The often funny and badass results create an exhilarating feeling of success. After all, it’s very rare that an ‘Acid Baby’ is what you’ll call a lifesaver.

Pros

• Better map variety
• Gameplay changing items
• Larger variety of gameplay options
• Stat trackers
• Replayability

Cons

• Steeper learning curve
• Unnecessarily intense grind

You should check out the Rick and Morty mod for some intergalactic spice. These mods could add another 100+ hours of content to mess around with. In comparison to other roguelikes such as Enter the Gungeon, Afterbirth offers more depth to its content than any player would hope for. Fans of the genre will appreciate this passion from the developers.