12 Star Symbols

Rebirth has some very interesting new items. The ones that stick out the most are the zodiac symbols. It includes all 12 zodiac signs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. My favorite one is Taurus. It gives you the My Little Unicorn effect when you run around the room for awhile. Sparkly and flashing colors, running around the room at top speed, bouncing off of walls, Taurus gives you a sort of euphoric vision, tunnel vision if you will. Nothing can touch you, literally, they will die. Only one goal remains with Taurus, Finding your crusty mother, and vanquishing her with rainbows. My second favorite Zodiac Symbol is Leo (which is my symbol, ironically. You know, the month that I was born in). It's awesome because you are bestowed upon with a big ass mane. The mane does absolutely nothing, it's just wonderful. With this symbol, no rocks will ever stand in your way again. You crush them underfoot because lions do that, I guess. I have not yet experienced everything the zodiac symbols have to offer, but I know what most of the affects of them are. Aries gives you a bunch of speed, because rams are super fast. Taurus makes you build up a My Little Unicorn affect, because bulls have horns and can probably easily impale enemies. I mean, the running of the bulls in Spain is pretty hardcore. Image the broken bones and people on the ground bleeding after being impaled by a raging bull. You see, the only difference between real life and TBOI (I'm calling The Binding of Isaac that now.) is that you're encompassed by a rainbow that gives you invincibility. The broken bones and bleeding happens in the game, too. The game is slightly less hardcore because you yourself is not in danger. Gemini gives you a tiny little friend that floats around you, or should I say, is attached to you because you are conjoined to him?

Your buddy
Image Courtesy of: The Binding of Isaac Wiki

There is a boss that you fight that has this zodiac symbol. His name, is Gemini. He has a counterpart that is in another one of Edmund Mcmillin's games. His name is Steven and he's adorable. Cancer, when you get damaged, reduces all damage in a room to half a heart of damage. Personally I don't think it's useful. Leo lets you smash rocks. I have not experienced Virgo or Libra yet, soooooo, oh well. Scorpio gives you poison tears, which activate on every single hit with a tear because scorpions use poison to kill their prey effectively. Sagittarius gives you piercing shots. Capricorn gives you an all stats up for god knows why. Aquarius makes you Jesus, you walk on your own tears that damage enemies. Pisces probably turns you into a fish or something, considering that in Latin Pisces means fish. That's all of the symbols, what a ride, eh? So many items with one distinguished set of items that vary your gameplay significantly, it's unique.

The Rebirth of Isaac

I know that Rebirth came out like, two weeks ago, but I was just spending my free time playing it. It is so much better than the first one. The style just pops out at you like, woah. It's such a great addition from the last game. Many items have proven to be pretty much useless, like the unicorn stump. The unicorn stump is a significant downgrade from the unicorn horn, which allows you to run around the room invincible with contact damage included. The unicorn stump allows you to run around the invincible, but doesn't give you the contact damage. You might think you can just shoot with it right? Wrong, you can't shoot when you have the stump or horn active, you're just a doll that flashes in rainbow colors. I usually skip the horn unless I have the virus, or mom's knife. Another item that is absolutely awesome and fun item to get is the dark matter tear effect. It gives you fearing tears that makes your enemies run away from you, this can be especially useful in boss fights. It makes your tears look like black fire, which is pretty badass. One super annoying thing about the game, which isn't bad, is that the shops, libraries, and double key doors look exactly the same so you don't know what you're getting when you open the doors. The worst part about the game so far, but is totally fair, is the walking host. A host is an enemy that sits on the ground while invincible, they're assholes.

An meanie
Image Courtesy of: The Binding of Isaac Wiki

 When you're not shooting at it, it pops up and shoots at you so that you're able to do damage to it. A walking host is relatively inconsistent of when it tends to pop up, giving it the ability to trap you in corners, between poops and rocks, and on narrow corridors. All in all, this is an awesome game that is a gigantic step above the first one. The new art-style compliments everything about the game, and makes it beautiful. The new bosses are fun to play against and figure out their patterns. Finally, the items make the game new again, not knowing what each item does simulates starting over and discovering the game again for the first time. I will be writing about Rebirth for a while, recording my findings, so stay tuned!