SPOILERS: DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO HAVE THINGS SPOILED FROM THE NEW BoI DLC
The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth

So it’s finally here. The DLC for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Afterbirth. Rather than covering everything like I normally would, for this review I’m going to tell you what has been added and the pros and cons of the DLC. There are no story changes (minus a few character details) and no gameplay changes apart from added items and new rooms. So, let’s get right into it!

Additions

So, there’s actually quite a few additions to the game with this DLC that makes the game even more fun than it already was. Additions include:

• 120 new items
• An updated weapon combination system
• Greed Mode - New game mode that focuses on Risk/Reward
• New area with a new boss
• 2 new characters
• Online leaderboards to go along with a new daily challenge addition
• 10 new challenges
• 1000+ new room designs
• New transformations
• New achievements
• 4 new chapters
• 4 new visual themes
• Seed system revision
• 100+ new enemies
• 8 new bosses
• New Soundtrack.

Pros and Cons

Now, of course, there’s going to be some pros and cons with this new DLC. As usual, there’s good things and bad things that a DLC can add that, thankfully, can be changed later down the line with updates. As of 11/16/2015, these are my issues with the game in its current state. These will likely be changed down the line:

PROS:

• The two new characters are fun and play differently than the other characters
• The updated weapon combinations are fun and usually work pretty well. As usual, there are good and bad weapon combinations
• The new challenges are just that, challenging, and are incredibly fun (if not frustrating) to play.
• The addition of daily challenges add a layer of competition as you’re competing for the best time and best score against your friends and people all around the world.
• The new enemies and bosses are hard, but interesting and easy to get used to.
• The new transformations are interesting, but hard to figure out on how exactly to activate them.

CONS:

• One of the new characters is unlocked after (SPOILER ONCE AGAIN) getting 999 coins in the Greed Mode donation machine. The machine jams relatively quickly so you have to invest an insane amount of time into the new mode.
• The new character, Lilith, is relatively weak right now as she was nerfed almost immediately upon release
• Azazel has been nerfed to take longer to fire his laser and also does less damage. This is going to be fixed.
• The Green Mode Boss and the new boss Hush all gain armor based on your DPS, making them long fights.
• Some layouts require you to take damage, but this will be fixed.

Stats (Taken from the BoI Steam Page)

Key Features:

• Over 100 hours of MORE gameplay
• Greed Mode - a whole new way to play, focused on risk/reward
• Expanded main game - a new final area with a new final boss
• Daily Runs – play a new official run, everyday!
• Online Leaderboards - compete for highscore/best time
• 10 totally new and awesome challenges!
• 1000+ new room designs, as well as room
• MONSTROUSLY UPDATED WEAPON COMBO SYSTEM!
• 120 new items--not counting tons of new pickups, chests, pills, bombs and cards--taking the item count up beyond 500!
• Alternate soundtrack!
• Tons of new secret transformations!
• MOAR new achievements

Uber secrets including:

• Lilith, mother of demons, a totally new playable character
• 4 new alternate chapters with new enemy types and visual themes
• Revised seed code combo system and new special seeds
• 100+ enemies, with new designs
• 8 new bosses
• Even more rooms FULL OF POOP!
• and probably at least 5 other features we can’t remember due to all the crap that we threw into this little monster

Final Thoughts

As far as DLC goes, I’d say this is actually pretty good. The price point is $10.99 (or your regional equivalent) and as stated above, adds a load of content that really meshes well with the game. If you’re a Binding of Isaac fan, I’d definitely suggest picking this DLC up when you can. As it’s new, it’s still going through some bug fixes along with balance changes, but hey, variety is the spice of life right? Personally, my new favorite addition is the daily challenges as I can see how I stack up against random people and some of my favorite BoI players (like NorthernLion). Some of the new tear effects adds more chaos to the already chaotic game. Seriously, if you enjoy the base game, pick this up and enjoy the new gameplay!

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition for Xbox 360
Experience level: Adept

So it has been awhile since I have posted. And my only excuse is this: Skyrim. The Elder Scrolls series has taken over my life.


General Info
After playing Oblivion and getting screwed over by Bethesda's lack of care about the PS3 version, I gave Bethesda a chance to redeem themselves by playing Skyrim on Xbox 360, and let me tell you, I am not disappointed. Bethesda put a lot into this game and really gave it their all. Just as an example of how much Bethesda cared about the quality of the game they were producing, they invented a language. They invented a language for the dragons to use. You're probably thinking that it was a couple of words, just enough to make the game work right? Nope. They created a language with over 500 words. In fact, there are sites that can translate your English text into this dragon language. Which is pretty cool if you ask me.

A really cool aspect of this game is the fact that the game is practically limitless. They are basically an infinite amount of quests you may complete. Leveling in this game is a bit different compared to Oblivion. In Skyrim, you don’t have to sleep to level and can level up mid-combat if you time it just right. Every time you level up you get the ability to unlock a perk, which can give you boosts in various sections such as one-handed or Destruction magic. Once you reach level 100 with a skill, it is then reset to 15 and your previous work is converted over to perk points and you can essentially always get better, along with continue to level up (I'm basing this off of what I have heard as I have not experienced it yet due to the vastness of the game).


Honestly, in my opinion, Skyrim is kind of like a darker version of a Sims game, in that your character can build their own house, get married, adopt up to 2 children, etc. Although, Sims would be a lot cooler if you could also travel around the world and forge your own story (and I mean, you get to kill dragons and absorbs their souls, what game wouldn’t benefit from that addition?)


Getting Started
First off, let me tell you something very important. Use an HDMI cord if at all possible when playing on a console. We started with AV cables and the game honestly looked worse than Oblivion's graphics, even though there is about 10 years difference in time between the release of those two games. The subtitles were nearly impossible to read and everything was just sad. So definitely use an HDMI cord for your console (you can get one online for less than $10).


Secondly, please look at the various races when choosing. Don't be me when I did my first play-through of Oblivion and just pick your race based on how “pretty” your character looks. If you need more details on the types of races in the game, you can look them up online. Personally, the site I use for any and all Elder Scrolls questions would be uesp.net. I don't know who made it, but I just prefer if because of all of the information provided and the ease of use. It has definitely helped me, along with YouTube videos of certain puzzles.* (Yes, I cheat and use the Internet to tell me what to do when I get stuck, oh well.)


This game takes place 200 years after the Oblivion Crisis. To tell you a short synapses, dragons come back to Skyrim and you have to fight them to save the world. You are the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn (a mortal man or woman born with the soul of a dragon). You can learn dragon words that give you dragon shouts (it's basically a category of magic just like illusion or destruction) that allow you to push someone a great distance or breathe fire just with your thu’um or voice. The best part is that the game starts out with your hands bound up and weaponless. You are in a carriage on your way to be executed. But don't worry too much, conveniently your execution gets interrupted.   


My Gameplay
For my playthrough, I decided my character would be a male Breton, as I felt it had the best combination of stats for me personally. Due to the fact I'm literally the worst at coming up with names, my character's name is "Big Dick" Rowan. No regrets. Well one regret. I feel like his name should have been "Big Dick" Mitch or "Big Dick" Rick, something more catchy. Every time I get a letter with my name on it or I look at my horse I can't help but laugh at the silliness that is my name.


I've had this game for less than a month and I'm at level 37 (which may not be impressive to you, but it's pretty impressive to me). I already have two daughters, 3 houses (I'm currently building a house of my own for the first time) and I am hoping to get married soon. My smithing is level 71 because I love improving my armor and I REALLY wanted the ability to improve enchanted armor so I pumped out iron dagger after iron dagger to get my smithing up to 60. There are some really simple ways that you can get your skill levels to improve, such as summoning a familiar or atronach and then destroying it with destruction magic. What don't I like? In a game that I play very often I'm bound to come across some dislikes in term of game play and things like that. Honestly the biggest thing I can think of is the graphics. Not to say that the graphics aren't incredibly sharp and insanely detailed. No, my problem is specifically the color scheme of the game. In an attempt to make the make "mature" Bethesda decided to make the Skyrim lackluster when it comes to vivid colors, which can make walking through a city like Markarth (which is almost exclusively made from stone) a tad... boring. The good news is that mods on PC make this issue disappear and you can truly see the beauty that Skyrim has to offer. Another thing that isn't my favorite thing about the game is that I found the beginning of the game very rushed. In Oblivion I felt like they really let the player learn how to do things at their pace without much pressure, once you got something down you could move on to learn about something else. Whereas in Skyrim you are thrown into a very intense scene with a dragon that's trying to kill everything and everyone in sight. Personally thing was just a little too much for me at the beginning on the game though I do understand the reasoning Bethesda started the game like that. Sometimes when playing video games you don't "have time" to sit around and shot arrows at a bucket to learn how to use a bow. Sometimes there is just a fire-breathing dragon that is going to kill you if you don't get out of the way. Overall I adore thing game. When I started it out I was a little hesitant because it wasn't Oblivion. But I soon realized I loved it even more than I enjoyed Oblivion. I honestly am more interested in my Skyrim life than I am most days in real life and I have no regrets.

*Please note that although Skyrim is mostly an Action/Adventure & RPG game it has puzzles you need to figure out as well. They are usually pretty easy once you think about it. Think of it like Legend of Zelda puzzles.

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