Fifteen years ago, The Binding of Isaac was released on the PC. It was initially a moderate hit, but it eventually grew into a huge hit thanks to the game's popularity with streamers and YouTubers. The game eventually got loads of expansions from both McMillen and modders alike, and the game hit just about every console and handheld platform imaginable. The latest expansion, Repentance+, hit the PC two years ago, and that version is currently hitting the latest round of consoles.

At the house at the top of a hill lived a child named Isaac and his mother. One day, Isaac's mother heard a voice that was presumably from God saying that Isaac needed to be purged from sin. After Isaac's mother locked him in his room, the voice called out to Isaac's mother once more to demand that Isaac be sacrificed as a show of her devotion to God. Isaac quickly found a trap door in his room and jumped toward the basement, only to discover the horrors that lived beneath the house.

Using the Biblical story of the same name as the basis of this game is a bold move, but if you are fine with the religious connections, then you'll find the premise to be solid, especially now that there are some clearer endings to provide some closure. Even if you aren't religiously sensitive, your enjoyment of the narrative will come down to your tolerance for all of the things that Isaac had to go through prior to his escape to the basement. The visions that Isaac has between levels runs the gamut. Some are funny, such as him thinking about him thinking in an endless cycle. Some are embarrassing, such as bullies barging in while he's in a bathroom stall or getting laughed at when he wears a wig that he'd received as a present. Others are sad, such as his mother rejecting him or breaking his toys. The humor and slight absurdity try to balance out the cruel moments, and even though the sequences are brief and without any accompanying voices, the visions can be enough for some players to turn away from the game altogether.

If you're not familiar with the game, what you're getting is a roguelike that goes for a more classic approach. All of the telltale features of the genre are present, such as the procedurally generated random rooms and enemies, boss appearances except for the story-based ones, and item acquisition. Death ensures you lose all items, but unlike the modern crop of roguelikes, there's nothing you can carry back on your next run.

The defining features are numerous. The dungeon layouts have a classic The Legend of Zelda influence. With the exception of a few rooms, most fit in one screen, and you need to clear out all of the enemies before you can move forward. The combat may emulate that of a twin-stick shooter, but you can only attack in the four cardinal directions. Don't expect anything big like dodging, but you can lay out bombs. You'll want to use them less for killing enemies and more for breaking down rocks and fragile walls to receive more items and unlock new rooms, respectively.

That seems simple to follow, but the items provide variety and replay value. Some items give you a curved shot, and others give you a triple shot. There's an item that gives you some protection from approaching enemies. Tarot cards let you create portals that drive you into a secret room, while others let you go up against secret minibosses. You can get some familiars to roam around with you, and you can secrete a slime trail that slows down everyone who walks into that temporary path. Thanks to the numerous updates from the past decade, the item library is huge, so it take a long time to unlock them all and discover which combinations work well for a given run.

The replay value also comes into play via the character roster. Thanks to all of the previously released DLC, the game has a ton of playable characters all waiting to be unlocked via different requirements, such as not healing for a certain number of rooms or conquering a run. Each of those characters plays different enough that the overall game experience changes significantly because of it. Couple that with the ridiculous number of items, and the title lives up to the potential of being a near-limitless experience for those who want to try every combination to get every imaginable ending.

This all comes together in a game that is very well designed and strikes the right balance between breezy and punishing. Enemy placement feels fair, as there is rarely a time when you'll get into a room and be immediately ambushed. Boss fights can be tough, but they aren't cheap, and the bosses aren't bigger bullet sponges than usual. Items drops are frequent but not to the point where you'll be overpowered when you enter a fight. To put things succinctly, it all just feels right.

This new expansion has three things going for it. The first is a rebalancing of some of the items, such as the recharge time for a Butter Bean being reduced to two seconds, Short Fuse increasing bomb damage by 15%, and Evil Charm granting immunity to some environmental hazards. There are no new items introduced, but this is still something that returning players should be aware of. A more important change for all players is that there are item descriptions present when something appears in the world. That saves you from having to wait until the end of a run to see what powers were gained from a tarot card, strange-looking pill or weird trinket.

The most significant change is the presence of online multiplayer. The game has had local co-op, but it was restricted to two players. The count now stands at four, and that makes the game loads of fun even if things get chaotic. The game also properly balances itself for the number of players, so you still need to play well; steamrolling through a run can't be done by just having more people shooting. The good news is that the teething issues experienced from the PC's beta period seem to have been ironed out. We played online recently with some other members of the press and Nicalis staff, and while the sampling is really small, there were no noticeable issues in those matches.

The presentation remains simple but excellent, provided you have no issues with the art style. The simple appearance still holds up today, thanks to the grotesque design of the monsters. Visual clarity isn't an issue at all when it comes to hazards and items. It also runs at a solid high framerate which should come as no surprise since the original Switch version ran at 60ps. The sound effects, music and voice work are also quite good, though the game is still limited since you'll only ever hear two voices throughout the game.

There are no Switch 2 exclusive features in terms of the control scheme. The game does sport a higher resolution, which is to be expected, but the art style makes it difficult to notice this change unless you're into pixel counting. With the game now being on multiple platforms, cross-play for multiplayer is expected to hit via a patch soon after launch. The same applies for cross-platform saving with a day-one patch. Saves from the original Switch version did carry over to the Switch 2 copy, which is great considering how much there is to unlock in the game as. Those who own the game and its DLC only have to pay for the upgrade to the Switch 2 copy, continuing a trend that most publishers on the console have adopted. It is a shame that original Switch owners can't partake in this upgrade for the older system, especially considering how nothing looks drastically different between the titles.

The Binding of Isaac: Repentance+ remains a fantastic roguelike for players of all skill levels, and it's a worthy entry in the Switch 2's library. It feels well balanced in difficulty, and the levels and boss fights all feel rewarding when you conquer them. The addition of online play is always welcome, but this is where you'll have to decide if the upgrade is worth it, since that's really the big driving point for this title. The other improvements made to the Switch original are minimal at best.

Score: 8.5/10