I think I'm tired of Isaac's Repentance

[John Orbit]

I just finished all the Regular Characters and unlocked Mega Mush, now I'm looking at all the Tainted Characters like, “Yeah, nah.”
Do I really want to learn 17 new and different ways to play the game wrong? I got a few completion marks from just trying them out, but do I really want to get nearly 200 more?
With these jerks?
I'm not quite ready to give up on this game after all these years... but I might be soon.
Who knows. Maybe that's a good thing. Ed did tell us to, “Stop Playing.”
Maybe that jackass was right after all.
(By that I mean I might give up on the achievements. I'll still play the game. But maybe... Maybe I'll play it for fun?)

[Sharp Hand Joe]

Bro, its a video game, just have fun.

[maximilio]

Don't the tainted characters have only a few completion marks?

[XMog]

I believe the tainted characters have full/regular completion marks, but the unlocks are limited. That's my own experience, the unofficial wiki is confusing on it.

For playing further in Repentance, I'm in a similar position. I'd suggest stepping back from completion marks for a bit, and just play how you want. Default Isaac? Sure! Remember, there's an achievement for collecting every item, so even if you're not going for the completion marks for each character, you can still make some small progress, and still enjoy a casual game. The D6 will help new content show up, and there's plenty of modified items and new combos to discover.

The tainted characters offer a unique gameplay experience, so keep that in mind. It's not always a negative experience. Want to play with only the best items? Tainted Isaac limits you to your best 8. Once you hit 8, there's a button that will change which existing item the new one will replace (R2 on controller? I forget). If you're playing the normal path with him, you may not have a difficult run. And you might get some completion marks too. The tainted Judas character has a neat invincible-slice-n-dice move after you get the feel for it.

The unofficial wiki has tips and strategies for each of the tainted characters. Knowing the quirks and not-obvious strategies and combos may help you enjoy the characters more.

And yes, I dread playing some of the tainted characters, along with bringing a few existing characters into the new stages/paths, which both make me not want to play sometimes. It's not all good. Some playthroughs will be incredibly frustrating and will be for completion only. But you can always just play a regular game now and then. Still experience new content. Get a mental reminder on why the game has been so enjoyable/replayable in the past.

[Jakethesnake]

In order to complete the game, you need to do everything as every character.

[UwU]

So, which characters exactly are "these jerks"? I can understand T Laz and T Jacob (for which we should wait for a rework right now), also T Eden can be unfun, but all the other characters usually end up being even better than their normal versions.
I've just felt the same before, but it was more because I couldn't play as I wanted to, forcing myself to go throug the same path to unlock new staff, which became boring even with different characters. So maybe that's the case and not just the characters problem?

[HeraldOfOpera]

Originally posted by Monke:

So, which characters exactly are "these jerks"? I can understand T Laz and T Jacob (for which we should wait for a rework right now), also T Eden can be unfun, but all the other characters usually end up being even better than their normal versions.
I've just felt the same before, but it was more because I couldn't play as I wanted to, forcing myself to go throug the same path to unlock new staff, which became boring even with different characters. So maybe that's the case and not just the characters problem?

While they're often quite powerful, they also play very differently. Remember how The Forgotten was originally designed as a sequel? A lot of Tainted characters are even more different than he is.

[LSDBunny]

Originally posted by maximilio:

Don't the tainted characters have only a few completion marks?

They have as many as the OG characters. They have fewer unlocks.

[LSDBunny]

Tainted Isaac is so much fun though. You have to minmax a bunch and make compromises but every item is auto rerolled. You can get treasure room items from blood donation machines, random drops can become something better, anything that generates items wíll be more likely to give you something you want. Combine him with D6 or Spindown Dice and he gets even better. (Spindown Dice is best item for Tainted Isaac btw, even better than Rock Bottom or Birthright)

Tainted Forgotten is cool. Tedious at times, yes, but anything that gives you contact damage is so good with him. I like to yeet him through every door, makes you move a lil faster.

Tainted Lillith is pure kartharsis. Punching enemies to death with your baby is one of my new favorite past times. I just wish you could do it diagonally.

Tainted Blue Baby is hard to handle. I don't really like him. His mechanic is interesting tho. It says "no bombs" In reality, in early game he has a lot more explosives than any other character.

Tainted Magdalene doesn't loose devil deal chances, if her non depleeting health isn't touched. Healing works double for her and she starts with Yum Heart, just like OG Maggy. Habit + Wafer makes her basically invincible.

Tainted Cain is the most OP character that you could think of.

Tainted Bethany is insane. Save the red heart charges, release them in a devil or angel room and just try not to lose the orbitals.

Tainted Judas I haven't played as a lot yet, his gimmick is pretty powerful though.

Tainted Keeper is interesting. He can steam role into an insanely powerful build... but his health issues can make him very challenging, if you don't get good items early in the run.

Tainted Azazel is OP. His sneeze is cute too.

♥♥♥♥ the rest, at least right now, yes Tainted Eve and Tainted Samson too. Eve can lose her familiars so fast, I just want to subvert her gimmick by giving her Chocolate Milk or something. Samson is extremely annoying late game. Got a good build, that does lots of damage fast? Whoops, all your synergies are ruined every few seconds.... just ♥♥♥♥ that. Tainted Jacob is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ nightmare. Tainted Lost is just ultra hard mode. Tainted Apollyon is boring (probably because he's unfinished). Tainted Laz is... garbage. I'm waiting for his rework.

[dwinters62]

Originally posted by Jakethesnake:

In order to complete the game, you need to do everything as every character.

On Hard Mode

[John Orbit]

Originally posted by Sharp Hand Joe:

Bro, its a video game, just have fun.

Yeah... That's my point. It's not fun anymore.

[Danizk0]

Originally posted by John Orbit:

Do I really want to learn 17 new and different ways to play the game wrong?

What is the right way to play the game and how do tainted characters ruin it?

[Revalopod]

you're complaining about there being too much new unique content that changes the way you play the game instead of all being Isaac reskins with tweaked stats? k

[John Orbit]

Originally posted by Danizk0:

What is the right way to play the game and how do tainted characters ruin it?

What I mean is that most of these characters dramatically alter how the game is played, usually making it way more complicated/frustrating/idiotic than it needs to be.

Tainted Cain i probably the most extreme example, where Crafting is basically a whole different "game" that requires outside resources to even figure out what's what, and it's so needlessly complex you could spend a year studying and not even learn 10% of the combos.

And of course, Tainted Forgotten is the worst example of changing the gameplay. Original Forgotten, as a melee character, changes the game, but players asked for that and the new mechanics were added seamlessly. Tainted Forgotten feels like a character pulled from another game entirely who doesn't fit in Isaac at all.

I could go on (and on), but that sums it up nicely.

[Sharp Hand Joe]

Originally posted by John Orbit:

Originally posted by Sharp Hand Joe:

Bro, its a video game, just have fun.

Yeah... That's my point. It's not fun anymore.

Then take a break from it, no need to 100% every game you play from start to finish. Come back after a few weeks or wait for a update. Or dont even play it anymore if you dont think you are going to have fun, I mean you probably already made your money's worth right?

[Danizk0]

Originally posted by John Orbit:

What I mean is that most of these characters dramatically alter how the game is played

Yes, that is what a good character is supposed to do, instead of being just Isaac with different stats and starting items.

Originally posted by John Orbit:

usually making it way more complicated/frustrating/idiotic than it needs to be.

Tainted Cain, Laz and Jacob are the most boring (Cain) / most underpowered (Laz) / most ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ (Jacob) characters in the game. However, I found every other tainted character fun and unique, don't know why everyone hates Forgotten so much.