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[Fleet_of_Foot]

I got to the point where I had to go back to earlier levels to start earning stars. After playing one of those, it looks like there's no way to earn all three stars on one try. That I have to play the level three more times to get three more stars? No thanks.

My main problem with this game, though, is that it's too repetitive. The first 3 minutes of every level is the same thing - make sunflowers to get your economy going. There should be some way to make that more efficient. I don't want to do the exact same thing every time I start a level. Each time I replay a level, the beginning bit is exactly the same. It just gets tiresome.

I also think all the power ups are lame. They work okay on the iPad, but on my iPhone, pinch to kill zombies is hard on such a small screen. I think overall, the power ups just aren't fun to use.

Best thing about free-to-play games? I played the game for maybe 90 minutes, spent no money, and deleted it.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I don't get the IAP complaints. You can play the entire game without it. The fact that it exists doesn't deter from otherwise enjoying the game. It's a petty complaint.

No, it really isn't a petty complaint.

I get ads every 4 levels I play. Every time I turn on the game and every time I change worlds. At one point I couldn't even progress until I clicked a door I could not open just to see an ad that told me I could pay to open the door. It's that bad.

It also interrupts the pacing a lot. In PvZ1, you progressed on and got a new plant or item every single round, and at the end of the world you'd switch over to another whole new gimmick, earn new plants specific to that gimmick and be introduced to new zombies at a pretty rapid pace.

In PvZ2 you sort of follow the same thing. You progress through levels and get new items and plants every level. But then you reach the end and it just stops. And there's this brick wall of grind in front of you that you can't help but feel like was put there specifically because the game is F2P. And it's not like you can even grind, hunting for keys is luck based and if you don't get them while normally progressing than it's a lot of repetitive matches until you do. It also rubs me the wrong way they locked some useful and well liked old plants behind paywalls with no good replacements for "free" plants.

I got through Egypt (and the 15 stars needed was pretty reasonable, I had around 10 when I got there anyway) and beat all the levels of Pirate, but that wall of grind to get to the final world is really off putting. It doesn't even feel like a fair amount of star collecting, 30 stars to move on from Pirate world is absurd. I actually laughed when I saw the amount of stars needed. I had 4 when I got to the gate, now it's a 4-5 hour grind of the same levels over and over with the same set up that beats pretty much every map (dragons behind wall nuts) with boring music and no sense of progress at all.

Also the prices for stuff in this game hurt it a lot. Nearly every purchase is well beyond impulse prices. Plants should be 99c a piece. Keys should be in packs of 5/10/25 and priced better. Paying 4-6 dollars to get through one door is just crazy, and it just reinforces the need to grind.

 

[Jonm1010]

Eh I will say I don't care for the zapping mechanic at all. I also hated the card match minigame. Other then that though the game is solid. Not as memorable as the first game but not a complete dud like I feared.

If the original was a 8.5/10 for me this is probably a 7/10. Above average and almost good but not great.

 

[SkullplateMurray]

Eh I will say I don't care for the zapping mechanic at all. I also hated the card match minigame. Other then that though the game is solid. Not as memorable as the first game but not a complete dud like I feared.

All of the hand gestures feel very out of place. It's supposed to be plants vs. zombies, not plants and your finger.

 

[cackhyena]

I actually like the matching mini game.

 

[CitizenCope]

- the biggest problem is the 'cheat' features that require coins. I feel like the whole game is build around this, being the higher difficulty as most obvious. We all know the previous PvZ1 was quit easy, but this one gets hard way too fast. By doing this, you are forced to cheat your way out by zapping enemies. I know you can just ignore the feature, but it's there and it's hard to resist using it when you have 50.000 coins. Even just knowing it's possible, spoils the whole experience for me.


I guess it's back to Kingdom Rush: Frontiers. Now there's a sequel!

This is the issue for me also. Had a couple of failures on levels where I went back and just told my self to use one of those powers and be done with it.

Also going back to a little KR:F. New level came out that I need to play.

 

[The Lamonster]

Here's my take so far:

New engine - A
New mechanics - B
Story - A+
Music - C
Crap behind a paywall - F

So basically you get what you pay for, and this was free. I would have preferred to pay ~$10 for a full game with no paid DLC. Hoping Garden Warfare fares better than this one. I'm still impressed with the new plants and enemies though.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

game is still fun despite the iAP. I've been playing it all weekend without dropping a single cent.

Same here. Love it to death, even though it's super way hard.

 

[EleventhDoctor]

I'm now leaning towards the fact that there must be two seperate versions of the app out there. The one I'm playing where IAP and "grinding" are not a problem at all whatsoever -and another that makes it conpletly unplayable and unenjoyable for others.

 

[partyphone]

The IAPs would be fine if they didn't make you go back and play levels you've already played just to get enough stars to move on. Having to pay for boosts and plants is one thing but this is gross and slimy.

Also locking new plants behind doors and making you grind for keys is not fun and I'm genuinely surprised you just can't buy keys.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I'm now leaning towards the fact that there must be two deprecate versions of the app out there. The one I'm playing where IAP and "grinding" are not a problem at all whatsoever -and another that makes it conpletly unplayable and unenjoyable for others.

lofl yeah

i think you and me lucked out

hi5

corn plant 4 life

 

[Evilisk]

Here's my take so far:

New engine - A
New mechanics - B
Story - A+
Music - D
Crap behind a paywall - F

Fixed for me.

Such a gigantic disappointment from the first game.

While the soundtrack in itself is really average and nothing I'd mark down as D, it gets that score because even the tracks from 1 that got remixed here were generic and forgettable.

 

[Voidance]

I got through Egypt (and the 15 stars needed was pretty reasonable, I had around 10 when I got there anyway) and beat all the levels of Pirate, but that wall of grind to get to the final world is really off putting. It doesn't even feel like a fair amount of star collecting, 30 stars to move on from Pirate world is absurd. I actually laughed when I saw the amount of stars needed. I had 4 when I got to the gate, now it's a 4-5 hour grind of the same levels over and over with the same set up that beats pretty much every map (dragons behind wall nuts) with boring music and no sense of progress at all.

Also the prices for stuff in this game hurt it a lot. Nearly every purchase is well beyond impulse prices. Plants should be 99c a piece. Keys should be in packs of 5/10/25 and priced better. Paying 4-6 dollars to get through one door is just crazy, and it just reinforces the need to grind.

I agree 100 percent. I'm glad I didn't pay anything for this game.

 

[bedlamite]

Glad to see I'm not alone in thinking game balance and progression are all completely out of whack, my wife played the first game obsessively and she's really not feeling it for the sequel.

Me? I've deleted it and gone back to Warhammer Quest. Now THERE's a game.

 

[CrankyKong]

not port begging, but is there any word on a pc/mac version?
otherwise i'll just borrow an iPad

 

[Snuggles]

not port begging, but is there any word on a pc/mac version?
otherwise i'll just borrow an iPad

There will be one. That's all we know. My guess is that PopCap is closely watching this version before they decide what they want to do with the PC and console versions.

 

[Ventilaator]

I'm now leaning towards the fact that there must be two seperate versions of the app out there. The one I'm playing where IAP and "grinding" are not a problem at all whatsoever -and another that makes it conpletly unplayable and unenjoyable for others.

I have your version as well. The version where I play new levels to unlock new stars, instead of the same one over and over again.

 

[EleventhDoctor]

I have your version as well. The version where I play new levels to unlock new stars, instead of the same one over and over again.

But that's the meat of the game-that's where the creativity of this game and forcing you to come up with new strategies comes about. Without these challenge levels, the game would be pretty straight forward and plain. I think people are just hung up on the fact that you need a certain amount of stars to proceed to the next level. They just want only to fly through the game to "finish" it-and the
Game would be very short that way-and then we'd hear a whole other group of complaining.

Did people complain in Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy about collecting stars to open up the next worlds?

 

[BruiserBear]

Glad to see I'm not alone in thinking game balance and progression are all completely out of whack, my wife played the first game obsessively and she's really not feeling it for the sequel.

Me? I've deleted it and gone back to Warhammer Quest. Now THERE's a game.

My wife is experiencing the same thing. We both loved the first game, and played the hell out of it. She downloaded it the other night, played it for a few hours, and seems like she might be done with it.

I waited to hear what she thought before even bothering. Looks like I'm done with PvZ.

I'm still holding out hope Garden Warfare might be fun though.

 

[Horsemama1956]

I'll never play this game. Bought the original on Android, 360 and PC, but fuck them for making it an IOS timed exclusive. Shame, as I was really looking forward to it and still fire up the PC version.

 

[The Lamonster]

Fixed for me.

Such a gigantic disappointment from the first game.

While the soundtrack in itself is really average and nothing I'd mark down as D, it gets that score because even the tracks from 1 that got remixed here were generic and forgettable.

I agree. The worst is when it says "ready...set...PLANT!"

...and then the music doesn't change whatsoever.

 

[fritolay]

When is the Android release

 

[Curufinwe]

She didn't even try it? I was a huge advocate against PvZ2 f2p nonsense but honestly you barely notice it. I'm really far into the game and not once felt like I need to buy something.

When I offered to download it she said no thanks, and went back to playing games on her 3DS XL.

And this is from a mega fan with three versions of the original and a PVZ t-shirt. The fact I only have an iPhone 4S with a tiny little screen is part of it, though. If we owned an iPad I'm sure PVZ2 would seem more attractive.

 

[cackhyena]

I'll never play this game. Bought the original on Android, 360 and PC, but fuck them for making it an IOS timed exclusive. Shame, as I was really looking forward to it and still fire up the PC version.

I'm betting you'll get around to it.

 

[Ventilaator]

Come on, dude. Maybe people actually are[/] bothered by the constant reminders that you can pony up some cash to skip this grindy bit, the frequent splash screen ads for the IAP, and the fact that some of the most useful plants from the first game are paywalled.

That's awesome that it doesn't bother you, but that doesn't mean other people are whining just for the sake of it.

Some of the "most useful plants" is subjective, as they contain some that I never used in the first game. Also, some of them get totally eclipsed by some new ones you unlock in the game. The bouncy pad for example makes the squash completely pointless.

I saw the "frequent splash screen ads" on the first hour of play and then never saw them again.

And I only see the "constant reminders I can pay to skip the grindy bit" when I go to unlock a door with the keys/stars I earned from the game. The option is there next to the unlock button. Good to know that the option is there for people who apparently like to pay money so they wouldn't have to play games. I'm not that person, so I don't see that.

 

[fritolay]

I'll never play this game. Bought the original on Android, 360 and PC, but fuck them for making it an IOS timed exclusive. Shame, as I was really looking forward to it and still fire up the PC version.

I agree. By the it hits other platforms I either won't care or won't want to pay full price.

 

[see5harp]

I'll never play this game. Bought the original on Android, 360 and PC, but fuck them for making it an IOS timed exclusive. Shame, as I was really looking forward to it and still fire up the PC version.

EDIT: going to avoid talking about platforms as every comment addressing these complainers was deleted previously.

 

[suikodan]

Anyone had a bug with this game yet?

My wife was a big fan of the 1st PvZ so I showed her PvZ2.

She started playing and after clearing the 3rd stage, the screen went white and then nothing. It happens everytime she clears that stage.

Of course, I did clear all apps running and restarted my iPad 4 (128Gb) to get the same result.

Is the game progress on the Cloud? Could I get past the 3rd level so she could continue on the iPad?

 

[EleventhDoctor]

Some of the "most useful plants" is subjective, as they contain some that I never used in the first game. Also, some of them get totally eclipsed by some new ones you unlock in the game. The bouncy pad for example makes the squash completely pointless.

I saw the "frequent splash screen ads" on the first hour of play and then never saw them again.

And I only see the "constant reminders I can pay to skip the grindy bit" when I go to unlock a door with the keys/stars I earned from the game. The option is there next to the unlock button. Good to know that the option is there for people who apparently like to pay money so they wouldn't have to play games. I'm not that person, so I don't see that.

I finished most of the game-I have like 10 stars left in the Wild West World-and I didn't use any IAP plants-mostly because I couldn't, due to the fact I downloaded the free version from the NZ store and was logged into my US Gamecenter account. Once the US version came I could buy plants-I bought 9 dollars worth-a fair price in my mind for the enjoyment I got from the game. I bought the Iceshooter-but if you use it, it kind of ruins the point of some of the new plants-like the Fire breathing dragon. I found the Iceberg lettuce to be sufficient for most instances-especially when you use Plant Food on it.

Also I think the Potato Mine is really good at holding off enemies while you're setting up-and if you use Plant Food on it-it immediately arms itself-and spouts out a few more armed mines in other lanes. Very convenient!

 

[balladofwindfishes]

And I only see the "constant reminders I can pay to skip the grindy bit" when I go to unlock a door with the keys/stars I earned from the game. The option is there next to the unlock button. Good to know that the option is there for people who apparently like to pay money so they wouldn't have to play games. I'm not that person, so I don't see that.

Every time you start a level there's the plants you can buy sitting in your stash with locks over them. Literally every single level you play has a reminder that there's pay content that is unavoidable.

 

[EleventhDoctor]

Every time you start a level there's the plants you can buy sitting in your stash with locks over them. Literally every single level you play has a reminder that there's pay content that is unavoidable.

So it bothers you...that you see the lock icon?

 

[numble]

I'll never play this game. Bought the original on Android, 360 and PC, but fuck them for making it an IOS timed exclusive. Shame, as I was really looking forward to it and still fire up the PC version.

Aren't most games like this? They need extra time to test it on the many different Android devices, especially with regard to screen size and GPUs.

 

[Minsc]

They're also all put at the bottom, I could see it being an issue if they were mixed in-between the plants you have unlocked.

Come on, dude. Maybe people actually are bothered by the constant reminders that you can pony up some cash to skip this grindy bit, the frequent splash screen ads for the IAP, and the fact that some of the most useful plants from the first game are paywalled.

That's awesome that it doesn't bother you, but that doesn't mean other people are whining just for the sake of it.

So you'll tap to collect sun 10,000 times but tapping to close an ad is a big deal (which don't always even come up, I just started a new level and I got no ads)? I don't know, I guess it doesn't bother me like you say, I've become more conditioned to it by now maybe.

I read people finished the entire game without IAP, so the difficulty is perfectly fine imo. People addressed earlier than the IAP plants aren't even necessary or really all ideal. You can certainly do IAP with tower defense, see Kingdom Rush. People complain about that one too I guess, though it's handled great imo.

I know you enjoyed the game somewhat, and I probably over-generalized, but the gameplay is certainly not that far removed from the original.

I can see the complaint about the stars not being diverse enough, so they get repetitive after a while though, that's unfortunate. But then again, there's a certain amount of repetitiveness in the core mechanic to tower defense games anyway...

I think it was just the hyperbole from the post I responded to and earlier ones that got me to reply in kind... I know we all wanted a PvZ 2 that holds up to the original and surpasses it, but I can't really call it the biggest disappointment of the year knowing full well it could have been way, way worse (for example, it was last year, but look how Diablo 3 turned out)! Even for the disappointment it is, it is still one of the better tower defense games to be released this year, and hopefully future updates add to it rather than take away from it, lol.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

So it bothers you...that you see the lock icon?

It doesn't bother me, but to say that you can just avoid the ads and the ads don't exist and I never saw ads whatever else does bother me because you can't avoid them at all and you will be spammed with them the entire time you play. IAP is everywhere and entirely unavoidable. Whenever you beat the last level of a world the game forces you to check the price to unlock the star gate before you can even do anything else. And not the price in stars, mind you, that's on the gate, the game forces you to click on the gate and see the ad for unlocking it with money.

I also have yet to have a time when I turned on the game where I didn't get an ad instantly. upon loading. That does bother me.

I would have rather paid 10 dollars to buy the game, be able to earn every plant in the game, each gate have reasonable numbers of stars required (like 10 or 15) and for keys to drop at a higher rate. As it stands everything seems to be in the way in this game and it causes it drag on and be slow.

Never have I seen a game with so much potential be bogged down by actively slowing pace and forcing repetitive sections all to fit some pricing gimmick that this game didn't even need.

They're also all put at the bottom, I could see it being an issue if they were mixed in-between the plants you have unlocked.

This is the case for the Almanac. The locked plants are sprinkled with the regular ones.

 

[wenis]

There is no way PvZ2 can be disappointment of the year because

Spoiler

Sim City

came out in March.

 

[WhiskeyKnight]

This thing is freaking free-to-play?!?

Shit, and I was excited for this. Maybe they'll release a proper version on Steam someday...

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I guess I should note that although I seem to be trashing on the game, I do enjoy it. It just has a lot of annoying aspects to it, and my last play session kind of had the huge shock of having 3 Pirate Keys and 4 stars and seeing the next gate needing 30 stars and feeling kind of hopeless towards progress.

 

[Ventilaator]

and for keys to drop at a higher rate.

I have all the locked doors in Egypt open and like 11 keys left over. I haven't even gotten all the stars there.

If they wanted people to buy keys then they fucked up, because the droprate is way too high for that.

 

[Ventilaator]

This thing is freaking free-to-play?!?

Shit, and I was excited for this. Maybe they'll release a proper version on Steam someday...

This kind of attitude is truly amazing to me. The words free to play are so poisonous that it totally doesn't matter how it's actually implemented. The mere mention of the term is enough for people to be disgusted by the game.

 

[blackflag]

I'm loving this game. Haven't felt the need for any iap. I have 45k coins which I've never used at all. Enjoying the challenges.

The keys drop frequently enough that I've unlocked everything in the Egypt land and almost everything in pirate land. I have 21 stars so I can almost unlock cowboy land.

I'm not getting the iap complaints.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I have all the locked doors in the Wild West open and like 11 keys left over. I haven't even gotten all the stars there.

If they wanted people to buy keys then they fucked up, because the droprate is way too high for that.

I had to play for 4 hours to unlock 2 gates in Egypt. I mean, yea, if you play for 20 hours you'll have keys, but this is a casual pick up and play game, and one key drop every 45 minutes or so is counter productive to that.

 

[blackflag]

I had to play for 4 hours to unlock 2 gates in Egypt. I mean, yea, if you play for 20 hours you'll have keys, but this is a casual pick up and play game, and one key drop every 45 minutes or so is counter productive to that.

It's just luck I guess. I've gotten multiple key drops on several stages.

 

[Junior Mint]

So it sounds like this game got EA'd?

 

[Ventilaator]

I had to play for 4 hours to unlock 2 gates in Egypt. I mean, yea, if you play for 20 hours you'll have keys, but this is a casual pick up and play game, and one key drop every 45 minutes or so is counter productive to that.

It doesn't matter how much you play. If you have all the keys you need before you've played all the levels, then the droprate is high enough. Also, I've gotten 2 keys in a single level several times.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

It doesn't matter how much you play. If you have all the keys you need before you've played all the levels, the droprate is high enough. Also, I've gotten 2 keys in a single level several times.

But I haven't. I ran out of new pirate levels at 3 or so keys. Only enough to open one of the early gates, but I'm saving for the gate with the extra plant update. There's still Pirate stars to get, but as far as new levels are concerned I'm out of them until the magic rng fairy decides I can get to them.

 

[zoukka]

It's so weird, I loved the first game, but can't muster any interest in this anymore.

 

[Minsc]

I had to play for 4 hours to unlock 2 gates in Egypt. I mean, yea, if you play for 20 hours you'll have keys, but this is a casual pick up and play game, and one key drop every 45 minutes or so is counter productive to that.

Have you done the challenge pyramid yet? That drops keys too and starts out pretty easy. It's kinda like that endless mode from PvZ, you can save and quit at any time too. I did the first six levels to see what it was the other day and got 3 keys from it, I imagine I could make it to the 20s fairly easy.

 

[Ventilaator]

I did the first six levels to see what it was the other day and got 3 keys from it, I imagine I could make it to the 20s fairly easy.

I failed at 16. It's easy for a while and then suddenly gets really rough.

 

[ZedIndyLil]

Eagerly awaiting this game for Android. As long as it is better than the PvZ Facebook abomination, I think I'll be OK.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

It's so weird, I loved the first game, but can't muster any interest in this anymore.

All I ever need is Kernel-Pult, so I still love it to death.

My favorite video game creation outside a GoTeki ship, maybe, lofl