[Feedback] My Current Take on The Current State of The Game
Hello, I am a passionate player of the PvZ franchise, and I have been playing these games since I was a kid. I have a lot of nostalgia for the original Plants vs. Zombies and PvZ 2, and I genuinely want PvZ 3 to succeed.
I really appreciate that the team is continuing to listen to player feedback and is trying to improve the quality of the game. With that in mind, I wanted to share my current thoughts on PvZ 3, particularly regarding Adventure Mode.
The game has a lot of potential, but right now I feel like the Adventure Mode is missing some of the creativity, variety, and memorable moments that made the previous games so enjoyable for me.
These are the main things I would like to see addressed, and feel free to push back and disagree with me if you would like.
1. Adventure levels lack variety and mini-games.
In the original PvZ, you had completely different experiences such as Wall-nut Bowling, Vasebreaker, Slot Machine, and Last Stand. PvZ 2 also continued this idea with different special challenges, conveyor-belt levels, and unique level objectives, and worlds with mechanics that changed how you played. PvZ 3 should incorporate more of these ideas and not just follow the traditional format across the entire adventure. Having occasional mini-games, puzzles, special objectives, or unusual challenges would make progressing through Adventure much more interesting.
2. Lawn layouts currently feel repetitive and forgettable
Another issue I have is the design of the lawns themselves. A lot of the levels currently feel very similar, with the same layout, which I find unreasonable and actually inexcusable. One thing I really enjoyed about the older games was how certain levels had their own identity. This could come from the lawn layout, environmental mechanics, obstacles, or special rules.
I would love to see more experimentation in PvZ 3. Give us strange lawn shapes, obstacles, environmental hazards, changing terrain, and unique objectives that make the levels more memorable. Most levels should really have their own identity rather than a repetition of a previous one with just a different number of zombies and patterns.
3. Randomly generated levels make it difficult to control the experience
While I am personally playing the game, I also watch a lot of walkthroughs of the game on YouTube. The very disappointing thing is that sometimes I will be struggling with a level so badly, only to see another player having a completely different layout and not having to struggle with the same obstacles that I have been facing. Sometimes I even replay the same level the other day only to see that the layout has changed yet again, which makes it either less enjoyable for me since I do not feel like I have solved the puzzle or even to a worse layout that makes the experience even less enjoyable.
This makes it difficult or even impossible to properly assess the difficulty and quality of a level. If one player gets a much easier or harder version of the same level, how can the developers accurately determine whether that level is balanced or fun?
I do not necessarily think randomness needs to be removed completely. However, I think there should be enough consistency and control over the generated levels that the intended difficulty and experience remain relatively consistent between players.
4. The leveling system is still confusing, even though I agree it should not exist
I know this has already been discussed extensively by the community, and like many players, I agree that the plant and zombie leveling system should probably not be in PvZ at all.
However, I am way past simply arguing about whether the system should exist. Since it is currently part of the game, I want to point out some of the problems it creates from a gameplay perspective.
The biggest issue for me is that I still do not have a clear understanding of the actual stats involved.
I have been playing the game for a while, and I genuinely do not know how much health a particular zombie has or exactly how much damage it should be doing to them. Also do not always understand how the different levels translate into actual gameplay.
This makes the Almanac feel less useful because, at least in the zombies section, they are probably inaccurate most of the time (I don't even know anymore, to be honest).
Since the leveling system will most likely remain, I think the game needs to do a much better job of communicating its effects to the player. I should be able to understand what a zombie's level means, and how those levels affect damage, health, and other relevant stats, so I can assess beforehand how many plants I should commit for each zombie.
5. Limiting zombie levels was a good change, but it does not completely solve the difficulty problem
I think limiting zombie levels in Adventure Mode to around levels 1–3 was a good step toward addressing one of the biggest difficulty issues. Previously, zombies could sometimes be significantly higher level than the player's plants, which could make certain levels unnecessarily difficult and frustrating. I appreciate the attempt to address this by limiting zombie levels, but I don't think this is the optimal solution.
I have been focusing on upgrading my plants and playing a lot of lawn or patrol levels and expeditions. My plants are not even that leveled up (most tier 1 plants around level 5), and I have reached a point where many Adventure levels feel easy. This also makes replaying those levels much less interesting because my plants are now significantly stornger that what the level seems designed around.
I think there are potentially two solutions to this.
- Dynamic Difficulty System: zombie levels or stats are adjusted according to the player's plant progression. This could keep the levels challenging without simply throwing extremely high-level zombies at the player.
- Standardize Plant levels within Adventure Mode: the game could temporarily treat plants as a specific level during Adventure, regardless of their actual upgrade level.
The second solution could be very interesting because it would allow every player to experience the same intended level difficulty while still allowing plant upgrades to matter elsewhere in the game. It also makes it easily assessable for the developers to actually determine whether this level is actually very hard or very easy and adjust accordingly.
The important point I am trying to make here is that upgrading my plants should not make the actual Adventure experience progressively less engaging.
6. Boss fights need much more intensity
Finally, I think the current boss fights are a huge disappointment compared to the previous games.
Boss fights in PvZ 1 and PvZ 2 felt like actual events. They had memorable music, stronger presentation, unique mechanics, and a sense that you were approaching an important moment.
In PvZ 3, I don't get the same feeling.
There is very little intensity or tension during the fights. I do not really feel nervous or excited when fighting a boss because, for the most part, I am simply attacking it until it runs away and escapes.
Especially now that the boss fight (or whatever you wanna call it) only starts at the very end of a normal level, the fight can feel like I am just trying to tank through the boss's health while the boss itself is not doing much for most of the encounter.
Bosses should be more interactive
Give them attacks that force us to react. Give them mechanics that change how we approach the lawn. Make us adapt our plant selection or strategy during the fight. Give the fight stronger music and presentation so that it actually feels like a boss battle.
The previous games did a much better job (while still not perfect, especially with the repetitive style of PvZ 2 boss fights) of making bosses feel like memorable encounters rather than just a stronger zombie with a larger health bar.
I am hoping for the best of my beloved game
Thanks.
