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benn1nat0r's avatar
benn1nat0r
5 years ago

Re: All pvz games ranked

@Stringer2048 Thank you for bringing the topic up, I love it 🙂! I think we have quite different opinions, so I'll try to explain mine as well as you explained yours.

I will actually include 2 rankings: PvZ titles and all of the version of the original PvZ, as they are quite different.

1.) The original PvZ

While some of the newer games added more content and improved some concepts, PvZ 1 remains my favorite. It is a timeless classic for me. The other games may have more content, but are way more action focused and hectic. PvZ 1 is slower, has relaxing music and cleverly designed levels and progression. Overall, it has the Zen Nature that really helps me to relax when I had a bad day, which the other games are mostly missing. They expanded on other aspects and had to scarify this one, which is fine.

2) PvZ: BfN

BfN is my favorite PvZ shooter. It improved on so many things, I can't get back to playing the gw games. I find the gw2 community to be way more toxic than the BfN community. In most online forums people hate on BfN players for no reason. In-game, while I do encounter toxicity, I encounter it way less often than in gw2. The game had several issues at launch, but so did gw2. I couldn't stomach playing gw2 after its release, I hated it so much. When BfN launched I couldn't get enough. The charming and catchy trailer, the wacky PvZ DNA, the removal of extremely unbalanced variants, the new art style, improved music, story mode with awesome boss fight, multiplayer which greatly improved over time and the new Characters

3.) PvZ 2 (international)

PvZ 2 has been rather controversial for me. It introduced Pay to play and Pay not to Play mechanics, as well as Pay to Win mechanics (with the new leveling system which can be used in Battle Arena). It locked away plants behind ridiculous prizes. I clearly remember all of the interviews before launch, in which they stated "Every Plant and Zombie can be accessed for free". This was a lie. The prizes have even nearly doubled since launch ... .

While I hate the mobile game nature of the game, it took many concepts form PvZ further and added a tonne of new content that, with enough patience, can be enjoyed for free.

I don't like that they just spammed zombies for the more difficult levels. This makes the game unplayable without a touchscreen. I would have liked to see the game ported to pc and console, but due to the quick reaction time required, it is best suited for mobile.

4.) PvZ 2 (China)

I can't really say much about the Chinese version, as I can't play it. From what I have seen it has more and more unique worlds than the international release, which I like. It also seems to double down on the terrible monetization, so I rank it lower than the international release.

5.)PvZ: GW2

I hated this game at launch. While it improved on the first game a lot, it still was a mess at launch, despite the public beta. GW1 arguable has worse balancing, but no one knew about that in the beginning. The terrible balancing only really became a problem at the end when everyone only played what the knew was op. The zombies were way in gw1. They barely fixed the retiring characters and added more. This wasn't a good choice, in my opinion.I had the preorder bonus z-Mech and could destroy entire lobbies with it, despite having no idea how to play the game. I also dislike most of the maps and the art style. The game, overall, looks way darker than GW1. And I don't mean more mature, but just darker, less light being present. It makes most of the game look terrible and it feels like it is completely lacking the PvZ spirit. Some characters look nice and realistic, while others look like cheap clay figures. BfN has a nice and consistent art style, as well as a brighter appearance. They never fixed some op things in GW2 and is being overrun by cheaters, while BfN will age gracefully, with a now awesome upgrade system and good anti-cheat system. I also think the monetization in BfN is better. Except the legendary upgrades, which for the most part don't make a huge difference, everything that can be bought is cosmetic-only. I know that everything could be bought with coins in GW2, but it took way too long to unlock anything good without buying coins. 

4.) PvZ: GW1

I started the PvZ shooters and was fun at launch, but has some very unrefined parts and terrible balancing, which became a huge problem in the end. I remember how happy I was when I say the trailer. I felt like the PopCap acquisition by EA had finally brought us something good that wouldn't have been possibly without EA as the publisher and owner of the franchise.

5.) PvZ: Adventures

I never got to play it, but watched a lot of videos on it. I really like the concept and wish there were a way for me to play it

6.) PvZ: Heros

While I heard a lot of good things about it, I simply don't like this genre and never ended up playing. The GW games (but mostly BfN) made me play I genre I otherwise ignored, but Heros didn't spark enough interest in me to try it. If it had deeper integration into PvZ 2 I might have tried it at launch. It Ould have been awesome to get rewards in both games for playing them both.

Ranking of PvZ 1

  1. Xbox 360/ PS3 - easily the best version with HD graphics, multiplayer, mini games and no ads or microtransactions
  2. PC - the original PvZ, lacking HD graphic and modern aspect ratio. It never got updated to include the terrible micro transaction, which I'm thankful for
  3. DS - weird graphics that are charming in a way, cool 8-bit style version of the soundtrack
  4. mobile - I bought this version twice (iPhone, iPad), It had everything in it for a one time purchase, but later was merged into one and locked away the mini games behind ridiculous prices. I paid for it and they robbed me of my content a year later. I am extremely mad about this. They even removed "There's a Zombie on your lawn" from this version. Greed at display, can't say more.

6 Replies

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  • TheSprinter85's avatar
    TheSprinter85
    Hero
    5 years ago

    Here are my rankings on the PvZ Games, I am going from least to most liked and will provide a bit of a description on each:

    6. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 1.

    I had not heard that much about the game back before its sequel was released and I was not particularly into shooters either. I know much more about this game now and when I compare it to Garden Warfare 2 and the content and changes that its sequel gains, I would much prefer its sequel. Might try this game at some point though!

    5. Plants vs Zombies 2.

    I cannot rank this game properly, as I have not had a chance to try it out. Looks really good and promising though - and apparently it is still receiving updates!

    4. Plants vs Zombies 1.

    An awesome, classic game that I have played ever since before I was a teenager. While it is an old game and I do not play it that much right now, I still really like it and still play it from time to time. The Zen Garden is cool. I wonder how large the Tree of Wisdom can get as well? There is still stuff I want to find out! Or I could check the Wiki? No thanks! 

    3. Plants vs Zombies Heroes.

    This card game is a lot of fun, it is a free game, and I play it daily! You can jump on and do quick battles with Al or you can climb the ranks by defeating other players! There are a lot of missions to do, daily challenges each day and unique decks you can create! Also I really like card games in general!

    2. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2.

    Variants are a lot of fun to use! You did not have all the variants unlocked from the start, meaning you had to earn them, which I liked. Each variant had their own upgrades, even if the upgrades were more basic in this game, that you were able to use and interchange between variants. Some variants had unique upgrades. The maps were awesome, I absolutely loved Boss Hunts! It goes on!

    1. Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville.

    The character upgrades, especially after this recent balancing patch, are a lot of fun to use. It allows you to buff your character in the way you like. They really expanded on the upgrade system in this game! Awesome! I also really enjoyed the Legendary Upgrades. While the maps were not particularly as great as the previous shooters or Ops, the letdown is not that significant. Still annoying though. I love the upgrade variety though. And the Prize Maps.

  • benn1nat0r's avatar
    benn1nat0r
    5 years ago

    @Stringer2048 Yes our opinions are quite different, but I also understand your points of view. I would say most of the games are rather similar and its just depends on personal preference and experience with the games. While you seem to have encountered more toxicity in BfN than in GW2, it's the opposite for me. Could have to do with the fact that I rarely played GW2 at launch and more towards the end, were servers ere only filled with toxic high ranks and cheaters.

    @TheSprinter85 Interesting ranking! Since the PvZ shooters made you try the genre, may I ask you If you play other card games or just PvZ:Heros? Was the game so good that you decided to try the genre? I thought of trying it, but I have seen a lot of people beginning for just a small update to change some under- or overpowered cards, which did not happen, apparently. So would you say it is still fun?

    @Stringer2048 & @TheSprinter85 

    Another thing I noticed: We all haven't included PvZ 3. It hasn't been released internationally yet, but what do you think of it so far? From what I have seen, I mostly dislike the art style. I think most plants look fine, but most zombies look horrendous. The backgrounds also seem way to flat and lack detail. I don't even enjoy the soundtrack, the thing that has been great in very PvZ game so far. Having said all of this, I actually think they fixed some problems, like the lawn mowers being a free pass and explosive plants being op (they give you one cherry bomb to use at any time in a level and that's it). I also dislike that they expanded on the pay to win aspect (leveling system in a competitive arena)

  • Stringer2048's avatar
    Stringer2048
    5 years ago

    @benn1nat0rYes, it’s another bold move from ea but it doesn’t look too promising. Hopefully it won’t disappoint and it looks harder than the other regular pvz games to be honest. Will also have to wait and see about the other pvz game in development that looks similar to brawl stars.And yes, I recommend pvz heroes if you want to play it dedicated or just pass the time on the go, it’s quite fun.

  • TheSprinter85's avatar
    TheSprinter85
    Hero
    5 years ago
    @benn1nat0r PvZ 3 looks interesting, but I really cannot day much on it yet. I do play other card games occasionally, which triggered me to try PvZ Heroes, which I really enjoy still, despite the issues. There are so many issues going on there right now, such as connection issues and friends list. It goes on. I do suggest trying it out, it seems like it is not getting more updates but it may still be worth a try.
  • benn1nat0r's avatar
    benn1nat0r
    5 years ago
    @TheSprinter85 Thank you for your reply!
    I will give it a go then 🙂.
    Your reply made me remember that you asked me about "The sims" once, but I forgot to answer in that thread.

    "The Sims 4" in a a nutshell: great life simulation that makes for a
    lot of fun, but annoying community. No matter what the devs do, they complain. Maxis always introduces what the community wants, but game dev needs some time, and the community never stops complaining. Last time I checked they were hating on Maxis/EA, because babies were "only objects" that couldn't be interacted with much. I mean, have they ever seen what a baby does in real life?
    The game does have some issues, though. Whenever traveling somewhere, there are annoying loading screens. The Sims 3 was open world, but The sims 4 is not. There is some leaked footage suggesting the loading screens are there, because the game was supposed to have an extensive online multiplayer mode (The Sims Olympus, just search for it on YouTube), but after the disaster of SimCity, they scrapped it. This made the game have very little content at launch. The add-ons have also been reduced in size while keeping their high prize tag.

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