Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time

Plants VS Zombies at it's worst is still better than Bloons TD at it's best.

I played this before the leveling up system and along with the pramium plants the main problem I had with it is how stretched and repetitive the levels feel. In the original game every level had something new whether it be a plant or a zombie and despite that they still felt the need to add all those silly puzzles and mini-games which was what made the game so charming. There's so many levels in this until something new shows up the game feels like a complete chore, some levels being fairly hard aswell trying to force you to use those premium power ups to completely skip them. Day 16 of Big Wave Beach was one of the most artificially difficult things I've ever played. I've played some mods that "fix" this game but they all fall victim to this same problem.

the first one smokes this any day of the week but god damn does the reflourished mod give it a run for its money

Gameplay-wise it's way better than 1 and the only way you can disagree is if you haven't played 1 for a bit because it's definitely stiffer than memory would have you believe (and uglier); more plants and more zombies just lead to more game design possibilities. However I would not score it higher than 1 because the gotcha mechanics, even if usually only suggested, are annoying; the adds being the crowning jewel of indefensible. The mods though fix most of these problems.

It's funny how such a good game is so underrated just because of its transactions.

microtransactions aside, the art direction and plant/level design seem a lot worse overall. PvZ1 looks timeless, this just looks and feels like a mobile game from the get-go