Yes, yes, sorry, it's a great game; perfect, in fact. I regret voicing any negative comments about it and the Freemium business model, which is the future of gaming. Resistance is, apparently, futile.
There's no resistance. Nobody is forcing anyway to play or to buy or whatever. If one dislikes something, just let it go and move forward.
Your public history of blanket IAP-bashing posts reveals otherwise, and you've already been taken to task more than once by developers and consumers alike over your inability to consider this issue from any position other than your own personal animosity towards the concept. If your intention is to challenge "purposely imbalanced game design", you're first going to have to prove it exists here with something more than anecdotal evidence. I also have anecdotal evidence: I personally know casual gamers (including children) who have been playing through the game without undue stress, and other self-admitted casual gamers have posted similar experiences on TA and elsewhere. The balance of these anecdotes suggests that your son is an outlier the game does not need to be and should not be redesigned around. The skill (or lack thereof) of specific individuals aside, the developers certainly need to place a defined difficulty/skill floor somewhere, otherwise the game would be too easy for everybody; you have yet to provide any evidence for your bold assertion that this skill floor is currently objectively too high for most. The fact that multiple people have completely finished the available content without once touching any IAP and have had fun while doing so, contrary to your claims dampens your argument somewhat; if you want to whip up an anti-IAP frenzy here, you'll need something more compelling and less nebulous than your blanket claims that the game simply isn't fun unless you spend real money, because such claims are demonstrably untrue.
Love the game. I'm really competitive when it comes to td games. I have to get 100% with no lose life and no power ups lol. Sorry pop cap. I would of loved to pay for this. But the iap feels like I would be cheating myself.
I think the nature of the hatred towards IAPs is that you don't know when you're going to be able to just, play and enjoy. Free game or not, you will often have to ponder, am I getting everything there is to this game? Sure, I'm willing to pay a few bucks for some coins, but what next, more IAPs? You find it so potential, so immersing, but you don't know its true price tag. Tricking the players into investing time and interest, and when they hit an impossible obstacle it's, more often than not, either pay or throw away the last couples of hours. When can I just fire up the game and chill with it? You know you hate it when you invest time in something that might be more frustrating than relaxing. It's the possibility that is ugly. Even in PvZ2, the possibility is still present, even though in a pretty reasonable (but rather pricey) way. Do I need a plant to complete this game? YES YES I know many claim no need for additional plants, but do you think players, unaware of Toucharcade, who left 1-star reviews know that fact? They don't even know which paid plants can make the game easier. The Squash for example doesn't help much (please don't play pun on my nickname >_>). In the end, to be sure they can experience all there is to the game they have sunk time in, the safest choice is to buy them all. That's probably why people only want to pay upfront. $1 or $10, you know you're done with the money part. Only playing left. Then again, that's just about freemium in general. PvZ2 is freemium done right (some might argue that there's no freemium done right though, but that's another debate). And who doesn't know of Toucharcade? Such foolishness.
Why are so many people in this thread squabbling over personal opinions and preferences? If you think the game is balanced/unbalanced, that is your own personal opinion. Spending your time arguing over who's opinion is more right is pointless.
Personally, I detest IAP when posed as small incremental novelties. I only ever purchase IAP when they are presented as expansion packs of game content. I have no problems purchasing games at a premium though. My ill feelings towards IAP result in the fact that I can't enjoy a game that requires additional purchases as I play it. I like to pay once, and enjoy the game. I do understand that the FTP model has become massively lucrative so I cannot begrudge these developers for making this decision. I'm sure that I'll get around to downloading PvZ2 and from the sounds of it, I'll probably enjoy it without ever spending a penny on the experience. Should I feel guilty for playing the game with no intentions of purchasing anything? Maybe, but I don't. I will have payed the agreed upon price for the experience ($0).
I have to second that first part, the original PvZ was WAY too easy, I remember playing through my first time and not losing one level. I loved the game for it's charm, polish, and because it was simply fun. But my biggest gripe was there was little to no challenge. The sequel, an improvement over the original and an example of a free game done right, is more difficult. But the balance is perfect, the extra challenge comes from an improved design. While I'm still not finding the sequel hard to beat, the difficulty level has been raised just enough to make it more satisfying then the original. Those complaining that the difficultly has been raised artificially to fit a freemium design have either not played PvZ2, are under the age of 5, or just really suck at video games. It is simply not a valid complaint.
These threads are funny - one side demands you hate the game, the other sides insists you love it. Sometimes there just an in between, people's feelings about something negative or positive are theirs. You can bash some people into your point of view but really, what's the point.
I personally feel the snow pea.. In PVZ it's a must have if u want easy life.. Not tried any iap yet but I think it's worth it
Btw does anyone here think the iCloud is implemented rather dodgy? You basically need to turn on iCloud backup for it to work... I wish it was implemented like warhammer...
My vote is for the Snow Pea, since I bought it and because it's one of my favorites from the 1st game. The Jalepeno and Squash are completely a waste in my opinion, the Torchwood is nice but not missed, and the Power Lily is nothing but a cheat to me. I have no regrets buying the Snow Pea, I like having the option of using that plant, but it became clearer after my IAP that it's more of an add-on then a missing part of the game. It reaffirms the point of all IAP being optional, so buy an extra plant if you want it, but don't think you need any of them to beat or enjoy the game.
I don't think people are insisting that you have to love the game. If it's not the type of game you enjoy, or didn't like it for any other real reason, I can completely respect that and think a thoughtful critique would be welcome. But all the complaints about PvZ2 range from, "freemium junk" to "EA's a bunch of crooks". So on one side people are insisting that you hate the game and can't play without spending a small fortune. All the other side is insisting is that you at least try the game, because if you're claiming it costs money to play, you haven't played.
I would think the best IAP to buy is the power lily because getting free seeds at will is pretty helpful. However it may make the game quite a bit easier. The imitator would be my second choice but since you don't have that many slots once "maxed out" since you have to buy another with money, it may be better just to buy another plant instead. I myself often have trouble picking what plants to take with me on the harder stages. On the easier stages it doesn't matter too much.
I may be wrong the latest version which is released to the entire world is harder than the initial release.. So those who have completed it most likely did it on the initial version ... I have the initial version and played it when it was first released...
Sheesh! Did this thread get nasty or what!? Why is it if someone has an opinion other than yours must the persons point of view be damned and categorically announced as untrue? Logically speaking everybody has feelings on fremium, even Touch Arcade initially had their reservations. Nobody here knows or can qualify EA's reason for going the fremium route, unless you're part of their decision makers.
Speaking of the power Lily, does anyone know what the plant food power up for the power lily is? I feel like any action I could imagine in my head doesn't make any gameplay sense.
Anyone has any idea what's the best plants to do the last few levels on pirates? Having issues with the parrots.. I mean without spending gold coins for the lightning or any cheats like that
