History YMMV / PennyArcadeAdventures

** In Episode 4, Vendoor. Not only does he break the normal item economy by chugging out potions that are better than the ones you use normally, but at level 30 he gets a Heavy Attack that's damage is based on the amount of gold you have. By the time you get this you'll typically be in the final dungeon, where all that gold from encounters and chests just starts piling up. The average attack will do around 20,000 damage, which is about a fifth of the final boss' health.

** In Episode 4, Vendoor. Not only does he break the normal item economy by chugging out potions that are better than the ones you use normally, but at level 30 he gets a Heavy Attack that's damage is based on the amount of gold you have. By the time you get this you'll typically be in the final dungeon, where all that gold from encounters and chests just starts piling up. The average attack will do around 20,000 damage, which is about a fifth of the final bosses' health.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The third and fourth installments being done in Zeboyd's retro style as opposed to Hothead's 3D graphics has earned some criticism.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The third and fourth installments being done in Zeboyd's retro 16-bit style as opposed to Hothead's 3D graphics has earned some criticism.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Not everyone likes the lazy 16 bit 'I REALLY want to be Final Fantasy' graphics and gameplay changes.

** The Seamstress in ''Episode 3'' has to be beaten within a set number of turns or she'll unleash a TotalPartyKill attack. She also has a couple flunkies which will boost her (and their own) attack and defense if allowed to live long enough, which means you need to spend time killing them.

** In the ''Lair of the Seamstress'' DLC, you're brought down to level 1 and forced to fight enemies of escalating difficulty, which each encounter earning you a couple levels so you'll be strong enough to fight the next one. In theory, this would make every encounter, more or less, equally difficult. What this does not account for, however, is the effect of items, which aren't governed by your level. If you've paid to upgrade the Nihilator, which unlocks after you've bought everything else, half of the encounters can be beaten simply by spamming it. The increasing difficulty will eventually render this strategy ineffective, but by that point you'll be much stronger and able to put up a decent fight against the remaining encounters.

* GoddamnedBoss: The vampire mime and the final boss in ''Episode 1''. All enemies attack faster than your special attacks can charge, but these two can attack at least three times in that space.
** The mime is bad because its attacks have a very short block window, requiring near-perfect reflexes to manage a solid block. Getting a partial is often the best you'll manage, which means you'll spend half the time suffering from an attack debuff.
** The final boss is easier to block, but attacks a lot more than the mime does and uses area attacks exclusively until the final phase. Once you hit the final phase, then it gets cheap as hell by spamming a single-target attack on Gabe several times in a row, occasionally doing it twice before Gabe can actually hit back.
* ScrappyMechanic: Blocking in the first episode, which is easy half the time and unbelievably difficult the other half. Against some robot attacks, blocking is literally the difference between ScratchDamage and a OneHitKO, and these attacks occur almost instantly. This gets better as your level increases, allowing you to tank a few non-blocked hits, but not by much. The sequel was a lot better about it, both in blocking being easier and having enough health to survive regardless since you start out at a high level to begin with.

* ThatOneAttack: Any status effect attack in the first two episodes counts, since you can only have one active at any given time, but attack reducers take the cake. Unless you wait it out or rebuff, it takes you out of the fight until you wait the effect out. The vampire mime is especially bad about this, since its Wall of Hellfire attack is nigh-unblockable and gives said status effect.

* ThatOneLevel: The level in which That One Boss above appears is almost as hard as the boss himself, due to all the enemies having a huge boost in health compared to what you've been facing (on an average of +2000 for any non-fodder enemy), as well as difficult-to-kill mini boss enemies in every dungeon section.

* GameBreaker: In Episode 3, give Moira the Tube Samurai pin, the Cordwainer pin, and a Self-Help book or max speed boost accessory. This turns Moira into a LightningBruiser that gets an attack boost from one class, two speed boosts from both plus the accessory boost, and a skill which translates speed into attack damage. Factor in the fact that Moira is naturally fast and she becomes a monster.

* {{Gamebreaker}}: In Episode 3, Moira + speed equipment + tube samurai + that class based around shoes + speed buffs from both classes + she class's attack that's affected by speed = Moira becoming a LightningBruiser

* AndTheFandomRejoiced: Lots of people were disappointed when it seemed apparent that the series had been CutShort after just half of its storyline had been unraveled. The news that Zeboyd Games would take Hothead's sword and make the series march on was met with some raised eyebrows, but also with lots of happiness and expectation.

* ThatOneBoss: The Usurper from ''BreathOfDeathVII'' shows up as Evil King in ''Episode 3''. Like the original, he fully heals after a few turns, with the added bonus of getting a huge stat bonus that lets him attack faster than all your characters and hit extremely hard. On Insane, the fight is basically unwinnable without major LevelGrinding beforehand.

* ThatOneLevel: The level in which That One Boss above appears is almost as hard as the boss himself, due to all the enemies having a huge boost in health compared to what you've been facing (on an average of 2000 for any non-fodder enemy), as well as difficult-to-kill mini boss enemies in every dungeon section.

* BreatherLevel: ''Episode 3'' has the ''Franchise/StarTrek''-style level, a fairly quick and easy level coming off the heels of the previous level, which is done in the style of previous Zeboyd games is almost unspeakably difficult.

* AndTheFandomRejoiced: Lots of people were disappointed when it seemed apparent that the series had been CutShort after just half of its storyline had been unraveled. The news that Zeboyd Games would take Hothead's sword and make the series march on was met with some rised eyebrows, but also with lots of happiness and expectation.
* GoddamnedBoss: The vampire mime and the final boss. All enemies attack faster than your special attacks can charge, but these two can attack at least three times in that space.

* ScrappyMechanic: Blocking, which is easy half the time and unbelievably difficult the other half. Against some robot attacks, blocking is literally the difference between ScratchDamage and a OneHitKO, and these attacks occur almost instantly. This gets better as your level increases, allowing you to tank a few non-blocked hits, but not by much. The sequel was a lot better about it, both in blocking being easier and having enough health to survive regardless.
** That mini-game you have to do in Episode 2 when you're [[spoiler: thrown into the asylum.]] If you don't like puzzles, you're going to have a rough time with that.

* ThatOneAttack: Any status effect attack counts, since you can only have one active at any given time, but attack reducers take the cake. Unless you wait it out or rebuff, it takes you out of the fight until you wait the effect out. The vampire mime is especially bad about this, since its Wall of Hellfire attack is nigh-unblockable and gives said status effect.
* ThatOneBoss: The Usurper from ''BreathOfDeathVII'' shows up as a boss in ''Episode 3''. Like the original, he fully heals after a few turns, with the added bonus of getting a huge stat bonus that lets him attack faster than all your characters and hit extremely hard. On Insane, the fight is basically unwinnable without major LevelGrinding beforehand.

* ThatOneAttack: Any status effect attack counts, since you can only have one active at any given time, but attack reducers take the cake. Unless you wait it out or rebuff, it takes you out of the fight until you wait the effect out. The vampire mime is especially bad about this, since its Wall of Hellfire attack is nigh-unblockable and gives said status effect.

** That mini-game you have to do in Episode 2 when you're [[spoiler: thrown into the asylum.]] If you don't like puzzles, you're going to have a rough time with that. Especially since, do to the randomized nature of the puzzle, it can literally be impossible to complete on some iterations.

* AndTheFandomRejoiced: Lots of people were disappointed when it seemed apparent that the series had been CutShort after just half of its storyline had unraveled. The news that Zeboyd Games would take Hothead's sword and make the series march on was met with some rised eyebrows, but also with lots of happiness and expectation.

** That mini-game you have to do in Episode 2 when you're [[spoiler: thrown into the asylum.]] If you don't like puzzles, you're going to have a rough time with that.

* ScrappyMechanic: Blocking, which is easy half the time and unbelievably difficult the other half. Against some robot attacks, blocking is literally the difference between ScratchDamage and a OneHitKO, and these attacks occur almost instantly.