History YMMV / PlantsVsZombies

** The designs of the new plants and zombies in ''Plants vs. Zombies 2''[='=]s didn't prove as popular with fans as the original game's, namely due to deviating from the original game's artstyle and having animations considered inferior to the original game's. Additionally, the game made a number of other changes that proved unpopular like removing a lot of the gimmick Brain Buster levels and requiring you to get seed packets to unlock the base game's normal world plants.

** China practically ''adores'' the series. They have two exclusive versions of ''Plants vs. Zombies'', ''several'' exclusive ''Plants vs. Zombies'' spin-offs, and four [[NoExportForYou exclusive areas]] in ''Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time''. In addition, their version of the second game is vastly different from the international version, completely throwing the AllegedlyFreeGame reputation of the original out the window in favor of more rigorous skill-oriented gameplay (initially starting by keeping the stars and gates mechanics from older international versions), new mechanics such as leveling, more returning plants, and delivering fresh content such as new plants each month. The latter's additions eventually began to outnumber that of the international version. This is because [=PopCap=] Shanghai was unaffected by the merger with EA, allowing them to create other games and an entire alternate version of the second game without restraint, often leading to [[BrokenBase fans debating whether or not Shanghai has a much better grip on the franchise than EA does.]]
** The franchise has a large following in Spanish (and to a lesser extent, Russian-speaking) countries, videos on [=YouTube=] often get high amounts of views.

* AudienceAlienatingEra: The period of time from 2019-2022/present was a dreaded period of time for the series, and has almost all the dedicated fans agreeing that the series had taken a turn for the worse, with its repeated failed attempts to revitalize the series with new ideas.
** ''Plants vs. Zombies 2''[='=]s new plants and zombies had been straying further and further away from the game's original art style, and were considered to have way worse designs, not helped by their stiffer animation work. And on top of that, the game and a lot of earlier levels got a ton of unnecessary changes that completely ruined them, like removing a lot of the fun gimmick Brain Buster levels, and requiring you to get seed packets just to unlock the base game's normal world plants.

** However, the real dark age came with the many betas of ''Plants vs. Zombies 3'' being released. The series' fanbase absolutely hated ''[=PvZ3=]'' for regressing further into mobile game, microtransaction-riddled {{Freemium}} junk. With a controversial new artstyle, dumbed down gameplay, and initial attempts to mimic ''[[VideoGame/ClashRoyale Clash Royale]]'' for the original version, then later ''{{VideoGame/Gardenscapes}}'' for the new version following the release of second beta of all things. So, the devs scrapped it and made a new beta of ''[=PvZ3=]'', closer in line with the original games. It was seen as a step in the right direction, but still had many hated elements. Short levels that were either too mind-numbingly easy or too unfairly hard, too many tutorials instead of letting the player learn by themselves, an unneeded power-up system that was even worse than ''[=PvZ2=]''[='=]s, a dreaded lives system, lack of replayability, even more mobile game-esque elements being added in, the removal of Plant Food and the removal of choice from no longer being able to choose your plants (both of them were presented in the 2020 iteration of ''[=PvZ3=]''). On top of all of that, none of the betas to come after addressed the game's problems or took the critique from the fans into account, despite the fact that the devs said they'd be listening to player feedback. When this was revealed to essentially be a final version of the game, after a grand total of ''4'' open betas dedicated to just this version and '''''5''''' open betas overall, it's safe to say that the hardcore fans were furious and heartbroken at the news, and worried for the series' seemingly darker future.

* BrokenBase: Who is actually responsible for the downfall of the franchise and its gradually decreasing quality? EA is the easy target for their already bad record and the introduction of micro-transactions into the series. However, they’re often said to not even be the big problem, since without them, Plants Vs. Zombies wouldn’t even be a franchise. Not to mention that EA are only the publishers. [=PopCap=] is also often said to be at fault instead due to being the actual developers, and most of the first game’s employees quitting before the sequel came out. People who TakeAThirdOption often say that its their combined influences that both lead to the franchise’s slow incoming demise.

* BrokenBase: Who is actually responsible for the downfall of the franchise and its gradually decreasing quality? EA is the easy target for their already bad record and the introduction of micro-transactions into the series. However, they’re often said to not even be the big problem, since without them, Plants Vs. Zombies wouldn’t even be a franchise. Not to mention that EA are only the publishers. [=PopCap=] is also often said to be at fault instead due to being the actual developers, and most of the first game’s employees quitting before the sequel came out. People who TakeAThirdOption often say that its their combined influences that both lead to the franchise’s death.

** However, the real dark age came with the many betas of ''Plants vs. Zombies 3'' being released. The series’ fanbase absolutely hated ''[=PvZ3=]'' for regressing further into mobile game, microtransaction-riddled {{Freemium}} junk. With a controversial new artstyle, dumbed down gameplay, and attempts to mimic ''{{VideoGame/Gardenscapes}}'' of all things. So, the devs scrapped it and made a new beta of ''[=PvZ3=]'', closer in line with the original games. It was seen as a step in the right direction, but still had many hated elements. Short levels that were either too mind-numbingly easy or too unfairly hard, too many tutorials instead of letting the player learn by themselves, an unneeded power-up system that was even worse than ''[=PvZ2=]''[='=]s, a dreaded lives system, lack of replayability, even more mobile game-esque elements being added in, the removal of Plant Food, and the removal of choice from no longer being able to choose your plants. On top of all of that, none of the betas to come after addressed the game’s problems or took the critique from the fans into account, despite the fact that the devs said they’d be listening to player feedback. When this was revealed to essentially be a final version of the game, after a grand total of ''4'' open betas dedicated to just this version and '''''5''''' open betas overall, it’s safe to say that the hardcore fans were furious and heartbroken at the news, and worried for the series’ seemingly darker future.

* MemeticPsychopath: Mo from the January 2024 ''Plants cs. Zombies 3'' beta, due to him running over Crazy Dave's garden. Which is used to grow [[WouldHurtAChild little plants]]. Naturally, jokes started to pop up that Mo killed the little plants like [[Memes/RevengeOfTheSith younglings]] and that Mo was a psychotic murderer, mostly spurred on by the fanbase of the [=YouTuber=] [[https://www.youtube.com/@Creeps20 Creeps20.]]

** Plants vs. Zombies 2’s new plants and zombies had been straying further and further away from the game’s original art style, and were considered to have way worse designs, not helped by their stiffer animation work. And on top of that, the game and a lot of earlier levels got a ton of unnecessary changes that completely ruined them, like removing a lot of the fun gimmick Brain Buster levels, and requiring you to get seed packets just to unlock the base game’s normal world plants.
** And after all the time spent waiting for another Garden Warfare game, GW fans instead got Battle For Neighborville, which was generally seen as not as memorable or fun as the Garden Warfare titles, and [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks changed a lot about what made them enjoyable.]] But despite that, Battle For Neighborville was still generally positively received, and had its own strengths.
** However, the real dark age came with the many betas of Plants vs. Zombies 3 being released. The series’ fanbase absolutely hated [=PvZ3=] for regressing further into mobile game, microtransaction-riddled {{Freemium}} junk. With a controversial new artstyle, dumbed down gameplay, and attempts to mimic {{VideoGame/Gardenscapes}} of all things. So, the devs scrapped it and made a new beta of [=PvZ3=], closer in line with the original games. It was seen as a step in the right direction, but still had many hated elements. Short levels that were either too mind-numbingly easy or too unfairly hard, too many tutorials instead of letting the player learn by themselves, an unneeded power-up system that was even worse than [=PvZ2’s=], a dreaded lives system, lack of replayability, even more mobile game-esque elements being added in, the removal of Plant Food, and the removal of choice from no longer being able to choose your plants. On top of all of that, none of the betas to come after addressed the game’s problems or took the critique from the fans into account, despite the fact that the devs said they’d be listening to player feedback. When this was revealed to essentially be a final version of the game, after a grand total of ''4'' open betas dedicated to just this version and '''''5''''' open betas overall, it’s safe to say that the hardcore fans were furious and heartbroken at the news, and worried for the series’ seemingly darker future.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: Even though the New Beta of [=PvZ3=] was received extremely poorly, Tugboat became popular amongst the fans for being a basic Browncoat Zombie with a surprisingly amount of charm and personality. Though the character isn't new due to him already appeared in the comics.

*** This interpretation is also common among plants that also look like they're related, such as Wall-nut and Tall-Nut, the pult plants being brothers, Sunflower and Twin Sunflower (and less commonly Marigold), and Peashooter with Repeater, Snow Pea, Threepeater, Split-Pea, and Gatling Pea.
*** The Shrooms being a BadassFamily became semi-official in some of the [=PvZ=] Manhua.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: China practically ''adores'' the series. They have two exclusive versions of ''Plants vs. Zombies'', ''several'' exclusive ''Plants vs. Zombies'' spin-offs, and four [[NoExportForYou exclusive areas]] in ''Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time''. In addition, their version of the second game is vastly different from the international version, completely throwing the AllegedlyFreeGame reputation of the original out the window in favor of more rigorous skill-oriented gameplay (initially starting by keeping the stars and gates mechanics from older international versions), new mechanics such as leveling, more returning plants, and delivering fresh content such as new plants each month. The latter's additions eventually began to outnumber that of the international version. This is because [=PopCap=] Shanghai was unaffected by the merger with EA, allowing them to create other games and an entire alternate version of the second game without restraint, often leading to [[BrokenBase fans debating whether or not Shanghai has a much better grip on the franchise than EA does.]]
** It also has a large following in Spanish (and to a lesser extent, Russian-speaking) countries, videos on [=YouTube=] often get high amounts of views.

* MemeticBadass: If you see Newspaper Zombie in a difficulty mod, [[AdaptationalBadass be]] [[LightningBruiser ready]] [[DemonicSpiders for]] [[LetsGetDangerous hell]].
* MemeticMutation: [[Memes/PlantsVsZombies they are coming!]]
* MemeticPsychopath: Mo from the January 2024 ''Plants Vs. Zombies 3'' Beta, due to him running over Crazy Dave's garden. Which is used to grow [[WouldHurtAChild little plants]]. Naturally, jokes started to pop up that Mo killed the little plants like [[Memes/RevengeOfTheSith younglings]] and that Mo was a psychotic murderer, mostly spurred on by the fanbase of the [=YouTuber=] [[https://www.youtube.com/@Creeps20 Creeps20.]]

* {{Sequelitis}}: Unfortunately the overall general consensus on the franchise as a whole. Which is also likely the main reason why most people outside its fandom only really remember the original game. with [=PvZ2=] getting a lot of hate, yet still having its charm, while [=PvZ3=] was seen as the death of the franchise. The spin-offs aren't immune either, with Heroes not getting the same recognition or popularity as Garden Warfare, and Battle for Neighborville being poorly received and seen as a harsh step down for the shooters. [[AvertedTrope The only universally accepted aversion]] to this has been Garden Warfare 2, which is generally regarded as a hidden gem and CultClassic within the world of the HeroShooter genre.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The franchise’s most common criticism in its later years, starting in 2019 with Battle For Neighborville and Plants Vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia. Refer to the AudienceAlienatingEra entry above for more info.

* {{Sequelitis}}: Unfortunately the overall general consensus on the franchise as a whole. Which is also likely the main reason why most people outside its fandom only really remember the original game. with [=PvZ2=] getting a lot of hate, yet still having its charm, while [=PvZ3=] was seen as the death of the franchise. The spin-offs aren't immune either, with Heroes not getting the same recognition or popularity as Garden Warfare. [[AvertedTrope The only universally accepted aversion]] to this has been Garden Warfare 2, which is generally regarded as a hidden gem and CultClassic within the world of the HeroShooter genre.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The franchise’s most common criticism in its later years, starting in 2019 with 'Battle For Neighborville' and 'Plants Vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia'. Refer to the AudienceAlienatingEra entry above for more info.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The franchise’s main problem and most common criticism in its later years, starting in 2019 with Battle For Neighborville and Plants Vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia. Refer to the AudienceAlienatingEra entry above for more info.

!!First game:
* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: Some of Crazy Dave's choices for plants are very impractical. He'll never pick a plant that's straight-up useless (e.g. Flower Pot outside of roof levels or Plantern outside of Fog) or mushrooms during the day, but that doesn't stop him from giving you situational, mediocre, or just plain sub-par plants (like Cabbage-pult, Cactus, and Split Pea).
* BreatherLevel:
** The I, Zombie level "Me Smash!" gives you the [[TheJuggernaut Gargantuar]], the zombie that [[MightyGlacier takes extreme amounts of damage]] and {{One Hit Kill}}s most plants. No, seriously. You'd have to try to lose the level.
** One of the possible I, Zombie Endless layouts has a huge amount of [[PinataEnemy Sunflowers]] guarded by nothing except Puff-shrooms and Scaredy-shrooms, which are weak and effortlessly disabled by Digger Zombies. There's only a 4% chance of getting it, but the sun boost can really help if you're flagging after a difficult level.
** With high enough streaks in "Survival: Endless", any level that lacks the more problematic zombies (Balloon Zombie, Jack-in-the-Box Zombie, Zomboni, Gargantuar, and Giga-gargantuar being the main offenders) can feel like this.
* CheeseStrategy: As described under ThatOneAchievement, getting the 15 win streak in Vasebreaker: Endless for the China Shop achievement is generally considered to be the most difficult and tedious challenge the game has to offer, mostly due to your odds of winning being mostly down to luck. However, there is an exploit that makes getting it a lot easier. [[spoiler:Once you have beaten a round and move on to the next, exit the game back to the main menu and then make sure to ''continue'' your current run. This essentially saves your game. If an attempt is going badly, make sure to let the zombies reach the house and when the losing dialog box "You made it to a streak of (number of streaks that the player completed)" appears, quit back to menu at the top right of the screen. ''Don't restart.'' When you click back into Vasebreaker: Endless, as long as you press continue you will be placed at the start of the level where you lost. As a bonus, all vases will be the exact same, letting you learn the layout until you find the right combinations. Rinse and repeat. It's time-consuming and still requires some strategizing, but better than starting over.]]
* ComplacentGamingSyndrome:
** [[StopHavingFunGuys Some players]] have pointed out that many plants are not very good except for a small handful, like Gloom-shrooms, Tall-nuts, Cob Cannons, Blovers, and a few others, considering the mere amount of strategies that could be used to play this. This often comes more from those who've scored over 150 flags in Survival: Endless than from standard play, in which they find a specific strategy and stick with it. Averted in the NewGamePlus, where Crazy Dave will pick 3 plants at random that you have to play with (but not necessarily have to use).
** Expect almost every player to keep their valuable plants like Cob Cannons and Gloom Shrooms in the Pool. They have the least threatening zombies due to the lack of Gargantuars and Zombonies, perfect for keeping vital Plants safe.
* CreepyAwesome: [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/plantsvszombies/images/b/b4/Doom-shroom-hd.png/revision/latest?cb=20120430003723 Doom-shroom]] has the FaceOfAThug, a [[DarkIsNotEvil dark and overall intimidating]] appearance, and his words in the Almanac are pretty chilling: "You're lucky [[GladHesOnOurSide I'm on your side]]. I could destroy anything you hold dear. It wouldn't be hard." But he is without a doubt the strongest of the explosive plants and despite his words, he still protects [[TrueCompanions you and his comrades.]]
* EnsembleDarkHorse: Examples of fan-favorite plants include, but are not limited to, Jalapeño, Torchwood, Cattail, Winter Melon, and Imitater.
* FanNickname: The unnamed night roof area used for the final boss fight has been nicknamed "Moon" by several groups of the community, with the name coming from the moon in the background and satisfying the one syllable name motif of the other areas (Day, Pool, Fog, etc). This name is especially popular in modding tools.
* FirstInstallmentWins: The first game tends to be the most well-regarded among the series (with the ''[[VideoGame/PlantsVsZombiesGardenWarfare Garden Warfare]]'' games sometimes being exceptions). The rest of the series tends to be [[ContestedSequel divisive]] among the fanbase, especially ''Battle For Neighborvile'' and ''[=PVZ3=]', with the latter outright leaning into the {{Sequelitis}} territory.
* GeniusBonus: One of the lines in "Zombies On Your Lawn" is, "brains are quite rich in cholesterol." As it turns out, this is an actual truth about brains of all kinds, and is a common health concern regarding eating animal brains as a delicacy.
* GoodBadBugs:
** Early versions of the original game had a bug with I, Zombie, where Bungee Zombies could be placed many times on the same Sunflower to repeatedly steal it for massive amounts of sun.
** The way the MercyInvincibility works is that, once a Lawn Mower/Pool Cleaner/Roof Cleaner is consumed, no more zombies will spawn in that lane until the next big wave. During the final boss, there really is no next wave, so if a Roof Cleaner is used up, no more zombies will spawn in that lane for the rest of the level[[note]]or until the last Roof Cleaner is used up, at which point the boss defaults to spawning zombies anywhere[[/note]]. It is entirely feasible to shovel every Flower Pot except for the middle lane, throw those Roof Cleaners out early, and just corral every zombie down that lane to be pelted with Melon-Pults. The only caveat is that this only works if the Roof Cleaners are triggered by a zombie getting too close--if they're crushed, this doesn't work.
** While Split Pea is supposed to only shoot one pea at a time forward (like a Peashooter) and two backward (like a Repeater), if firing in both directions at once it will shoot two peas at a time in both directions. This was fixed in the Game of the Year edition, though.
* ItsEasySoItSucks: A while after the first game came out, this complaint became common, especially among fans who prefer the sequel. Since it's designed as a casual game, the original ''Plants vs. Zombies'' doesn't offer much challenge to someone more accustomed to the game's mechanics — zombie waves are pretty small, instant kill plants make it easy to clear them out, and spamming Sunflowers to amass huge quantities of sun isn't hard in most levels. This is probably the reason why several harder {{Game Mod}}s of this game exist. For other fans, however, the sequel [[ItsHardSoItSucks goes too far in the opposite direction]] compared to this game's reasonable level of challenge.
* {{Moe}}: Many of the plants could count as this, but Sunflower really takes the cake. Especially her cute little dance in her idle animation. Not to mention her singing voice[[note]]by the game's music composer, Creator/LauraShigihara[[/note]] in ''Zombies on the Lawn''.
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: The sun collection soundbite, which comes with seeing your sun counter increase.
* {{Narm}}: While the [[GameOver Game Over]] scene may be disturbing to some, the fact that the person in the house somehow screams ''while their brain is being eaten'' and the way they scream [[BigNo "NOOOOOO!"]] instead of screaming like a normal person would in that situation can turn it from scary to ridiculous. Though you could say that considering the tone of the game, this was on purpose.
* NightmareFuel: Well, what did you expect from a game about zombies?
** The scares begin even before the game starts. As the way a zombie's arm suddenly rises up from the grave which is followed with ScareChord and [[https://youtu.be/LkD01gmkEKs this]] EvilLaugh whenever you select the adventure mode in the first game certainly caught some players off-guard.
** Most of the time, the zombies look far too goofy to be all that creepy, but in Stage 4-10, you have to fight off their waves in complete darkness. The only time you can see is when lightning flashes. The music is absent and the only sound there is is the rain and thunder, and the zombies calling for brains. Under these circumstances, they actually are unsettling and it's even moreso when you hear them chewing on one of your plants, making you wonder frantically which row needs more defenses.
** If a [[GameOver zombie manages to break your defenses]], the same scare chord from the main menu plays as you then have no choice but to watch it stroll into your house (or slide down the chimney if you lost a roof or roof night level), followed by the hideous sound of it crunching into the player's skull along with a gut wrenching "[[BigNo NOOOOOO!]]". Many kids who have played the game were understandably horrified, and more than one has admitted to shutting the game off in a panic before the zombie got to eating. And despite the comical tone of the game, this is actually played out considerably seriously. In ''Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time'', the game over screen is '''''even scarier''''', as instead of a GoryDiscretionShot like the first game, we get to see the player's brain on a plate with a ghastly bite taken out of it!
* OlderThanTheyThink: Stinky the Snail isn't an original ''PVZ'' character; he first debuted in another Creator/PopCap game called ''VideoGame/{{Insaniquarium}}'', released in 2001.
%%ZCE * ReplacementScrappy: The current DiscoDan design of the Dancing Zombie is this for plenty of Music/MichaelJackson fans.
* SelfImposedChallenge: Given the game's low difficulty curve, players have of course come up with ways to challenge themselves:
** The survival modes naturally lends themselves to these. Only night plants, only night plants during the day (except for air defense), as few rows as possible, no plants that shoot, etc.
** In Survival: Endless, a common one is to try and get as far as you can ''without Cob Cannons''.
** In the NewGamePlus, Crazy Dave will pick a few plants for you. Try using them all (Instants at least once). Prepare to get creative with your strategies.
** [[https://youtu.be/45lPyzs8suc Beating the game]] without any Sunflowers [[YouRequireMoreVespeneGas to generate Sun to make new plants]].
** Limiting how many available seed slots you can use, even all the way down to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xscW-fZ7aZA two]] seed slots.
%%ZCE * SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/{{Insaniquarium}}''. It actually [[http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/03/george-fan-how-insaniquarium-2-became-plants-vs-zombies.ars started out in development as a sequel]] to ''Insaniquarium''. This explains the appearance of Stinky the Snail and the Zombiquarium minigame.
* {{Squick}}: Brain-controlled zombies turn around and ''eat their fellow zombies''.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The Dancing Zombie's {{Leitmotif}} when it enters the level for the first time sounds somewhat similar to ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island's]]'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibSFwlG1EjQ map theme.]]
* ThatOneAchievement:
** China Shop, obtained by getting a streak of 15 in Vasebreaker Endless. It's much harder than I, Zombie's corresponding achievement; not only are there more levels to play through, but they're significantly more [[LuckBasedMission luck-based]] to complete. Since there's only one (albeit randomized in position) set of vases for Vasebreaker Endless, as opposed to the many different I, Zombie plant layouts, it's also more monotonous to get.
** Lucky Spin, which is even more of a LuckBasedMission than the above. You need to get 3 diamonds in the Slot Machine Minigame, as in, 3 diamonds IN ONE GO. You cannot even accumulate them one at a time. This one is either the easiest or the hardest achievement, purely depending on your luck.
* ThatOneAttack:
** Gargantuar using his electric pole (or a wildlife crossing sign, or [[GrievousHarmWithABody another zombie]]) to smash your plants without any mercy. Unless you have enough explosive plants to kill him off quickly, you can only watch helplessly while your plants are being smashed. And let's not start with "Column Like You See 'Em" when Gargantuars keep coming even when you don't have enough Jalapeños [[SelfImposedChallenge (or when you can't use him as you want that achievement)]].
** In the final battle with Zomboss, you know that moment when he freaking throws ''that RV'' on your roof. Although this attack ''is'' predictable (immediately after getting back up, less than half his max HP left), there's ''absolutely nothing'' you can do to stop it from insta-killing six of your plants. And the worst part? If you can't kill him off fast enough, he can do that '''a second time.''' It's even worse in the minigame "Dr. Zomboss's Revenge", where Zomboss has twice the health he had in Adventure Mode. The increased health pool means that Zomboss will almost assuredly live long enough to start using his attacks at random, which means throwing [=RVs=] at you ''whenever he wants''.
* ThatOneLevel:
** Stage 4-10. The stage is in complete darkness in which you cannot see your plants or the incoming zombies until lightning illuminates the lawn for a few seconds. It is also a conveyor level. You'll get to unlock the Yeti Zombie the second time you play it, though.
** Same thing for level 5-5, which is where you're fighting against oncoming waves of [[GoddamnedBats bungee zombies]] relying on nothing but Chompers, Pumpkins, Flower Pots, and Cherry Bombs. Crazy Dave sums it up at the start of the level.
--->'''Crazy Dave:''' I have to warn you... You are going to hate this next level. Why? Because it's non-stop bungee zombie after bungee zombie. I hate those confounded bungers!!! I hate them!! Hate them with a passion! And a vengeance! A-whoop-dee-doo! Here come those idiots now!
** The [[HarderThanHard "Survival - Fog (Hard)"]] level. "Hard" is a MASSIVE understatement. The fog levels are among the hardest in the game to begin with, but this one cranks it up. If you pick your nighttime plants well, you can actually get fairly smoothly through the first six flags... but then the game will send a few [[MightyGlacier Gargantuars]] your way for flags 7 and 8, who will not hesitate to [[ThatOneAttack flatten your entire carefully-prepared yard]] without blinking an eye. The final waves become largely a LuckBasedMission based on how many of of your plants are alive.
** "Column Like You See 'Em" and "Bobsled Bonanza" are two difficult mini-games that mostly rely on luck. The former gives you plants on a conveyor belt, and will only give you Flower Pots and Pumpkins right when the waves of Gargantuars start swarming you. The latter can ruin you by sending you several bobsled teams before you set up anything that can kill them. The former overlaps with ThatOneAchievement when attempting to beat it without using [[SmartBomb Jalapeños]].
** The "Whack-A-Zombie" minigame starts out tame enough, comparable to the level it's based on (2-5) - just click on the Zombies to kill them, with headgear-wearing zombies taking one or two more clicks. Then it ramps up by ''several orders of magnitude'', to the point that by the end, you'll be dealing with zombies spawning at a rate of five or six ''per second''. [[SomeDexterityRequired Enjoy your carpal tunnel syndrome.]]
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The reception to the Game of the Year Edition update, which changed the Dancing Zombie's appearance (after official objections from the MJ estate) from a blatant reference to Music/MichaelJackson's ''Thriller'' video to a DiscoDan. The new design is at least amusing, and makes for a clever VisualPun regarding [[DiscoSucks disco being... well, dead]]. However, some fans who have the old version will '''never''' update it for obvious reasons.
* ViewerGenderConfusion:
** For some inexplicable reason, there was a strong urge to regard Hypno-shroom as female to the point where even the series' wiki on Fandom based some of their trivia off of it for a period of time.[[note]]As of December 2016, the wiki has forbidden usage of gender-specific pronouns on plant pages to prevent this trope from occurring in other plants, along with the argument that plants are a species and therefore cannot always be one gender. [[BrokenBase There have been some recurring attempts to change this, though, but as long as the species argument is in place, it's unlikely this will be changed.]][[/note]] Thankfully, this isn't happening again anytime soon since the second game has confirmed him to be a guy.
** In their first appearance, many players mistook Cactus for a guy and Blover for a girl (the latter looks like a flower and has quite a feminine face). [[MonsterCompendium Their entries in the Almanac]] confirm their genders.
* WoobieSpecies: Just about every defensive plant (except for Pumpkin) getting mauled by the hungry horde is pretty heartbreaking, especially since their core element is to ''take'' damage.
** The Wall-nut starts off looking more than happy to protect the lives of his planter and comrades, but when the zombies begin to devour him and his smile slowly disappears, you can't help but feel sorry for him.
** A single tear begins to stream down Tall-nut's face when he gets near the end of his health. Apparently the game's composer and a few beta testers would protect Tall-nut with a Pumpkin because the tear made them feel bad for poor Tall-nut, although it's more of a {{Manly Tear|s}}. That's right, one of the most abused defense set-ups in the franchise's history is based on the test audience getting emotional over the Tall-nut's CruelAndUnusualDeath. Doubles as a SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments too since this defense method is widely used by new and veteran players alike.
** Garlic starts off looking happy and carefree, but when he's near the end of his health, he gets big tear-filled eyes.

** However, the real dark age came with the many betas of Plants vs. Zombies 3 being released. The series’ fanbase absolutely hated [=PvZ3=] for regressing further into mobile game, microtransaction-riddled {{Freemium}} junk. With a controversial new artstyle, dumbed down gameplay, and attempts to mimic {{VideoGame/Gardenscapes}} of all things. So, the devs scrapped it and made a new beta of [=PvZ3=], closer in line with the original games. It was seen as a step in the right direction, but still had many hated elements. Short levels that were either too mind-numbingly easy or too unfairly hard, too many tutorials instead of letting the player learn by themselves, an unneeded power-up system that was even worse than [=PvZ2’s=], a dreaded lives system, lack of replayability, even more mobile game-esque elements being added in, the removal of Plant Food, and the removal of choice from no longer being able to choose your plants. On top of all of that, none of the betas to come after addressed the game’s problems or took the critique from the fans into account, despite the fact that the devs said they’d be listening to player feedback. When this was revealed to essentially be a final version of the game, it’s safe to say that the hardcore fans were furious and heartbroken at the news, and worried for the series’ seemingly darker future.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The franchise’s main problem and most common criticism in its later years, starting in 2019 with Battle For Neighborville and Plants Vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia. Refer to AudienceAlienatingEra above for more info.

* MemeticPsychopath: Mo from the January 2024 ''Plants Vs. Zombies 3'' Beta, due to him running over Crazy Dave's garden. Which is used to grow [[WoukdHurtAChild little plants]]. Naturally, jokes started to pop up that Mo killed the little plants like [[Memes/RevengeOfTheSith younglings]] and that Mo was a psychotic murderer, mostly spurred on by the fanbase of the [=YouTuber=] [[https://www.youtube.com/@Creeps20 Creeps20.]]