I really like Tetris. I think the Game Boy version is probably my favorite that I have played, and it's definitely the best version that I've played, but I have enjoyed some bad Tetris games in the past. For example, I spent more time than I probably should have with Tetris Ultimate on PS4. By all accounts, that is a bad version of Tetris, but the core modern Tetris gameplay is still there even if the presentation is unbelievably sterile. So, when you put what is by all accounts a better version of Tetris at me, I should really, really enjoy it, but it just doesn't really connect with me in the way that it seems to have for others.

I should preface that I have not played this game in VR, which, by all accounts, seems to be the superior way to experience this game. I think a lot of the visual gimmicks are really neat in the main campaign mode, but a lot of the levels go by so quickly that they don't really have a lot of impact for me. The soundtrack is something of this game that had been hyped up constantly before I played this game, and I was thoroughly underwhelmed by it in game. It should be noted that the game does some really cool things with its soundtrack as it connects to the actual gameplay, but a lot of the songs I did not enjoy at all, including the game's opening song, which just did not work for me at all.

It's difficult because what is here is very cool and I respect it a lot, and it's clearly a solid game, but I don't know how I ended up feeling underwhelmed by a Tetris game. Perhaps this was not helped by seeing multiple tweets prior to playing the game about how people were brought to tears by the experience. I don't mean to diminish the experience of those people because I 100% believe that the game had that sort of impact on them, but it just left me feeling like I didn't "get" Tetris Effect.

Por mais que eu acredite, como muitos outros, que Tetris é um jogo fundamentalmente perfeito, o jogo nunca foi exatamente uma experiência visual deslumbrante. Não tem nada de errado com ele, é só que o foco do jogo nunca foi esse. Visual é talvez o aspecto mais importante de Tetris Effect, transformando o clássico em uma nova experiência cheia de vida, com visuais, música e efeitos que complementam cada um de seus 35 temas. Pessoalmente, achei que, embora bem bonitos, os visuais não adicionam muito à experiência quanto eu pensei, apesar de que esse deve ser o caso quando se joga por VR. O que me prendeu no jogo foi a mecânica de Zone, que faz você jogar com outros olhos, procurando oportunidades para pontuar que não existiam no jogo antigo. É uma grande adição ao clássico gameplay dos jogos antigos, que embora adultera com o santo e sagrado clockwork perfeito do original, é interessante o bastante para te prender por um tempo. Se você tem um interesse mínimo por tetris vai gostar desse jogo, ainda mais se tiver acesso à VR.

For a $40 game (I spent $37 but still) a two hour campaign is pretty bad. Granted, every area is audiovisual stimulus of the most orgasmic quality, so it’s not easy to make more.

But aside from side modes with little lasting effect, this is basically an interactive music video. A very nice looking and sounding interactive music video, but $40 for two hours is insanity.

I suppose you’re also paying for the VR functionality built-in, but at that point, I would’ve preferred a separation of the two so I can spend $20 on a two hour game.

To be fair, between getting higher ranks and the side modes, there’s plenty of replay value to bump your play time into the double digits. Your willingness to perfect Tetris Effect should be proportionate to how much you wanna buy it.

I've always loved Tetris so it doesn't surprise me at all that I love this version. I wasn't expecting to appreciate how beautiful it is as much as I do, though. I mean, it's Tetris. Blocks fall and you put them where you want them and whatever there you go. I love it, but it doesn't need to be pretty.

I was wrong, and this version of Tetris has ruined all other versions for me because yes it does need to be pretty. It's lovely and the music and sound effects match the environments so well and everything is perfect. I played through journey mode in VR and it was amazing. I cried at the end? It was just kind of overwhelming (but in a good way) to be in that environment with that specific song playing, I guess. I don't know. I've read that other people also cried when playing Tetris Effect and this is something I find very interesting. We should have a club or something probably.

My favorite Tetris mode has always been endless which is not always available in every Tetris game (rude) and I'm happy to report it's in Tetris Effect. My only complaint is that as someone who can last in the same endless game for uh... a pretty decent amount of time, listening to the same song over and over gets a little old. I might be pumped to listen to a certain song at the beginning of a stage but by line 400, idk, maybe I'm ready for something else. It would be cool if the stages would transition every x number of lines or hell, maybe even when the song ends. Oh well. Too bad I don't make the rules.

Anyway this is a good game and as a pretty sweet bonus it is not a disgusting Ubisoft cash grab.

jaws still clenched, brains still wired, the tetrominos are still dancing in my vision, i need a glass of water

less about the mechanical expression of tetris and far more about the transcendental flow state that can be achieved from playing such systems driven titles, hence its appropriate title. as such it's content to settle for the basic template with little in the way of formal experimentation beyond its visuals and aesthetics but good god are they pulling their weight here, imbuing the experience with elegance and ephemerality. it's this unique concoction that immerses subtly, the endless tides of puzzle pieces washing over me and rejuvenating my soul with each minute spent in the playing field, narrating the story of life itself through descending blocks. impressively, each stage in journey mode seamlessly cycles the player through varying tempos of play before they even realize what's happening; the seasoned players mind quickly grows accustomed to the affair and instantly switches gears in their head, like it's all some locked away second nature. half the game is reconciling with the part of you that is made to operate solely on instinct and thats an experience you cant really get in other mediums and always makes me happy to sit down for a while

Tetris‘ addictive pull is so intense that a certain brand of hallucinations was named after it. Tetris Effect is both the umbrella name for those hallucinations and the title of the newest Tetris game. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, creator of Rez and Lumines, is also behind this entry and has brought his signature music-driven style to the classic block dropper. While still Tetris at its core, Tetris Effect marries audio and visuals together for the most entrancing iteration of the game even if its sharp difficulty sometimes tries its best to thwart that rhythm.

Read the full review here: https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/455063-tetris-effect-review-synesthetic-aesthetic

It's all connected

Tetris Effect is a puzzle game originally released on the PS4 in 2018 with a multiple PC versions coming out during the year. Tetris has been one of the most iconic puzzle games ever created spanning 37 years since it's initial creation in 1984 in Russia and a game that felt perfect to me. The core gameplay loop of Tetris is simple yet has so much depth that relies on the correct placement of tiles, planning ahead, and the quick reaction and speed needed to perform well in the game at high speeds. Tetris Effect does something different here yet manages to satisfy the two facets of the Tetris audience. The facet of the competitive players recieving modes that recreate old formats that haven't been done in any other tetris game so far and the other facet of the casual tetris player that just play to have fun where I am and what this game does is more than just provide a visual experience but evoke a feeling within you when you play the game.

The gameplay is still the Tetris you love (or hate) with the added elements of music and visuals that manages to invoke synesthesia with the player at certain moments. The music manages to bring a variety of sounds from around the world and carry multiple genres of music and syncs with your gameplay that gets you in a flow state while playing the game. The visuals manages to pop vibrantly and somehow doesn't detract your vision from the gameplay apart from rare cases that are further enhanced that this is intended to be a VR experience and despite not trying this in VR, the whole experience isn't detracted at all and still manages to feel like a unique experience. The game modes here provide a variety of experiences that manages to fulfill every niche of player out there, there are difficult and score modes for the competitive or the player wanting to improve and there are "chill" playlists and "chill" modes that remove the fail-state of the game wishing just to relax with the game's music and visuals while playing the game. The Journey mode which acts as the "story" mode here is a short experience that lets you experience all the levels in a sequential yet short order while introducing a brand new mechanic as well called "Zone". Zone is a great new mechanic that fits the game perfectly. For a definition, as you play the game you start filling a bar called "Zone" and you can use that "Zone" to slow down time and stack line clears to achieve what can be described as "more than a tetris" and the total maximum is 22-23 with players trying to push more in the meantime. What this mechanic also manages to do well which is really a small touch is the sound effects and the visuals when you manage to achieve more than 8 lines where the visuals and sound effects change for that short moment you're in zone albeit a tiny thing, just further enhances the synesthesia this game offers. The multiplayer here was enhanced with a suite of new and unique modes with an "expansion" of sorts called Tetris Effect: Connected that manages to add Zone in a PVP setting that makes for some interesting gameplay to say the least and a new co-op mode called Connected that pits 3 players (human or ai) vs an AI boss that still manages to bring what makes this version of Tetris unique.

I don't have any real problems with this game in all honesty, some of the songs didn't hit me emotionally as hard as others and I wish this game was more widely available but it's coming with a Steam release soon so that will alleviate that issue. I suppose the matchmaking could be better as trying to solo queue for Connected can be pretty awkward at times.

Tetris Effect is the phenomena when players play Tetris to the extent where they see imagery of the game and imagining blocks from the game in the real world sometimes falling or rotating. Synesthesia is essentially specific information meant for one of your senses manages to stimulate multiple senses at once. Hearing colors and tasting sounds are examples. Tetris Effect the game manages to achieve all of the good feelings in me I didn't really think I still had in me. I managed to feel nostalgic, the vibrant color of celebration along with the core message of the game that is essentially the tagline of this game.

We're all connected.