Tetris Effect (2018)

Tetris Effect Connected (Nintendo Switch)

Opening Act: 9/10

For Tetris effect, most players will jump directly into the main mode called “Journey” mode, which brings the player to a cool-looking gaseous nebula in space populated with nodes indicating various Tetris boards that can be experienced across time and space. Only one board is selectable in the beginning called “The Deep”. Players immediately jump in and will learn that as they play the Tetris game and eliminate rows, special effects involving sea life in the deep ocean background come to life. Energetic music and sound effects also help set the mood… Maybe you will really feel like you are playing Tetris in the deep ocean, either way it is a pretty unique experience. After beating the board the player is immediately thrust onto the next step of the Journey mode. The next board has an entirely different feel and look along with a different musical vibe.

Gameplay Loop: 9/10

For Journey mode in particular, the gameplay loop is to play Tetris, eliminating rows, gaining score, and increasing your stage speed… all the while enjoying the interesting background effects and music present. After eliminating enough rows, the player is zoomed to a new environment, with new graphical effects, music, and vibe, and keeps playing their same Tetris session until they reach the end of the Stage. Each stage has 3 to 5 sections of a Journey to move through. If you fill your Tetris board and lose, you can restart at whatever section of the Journey you were on, but your score does reset down to zero.

Also for those literally playing the game to experience the “Journey” and not looking for that much of a challenge, you can set “Beginner” mode for an easier experience. Overall, the gameplay is pretty addictive too, and that is nothing new for Tetris series.

Hand and Eye Strain: 8/10

For hands, Tetris overall has very simple and friendly controls as the game loop constantly requires rotating tetraminos and pressing down, so only requires a few buttons and doesn’t strain the hands reaching for shoulder buttons or requiring button combos or anything demanding for your fingers.

For Eyes, the cool backgrounds can be considered “eye candy” with high resolution graphics and cool effects. Some backgrounds are dim and eye friendly while the tetramino pieces are easy to see. Some settings have tetraminos that change shape or have graphical effects making them hard to follow, or have backgrounds that are distracting and flashy and could strain the players eyes. However, those distracting pieces and distracting backgrounds are an intentional part of the challenge/experience itself. If players find some board they don’t like the look of good news is that players with Effect mode can choose graphical settings they like best, (at least after the unlock the setting by beating the board).

Gameplay Mechanics: 9/10

In Journey mode, each Tetris “stage” has a series of 3 to 5ish nodes. Each node has unique music and background effects (sometimes 2 musics and background effects). When you start a stage from the 1st Node you’ll typically eliminate 36 rows and then be zipped to the next node (no change to your tetramino positions), and this will continue until you beat every node. For a stage with 5 nodes, then it means to beat the whole stage without wiping out, you would need to eliminate 36x5=180 rows without wiping out! In addition, most of the nodes will have built in speed changes. After eliminating 12 rows for example you might be taken to speed 9 until you eliminate a few more rows, slowing down the game again.

These built in challenges make it a bit tricky to finish every node in the stage, so you might have to continue from the middle of the stage just to get to the end. You may find yourself restarting at node 1 to try to beat the stage without wiping and get a higher score , or clicking on one of your favorite nodes to replay.

Overall, the gameplay is immersive and addictive. I recommend playing with the sound up and/or engage with headphones. Even if the sounds seem distracting at first, go with it. It does add to the immersive experience.

Sound: 8 /10:

In Journey Mode, the main sounds to pay attention to are the soundtracks which are matched to the graphical theme of the board, as well as special sound effects for eliminating rows. In addition, the music tracks overall can change, and the pace can change along with the speed of the Tetris match.

In Effect Mode, we can see how the sound was designed and is an integrated part of the game. There are “chill”, “exciting”, and other kinds of music vibes across the soundtrack, and these can be customized and selected when playing Effect Mode.

Overall the team that designed the game viewed ability to adjust sound accompanying the game as an integral part of the game play, and it’s well-executed. In Journey mode you will experience the different soundtracks and stages the game has to offer and unlock tracks. In Effect mode you will be able to customize your favorite part of the experience for the session you are looking for.

Overall Experience: 7/10 = Highly Recommended (Fun)

For all the versions of Tetris I have played I do feel that Journey mode is a unique, interesting and Fun experience, which takes plain-old-Tetris, and makes is more exciting and Fun. It’s like playing the Gameboy classic from the 80s, but with the modern graphical effects that do augment the experience. This cartridge is one I’ll probably keep taking when traveling / stuck on an airplane or train since it’s easy to pick up and play for a few minutes.

Version comparison: In the recent past, I also played “Tetris Forever”, which offers a series of retro Tetris ports and modes from the 80s and 90s. I want to point out though that this game though: “Tetris Effect” is far-and-away the best overall choice out of the two if you are looking for a fun, modern, Tetris experience that has higher replayability and customization options.

Rating notes (this pertains primarily to the overall rating):

1. The game doesn’t function
5. You may like it better than me
6. Recommended (Worth the time)
7. Highly Recommended (Fun)
8. Must-play (Fun plus unique)
9. Game-changing for the genre/Legendary/Enshrined
10. It feels like the 1st play through of A favorite game…

Tetris Effect was most likely developed by a group of stoners taking extremely large doses of LSD and acid who played Tetris on some random Friday night and that was the inspiration for this game.

Pros:

• It's Tetris. Addiction incarnate.
• Dynamic music. The music gets crazier as your game gets more intense. When you turn pieces and drop them it'll create beats. Also the main song with the female English singer is amazing.
• Visuals. When you're not too focused on where you are putting your pieces, you should look around. Sometimes you'll be in a forest, zooming through a city, surrounded by fireworks, fish, you name it. Quite amazing
• Costs $20

The cons:

• The PSVR takes forever to use
• Hurts your eyes if you play too long
• No multiplayer
• Not using PS Move controllers was a lost opportunity

Verdict: Even non Tetris enthusiasts will be wowed. One of the best PSVR exclusives (also on Steam).