Tetris Effect
Year: 2018
Rating: E
Time Played: ~10 hours
While most virtual reality games attempt to immerse the player in an interactive environment, Tetris Effect is best played sitting completely still. Tetris is Tetris, but Tetris Effect takes this classic formula and adds just enough new mechanics to it for the entire game to feel fresh and engaging. I’ve played this game both on my PC and on my Oculus Quest, and I have to say that I prefer the Quest version because of how immersive it is. There are no distractions. It’s just you and Tetris.
Since I recently trained myself on Tetris 99, I still found some levels in Tetris Effect‘s story mode to be quite difficult. Of course, as a single-player game, Tetris Effect had little to offer past this story mode. That was until they added the “Connected” mode that introduced online multiplayer. The 3-versus-1 mode is some of the most innovative Tetris I’ve ever played. With the multiplayer aspect added to Tetris Effect, it truly is the best version of this game. My only caveat is that it can take an uncomfortably long time to get enough players in multiplayer, which usually results in me stopping playing the game altogether.
Playing Tetris Effect in VR is an experience unto itself. Each time you move a piece, the music adapts to how you play the game. Additionally, the evolving backgrounds help to emphasize your progress in each level. There are moments when I’m playing this game when it feels calming, like a meditation, but then it can quickly shift into a frenzied attempt to clear as many lines as possible during the “zone” mechanic. Even if you’ve played Tetris before, you haven’t truly experienced it until you’ve played it like this.
The most immersive version of Tetris ever created, I give Tetris Effect 4.0 stars out of 5.
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