The Calming, out of this World Experience from Tetris Effect is a Great Change of Pace and Emotion from Other Tetris games

Ahh, Tetris. A game that your parents and almost every other parent knows. The longevity of it has made it evolve over its existents with the “hold” mechanic – which I’ve grown up with -- and doubling down on the competitive nature of Tetris with Tetris Battle, Tetris DS, Puyo Puyo Tetris, and more. Growing up I was terrible at Tetris – making lines with falling blocks was simple enough, but I didn’t understand how to fix my mistakes. There are many insane Tetris players that I can’t even think about competing with. The stress of trying to keep the best layout of blocks while trying to keep up with my opponent is too intense for my taste.

However, Tetris Effect is the total opposite of all those competitive Tetris incarnations. The way Enhanced Games and Mizuguchi plays with music and players emotions to then incorporate it into a puzzle game or even something like Rez: Infinite can give old concepts like Tetris a new breath life. Everything in Tetris Effect is amplified by x50 – the music is one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever listened to in a game. The cleverness of making you part of the music by moving blocks to creating chimes and beats along with the music feels like your part of the band. This type of game is best played with headphones which is the best way to hear the beats, chimes, or melodies that your creating from the blocks.

Visuals and effects are just as important as the sound and music designs in Tetris Effect. After playing through the whole campaign (Journey Mode) these effects just fade in the background, which isn’t bad, but relaxing. Tetris can be already relaxing without all the crazy effects when you get into a groove but having effects on top of the relaxing rhythmic block drops creates an out of this world feeling, especially in VR.

I spent about 30% of the time playing Tetris Effect in VR, which is the definitive way to play if you have a VR headset. Being locked out of the real world and having nothing to distract you other than the beautiful music and particles that are flying at you brings out the full emotions that it creates. With every stage I played everything in my head just evaporated. Watching the effects is a dazzling delight with all the colors and art that is moving with the beat. Tetris Effect is already an amazing game without VR but in VR there is a magic there that must be experienced personally.

Tetris Effect takes an old formula, that was already great, dressed it up perfectly to become a new and shiny Tetris experience. We had competitive Tetris for years now and to me it was a stressful time. That fast-pace type of puzzle experience is something I always had trouble with, but with Tetris Effect I can take my time with no one on the other side trying to complete with me. Tetris Effect combines music, art, and puzzles together to create a space where the real world no longer exists, especially in VR.  This is the perfect game to have right now, with everything happening in the world Tetris Effect can be a shelter, a safe spot, or a space to drift off.