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Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
38,396
Ibis Island


While it's no secret that Tetris Effect has an absolutely phenomenal soundtrack (You can buy the soundtrack now btw), It seems how emotional things can get while playing is often overlooked. This is of course due to the games simplicity based on your preferred skill-level. Most people aren't typically playing at the highest difficulty and as such, it's very easy to get lost in the games music as you play. So when said game has tracks such as the above, you really get those moments of reflection that go deeper than the game itself.

Like damn bro, it's just clearing blocks, it shouldn't be hitting this hard.
EmnFz1t.gif
 

Musubi

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
23,611
I wanna play it but I'm waiting for it to hit that sweet 19.99 price point. I just... don't know that I feel a tetris game at like $40 or whatever it currently is.
 

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
The Fallen
Jul 14, 2018
23,543
It's my #2 game of this gen for a reason. Even before trying it out in VR it was magical, Tetsuya Mizuguchi and everyone at Enhance are just pure geniuses of the highest order.
 

Son of Liberty

Production
Verified
Nov 5, 2017
1,261
California
I wanna play it but I'm waiting for it to hit that sweet 19.99 price point. I just... don't know that I feel a tetris game at like $40 or whatever it currently is.
I don't know if you play on PC but its on Epic Games Store for $17.99 with the $10 discount. I had a PS4 copy since launch but I bought the PC version recently so I could play it on my Oculus, which was a wonderful experience for sure. Tetris Effect is easily one of my top favorite games ever.
 
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Lump

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,963
My only issue with it is that the rounds are over too quick on Normal while Expert isn't relaxing.

I want the round length of Expert with the balance of Normal. Then I think I would be in complete zen with Tetris Effect.
 

GearDraxon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,786
It's a testament to how well the visuals and sound are integrated with incredibly familiar gameplay that, despite being the same game we've been playing for decades, it manages to have an emotional impact. Absolutely loved it.
 

Saturday

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,322
You chose the superior and far harder hitting ending version of that song good choice I am not crying

Uh, yeah. Tetris Effect is unironically one of the best reasons you can buy VR. Regular Tetris is one of the modern world's easiest examples of zen by way of clearing the mind, no? Tetris Effect is the part of Zen where you're trying to hit straight 100% mental enlightenment. Fuckin' game about lining up blocks closest thing I've got to feeling actual peace in my lifetime thus far.
 

Liquid Snake

Member
Nov 10, 2017
1,893
Game gets hard, particularly the last level. Took me a few days to beat, but damn it felt good when I did it. I felt like I had beaten Isshin The Sword Saint, except I wasn't nearly as pissed off. Great game.
 

Musubi

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
23,611
I don't know if you play on PC but its on Epic Games Store for $17.99 with the $10 discount. I had a PS4 copy since launch but I bought the PC version recently so I could play it on my Oculus, which was a wonderful experience for sure. Tetris Effect is easily one of my top favorite games ever.


I could for sure but also my only PC really gaming worthy is my laptop and I tend to not really play on PC much unless its an exclusive or something that I can't get access to otherwise. Thanks for looking out though.
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,532
It's so emotional / distracting (:o !) that I played many of the stages with the music off lol [/philistine]

I wanna play it but I'm waiting for it to hit that sweet 19.99 price point. I just... don't know that I feel a tetris game at like $40 or whatever it currently is.

PC? It's been in sale loads on PSN. I picked it up on UK PSN for about that price. (ÂŁ17 ish.)
 

NightShift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,999
Australia
It's just Tetris though.

Seriously, this game was my GOTY even in the year GoW and RDR2 came out for a reason. I loved playing Tetris on low levels just to relax and chill out in the past so having Mizuguchi and the team who made Rez make a Tetris game was the perfect combo.
 

chronos4590

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,356
100% Tetsuya Mizuguchi is a master at doing this with his games. The music, the vibrations, the visuals all come together perfectly and the music and the theme of the visuals are just so varied and amazing. Yeah its a powerful experience

And then you play it in VR...and you feel like you're on another plane of existence. Completely immersed in the flow of the mechanics of Tetris tenfold, senses in overload, the stage is all around you, the sense of depth added. It's... wow yeah
 

Sixfortyfive

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,615
Atlanta
It'd be a lot better at this if the vfx didn't obscure the field nearly as much as they do.

I wanted to like this game so much because I think Tetris really does deserve high production values and care, but this game botches its main goal so hard that it basically just frustrates me.
 

EatChildren

Wonder from Down Under
Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,029
I do not have the ability to play this in VR. Is it still worth it on PC as is?
 

samred

Amico fun conversationalist
Member
Nov 4, 2017
2,584
Seattle, WA
My original 2018 review hinges on this aspect of the game.

arstechnica.com

Tetris Effect review: The puzzle game of my dreams—literally

A thrilling, VR-ready celebration of the puzzle classic—but is that enough?

Tetris Effect explores, in titular fashion, what the act of playing Tetris does to the human mind—and takes tender care of its players in the process. I'll admit it: over the years, I have explored hippie-dippie things like meditation, acupuncture, therapy, and psychotropic drugs in search of personal calm and peace. That stuff has been rad. But none of those compare to the feeling that washed over me when I unlocked Tetris Effect's "full" Journey experience (meaning, all skins in a row, no interruptions) and played through its soothing seas and rapturous rapids over the span of an hour in VR.
 

MDSVeritas

Gameplay Programmer, Sony Santa Monica
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,026
It's a truly incredible thing. The song (and version) that you posted is one of my favorite songs in all of video games. It's masterful.
 

denseWorm

Banned
May 15, 2020
399
To be honest... I prefer Lumines over Tetris. I also get emotional feedback from the better Lumines titles!

We Lumines fans play a liberated form of the old classic :P

(Loved that song op, i just wish the goty was using the lumines method rather than the rigid block method)

images
 
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TheYanger

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,139
I wanna play it but I'm waiting for it to hit that sweet 19.99 price point. I just... don't know that I feel a tetris game at like $40 or whatever it currently is.
17.99 if you get it on the EGS sale with the 10 dollar coupon. I just nabbed it yesterday, it's amazing.
twitch.tv/theyanger inspired tp stream it a bit
 
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skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,128
game and OST is incredible but tbh the only part that clobbered me with feels was the whale thing on the first stage
 

Acidote

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,962
I loved the little I played it in VR. I'm waiting for it to hit different PC stores. I may end up picking it up at the Oculus Store if they crash the price.
 

purseowner

From the mirror universe
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,444
UK
One of the few games to ever make me cry.

Still waiting for an Arkanoid game that makes me weep.
 

StraySheep

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,276
My only issue with it is that the rounds are over too quick on Normal while Expert isn't relaxing.

I want the round length of Expert with the balance of Normal. Then I think I would be in complete zen with Tetris Effect.

Maybe there is an Effect mode that gives you more of that? Because there's stuff like clear xHundred lines or infinity mode I think.
 

th1nk

Member
Nov 6, 2017
6,263
I started the video and started crying (I needed that, thanks for this thread). I also cried when I finished Journey mode. It truly is beautiful.
 

JayCeeJim

Member
Jan 3, 2019
466
This is also an incredible game to play with an Ambilight setup and a big HDR screen.

I do with the PC version and the Philips Hue Sync app on Windows, but there are other ways.
 

Bradford

terminus est
Member
Aug 12, 2018
5,423
I felt no emotions while playing Tetris Effect.

It was a flashy way to play Tetris, in VR. Though I find the whispy etherial soft-voiced EDM music kind of grating at times, especially towards the end of the soundtrack. I really disliked all of the vocal tracks, pretty much.
 
Feb 10, 2018
382
This game is amazing. Most played game of the generation for me.

I love this music, it's great, the escalation is amazing it's too bad you can only access it at a certain time of day

 
Nov 18, 2017
1,273
Me and my friends tried acid for the first time when lockdown started, ended up playing Tetris Effect all night long, broke out into tears multiple times.

Those dolphins are my best friends now.
 

Deleted member 34873

User-requested account closure
Banned
Nov 29, 2017
1,460
I felt no emotions while playing Tetris Effect.

It was a flashy way to play Tetris, in VR. Though I find the whispy etherial soft-voiced EDM music kind of grating at times, especially towards the end of the soundtrack. I really disliked all of the vocal tracks, pretty much.
How does it feel to have no heart?
 

Bradford

terminus est
Member
Aug 12, 2018
5,423
How does it feel to have no heart?
I have a heart. It is just not tugged on by aesthetics or presentation. I need the interaction itself to be meaningful.

This isn't to say Tetris Effect is bad or anything, it's a fantastic game, but mostly because Tetris is amazing. You could swap out the soundtrack for death metal and the visuals for psychedelic hellscapes and the experience wouldn't change much. The aesthetics were just set dressing.
 

Sixfortyfive

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,615
Atlanta
I have a heart. It is just not tugged on by aesthetics or presentation. I need the interaction itself to be meaningful.

This isn't to say Tetris Effect is bad or anything, it's a fantastic game, but mostly because Tetris is amazing. You could swap out the soundtrack for death metal and the visuals for psychedelic hellscapes and the experience wouldn't change much. The aesthetics were just set dressing.
I disagree with this pretty strongly. Style can be substance.

It's just too bad that Tetris Effect's style actively gets in the way of the gameplay on occasion, and that modern Tetris rules make for poor single-player games.