4/5 ★ – DaysposableHero's review of Tetris Effect.

Depending on how and what you count, Tetris is either the first or second best selling video game property or franchise of all time. First programmed in 1985 and released worldwide in 1988, various versions of the game have been developed and sold by numerous license holders continuously over the last forty years. So it would take something pretty drastic to meaningfully change how it feels to play Tetris in the 21st century. Tetris Effect somewhat achieves this goal with its meditative VR environments that react to how your game of traditional Tetris is progressing. That's the main hook of Tetris effect: you are playing a traditional Tetris game on a regular board, but all around you music and graphics are shifting and swimming in time and in response to your block rotations, drops, and line clears. The graphical themes change as you clear various stages. One minute you might be swimming though the ocean with manta rays and dolphins made of sparkly constellations and the next minute you're observing an orbital space station being assembled segment by segment. All the while what you're actually doing is just playing Tetris. I appreciate this approach. Monstars and Resonair have generally left the Tetris part of the game alone, and just focused on the Effect. And those effects are really neat. Each board theme is different, but they all work to give the player the same meditative feeling. Like, the game just wants you to vibe, man. The music is, for the most part, airy and open, with the focus on smooth transitions and chill beats. There are a few changeups thrown in there, like when you're on a board themed after some kind of, I don't know, like a fire cult? Or the level where the Tetraminos are made of clockwork gears. But generally, this is a game that wants you to just relax and get in the zone. Speaking of which, that's the one mechanical addition the developers have added to this version of the classic game: "Zone". As you clear lines, you build up a "Zone" meter in the corner of your screen. You can expend that meter to freeze the game for a short time, causing the blocks to stop dropping automatically. While in the "Zone", blocks will only drop on your input, giving you a chance to clear multiple more lines than otherwise possible. It's a neat little addition, and it did save my run a couple of times. Tetris is a classic game that has stood the test of time. The fact that it is still available for purchase on any modern platform, in one package or another, speaks to its continued mass appeal. So Tetris Effect is already starting with the deck stacked in its favor. But this version succeeds in enhancing that classic experience, and bringing the feeling of playing Tetris to more of your senses than just that puzzle center of your brain to which the game naturally appeals. Tetris effect starts with a high floor, and manages to be additive to the experience. A cool and pleasant twist on an iconic masterpiece. Tetris Effect accomplishes exactly what it set out to do.