The vanilla form of Tetris Effect has been out for some time and it has since then gathered some digital dust within our game libraries. Just last year, it received the huge Connected update which gave the game a whole multiplayer mode. That update would be a Microsoft Store exclusive for a bit within year until it was brought to PlayStation consoles and PC platforms recently.
Tetris Effect: Connected is probably the best Tetris game out there right now. There are more games available such as the Puyo Puyo Tetris games, Tetris 99 around the Nintendo Switch, and also the free-to-play browser game Tetr.io that are phenomenal themselves. They're solid Tetris experiences as you would expect, but Tetris Effect: Connected goes beyond exactly what the others do.
This game is a complete package, sporting an abundance of single player modes to understand and obtain better scores for. Additionally, it has its recently released Connected Mode which has a number of head-to-head modes to choose as well as a quite interesting co-op mode.
Tetris Effect as a single player experience is a that's almost like no other. 3 years later, it’s still probably the most auditory and visually stunning experiences in gaming, specifically for a puzzle game. It’s a game that I prefer to describe as Tetris with RTX on, the bitrate killer, or the Windows screensaver turned up to 11. The sunlight and particle effects are jaw dropping, beautiful, and often (admittedly) distracting. But that doesn't take away from this kind of amazing experience.
Its visuals combined with the music and sounds pair smoothly like peanut butter does with jelly. There are plenty of different boards all with their very own visual and musical themes. Every level is such an ASMR inducing trip. Please, if you do plan to play farmville, I implore you to definitely play it with high-quality speakers, surround sound headphones, and a monitor rich in image quality.
One from the single player modes consists of a short, but sweet campaign called Journey Mode. You’ll play through different stages of Tetris, clearing a particular number of lines to visit to the next stage. Tetris Effect introduced its “zone” mechanic where the player can essentially stop time for you to create line clears larger than a 4-line (aka a Tetris). Optimum line clear setup on record would be a 24-line ‘impossibilitris’.
Other than that, there is a choice of 15 different Effect modes, composed of some Tetris classics such as the 150-Line clear Marathon mode, the 3-minute Ultra mode, and the 40-Line clear Sprint mode. Other modes include a relaxing, ambient classic playlists, specific gimmick modes where you need to perform all-clears, high combos, and clearing target blocks.
Then there are even wackier modes like the Countdown mode that has players playing normal Tetris, but with random I-pieces falling onto the board. Addititionally there is the bitrate killing mode that's the Purify mode where players have to clear dark blocks in a set amount of time, and finally the Mystery mode, a game title type where players will endure all sorts of crazy modifiers like a flipped board, exploding pieces, invisible boards, or giant tetriminos.
The single player experience for Tetris Effect is plentiful, specifically for a game that has been getting quite a lot of price cuts since then. Its new addition, the Connected multiplayer expansion, may be the icing around the cake; it’s what produces the definitive Tetris experience to date.
The multiplayer in Tetris Effect: Connected is a lot more than the usual 1-on-1 mode where two players face off, clearing lines and sending garbage to each other as with other games. There are four multiplayer modes to select from: the Connected co-op mode, Zone Battle, Score Attack, and Classic Score Attack.
It’d be a disservice to state which mode is the most unique, simply because they all have their specific attracts players of different facets of the franchise.
The Connected cooperative mode has three players team up against a number of bosses that ramp up in difficulty. Within my rundown of the Connected mode, I known this ‘as like a raid boss mode, but with Tetris’. The 3 players need to clear lines to fill up a shared meter at the bottom of their playing fields. However, these bosses fight against players using a number of different board difficulty modifiers like adding in random tetriminos, making it's invisible, jumbling in the pieces on players’ boards, and many more.
When the meter fills up for the players, their boards all converge into one giant Tetris board, where then they have to clear as numerous lines as you unit. The more lines cleared, the higher the attack will be against the boss. The attacks raise up the playing field for the boss, making them weaker to topping out.
The next mode may be the standard Zone Battle mode. It’s the typical modern Tetris mode where two people face off, clearing lines and sending garbage to one another, hoping that their opponent tops out first. However, this mode earns the Zone mechanic from the single player mode, which could heavily turn the tide in a match.
Then there’s the Score Attack mode, that is like Zone Battle but with no garbage or zone. It lives as much as its name as just two players facing off inside a race to see who comes out with the higher score. When a player tops out, their opponent has to chase down their score within two minutes. Unless the person who tops out had a lower score, their opponent automatically wins.
Lastly, there’s the Classic Score Attack mode which pays homage to the 1989 Classic Tetris. This mode is exclusive in the sense that its mechanics are nothing like the remainder of Tetris Effect: Connected. This is the mode that fans of the game will populate, with their DAS and hyper tapping strategies to really strengthen your competition. It’s not exactly single for 1 like the game that has grown to viral levels of popularity from the CTWC, but it’s a damn good recreation from it.
What makes this game stick out the best from having a lot of modes to choose from is the fact that it’s also received full crossplay functionality. The game is out on current PlayStation and Xbox consoles in addition to PC. Which means that someone on the PlayStation Four to five can play with people around the Xbox One or Series consoles and even PC.
When this game arrives for that Nintendo Turn on October 8, 2022, players on the current existing platforms may also be able to match up with Switch players. This is such a monumental and important feature for a multiplatform to have nowadays. It creates an even bigger incentive for individuals to experience with their friends, regardless of platform. This can also help lessen matchmaking times and keep the gamer base much more active.
The Verdict
Tetris Effect: Connected is the definitive Tetris experience to this day. It has a plethora of single player and multiplayer modes. There’s something for everybody with regards to this game. From the music and visuals to the competitive potential in its multiplayer modes, this game has everything from the classic puzzler inside a beautiful coat of paint. Its inclusion of crossplay can make it even more enjoyable among friends and tournament organizers, permitting its already humble community to flourish even more.
