Nintendo Switch – Tetris Effect Connected #229

Tetris with amazing music!
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Tetris Effect: Connected – Nintendo Switch – Released: 10/8/21 – $39.99

Short Review

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Tetris Effect Connected is interesting…. While it isn’t a game most people will gravitate to due to it being Tetris but for people who do love Tetris will find the game is still very basic. The game comes down to the amazing music and online support, beyond that Tetris Effect Connected is just like any Tetris game with the most basic features. It is everything you expect from Tetris so really there isn’t much to talk about as the game doesn’t have a ton of features you haven’t heard or played before. The massive thing is online for Connected but as a person who has the Switch and Tetris 99, I doubt I will find myself trying to play this version of the game online for any reason. The “Journey” mode is the other aspect of this game that pulls people in as you have to clear as many lines to progress. This does get incredibly hard if you are new to Tetris. Toward the end I was having trouble keeping up with the speed and just having to slam pieces into place just to land a single line. Since it is hard not to talk about other games that are similar and within the same price range, you have Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 and 2 to think about if you are debating between the two. PPT does have a Tetris only mode that isn’t as in depth but PPT has an entire story mode dedicated to getting players interested in both series.

Personal Experience

I’ve found myself to be pretty bad at Tetris. While I did finish the “story” mode, I felt as though I never was really good since I would rotate blocks to keep them from locking in. At no point in the endgame did I feel as though I had a good understanding of Tetris. Tetris will always be a game I revisit from time to time but the muscle memory to be very good at it will likely never exist for me. T-Spinning is my worst nightmare as I don’t think I have the ability to think that far ahead to use one. I remember there being a Tetris DS game that had challenge modes that had you rotate pieces and use the correct ones in order…. I was never good at this either. Tetris Effect while I did “finish” it, I definitely wouldn’t say I am good at it. Like some people, I am sure I do it for the intense satisfaction of finishing a level. The quick timing into success is very addicting and the likely reason why I will return one day in the future to play it again. Either with a new title or a new spin like Puyo Puyo Tetris 3 or something similar.

Final Thoughts

I 100% understand why this game is getting the praise it is getting. I wish I could say I will continue playing this game but I likely won’t. I did pick up the vinyl boxset of it and will definitely be spinning that from time to time. The music is by far the best quality of this game, definitely check out the soundtrack when you get a chance. The vinyl release has two versions but both are sadly sold out at the moment. I doubt it will come back in stock but fingers crossed since this is a release everyone should own if they enjoy ambient music.

Trailer:

End Credits

Definitely trying to restart this and hopefully will keep up with this. The pandemic and my job have really put a damper on doing this as often as I would like. This review has actually been “done” since around the holiday season.