A small gripe with Tetris Effect

Tetris Effect is a good video game. I don't think anyone doubts this, Tetris is an absolutely classic forever and always and the added Effect is truly stunning. It was my game of the year twice, one in 2018 for the original release, and again in 2020 for the Connected update and rerelease. It is intensely beautiful, sounds absolutely magical, plays incredibly smoothly, and caters to literally any Tetris skill level possible. (Except for whatever RTGame has going on, although I believe he could finish the campaign.)

I've got a tiny gripe with the game though. It released on Oculus, and I actually bought it and played it on the Quest. It is somehow even better in VR visually, although I do feel it's slightly wasted on being a regular game of Tetris.

That's not the issue I have.

The Oculus Quest controllers don't have a d-pad. This is fine in most applications, especially with the stick knowing if your thumb is on it or not. It works, it feels good, I like it.

You cannot play Tetris with a joystick comfortably. You can't play any block game with a joystick comfortably. I looked it up, and I can't seem to find extra controllers for the Quest that have a d-pad. Half of the time I was playing, I wanted a d-pad, and an eighth of it I was actively thrown off by the joystick.

Every time I've mentioned a joystick, I've specifically called it a joystick. That's because there's a type of stick that works perfectly good with Tetris - the arcade stick. I actually love the arcade stick for Tetris games. I can't do any of the fancy footwork associated with the thing but it's great fun to use and you still get a level of precision I can't pull off with a joystick.

You hear that Facebook? You absolute curmudgeons? If you can't put a d-pad on the Quest 4, because we all know the Quest 4 will exist, put an arcade stick on it.

And while you're listening to me, un-discontinue the Quest 1. I still wanna use that thing.

And maybe split Oculus off into its own company again. I'm not giving Mark Zuckerberg my money.

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