Flow State

Flow State

By Matt HortonLeisureVideo GamesGames
Download on the App Store

Flow State episodes

  • Persona 4 Golden's Heaviest Burden is Tradition

    • (00:00) - - The eery quietness of Persona 4 Golden
  • (03:10) - - The Heisei mergers
  • (06:15) - - Persona 4 Golden is biased towards tradition
  • (06:55) - - Yukiko gives in
  • (08:55) - - Kanji's dyes his hair
  • (10:56) - - Rise goes back to showbiz
  • (12:35) - - These aren't real people
  • (13:03) - - Conservatism
  • (14:28) - - Tradition for tradition's sake

    • To watch the member-exclusive video, you can go to my Patreon or Ko-Fi!
    https://www.patreon.com/c/flowstatecrit
    https://ko-fi.com/matthorton

    Thanks to  @FazPersona ,  @shinobuSMT , and  @SphericAlpha for game footage

    Watch  @LadyVirgilia 's video on the Heisei mergers and Inaba: https://youtu.be/gd2YrXqkchM

    Watch  @BiggeTwig 's "The Development of Persona 4": https://youtu.be/gd2YrXqkchM

    Thank you to my $5+ members:
    GJ
    Jenn Cheung
    Mike Turley
    Chase Allhart
    Zeno
    MajesticOstrich
    Kim
    Silellak

    Research Sources:
    Katsura Hashino blogs from the old Atlus website

    https://web.archive.org/web/20130831132713/http://www.atlusnet.jp/topic/detail/607
    https://web.archive.org/web/20140205015317/http://www.atlusnet.jp/topic/detail/650

    Podcast interview with Persona 4 dev team

    https://web.archive.org/web/20100908090614/https://game.biglobe.ne.jp/colweb/shoku/2010/100902/100902.html

    SiliconEra translation and summary of the podcast interview

    https://www.siliconera.com/behind-the-design-of-persona-4/

    “The Development of Municipal Mergers in Japan” by Kiyotaka Yokomichi

    https://clair.or.jp/j/forum/honyaku/hikaku/pdf/up-to-date_en1.pdf

    Interview on 1UP.com with Yu Namba and Nich Maragos

    https://web.archive.org/web/20130228183558/http://www.1up.com/news/anime-expo-atlus-talks-persona

    Interview on 1UP.com with Katsura Hashino

    https://megatengaku.wordpress.com/readings/interviews/1up-persona-4-afterthoughts/

    Shmuplations translation of Persona Club P4 book

    https://shmuplations.com/persona4/

    Highlights from the Persona Club P4 book by Tumblr user, adachimoe

    https://adachimoe.tumblr.com/post/731417840378347520/random-stuff-from-the-persona-club-p4-book

    Toru’s blog on their visit to Fuefuki

    https://p4toru.jugem.jp

    Toru’s blog visiting the same street as the P4G team did on their tour of towns to base their design of Inaba on

    https://p4toru.jugem.jp/?eid=17

    Fuefuki on Wikipedia

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuefuki

    18 min
  • The woman who made Blippo+ weird

    0:00 - My boring question
    0:38 - What is Blippo+?
    1:17 - Why does JJ love 80s TV?
    5:26 - Her analog video work
    8:19 - JJ's genius made Blippo+ great
    11:59 - JJ's reverence for her collaborators 
    14:23 - Giving "weirdos" the Holly wood treatment
    15:07 - Following her dreams paid off
    17:51 - My hope for Blippo+

    Before I talked to JJ Stratford, I had a really boring question.  Is Blippo+ a video game or a cable service? But she was far more interesting than that question.

    Full interview with JJ available on Patreon & Ko-Fi:
    https://www.patreon.com/flowstatecrit
    https://ko-fi.com/matthorton

    Blippo+ is available on Playdate, Steam (PC & Mac), and Nintendo Switch

    20 min
  • 2025 was a weird year for games...

    It was a weird year for video games, but here's my favorite moments among the mess.

    • (00:00) - - It was a weird year...
  • (01:01) - - and Roger
  • (01:48) - - Extra: Persona 4 Golden
  • (03:00) - - Dispatch
  • (05:15) - - The Séance of Blake Manor
  • (06:11) - - Unfair Flips
  • (07:20) - - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
  • (08:54) - - Extra: Octopath Traveler 2
  • (09:56) - - Fretless
  • (11:13) - - Fighting Games
  • (13:36) - - Q-Up
  • (14:45) - - Known Mysteries
  • (16:47) - - Citizen Sleeper 2
  • (19:19) - - The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

    • Support my work at ko-fi.com/matthorton

    dotzip's and Roger episode - https://share.transistor.fm/s/570f6f40
    Brendon on YouTube - ‪@itswavelengths‬
    Stephen on YouTube - ‪@MemoryCardManuscript‬

    23 min
  • It's time to admit it. Demonschool is disappointing.

    After 14.5 hours of Demonschool, it’s time to admit that I’m disappointed.

    • (00:00) - - Demonschool is disappointing
  • (01:14) - - Demonschool's original sin
  • (02:45) - - A game that does it better
  • (03:22) - - It's not just expectation

    • Support my work at ko-fi.com/matthorton

    Demonschool on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/19...

    6 min
  • THIS is how you make a detective game

    • (00:00) - - The Séance of Blake Manor
  • (01:26) - - Irish AF
  • (02:14) - - Deduction in Blake Manor
  • (03:09) - - The art

    • Support my work at ko-fi.com/matthorton

    The Séance of Blake Manor on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/13...

    It's two days before Halloween, and Declan Ward has been invited to Blake Manor to investigate the disappearance of a woman named Evelyn Deane. She and a number of guests are at the manor ahead of the Grand Séance, an attempt to speak directly to a spirit rather than through a medium. As the player, we navigate Ward through Blake Manor to solve the mystery of Miss Deane's disappearance, yes, but also to discover smaller, personal mysteries.

    5 min
  • The Hottest Game Mechanic of 2025 🪙

    The hottest game mechanic of 2025 is... coin flipping.

    • (00:00) - - Flip a coin with me
  • (02:19) - - Number goes up
  • (12:11) - - The concept of 20%
  • (14:41) - - The "ladder"
  • (17:57) - - "Meme games"
  • (19:27) - - Commenting on humanity with a coin
  • (22:39) - - Committing to the eSports bit
  • (26:21) - - Simultaneous invention

    • To watch the developer interviews, subscribe monthly at https://ko-fi.com/matthorton

    Unfair Flips on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/39...
    Q-UP on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/37...
    Music from the original soundtracks of Q-UP and Cobalt Core

    At this point you’re probably aware of the game, Unfair Flips, where you flip a coin with the single goal of getting 10 heads in a row. Northernlion has played it. I’ve already made a Short about the game. The game has reached a meme status that often leads to financial success for these smaller, simpler games.

    And in the latest Steam Next Fest, a demo for another coin flipping game has come out. Q-UP is a completely different take on flipping a coin, as impossible as that sounds. Where Unfair Flips is stripped down to only the slightest amount of mechanic on top of the basic probability of a coin flip, Q-UP puts that simple game of chance into the context of eSports. This is a video game that straight up looks like Apex Legends or Overwatch or Marvel Rivals. You have seen a video game UI that looks like this. The design is Fortnite maximalist, including a shop, messages from the developers, a carousel of fake news hits about the game, and even daily challenges. You can actually, really queue up with your friends for coin flipping matches. It is a tongue-in-cheek take on eSports that actually does have an interesting game within it, even if the coin flips themselves are completely random.

    These games are wildly different takes on a goofy idea, and the distance between those takes leads to thematic differences that I find really interesting. Yes. The two games where you flip coins both have things they’re trying to say. I promise.

    28 min
  • Losing Control in Consume Me

    Consume Me is an auto-biographical story of a young girl and the untenable pressures she feels to be a success, whatever that means. It is serious, but it is goofy. The game has sad moments, but it’s not somber. Far more often, it’s really funny, chronicling Jenny’s young adulthood through a series of WarioWare-style mini-games. They are chaotic and funny and messed up in all the ways that real life can often be.

    • (00:00) - - A goofy game about real stuff
  • (02:19) - - Consume Me's big mechanic
  • (04:22) - - What even is this game?
  • (06:03) - - It starts out fun...
  • (08:42) - - The breaking point
  • (12:46) - - The broken ways we seek control
  • (16:08) - - Consume Me is extremely well-made

    • Consume Me releases Sep 25, 2025: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2359120/Consume_Me/

    Music in the video is by Ken "coda" Snyder, including some music from Consume Me

    Support my work at https://ko-fi.com/matthorton
    Read more at https://matthorton.live

    18 min
  • It's A Miracle Fretless Got Made

    Subscribe to Flow State: https://youtube.com/@flowstatecrit

    • (00:00) - - Fretless has a magic
  • (01:41) - - What is Fretless?
  • (02:42) - - Getting QTEs just right
  • (09:15) - - The musical theme of Fretless
  • (16:27) - - The game is great! And that's it.
  • (19:32) - - Fretless almost didn't get made

    • There’s a magic in the game feel of Fretless, and it’s immediately noticeable. Quick-time events in battle form the foundation of this game's incredible game feel. The wild thing, is that despite being a musical RPG from the very beginning of development about 8 years ago, these quick time events weren’t present until about a year before its release. This is a game that had so many chances to fail or be something much lesser. But the team at Ritual Studios were relentless, and they’ve made something special.

    Fretless on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2429050/Fretless__The_Wrath_of_Riffson/

    Support my work at ko-fi.com/MattHorton

    Read more of my writing at https://MattHorton.live

    26 min
  • The Puzzle Game Where a Minotaur Starts a Union

    Hoard's LLC: Limited Labyrinth Corporation is a block puzzle game about a minotaur who wants to unionize his workplace, a corporate dungeon. I sat down with Cephalopod Ink, the developer of Hoard's LLC, to learn just what kind of team makes a game like that.

    • (00:00) - - NO BENEFITS
  • (02:09) - - Meet Cephalopod Ink
  • (06:10) - - A corporate dungeon???
  • (07:47) - - The inspiration for the game
  • (08:59) - - The games industry is a nightmare for workers
  • (11:23) - - Cephalopod's experience with unions
  • (15:43) - - Scoping down to find success
  • (19:13) - - Keeping it light
  • (21:56) - - The art is great!
  • (23:23) - - How do you market a game like Hoard's LLC?
  • (25:54) - - Can games actually make change?
  • (27:28) - - How will Cephalopod Ink be better?
  • (31:21) - - They said the name of the show

    • Support my work at ko-fi.com/MattHorton

    Read more of my writing at https://MattHorton.live

    Listen to my podcast at https://cantletitgo.gay

    Listen to Lex's podcast - The Legend of Podcast: Trails Through Trails - https://trailspod.transistor.fm/

    32 min
  • Finished Expedition 33? Play these next.

    Expedition 33 is just one of many great turn-based RPGs released in the last 10 years. Here's a bunch of RPGs that you should play when you're finished with Clair Obscur.

    0:00 - JRPGs never died
    2:12 - Turn-based RPGs are killing it
    4:25 - High-fidelity 3D graphics
    6:11 - Art Direction
    7:21 - World Maps
    8:23 - Combat
    11:02 - Characters & Social Sim
    13:11 - A Message
    14:56 - Turn-based RPGs aren't ancient history

    Find me elswhere:
    Support my work at ko-fi.com/MattHorton
    Read more of my writing at https://MattHorton.live
    Listen to my podcast at https://cantletitgo.gay
    My video on the end of Expedition 33 https://youtu.be/J_gfIx5VIqY?si=bv2Uvhpjpp_uK5tC

    Lex's podcast!!! 
    The Legend of Podcast: Trails Through Trails - https://trailspod.transistor.fm/

    Credits
    -----

    https://youtu.be/p00EF6_b5pI?si=rl5eCMgy3MqMHQi
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i87Bk7OqAUk
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8azSzG-Fls
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkm1I7ngQb0
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCuaejfDvR0
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-6Aa3_86Lo
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVLEPdSX8DY
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6daXBKYT6N4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asf4DmuukZA
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz0g9hxq7L8
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=2&v=j_-dPgRy4LI
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEo9rB4WmCM
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV5rIW1Qums
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsdxLwqUH6g
    https://youtu.be/LUNL-Pey7BU?si=00AE5Gf1r6vtchsQ
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raWYLdIqy5A
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Wj5bpID80
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgtBM23ltuw
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPcwMFWZksQ
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=off7_MX4eZk
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-v6DRmersc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgKMcrpvQNQ
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P7obXHM3EQ
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxhzR5SzvRs
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF96tpchink
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB4WyHe-HRM
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T85-Obx9iE8
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWWy7V9rCrA
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKpSpvFCZRw
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsMvSZeiKmw
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIIPXA2A6cM
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXi0yQD9F1Y
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tavPnYeFrV4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T22wNvoNiU
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plwpzrXQoUw
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPk4cVrU_w
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1s&v=f5IWiqGKcQg
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd9j_NWZGG8
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XTozylrz-Q
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJL0-lDuJn8
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMtDNA_kiZ4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdkyi7Myg-c
    https://youtu.be/ADaRsEhTB70?si=p_GKjqgqUDcswLwf
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dwFNq06bQk
    https://youtu.be/pKRvc2HADUw?si=lR_ymsDfzwlrup0J
    https://youtu.be/lgmLN1NHXyE?si=Xlk-u4Gbyxlmn-C1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmi8KrntszI
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVbqM_O2kcI
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7trBUIkyO1A
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqbNaxO82g
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWXAxOKdQ6c
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTOAd2fq740
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeZ_Z1diuig
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7zjsM5nQA
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goj8hyy_L0M
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KES40VdEtQg
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVP_nCK0tXU
    https://youtu.be/jjiyzoII06I?si=8bS0E2shLrS7O9zf
    https://youtu.be/7lM8fVR_oZw?si=l45fTQsf7eXp78Ty
    https://youtu.be/srvV0riIgXU?si=Qe-DWMTlZRlsb3Qi
    https://youtu.be/iNwMvTVPq2E?si=HlZ1fYaCdRzxmiF4
    https://youtu.be/Vofkw9-O18c?si=gzQ_ZGqawbwgIbcL
    https://youtu.be/iEGniXc7Xtc?si=eh_t4hodQFix3UtZ
    https://youtu.be/-1LDIPBWjtU?si=pp_KiOifoEejX2VJ
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORpKwkq5z-4
    https://youtu.be/qFs8-qGaoHU?si=Vj3TRiyLFQmkOFgY
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyprCbJwWsE
    https://youtu.be/Woz3mS9Ao5k?si=sJGQru1pFn8iMg7z
    https://youtu.be/yvSWRg_oPyw?si=nAKsR0Voifbny0JB

    17 min

About Flow State

From the publisher's feed

A show about the games we get lost in