It's time to admit it. Demonschool is disappointing.

(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/flowstatecrithttps://ko-fi.com/matthortonThanks to  @FazPersona ,  @shinobuSMT , and  @SphericAlpha for game footageWatch  @LadyVirgilia 's video on the Heisei mergers and Inaba: https://youtu.be/gd2YrXqkchMWatch  @BiggeTwig 's "The Development of Persona 4": https://youtu.be/gd2YrXqkchMThank you to my $5+ members:GJJenn CheungMike TurleyChase AllhartZenoMajesticOstrichKimSilellakResearch Sources:Katsura Hashino blogs from the old Atlus websitehttps://web.archive.org/web/20130831132713/http://www.atlusnet.jp/topic/detail/607https://web.archive.org/web/20140205015317/http://www.atlusnet.jp/topic/detail/650Podcast interview with Persona 4 dev teamhttps://web.archive.org/web/20100908090614/https://game.biglobe.ne.jp/colweb/shoku/2010/100902/100902.htmlSiliconEra translation and summary of the podcast interviewhttps://www.siliconera.com/behind-the-design-of-persona-4/“The Development of Municipal Mergers in Japan” by Kiyotaka Yokomichihttps://clair.or.jp/j/forum/honyaku/hikaku/pdf/up-to-date_en1.pdfInterview on 1UP.com with Yu Namba and Nich Maragoshttps://web.archive.org/web/20130228183558/http://www.1up.com/news/anime-expo-atlus-talks-personaInterview on 1UP.com with Katsura Hashinohttps://megatengaku.wordpress.com/readings/interviews/1up-persona-4-afterthoughts/Shmuplations translation of Persona Club P4 bookhttps://shmuplations.com/persona4/Highlights from the Persona Club P4 book by Tumblr user, adachimoehttps://adachimoe.tumblr.com/post/731417840378347520/random-stuff-from-the-persona-club-p4-bookToru’s blog on their visit to Fuefukihttps://p4toru.jugem.jpToru’s blog visiting the same street as the P4G team did on their tour of towns to base their design of Inaba onhttps://p4toru.jugem.jp/?eid=17Fuefuki on Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuefuki

0:00 - My boring question0:38 - What is Blippo+?1:17 - Why does JJ love 80s TV?5:26 - Her analog video work8:19 - JJ's genius made Blippo+ great11:59 - JJ's reverence for her collaborators 14:23 - Giving "weirdos" the Holly wood treatment15:07 - Following her dreams paid off17:51 - 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/flowstatecrithttps://ko-fi.com/matthortonBlippo+ is available on Playdate, Steam (PC & Mac), and Nintendo Switch

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/matthortondotzip's and Roger episode - https://share.transistor.fm/s/570f6f40Brendon on YouTube - ‪@itswavelengths‬ Stephen on YouTube - ‪@MemoryCardManuscript‬

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

(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/matthortonThe 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.

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/matthortonUnfair 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 CoreAt 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.

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 MeSupport my work at https://ko-fi.com/matthortonRead more at https://matthorton.live

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

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/MattHortonRead more of my writing at https://MattHorton.liveListen to my podcast at https://cantletitgo.gayListen to Lex's podcast - The Legend of Podcast: Trails Through Trails - https://trailspod.transistor.fm/

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 died2:12 - Turn-based RPGs are killing it4:25 - High-fidelity 3D graphics6:11 - Art Direction7:21 - World Maps8:23 - Combat11:02 - Characters & Social Sim13:11 - A Message14:56 - Turn-based RPGs aren't ancient historyFind me elswhere:Support my work at ko-fi.com/MattHortonRead more of my writing at https://MattHorton.liveListen to my podcast at https://cantletitgo.gayMy video on the end of Expedition 33 https://youtu.be/J_gfIx5VIqY?si=bv2Uvhpjpp_uK5tCLex's podcast!!! The Legend of Podcast: Trails Through Trails - https://trailspod.transistor.fm/Credits-----https://youtu.be/p00EF6_b5pI?si=rl5eCMgy3MqMHQihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i87Bk7OqAUkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8azSzG-Flshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkm1I7ngQb0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCuaejfDvR0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-6Aa3_86Lohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVLEPdSX8DYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6daXBKYT6N4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asf4DmuukZAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz0g9hxq7L8https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=2&v=j_-dPgRy4LIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEo9rB4WmCMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV5rIW1Qumshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsdxLwqUH6ghttps://youtu.be/LUNL-Pey7BU?si=00AE5Gf1r6vtchsQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raWYLdIqy5Ahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Wj5bpID80https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgtBM23ltuwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPcwMFWZksQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=off7_MX4eZkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-v6DRmerschttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgKMcrpvQNQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P7obXHM3EQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxhzR5SzvRshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF96tpchinkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB4WyHe-HRMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T85-Obx9iE8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWWy7V9rCrAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKpSpvFCZRwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsMvSZeiKmwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIIPXA2A6cMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXi0yQD9F1Yhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tavPnYeFrV4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T22wNvoNiUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plwpzrXQoUwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPk4cVrU_whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1s&v=f5IWiqGKcQghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd9j_NWZGG8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XTozylrz-Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJL0-lDuJn8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMtDNA_kiZ4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdkyi7Myg-chttps://youtu.be/ADaRsEhTB70?si=p_GKjqgqUDcswLwfhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dwFNq06bQkhttps://youtu.be/pKRvc2HADUw?si=lR_ymsDfzwlrup0Jhttps://youtu.be/lgmLN1NHXyE?si=Xlk-u4Gbyxlmn-C1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmi8KrntszIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVbqM_O2kcIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7trBUIkyO1Ahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqbNaxO82ghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWXAxOKdQ6chttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTOAd2fq740https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeZ_Z1diuighttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7zjsM5nQAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goj8hyy_L0Mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KES40VdEtQghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVP_nCK0tXUhttps://youtu.be/jjiyzoII06I?si=8bS0E2shLrS7O9zfhttps://youtu.be/7lM8fVR_oZw?si=l45fTQsf7eXp78Tyhttps://youtu.be/srvV0riIgXU?si=Qe-DWMTlZRlsb3Qihttps://youtu.be/iNwMvTVPq2E?si=HlZ1fYaCdRzxmiF4https://youtu.be/Vofkw9-O18c?si=gzQ_ZGqawbwgIbcLhttps://youtu.be/iEGniXc7Xtc?si=eh_t4hodQFix3UtZhttps://youtu.be/-1LDIPBWjtU?si=pp_KiOifoEejX2VJhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORpKwkq5z-4https://youtu.be/qFs8-qGaoHU?si=Vj3TRiyLFQmkOFgYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyprCbJwWsEhttps://youtu.be/Woz3mS9Ao5k?si=sJGQru1pFn8iMg7zhttps://youtu.be/yvSWRg_oPyw?si=nAKsR0Voifbny0JB