Flow State

(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 Pa...

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...

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) - -...

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...

(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 gu...

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/matthor...

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 li...

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 fo...

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) -...

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 are...

We've GOT to talk about the ending of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and why it's the worst part of an incredible video game 0:00 - Spoilers ahead 0:09 - The speech 0:52 - Expedition 33 is beautiful 1:18 - The endings 2:45 - We just need consistency That sick edit by   @monners5910 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bd3Zgf964k Thanks to my writing partner, Lex, and to my friend Jason for coming up wi...

I don't recommend Wanderstop. Find the video of this episode at https://youtu.be/MXGSgWCv90Y Find the written version of this episode at https://MattHorton.live 0:00 - How you make tea in Wanderstop 1:37 - Not just another "cozy" game 4:02 - I'm reminded of Indika 4:54 - Why tea?

Play Known Mysteries: https://www.solarserver.games/onnow.html References: More about Solar Server: https://karastonesite.com/2022/11/03/solar-server/ The Bluesky post: https://bsky.app/profile/raantuva.fyi/post/3liahynaoyx2v More of me: More writing at https://matthorton.live Support my work at https://ko-fi.com/matthorton 0:00 - I'm tired of pretending things are normal 0:52 - What is Known Myst...

I couldn't decide which game was the best this year. So I didn't. There's a universe where every one of these is the game of the year. Thanks to Cosmosis and AJ Fillari for being in this one! Thanks to  phloup_ for the cover of "I Will Protect You" Find the written version of this video at https://MattHorton.live Sudden Death on itch - https://dominoclub.itch.io/sudden-death 0:00 - The best game o...

We crave failure, or at least the chance of it. Why? 00:00 - You crave failure 01:39 - Citizen Sleeper’s ideas of failure 06:46 - We fear failure 09:29 - The Paradox of Failure 12:19 - The queer art of failure 14:48 - CW: Homophobia 17:22 - How Citizen Sleeper 2 uses failure 22:15 - Who gets to fail? 25:33 - The risk of making games 30:29 - Failing the contract in Citizen Sleeper 2 34:18 - Why we...

What this on YouTube at https://youtu.be/wGwtEtuuChM Read more from Matt at matthorton.live Support Flow State at ko-fi.com/matthorton “Is Persona Gay?” by GarfieldKermit - https://youtu.be/37LacI2erq8?si=rEMKHsbLvATmSGRk Gameplay footage provided by Faz Read Brendon Bigley's review at Wavelengths - https://wavelengths.online/posts/persona-3-reload-a-review "Katsura Hashino, directing Persona 5" b...

Support my work at Ko-Fi.com/matthorton My writing - MattHorton.live My podcast - cantletitgo.gay Kim's video game podcast - dotzip.online Kim's frod podcast - frogpod.online 1000xRESIST by Sunset Visitor - sunsetvisitor.studio Gameplay footage by @samussonic-plays Check out the dotzip 1000xRESIST spoilercast at https://share.transistor.fm/s/9180106a 1000xRESIST is not only a game about rememberin...

It turns out that it's easier and more enjoyable to get things done when you're nicer to yourself. Text version at https://MattHorton.live Listen to our podcast, Can't Let It Go, at https://cantletitgo.gay The IGN review of Animal Well - https://www.ign.com/articles/animal-well-review My short blog about Animal Well - https://matthorton.live/2024/05/11/animal-well-isnt-tunic/ 0:00 - Something is w...

Citizen Sleeper changed my life. Did it make it any better? Citizen Sleeper: How to Escape Dystopia - https://youtu.be/Eiyf-4FhdFs 0:00 - Citizen Sleeper changed my life 1:17 - Did it help? Get Balatro running on iOS - https://old.reddit.com/r/iosgaming/comments/1bnf0zy/tutorial_run_balatro_on_your_ios_device/

Read more at https://MattHorton.live 0:00 - X-Men '97 rules (no spoilers) 1:10 - It's not just X-Men I swear you don't need to watch all of X-Men the Animated Series to start X-Men '97. And you don't need to catch up. I swear. Stop doing homework just to have fun. Just enjoy things!

0:00 - Yakuza: Like A Dragon is good 1:06 - Why I played it 1:33 - Why I enjoyed it More writing at https://MattHorton.live I'll spoil the point up front for you. Yakuza: Like A Dragon rules. It's a great game, and I regret not playing a game in this series until now. You know what I usually hate? Long, overly complex games, over the top, macho violence, and turn based combat. So why did I start L...

This video and more writing at https://MattHorton.live My podcast https://cantletitgo.gay 0:00 - Marvel's Midnight Suns 4:12 - What is Midnight Suns? 4:38 - Hero and Ability Management 7:14 - Combat 12:25 - Superhero Social Sim 17:19 - Abbey Grounds Exploration 18:37 - The Loop that keeps me playing 20:17 - The Problems with Midnight Suns 31:31 - This game deserves a sequel

0:00 - The Game Awards 1:25 - A sequel that outdid its predecessor 3:26 - A beautiful, smart puzzler 5:12 - The indie that surprised me 6:33 - Rethinking an earlier video 8:07 - A game DEMO?! More writing at https://MattHorton.live

0:00 - I love broken games 0:41 - The game I can't quit playing 3:00 - The game that taught me imbalance is good 6:30 - Making games FEEL great 9:32 - Balance feels bad

0:00 - Cassette Beasts really works for me 1:04 - The vibe 3:58 - Cassette Beasts is Pokémon for adults 6:42 - It's not that deep 10:40 - Great battles 13:06 - Killer music 14:14 - Well-written characters 17:12 - Letting go 🔗 All my links @ https://matthorton.live Kyle Labriola's Sea of Stars Review - https://cohost.org/kylelabriola/post/2762235-thoughts-on-sea-of-s The Pre-Order Bonus podcast ep...