Have you ever gotten so wrapped up in the game you are playing, or get so in synch with your character you loose track of the world around you? That is a flow state in a game. You are so wrapped up in the actions you are taking that you become one with your character. While lots of games do a good job of putting you in this "flow state," I think FromSoftware are the masters of getting players to reach this state. While most people generally associate FromSoftware with the Dark Souls franchise, and for good reason, I'd argue when it comes to flow states Bloodborne and Sekiro do a better job of immersing players in the game. To me these games are a master class in player immersion, but do so in completely different ways. Let's take a look at both of these games in a little more detail. 

For those who may not know, Bloodborne was a Playstation exclusive title that launched in 2015. After the success of Dark Souls, this was FromSoft's first foray away from the Souls franchise. Lots of the elements of Dark Souls 1 and 2 are present in the game, and it still fits in that same "souls" style genre, but the two franchises play completely differently. Dark Souls is a very patient and methodical combat game, while Bloodborne actually promotes players to play with almost a reckless aggression. By having a mechanic that allows players to heal most recent damage taken by attacking an enemy, the player is encouraged to always be attacking even if it means taking some form of damage potentially. Even if you get it, you'll heal it all back by doing more damage to the boss! By promoting this style of combat, players can easily get into the mindset of attack attack attack attack! With this mindset, you can almost feel the attacks coming out of you, and can get almost an instinctive knowledge of what attacks you're able to eat and recover from, and which ones you need to dodge. Once you get into that zone, the feel of the game becomes incredible. 

The other game I wanted to look at is Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Sekiro got a bit of a bad reputation during the review cycle of being "too hard" to beat. Personally I disagree with that sentiment, but to each their own. When playing through the game, I found myself entering some serious flow states on the boss fight. There is a grandiose spectacle to the fight designs which instantly immerses the player into the world. Once you are immersed, the actual fights themselves are so well designed. Unlike other FromSoft games, Sekiro mainly functions on a parry based combat system. You have the ability to dodge attacks, but generally you want to parry them. When timed correctly, there are no repercussions for you. With this design, Sekiro combat almost feels like a dance game. You get into the flow of attack, attack, attack, parry, parry, attack, parry, attack parry. You learn how the boss moves, what attacks you need to dodge, which ones you can parry, and perform a beautiful dance to the death with them. I don't think any other game gets me into the same zone that Sekiro could.