Onimusha: Way of the Sword Flow State Trophy Guide (Chain Issen)

Flow State is one of the combat trophies in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and it is entirely about a single technique: the Chain Issen. Regular Issen counters do not count toward it, no matter how many you land, so the trophy comes down to hitting one enemy with a counter and then carrying that strike into a second target on cue.

Quick answer: Defeat 50 enemies using Chain Issen attacks. Counter one enemy in a group of two or more with an Issen, then press the follow-up input at the prompted moment to chain the strike into the next Genma. The trophy unlocks the moment the 50th chained kill registers.

Flow State trophy requirement

The condition is a flat counter with no hidden qualifiers. Kills earned with Chain Issen accumulate as you play, which means you can grind it deliberately or let it build during normal combat encounters.

Detail	Value
Trophy / achievement	Flow State
Requirement	Defeat 50 enemies with Chain Issen attacks
Type	Combat
Missable	No
Difficulty setting	Any
Easiest window	Free roam, before starting the final mission “The Clash At Rendaino”

Nothing in Onimusha: Way of the Sword is permanently missable, and after the credits the “Continue” option in the main menu drops you back in just before the final mission. If you finish the story without the 50 kills, you can return and farm them there.

Combat against Genma while the Defeat the Genma objective is active during What Lurks in the Shadows — The “Defeat the Genma” objective during What Lurks in the Shadows puts several Genma in one arena, which is exactly what Chain Issen needs. Image: Capcom

Unlock and upgrade Chain Issen before farming

Chain Issen is not available from the start. It becomes accessible as you progress the story, and until it is unlocked, every counter you land is a standard Issen that does nothing for this trophy.

Once it is available, push its upgrades as far as your skill materials allow. Higher levels make the chain more forgiving and more reliable across a group, which cuts the total time to 50 kills considerably. Power Stones and Oni Stones are the materials used to learn and rank up skills, and they are scattered throughout Kyoto in chests and side content.

Note: Oni Vision: Treasures, Oni Vision: Treasures 2, and Oni Vision: Search Range make those upgrade materials far easier to find, so unlocking them early pays off for every skill you want maxed, including this one.

How to perform a Chain Issen

Find a pack of at least two enemies. A lone Genma can be countered, but there is no second target for the strike to travel to, so the kill will not count toward Flow State.

Bait an attack and land a normal Issen. This is the counter you trigger by striking at the exact moment an enemy commits to its swing, rather than reacting after the blow lands.

Musashi trading blows with a Genma in a dark corridor with the quest objective on screen — Bait the swing first — the chain only starts from a clean Issen counter. Image: Capcom

Press the follow-up input as the counter resolves. The timing is the entire skill here, and pressing early or late simply ends the sequence as an ordinary Issen kill.

Player striking a Genma as the Defeat the Genma objective stays active on screen — Time the follow-up press as the counter connects to carry the strike into the next Genma. Image: Capcom

Keep chaining through the group, then repeat on the next pack. Every enemy that dies to the chained strike adds to the counter, so a well-timed sequence through a group of three can bank multiple kills at once.

Mid-fight pickup notification for Soul Squeezer x1 during the What Lurks in the Shadows mission — Clearing a pack with chained counters also drops items, such as this Soul Squeezer pickup. Image: Capcom

Best conditions for farming 50 Chain Issen kills

Weaker Genma packs in ordinary field encounters are the ideal practice ground. Their attacks are heavily telegraphed and they die to a single chained strike, so you are training the timing rather than fighting a health bar.

Difficulty matters for a different reason. On a first playthrough you can leave Action Prompts enabled, which tell you which button an attack calls for, though not when to press it. That is useful while you learn the rhythm, since Action Prompts are switched off automatically on Carnage difficulty. Bosses are a poor choice for this trophy because they are single targets with no second enemy to chain into.

Flow State vs the other Issen trophies

Three trophies in the list revolve around Issen variants, and progress in one does not feed another. Knowing which action each one tracks prevents wasted grinding.

Trophy	Requirement
Brutalist	Land 50 Issen attacks
Flow State	Defeat 50 enemies with Chain Issen attacks
Berserker	Defeat 3 enemies with continuous Break Issen attacks

Break Issen is the instant execution that becomes available once an enemy’s stamina is drained by deflects and strikes, which is a different setup entirely. Since every Chain Issen begins with a regular Issen, farming Flow State will naturally clear Brutalist along the way.

Confirming the unlock and why the counter stalls

There is no partial notification along the way. The trophy pops on screen immediately after the 50th enemy dies to a chained strike, so if you have been clearing groups and nothing has appeared, the kills are not registering as Chain Issen.

The failures are narrow. The skill has not been unlocked yet through story progression, the target was isolated so there was no second enemy to chain into, the follow-up input landed outside its window, or the enemy died to a regular attack or a Break Issen instead of the chained strike.

Because none of this is locked behind a chapter or a difficulty setting, Flow State is best treated as a habit rather than a task. Default to counters instead of dodges whenever two or more Genma are in front of you, and the 50 kills tend to arrive well before you run out of story.