Culdcept Begins with Culdcept Central, Dragon Quest Dive

[00:00:07] Welcome to Tokyo Game Life, a Tokyo-based video game podcast focusing on Nintendo and gaming culture in Japan's capital. Your host, Mono, here to bring you a slice of gaming life from Tokyo. Culdcept Central founder Andy Mann is back as we look at Culdcept Begins, the revival of this Japanese cult card-slash-board game franchise. We get into how the series came back after nearly 10 years, why this might be the best one to start with, and an update on the Corn Folk.

[00:00:35] And the feature I Take You Inside Dragon Quest Dive, the Dragon Quest 40th Anniversary Exhibit happening in Tokyo. Let's get into the games with Andy Mann and Culdcept Begins. Today in the game section, we are looking at Culdcept Begins, the long-awaited revival of the cult classic card-and-board game hybrid. Joining me to chat all about it is a special guest. So guest, please introduce yourself.

[00:01:03] Hi, I'm Andy Mann, founder and admin of Culdcept Central. If you're a fan of the series, you may have heard of me. I've been doing this for about 15 years or so now. Thank you so much for joining me. Many years ago on this very podcast, we chatted about the entire Culdcept franchise. And finally, you return as we get into a brand new Culdcept game, Culdcept Begins. But to lay some groundwork, on the off chance that somebody didn't listen to our past episode we did four years ago now,

[00:01:32] give us the brief rundown. What is Culdcept? Culdcept is basically a collectible card game and a board game mashed up together. I've heard it referred to as Magic the Gathering meets Monopoly. Essentially, what you do is you collect cards and play them and battle for control of the map. And the player to the G goal, which is your magic and currency in the game, first one to the goal wins.

[00:02:01] And it can be from two players up to four in a match. Yeah. And one of the reasons why I covered it with you on this podcast a long time ago is that it is just very fascinating conceptually. There really aren't a whole lot of other games with this very specific, unique genre mix. And it also has a very funky release schedule in that it was largely Japan only. Then it did come to the West. Then it went back to Japan only. Then it went back to the West, but it was heavily delayed.

[00:02:28] And it also has a very strong Nintendo connection since Nintendo published the DS game and two of the 3DS titles. Plus, there is Culdcept representation in Smash Brothers all the way back to Smash 4. So all these things combined to make just an absolutely fascinating franchise to me. And on our last episode we did all the way back in 2022, we did talk about the future of the series. But many years passed after that with nothing. So, Andy Mann, did you ever lose hope? Did you ever think Culdcept was done for?

[00:02:58] No, I always hoped there was going to be another one. Culdcept is Omiasoft's main IP. So I was hopeful they were going to continue it. Funny side story on this. I was invited to participate in the final Culdcept Revolt tournament in Tokyo in 2024. The community here in the West crowdfunded for me to go over there.

[00:03:22] And while I was there, I met Jingu-san and Takashigi-san, the creator and producer of Culdcept. And while I was there, I got to speak with Jingu-san and I asked him about the new game. I was being a little cheeky and laughed very hard. And he said, that is confidential. And so I knew at that point that they were probably working on a new game.

[00:03:49] And looking back on that, they actually were working on Culdcept Begins at that point. So, yeah, it's amusing thinking back on that now. Wow. OK, so you had some real deal inside info. You were not scared at all. You knew it was going to come sooner than later. And yeah, your faith was rewarded because in the February 2026 Partners Direct, out of nowhere, Culdcept Begins, a brand new game in the franchise was announced. And also Culdcept The First, a remake of the original title.

[00:04:20] So what was your reaction just finally seeing Culdcept come back with not one, but two games? I, along with just about everybody in the Western community, was completely blown away by the announcement because they announced two games at the same time, which is unprecedented. And announced both of the games for more than one platform at the same time, which is also unprecedented. And announced a worldwide release, you know, simultaneous. And that's unprecedented.

[00:04:50] We couldn't have any of that. So everybody was extremely excited and happy about it. Yeah, I immediately thought of you. And I was honestly shocked because I do have this bias where I feel that if it didn't come out during the Switch generation, the most successful console in Japanese history, the franchise might be done. Because every now and then I would check the website for the developer, Omiya Soft, just to see if it was up, if it didn't shut down. And it was always up, but no news at all.

[00:05:19] And their website is very funny now because on their news update list, it goes July 2017. And then the very next post is February 2026. So radio silence for nine years. But they were indeed cooking up a brand new game, Culdcept Begins. However, unlike the last few games, it is not published by Nintendo, but instead a company called Nioscore. So, Andyman, did you have any idea who Nioscore was when they announced this?

[00:05:46] I hadn't up to that point, but I, of course, immediately did some homework on them and really liked what I saw. I don't know if you saw the interview with them shortly after the game was announced. But essentially how this came about was here about two and a half, three years ago, the folks at Nios were sitting around and talking about, hey, we love Culdcept. Whatever happened to that series?

[00:06:12] And they reached out to Takashigi-san, the producer of Culdcept, and offered sort of their assistance, helping develop a new game. And as they say, the rest is history. But we couldn't have predicted how different Culdcept Begins is, mostly visually, compared to the older games. That was a surprise. Yeah, I also thought I had never heard of them, but I also looked them up.

[00:06:38] And they did release the Boku no Natsu Yasumi successor, Shinshan Games, on the Switch a few years ago, which definitely got some attention. So they're one of those companies where you might not know their name, but you have seen their games. And now they are helming Culdcept, but the original devs of Omiya Soft are also involved as well. So now that we've covered the game's strange lead-up, let's get into the actual game. Culdcept Begins.

[00:07:01] Is this more of a straight sequel to the original game, or something more in the vein of Culdcept Revolt, which is a departure in some ways? So what's the big hook of Culdcept Begins, outside of Culdcept is back? They seem to have felt that Culdcept Revolt was a little too ambitious, went a little too far, maybe. And what they felt was they would return to Culdcept 2's world, and they felt like that was sort of Culdcept's peak.

[00:07:30] And so they took a lot of the feel and layout of Culdcept 2 and applied a lot of the new features and quality of life from Culdcept Revolt, Culdcept Saga, some of the newer games. And they appear to have pulled in many cards from all the games and made it new player-friendly as well. So yeah, it's pretty remarkable. What's the biggest surprise with Culdcept Begins so far?

[00:07:58] I would say the visual changes, because for the first time, one artist, Matsurasan, did the entire game. As you can see by looking at it, his style is unique and a lot of fun. So it's really interesting to see Culdcept with sort of a unified visual style all throughout. I think it really works.

[00:08:22] Yeah, like you mentioned, all the art this time is not done by a collection of different artists, like in the past, but by one person, Satoshi Matsura, who has worked on games like The Legend of Mana, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Mother 3, and Bravely Default. So he has a pretty unique gamography. So you said you like the art. Is there any sort of like pushback in the Culdcept community? Because it is quite different from the past. Yeah, there has been. I think a lot of people struggle with change a little bit.

[00:08:49] And because it is so different, and some have claimed that it's lost a little of its charm. But I personally feel like it's just a different charm. Right. Some have talked that the cards are famey, in that it can be a little difficult to tell them apart. But I think that's mostly going to be a little bit of a learning curve is all. And once people get used to it, they'll like it a lot more and be a lot more comfortable with it.

[00:09:17] Yeah, I personally think that it looks really awesome. It has a very distinct, clean anime style that's very fantastical, but also very dynamic. And this kind of off-kilter look to it, it's a little sketchy, a little watercolor-y. It's a very interesting and very distinct look. So going back to the gameplay, so you said it has more in line with Cold Step 2, as opposed to maybe Cold Step Revolt or even the first game? Yes.

[00:09:41] Cold Step Revolt used what they call a fatigue system, which is when you first play a creature, you can't use its abilities right away. It becomes active after you've completed a lap or used a spell or something along that line. In the older games, they used what I like to refer to as a walk-past system. Which basically means any creature that you walk past that turn, you can use its abilities or move it around or that sort of thing.

[00:10:10] All of the games prior to Cold Step Revolt used the walk-past system. So I feel NEOs had decided that the communities, both West and East, preferred that. And it also, I think, makes it a little more tactical because where you are on the map matters a lot more than it does in Cold Step Revolt. Hmm. Okay, so it does seem like more of a kind of return to form as opposed to maybe reimagining the franchise, would you say? Yeah, I totally agree.

[00:10:40] At the same time, the economy in Cold Step Begins is much closer to Cold Step Revolt, meaning you have a lot more G to do the things that you want to do and level creatures up and do battle and all of that. So it's a lot more forgiving economically now. So in terms of gameplay, what's the big thing that's maybe making you mix up your play style? Or what is something that you thought, oh, I didn't use this in past Cold Step games, but I really need to focus on it this time?

[00:11:09] The big one that's sticking out to me so far is they changed the multiplier on when you chain lands. The maximum before used to be 2.2 for a chain of creatures of five or more. Now it's three even, and that's a big difference. It rewards longer chains of single elements rather than some of the previous games rewarding multiple element books.

[00:11:38] And this time there are 400 cards featured. Is this a huge jump from previous games or about the same? Most of the games before, for example, Cold Step Saga has 482. Cold Step 2 has 492. So it seems like it's a bit less. But what I'm seeing is they essentially tightened up the pool of cards. Each one seems to have a solid function and a place in the game.

[00:12:06] Whereas in the past, some of the cards, you just kind of felt like they were overshadowed by other cards and didn't really have a solid place. What about the deck size or the book size? Is that the same number of cards are required or has that changed as well? For the first time, it's 40 cards now where it's been the standard book has been 50 in years past. The big impact of that is it's much more challenging to put everything in a book that you want.

[00:12:35] So there's a lot more design compromise due to there being less space. But you can still have up to four of each card in your book. So those two things together make for a very interesting dynamic in the game. I got to know, is my favorite card Corn Folk back in Cold Step Begins? It is. Oh, nice. And they've added a new creature called Kudzu Folk. Interesting as well. And of course, Wood Folk is still in there too.

[00:13:04] So yes, the folks are well represented in Cold Step Begins. So with the smaller card size and the book size of the deck size, do you feel like it's streamlined to be a bit more accessible? Or is it just an overall philosophy change in how they want to make the gameplay flow? I feel it's a little bit of everything. Honestly, it's a little more streamlined. Things are a bit tighter. Things are a bit more new player friendly. Game itself goes much quicker,

[00:13:31] which lends itself even better than Cold Step DS or 3DS to a handheld, which is nice. There's just as a whole package, it is just much more cohesive. And I guess it just it flows better than any game we've had so far. Yeah, I always think that is the cumbersome aspect of anytime you have like a card game, you have so many cards at your disposal and it can be overwhelming for newcomers. They don't know, oh, how do I make a deck? How do I do this and that?

[00:14:00] But you also don't want to annoy or frustrate people who are really deep into the series and dumb it down for them. So it seems like this new game has struck a good balance between the really hardcore Cold Step fans and also newcomers as well. Yeah, I agree. And honestly, I feel like that's the key word right there. Balance. Everything feels like it's in balance. I haven't encountered anything that seemed unusually powerful or overpowered.

[00:14:29] It's just every and also the layout of the cards as well seems like there are far more counters. I like to refer to it as kind of a Rochambeau setup where this card may defeat that card, but that card may defeat another card which may defeat you. And it's very circular. And they implemented that layout a lot more in Cold Step Revolt and they clearly have continued it in Cold Step Begins. And I like it a lot.

[00:14:59] Yeah, it is a multiplayer game, but there is a story mode as well. So how are you liking the story mode so far? The story is a lot of fun. It feels much more like a role-playing game in terms of story. There's clearly epic elements to it and factions and conflict. And it's really neat. I especially love, and I don't want to spoil the story for folks out there, but there's a Scepter Academy that a lot of it centers around and it's just really neat.

[00:15:29] For Cold Steps in general, is the story mode just kind of like a really long tutorial? Or do a lot of people like to come to Cold Steps for the story mode? There is a tutorial to it, but I don't feel like it's really all that long. The game does a great job of easing you into the game's concepts and not throwing you into the deep end of the pool as far as the more complex cards.

[00:15:52] But this game, as far as how you earn cards, the story mode unlocks ever more complicated cards as time goes on. But it also unlocks packs in the card shop in increasing complexity as you progress through the story mode. So unlike some of the earlier games, it's not like you can just dive into online multiplayer and unlock or acquire more cards.

[00:16:20] You need to play through the story mode to get to what a lot of the players call the good stuff. Now, it's called Cold Steps Begins. So is this a prequel or something? Is there a Cold Step timeline I'm unaware of? I would say so. It takes place in the same world as Cold Step 2, but timeline-wise, it's before then, which is why they call it Begins. Okay. So yeah, I wasn't aware that the lore of Cold Steps was so deep.

[00:16:46] Yeah, it's not really too apparent in each game, but the lore of Cold Steps is that Cold Steps is the Book of the Gods, and Coldra shattered it into pieces. And when a Scepter, which is a card wielder, basically reassembles it, they can create a new world and become a god themselves. In some ways, Cold Step has a multiverse. But in this particular case, it's an existing world just earlier.

[00:17:15] Have you checked out the online multiplayer yet? I did. I played a friend of mine last night, and it was a lot of fun. I love how smooth everything is, and the fact that the matches go a bit quicker kind of means you can have more fun in less time. I remember, especially in Cold Steps Saga, matches could go easily three hours. That's a nice change. I did notice that while on Switch, it supports game share, it doesn't support multiplayer on one system.

[00:17:43] So there's no split screen or taking turns if you're on one console. Is this a big change from past Cold Step games, or is that fairly normal? Handheld-wise, it's in line with DS, 3DS, and Revolt. But we did have local multiplayer in Cold Step 2 and in Cold Step Saga. I don't remember on the first game, mainly because I've never played that one with anyone else. Now, this is a lofty question, but how is it living up to your expectations so far?

[00:18:13] Is it worth the nine or ten year wait? I think it's worth every minute of the wait at this point. I have been completely blown away by it since I've been playing it. Obviously, it's still early because it's only been out for a few days now. But it feels to me like they paid attention to detail in every respect of the game. It looks like they didn't leave anything alone.

[00:18:39] They explored it, thought about it, really chewed down on it, and refined it. So yeah, I'm very impressed with it. Great. So what advice would you give to newcomers who are maybe thinking about jumping into the Cold Step franchise for the first time ever thanks to Cold Step Begins? I would say the same thing that I've said since I first got into the series, and that is keep it simple. There's a tendency when you get new cards to want to put the newest, shiniest stuff into your book.

[00:19:08] And that's not always the best decision. The cards in your book need to work together to really achieve success. So I would say take it slow, learn it, keep it simple, and then build on that foundation. And you'll have a good time and you'll enjoy it. You'll also be able to get your mind around it as the game becomes more complicated as you get farther in. I got to touch on Cold Step the first, which is, as of this recording, not out yet.

[00:19:37] And honestly, both Cold Step games have an insane release schedule in Japan and the West. Because in Japan, Cold Step Begins is out on Switch 1 and 2 digitally and physically, but only digitally in the West. And the Steam version is coming later. And Cold Step the first is coming out on Switch in Japan day one. But in the West, it's only on Steam day one. And it's published by City Connection for some reason. And the Switch versions are in September. So it's so confusing.

[00:20:06] But based on what you've seen of Cold Step the first so far, what are your impressions? I think it's really neat that here, almost 30 years after that game came out, they've finally seen fit to both release it in the West, but also release it in English. And especially with it being on the Sega Saturn originally, at least in the West, the Saturn took a backseat to the Sony PlayStation.

[00:20:33] So the fact that they're giving that a lot of love and the game, I've played the demo, it looks every bit like the original game. And I believe it has some quality of life features too, like being able to do a save state and possibly rewind. I think I saw that. It is really neat that they saw fit to do that almost at the same time as a brand new game. Yeah, it seems like a fairly straightforward port,

[00:21:00] but it does have the rewind and quick save features, which are always great. And I got to ask you though, Cold Step begins, Cold Step the first. What are we doing here? Why are their names so similar? It's kind of funny because the original Cold Step technically is Cold Step the first, because you see on the cover for Cold Step 2, but the Japanese refer to that as Cold Step the second.

[00:21:26] Now, of course, I don't understand why Cold Step Saga isn't Cold Step the third, but I don't know, confusion seems to be a Cold Step tradition. You have three different games in the series all named just Cold Step. The first game in the series is Cold Step. The second game released in the West is also Cold Step.

[00:21:48] And then the enhanced port of Cold Step 2 on the 3DS is also just Cold Step. So, yes, it does seem to be a tradition. I do appreciate that the publisher for Cold Step the first decided to add the subtitle Saturn Tribute to it to try to help differentiate things a bit. But even as recently as this past week,

[00:22:16] I've encountered people in the community that didn't even realize they were two different games. I think that what you said, the physical Switch edition in the West is called Cold Step the first Saturn Tribute. And I guess that's maybe better technically, but I do think that, yeah, it should be illegal to release Cold Step the first and Cold Step begins so close to each other, literally in the same month. So for newcomers, can their first game be Cold Step begins or should they begin with Cold Step the first?

[00:22:45] I would say start with Cold Step begins. It's the most new player friendly game in the series. Gameplay wise, it's a good starting point and it plays very similarly to Cold Step the first and Cold Step the second and Cold Step Saga. So if you start there, you're going to have a good time with those other games as well, even though the older games play much slower. So what's your plan of attack with your website, Cold Step Central?

[00:23:14] Are you focusing on guides or just trying to get all the card info updated or what? We have the complete card list on the site already. We put that up on the morning of release day. Really happy about that. There's a lot of features that I'm working on for the community. I have the card combo section and I want to put the map list up. And I'm in process of creating our visual book builder for the site, which I should have done here in the next couple of days.

[00:23:40] Yeah, there's a lot going on, but that's always the way it is when a new game comes out. I'm very busy. But yes, it's basically everything with the older games on Cold Step Central. I will have for Cold Step Begins and Cold Step the first. Awesome. I'm glad to see that Cold Step is finally back and maybe the most accessible it's ever been. And it's on Switch and Switch 2 now and will come to Steam. So if you want to get into Cold Step, you've got two chances this year alone. So that was our look at Cold Step Begins.

[00:24:09] Andy Mann, where can people find you? They can find me on Blue Sky, on Twitter, on Facebook. We have a Discord chat, which is very active right now, as you can imagine. And I'm also on the official Discord chat that Neos is doing. So yeah, you can find me in all of those places and online, of course. I'm always looking to play people in the community. Great. And the links to everything are in the podcast description.

[00:24:37] So listeners, check it out. Andy Mann of Cold Step Central, once again, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate you having me. It was my pleasure. Today in the feature section, we are checking out Dragon Quest Dive, the 40th anniversary exhibit in Tokyo. 2026 really does have an absurd amount of anniversaries. Pokemon is 30. Resident Evil is 30. Persona is 30. Zelda, Metroid, and Dragon Quest are 40.

[00:25:07] Mother 3 is 20. Although sadly, we aren't really getting much on that front. And while most of these franchises are quiet on the exhibition front, thankfully Square has brought up the slack and given us a big event for the 40th anniversary of Japan's most iconic JRPG series. It's being held at Tokyo Plaza Harajuku Harakado, a department store not too far from Harajuku Station. It's a fairly new building, but definitely a striking one compared to others in the area.

[00:25:34] It has a mix of a modern glass skyscraper design, but also looks like it got hit with a missile. And in the burning wreckage instead, there is greenery growing on it. And so it's got a great mix of both urban and nature. And you can also go on the roof, which is always fun. I'm not sure if there's ever been any sort of big gaming exhibit here. So when Dive was announced that it was being held here, I was a bit surprised. But there is indeed plenty of space to hold a big exhibit, albeit one split across multiple floors.

[00:26:01] What do you expect from a 40th anniversary exhibit for Dragon Quest? Merch, dev documents, some photo ops. Yeah, all that stuff is here. But I would say the main attraction is actually a VR experience appropriately called Dragon Quest VR Ride. This is a brand new experience specifically made for the exhibit. But I wouldn't be surprised if they repurpose it for something else because a lot of effort went into it. And this VR experience is pretty much the first thing you do as well once you step into the exhibit.

[00:26:28] You're filtered into a big room with a bunch of chairs and a VR headset sitting in the chair. And it is a MetaQuest 3 if you want to be really specific. Now, my main fear. Will I get nauseous? I've had some nausea-related VR incidents. So I was a little worried the combo of the chair shaking around and the VR headset might make me hurl. But thankfully, that didn't happen. The whole experience is maybe about five minutes. And while you are moving around, it's not intense. It's not even a Disneyland level of shaking around. I honestly got more queasy on Star Tours.

[00:26:58] And this VR experience is themed around Homina, a heal slime that is also an adventurer. It's got a sword and a headband and everything. I guess if you're going to be a monster adventurer in the world of Dragon Quest, a heal slime is a pretty good pick since you could heal yourself, I guess. Although I don't know if I've actually ever seen them heal themselves. Isn't it always other monsters? Maybe they can't heal themselves now that I think about it. But either way, you've got a lot of tentacles to swing a sword around with at least.

[00:27:25] But the story has you following the slime through the world of Dragon Quest as you dodge monsters, fly up in the sky, delve into dungeons. They do speedrun a lot of iconic Dragon Quest imagery in just a few minutes. And it is a complete 360 view, which was very impressive. I was definitely looking off to the side to see what was modeled and what was not. And if I could find any sort of invisible wall. But it is indeed a very immersive experience. The picture quality was also incredibly clear. So that definitely helped to reduce the nausea.

[00:27:53] I don't know if I would say this is theme park quality, but it is at least pretty close. I do think they will put this out somewhere eventually, maybe just on Dragon Quest Island or in a gaming VR space. But I don't think this is the last we've seen of Holmina. So if you do have a chance to check it out somehow, some way, I definitely recommend it. After that, you enter the main exhibit, a series of rooms that are more or less fun photo ops. There's a big King Slime Balloon. And there's some more statues of monsters. There's a big treasure chest you can open, things like that.

[00:28:21] But the more interesting elements were the interactive parts of the exhibit. The back half is kind of themed like a library where you can engage with specific elements of the world of Dragon Quest. There's a monster touching section where there's a series of monsters and a big magnifying glass. And inside the magnifying glass, you can touch the monsters to see what they feel like. So a picture, a magnifying glass, and then inside that magnifying glass is a texture you can touch. The slimes kind of feel like ballistic gel. The dragons are all bumpy and hard.

[00:28:51] Didn't feel any mind-blowing textures, but it was kind of a neat idea. There's also a few camera-related sections, like Raw's Mirror, where you turn into a monster, and another one called 40th Anniversary Town. Here it takes a picture of you. Then it picks an NPC that looks most like you. And then that NPC populates a 16-bit Dragon Quest town that you can observe. Now, what NPC did they pick for me? The bartender, who is kind of like a middle-aged guy with slicked-backed hair and a mustache.

[00:29:19] Okay, I do push my hair back, but I don't have a mustache, nor am I middle-aged yet. I mean, what's middle-aged? Like 55? I do plan on living until 110, so until I hit 55, I'm still a youngster. But I thought this section showcased some impressive technology, where it picks an NPC based on your appearance, and then you can see that NPC appear in the town and walk around. That's pretty cool. Though I do wonder about the accuracy. Is it just completely random, or do they really make an effort into picking something that kind of looks like you?

[00:29:49] The last part of this floor was the Dragon Quest Memorial Hall, which is just a bunch of walls with images and art of all the Dragon Quest games. But the highlight of this area was, of course, the area on Dragon Quest XII, and it had new exclusive art of the sleepy-eyed protagonist. That was quite cool to see in person, since we are, what, 12? 24 months away from that game? It is neat to see physical promo art of something that is months, if not years, away. So that was the top floor, but if you go down to the second floor, the exhibit continues. A bit weird to see them section it off like this,

[00:30:19] but Harakado is pretty small and narrow compared to a lot of other department stores, so I understand why they split it. But on the second floor, there was a section that was kind of translated to the birth of Dragon Quest, where you can see dev documents from the original game. Unfortunately, no pictures, but I always appreciate seeing the real-deal documents from the game's original development. I mean, on some Enix-branded paper, page one, someone just wrote down Dragon Quest with a pencil, and that's how this whole thing started.

[00:30:50] Maybe localizers saw this and thus renamed it Dragon Warrior. But here, you get to see the original planning documents, map designs, hand-drawn art by Toriyama, which was, I think, the most impressive part. You know that picture that's often cited as the first slime drawing, where it's all pink? That was here. I saw it with my own two eyes. Bad reporting on my part, but I didn't check out if the exhibit book had scans of these documents, which would have probably led me to buying the actual exhibit book, because it is pretty incredible that Square still has all this stuff,

[00:31:19] even though at one point they were notorious for deleting entire games off of hard drives. Although technically, this was the Enix days, so maybe Enix was a bit more forward-thinking. Oh, and I forgot to mention, but the top floor doesn't need to have a merch section. A lot of it is your typical Dragon Quest merch, but there are some exclusive items, namely plushies of Homina, the heroic heal slime. I just picked up the Dive-branded cookies. Nothing special, but hey, there are monsters printed on cookies, so they taste better than regular cookies. But if you were really hungry, on the fifth floor,

[00:31:49] there was a place called Famires, and they did indeed have a Dragon Quest-themed menu. Not quite as outlandish or photogenic as the Square Enix cafe that I went to on the last episode, but they had golem tiramisu, they had cream soda in slime glasses, so if you really wanted to have a full-blown Dragon Quest day, you definitely could have done so. So that was Dragon Quest Dive, a small but pretty solid exhibit overall. I think it really depends on why you go to these things. For myself, I do want to see the dev documents

[00:32:17] and feel like I'm immersed into the games with some interesting photo ops and settings. The VR ride was very distinct for this type of exhibit, and honestly, that was the highlight for me, which was a little unexpected. I wasn't too hot on the merch. I can buy Dragon Quest merch literally anywhere I go in Japan, so it takes a lot to impress me on that front. But I think as an anniversary exhibit, while it didn't feel like a comprehensive chronicle of the history of Dragon Quest, it had a pretty good mix of interactivity and history that made it feel a bit different from other events. And the VR experience was legit fun,

[00:32:47] and I can definitely see it popping up elsewhere in the future. Now, in pure podcast fashion, this thing is over. Sorry, I did mention it several times in the news section beforehand, and I do think that VR thing will come back, so you will get another shot. Okay, that's all for the feature. Let's check out the news. Remember Switch 1. It's back with the vengeance, as both Mario Kart 8 and Pikmin 3 got notable updates these past few days.

[00:33:16] Not Switch 2 editions, but updates. Mario Kart 8 got eight-player split screen and some more options, including 96 races, where you can literally go through every single race in the game. Pikmin 3 also got a resolution bump and game share support. It is interesting to see that the Switch 1 faucet not completely turned off just yet. Hard to imagine more first-party Nintendo-published Switch 1 games, but it could happen. But hey, Mario Kart 8 is still selling despite world existing, so why not touch up that game a bit?

[00:33:45] 70 million people own it after all. There is definitely a subset of people who own Switch 2s, but are still on the 8 train. Pikmin 3 Deluxe getting an update is a little odd because, again, how many copies did that game sell this past quarter? Is this resolution bump going to increase sales? And if so, by how much? Is this purely just a training exercise for new staff or what? Why is it not all hands-on deck for Switch 2 games? Or Pikmin 5, for example? With digital libraries,

[00:34:13] the line is blurred a bit, though. And Nintendo still makes money if you buy a Switch 1 game. It still counts. That money goes into their pocket. I can see how these updates to Switch 1 games are enticing people who don't own a 2 yet. Yeah, you own these games, but do you own the best way to play them? I'm trying to think if there's a Nintendo published Switch 1 game that I would jump into for the first time thanks to a Switch 2 edition or an upgrade like this. And honestly, I can't think of any, but that's not the case for a lot of folks, I imagine. I mean, typically for me, if there's a Nintendo

[00:34:43] published game that I want, I do try to buy it day one or around the first I've seen some people say they're updating Mario Kart 8 because World isn't popular and no, use your head here. World is still incredibly popular. It's selling well, but Mario Kart 8 is one of the best-selling games of all time. I think technically the best-selling Nintendo game of all time. So Nintendo giving that massive user base a little something extra

[00:35:12] is a little strange, but not completely ridiculous. Nintendo Direct Rumors. It'll happen next week because one always happens before TGS. And it hasn't happened yet, so time is ticking. What's going to be there? Well, there have been leaks about a special edition Switch 2 console, which basically confirms a Zelda 40th anniversary campaign similar to Mario last year. So I imagine there will indeed be a lot of Zelda in the Direct. I mean, the dream is an Ocarina of Time blowout, a Zelda movie trailer,

[00:35:42] and a multiplayer spinoff for maybe next year. Those are the three main projects I would be most interested in. Well, not counting a new 3D Zelda, which I don't think is popping up next year. I think having a main game, even though it's a remake, a movie, and an interesting side project is enough to spearhead the anniversary. And then we might get some other news sprinkled across the year. And hey, can I will it into existence right now? I think translations of the Satellaview BS Zelda 1 and Ancient Stone tablets released on NSO or as their own thing,

[00:36:12] I'm going to say it's happening. If it's not happening on the 40th, then when? The 50th? What are you waiting for? So remember this prediction because I definitely will brag about it if it's true. The Satellaview Zeldas will pop up somehow, someway again during the 40th anniversary exhibit. Calling it now. Twilight Princess and Wind Waker HD, not impossible. Kind of weird to release those so close to Ocarina of Time, but if those are like random summer releases next year, then that's fine. And of course, my most anticipated Zelda announcement,

[00:36:42] will there be a Zelda themed flavor at Baskin Robbins in Japan? Honestly, I said it was going to happen, but now I think it's maybe unlikely, but not impossible. We'll see. But even if there is one, I don't think that's being announced in the direct. For other predictions, well, let's look at the calendar. September is Fire Emblem. October is Switch Sports Resort, which will secretly be the best-selling Nintendo game this holiday. November will be Ocarina of Time. December is empty, but I can see wave two of the Pocopia DLC hitting there,

[00:37:12] or maybe the rumored Metroid game. It is Metroid's 40th anniversary too, and while I don't think there will be a big campaign, they won't make a 40th anniversary Metroid logo, I still wouldn't be surprised to see a dread follow-up since it has been five years. And that game hitting in December would be an amazing way to cap off 2026. And I do think we will see another big 2027 game from Nintendo. 3D Mario, Smash, Animal Crossing. I do think they might reveal one of those to keep people hyped up for Switch 2, especially after the

[00:37:42] price increase. Terranigma is back, and it will get a North American release for the first time ever thanks to Clear River Games who, hey, they are also working on the Coltcept Remaster. If you don't know, this is a SNES RPG from Quintet, who are mostly known for ActRacer, but also Illusion of Gaia and Soul Blazer. The Quintet RPGs are nowhere near as well known as the other RPGs from the era, like Final Fantasy or Secret of Mana or Dragon Quest, but it does have a very strong cult fan base. And yes, while I do like to pretend I've played every

[00:38:12] video game ever, I have not touched any of the Quintet games sans ActRacer. So being able to jump into an SNES RPG I've never played before sounds good to me. There is some fuss about Terranigma being part of a trilogy and thus it is weird to release it out of order, but hey, it's okay. Don't worry. Some new merch, the Resident Evil 30th anniversary exhibit showed off some new merch including plushie zombies, liquor slippers, and a Tofu Jill figure. The exhibit is happening in October in Tokyo and while I'm not a Resident Evil fan, I do want to check out

[00:38:42] this exhibit since I was extremely impressed by the Capcom Creations exhibit from last year. On the more my speed front, the Final Fantasy 10 exhibit hits Shinjuku in a few days and that is also getting an Ichiban Kuji at Family Mart where you can win some statues of Yuna Antidas and hopefully a Blitzball plushie. I always have the urge just to replay Final Fantasy 10 and 10-2 and absurd notions since there are so many new games that come out and when I'm not playing a new game, I typically like to find a retro game I've never played before

[00:39:10] but I do often hear the siren call of the dress spheres. Oh, and most important piece of gaming merch news, the Pikmin gummies are coming back in a few weeks, this time with Rock Pikmin and they taste like lychee. No purple Pikmin yet though, they gotta be saving that for later. Now, I've got an announcement and this is for the real ones who have listened this far into the podcast. I wouldn't say it's a good announcement but it is an important one and one that has been in the works for a long time now and keep this on the down low because I'll announce it

[00:39:40] on social media in a few days after this episode and that announcement is that sadly I have decided to conclude this podcast, Tokyo Game Life. I've hit over 125 episodes across nearly five years but I think now is the time to wrap it up so I can focus on other aspects of my life. I will try to explain it more in the next episode which will be the final episode of the podcast. Sorry to spring it on everyone so suddenly, originally the plan was to end it in December but some things have come up and I've decided to wrap it up after all my recorded

[00:40:09] interviews were released which is now but I will still be on social media and I will keep updating my website tokyogamelife.com so I will not be disappearing. You can still find me somewhere and I might be involved in other gaming-related endeavors in the future but as far as this podcast goes the last episode will be the next one so look forward to it. There will at least be a Nintendo Direct to chat about so I can go out on that high note. Okay, that's all for now. Thanks as always for listening. The final episode of the podcast will be on September 20th.

[00:40:39] See you next time. Matane!