Square Enix Cafe & Shop with Tantacles, Pokopia DLC

[00:00:08] 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. YouTuber Tantacles is here as we chat about Square Enix Cafe and Shop in both Tokyo and Los Angeles. We give you all the details on the vibes, the food, and the goods. Plus, I return to Pokopia to check out the new DLC. Let's get into the feature on Square Enix Cafe and Shop with Tantacles.

[00:00:44] Today's feature is about the newly opened Square Enix Cafe and Shop, a themed cafe featuring some of the most iconic JRPG series. One opened in Tokyo, one opened in LA, and I'm going to talk about both of them. But I'm not alone as I'm joined by a special guest. So guest, please introduce yourself. Hello, I'm the first and only RPG challenge run YouTuber. Don't tell Ragnar Alvar I said that. But I am Tantacles. Great to meet you.

[00:01:11] Thank you so much for joining me. Today we're looking at Square Enix Cafe and Shop, the company's newest foray into themed cafes. I went to the one in Tokyo and you went to the one in Los Angeles. And we're going to talk about both of them because they are both oddly very similar yet so different. So I'm really excited to hear about your experience. Oh, I am very excited to hear your experience as well. I wonder if we had similar experiences or if they were vastly different.

[00:01:36] Yeah, because on paper you would just assume that it is copy and paste, but it's actually not. So how did you first hear about the Square Enix Cafe and Shop in LA? So I have this bad habit. When somebody else is doing something, I get really jealous really fast and then I get really impulsive.

[00:01:56] So when I saw that one of my RPG YouTuber friends, Orbalology, you may know her. She does a lot of various RPG stuff. She was going. I said, if she's going, I got to go. So I immediately booked my ticket and I think impulse control could use some work, but I did go. So it was pretty fun. Yeah, I had been closely following the one in Tokyo for a while now because once upon a time there was a Square Enix Cafe in Akihabara.

[00:02:23] By the way, have you ever visited the original cafe in Akihabara before? So I haven't and I haven't even visited Japan. So that's going to be a bucket list thing to do. There's definitely more than enough Square Enix related things to do in Japan. And the new shop is similar to many respects to the original Akihabara one, but there are some key differences that we'll get into. And the OG Square Enix Cafe opened in 2016 and then it suddenly closed in 2025.

[00:02:50] And it was announced that they were closing, but they would return in some fashion. And flash forward a year later, we got the dual announcements of the newly opened Square Enix Cafe and shop would return and it's coming to both LA and Shinjuku in Tokyo. So where is it specifically located in LA? Is it in a tourist friendly, easy to visit spot? I would say it's pretty tourist friendly, easy to visit. It's right in Hollywood. Parking is always sparse, but there are a lot of garages nearby, so it's reasonably easy to get to.

[00:03:17] LA is not, I would say, a very good town to be walking in a lot of the time. You get in your car to go across the street to a convenience store, unfortunately. And I actually have a quick question for you. I know it's your interview, but I always have questions and concerns. I am curious, Square Enix doesn't, I think, have a great, it doesn't have a huge presence in the United States. How big is the presence in Japan?

[00:03:44] I would say it's definitely one of the most respected Japanese developers, even though I do feel like Final Fantasy specifically has lost a lot of mindshare. But Dragon Quest is still extremely popular and Square Enix is highly regarded. And there are many Square Enix related things to do in Tokyo because they are headquartered in Tokyo. So they have this cafe and they actually have a separate cafe that I talked about on a past episode called Artnia. And they also recently opened up Square Enix Garden, which is their merch store. So they're equivalent to Nintendo Tokyo.

[00:04:13] So at least specifically in Tokyo. Oh, and also we'll get into it, but there are some other, there's like a Dragon Quest cafe and a Final Fantasy 14 themed cafe in Tokyo as well. So they have quite a big presence. Oh, wow. The Tokyo location is in Pasala Tower Shinjuku, which is very close to the station. And this is where Square has been holding some pop-up cafes recently. So it made a lot of sense they would move their permanent establishment here.

[00:04:38] And you can actually see this place in Dissidia Duelum Final Fantasy, the mobile Dissidia game that was recently released. They have this street in the game. So maybe that was a bit of foreshadowing there. Yeah, it's being run by the Pasala Group, who also runs the Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest cafes in Tokyo. So they are very experienced in hosting these themed cafes.

[00:04:59] And the one in LA is being handled by a group called Little Akihabara, who focuses on bringing anime and Japanese pop culture themed pop-up shops to the West. Have you noticed a trend of these types of anime or game pop-up shops appearing more frequently in the States? So I live in Boston and I haven't seen that many, but there are certainly plenty of gaming shops in the States.

[00:05:21] I would say they're generally not endorsed by Nintendo or by PlayStation or by any of the big groups or by Square Enix or publishers. I would say they generally are private entities that are a little bit broader in their scope. We have a very consumerist culture. And so I think selling things, as many things as possible to as broad an audience as possible, tends to be more the goal of gaming stores. Yeah.

[00:05:47] So I was a little surprised that, oh, there is this company called Little Akihabara, who they seem to be essentially porting the pop-up shops or cafes to America, which I think is a really smart idea because there are so many in Japan. And the work is pretty much already done in terms of design and the menu. So I do think that we are going to see this trend of the U.S. getting more of the real deal copies of establishments in Japan these next few years. So let's step into the Square Enix Cafe and Shop.

[00:06:16] What's the layout like? Do you have to go through the shop to get to the cafe? So the shop is right in front of the cafe. I think that's a great preview to exactly what happens. They want you to pass through that merch store and see all the beautiful display they have, which are honestly gorgeous. And they have a lot of their metallic figurines out, as well as a case that sort of shows everything. On your right, there's this big case. And on the left, you just see sort of a wall of merch. Although it's a pretty small room overall, but they've managed to fit a lot in there.

[00:06:46] There's also a glass case with an attendant that has all of those smaller items, I think, that could easily be pilfered. Anything that would fit into your pocket without anybody noticing, those are very well guarded, I would say. And then you go straight forward into the cafe area right from there. For the Shinjuku location, the inside is very narrow. It is a Japanese-sized building. And it's literally on a very narrow and busy street corner.

[00:07:12] And when you enter, the first floor is the shop and the reception area. And the cafes are on the second and third floor. So what was your strategy? Did you decide to shop first and eat later? Or did you save the shopping for the end? So I actually made an entire vlog about the experience because I tried literally everything at the Square Enix Cafe. All of the food. So there was no way I was shopping first. But I wanted to know literally what every drink tasted like, what every dessert tasted like. We did not get all of the entrees because I don't eat meat.

[00:07:42] And so the only... I'm sure we'll get to food in a minute. But I knew that I had to eat first and then come out and grab all of the merchandise that I wanted. Okay. Yeah, that's a smart strategy as well. Even though, ironically, you go through it first. So they want you to think about it as you're eating. Oh, it's the perfect advertising. You see all this merchandise and then you have to eat a bunch of dishes that are themed after your absolute favorite games. And then you come out and you're like, oh, I just ate it. Should I buy it? And you do. It's very effective.

[00:08:09] So I had a reservation for dinner, which I made about a week or two before I visited. But depending on the day, you might be able to get in without a reservation if you go to an off hour. What about the LA joint? Did you need a reservation or was it hard to get one? I did get a reservation, but I will admit the crowd was rather sparse the day I was there. I think there were only three tables. So I was very happy that we were able to give our server a little bit of business. I felt bad that there weren't as many people that day. It was a Friday around four. I think at dinner time, it probably picks up. But everyone's at work.

[00:08:39] So it makes sense that it would be a little emptier. What was the aesthetic like in the LA cafe? What kind of vibe were they going for? I think the most salient aspect was the music. There were different classic music tracks from different Final Fantasy games playing. And I think they transitioned into a little bit of Nier and Dragon Quest, but it seemed to be mostly Final Fantasy. The outside was like a very, it was very tailored to the shop area. It was very tailored to showing off all the merchandise.

[00:09:06] So it was pretty much white with just a bunch of merchandise adding the color to that area. But then as you went in, there were a ton of TVs that had various Square Enix things playing with the same music. It was a little, the music was a little bit louder inside. I think they just wanted to make sure that you truly had more of an ambiance rather than just a hint of the music. And lots of changing colored lights. Interestingly, not as much physical decoration beyond televisions in the LA space,

[00:09:34] in the cafe region and area anyway. But I think the merch was, I think they wanted you to see the merch go into a more calm area and eat, and then come back out to more merch. Yeah, the Shinjuku Cafe definitely seems to have a different vibe. It went for more of a, I don't know, fancy, I would say. There are a lot of fake stained glass windows inside the cafe. And yeah, TVs are playing the trailers with the recent Square Enix games. And there are also some fake chandeliers as well.

[00:10:01] So they're trying to do a more austere fantasy aesthetic, like white tables, white chairs, black floor, but colorful fake stained glass. And I was hoping maybe there were some designs in the glass, like one themed after Final Fantasy or Nier, but it was just a generic stained glass design. So why do you think the two cafes have such different aesthetics? I think you were fortunate to actually have windows, whereas my cafe really had none.

[00:10:28] I will say LA tends to have a lot of more bare bones spaces. And I don't know why exactly, but there certainly were no chandeliers. It was pretty, so I think in terms of fake natural lighting, the Shinjuku location wins. Yeah, and the original cafe in Akihabara was really just in a big black room. And it was covered in posters of the games and had a lot of monitors. And it didn't really have a theme, so to speak. So it is interesting to see that they did something different this time around.

[00:10:57] And we've talked a lot about the background, the aesthetic, the music. So let's get into the food. And believe it or not, the menus in LA and Tokyo are totally different. You'd think they would just copy and paste the menu, but no. There are many exclusive bites at each one. So you said you ordered everything they had? Everything they had except all the entrees. And let me tell you, I am delighted for you that the menus were not the same, because my experience with the food was a bit disappointing. The drinks are, when we say drinks, they're all sort of mocktail style.

[00:11:27] And a lot of them are these sort of layered drinks where you'll have a layer of, I remember specifically right now, one of the near drinks had a layer of red on the bottom and a layer of black on the top, which had activated charcoal. They're really into activated charcoal at this Green X Cafe. I think that was the Yora Type A number two, if I'm not mistaken. And so these mixed drinks, I think, are meant to be tasted mixed. But when they're not mixed, I found just generally,

[00:11:56] you were either getting not much flavor at all from like a sparkling beverage, like a sort of a Ramune soda sort of flavor, or even just a juice flavor. One of them, the cloud just tasted like pineapple juice. That was what you got when you tasted one of the layers. Or you would get something that was excessively sweet. So these slime drinks, like the squishy slime drink, had a Ramune soda top. And then at the base, there was like a coconut gel. And I'm biased. I hate coconut. But the gel was also incredibly sweet.

[00:12:25] The slime was a very similar thing, but I think it was more mango themed, if I could figure it out. But way too sweet for my taste. And I don't think I could recommend many of them except the coffee beverage, which I think was the Yora Type B number two. That one, the coffee sort of balanced everything out. Yeah, I'm looking at the US drink menu. And there's more drinks in the US store than there is in the Japanese one. So that's an interesting difference. Yeah, we don't have the Sephiroth, for example. I wish I could have said I drank Sephiroth. How was the Sephiroth drink?

[00:12:55] It was certainly long and sharp. Yeah, his sword is inside of it. I think visually, I will say, if I'm going to say something positive, which I can do occasionally, I can do that. You know, we're not all negative Nellies here in the United States. The drink itself visually was beautiful. It's a layered drink. It had, I can't remember now if it's clear on the top, clear on the bottom. If you watch my video, I have them all lined up and I rank them. But one part of it is clear. One part of it is black, I believe. And then they have a straw.

[00:13:23] And then they put the hilt of his sword in the straw. So the straw is the sword, if you will. So visually, like a really beautiful drink. Yeah, I think the theme or I guess maybe our thesis statement, no spoilers, I guess. But a lot of these cafes, these theme cafes, all the drinks and food look amazing. But the taste is maybe so-so at best. But in terms of the aesthetics, it is an A+. I couldn't agree more. I think they did a really beautiful job of making these drinks evocative of the characters that they were trying to show.

[00:13:52] I mean, the cloud had the pineapple juice, which I think was pineapple juice because it was yellow and represented his hair. The black mage, there was a black mage drink, black mage wizard magic, I believe. And that was actually a very clever drink. It was pea flower. And so they had a little lemon squeezy thing on top of it. And you put the lemon juice into the drink and it all of a sudden turned from blue to purple, which I thought was a nice touch. And then you tasted it and it tasted like almost nothing. So it was one or the other.

[00:14:21] Either it was a very bland drink that didn't really have much flavor at all, or it was an overly sweet drink that I honestly couldn't stand. Or it was the coffee drink, which actually was pretty good, I would say. It wasn't bad. Yeah, it is interesting that, oh, we have to design these to look similar to the character. Oh, what's the yellow food we could put in this drink? I would love to know the planning stages of how they decide what is inside the cloud drink, what is inside the white mage healing magic. Because, you know, you've got to have something white in there and red. You've got to brainstorm, okay, what's red?

[00:14:51] Strawberry, cherry, what do we do? What do we do? Vanilla, that can be white. How is that? So I think it would be really fun to design one of these drinks. And I think maybe the slime drinks were meant to be a little bit disgusting. Because if you think about eating a slime, I don't imagine that would be a pleasant experience. So maybe it was just saying, don't harm the slimes. Leave them alone. They're peaceful. They're beautiful. They're delicate creatures. And you should just let them be cute and thrive on their own until they invade your village. Exactly. Nature is telling you, don't eat them. You can wipe them out, but don't eat them. Don't eat.

[00:15:21] Like a monarch butterfly, probably poisonous. Exactly. And so you said that you didn't really have a lot of the entrees, or you had an entree, but not all of them. So what was your main meal? So I had the Midgar pizza, which is actually half vegetarian. So they had one slice of cheese pizza, a slice of pepper pizza. There was sausage pizza. And then the final slice had mushroom and sausage, which I didn't really understand because I just made that one mushroom. But that's not my business, I guess.

[00:15:47] And they had eight hot dogs that were cut, cut in quarter. Only the end. So I don't know what they did with the middle of the hot dog. Can't figure that one out. The backstage recording, we'll find out later, that represented the eight reactors of Midgar. They were just placed evenly spaced around it. And then I will say I make pizza myself. The pizza was passable. I think that's what I would say about the pizza itself. And I also tried the liquid metal slime curry, which I think was okay.

[00:16:14] I think, no offense to my other white people out there. I know we've been through a lot. That was sarcasm in case anyone couldn't figure that out. But it was not spicy, which I think they're making sure we're okay. Love to see the concern. And also gray. Yeah. I'm trying to think what gray food do I eat? And this looks, it definitely looks like something you would not eat if you saw it in real life. It was wheezing uses sludge and then forces you to eat it. What a bully. Yeah, it is interesting.

[00:16:45] Oh, like I'll get to mine. But there's another meal in Japan that is equally like a non-edible color, I would say, that they serve. And yet I'm looking at the Midgar fondue pizza. It has such just a silly design. What is this, the green picks in the hot dog? Or is that like a fork or what is that? That is an excellent question. I know that the hot dogs represent the Midgar reactors. I know that. I couldn't figure out. I think it's so you can hold it up and show it off to your friends.

[00:17:13] Swing it around, maybe use it as clouds, buster sword. I don't know. It's tough to tell. But I do think maybe this is all our fault. Maybe we just need more descriptive vocabulary to describe shades of gray. Apparently there are at least 50. There are at least 50 of them. From what I understand from literature. That is canonical based on the book. I think maybe we need to even go a step beyond and say liquid metal slime is its own shade of gray. And so specific. Maybe that was what they were going for.

[00:17:41] Just you see the slime in the food and that is all you need. And one commonality between the Japanese and the U.S. shops is that any of the Nier themed food is pitch black. I'm looking at the U.S. menu. They love activated circle. They love it. There's the Yorha number nine type S black tortilla roll. And it's like this. It looks like a tortilla wrap that's cut in half. But it's a pitch black tortilla, which I don't think I've ever seen in my life. What do you think about just all the food being pitch black for Nier? I guess that is appropriate.

[00:18:10] I'm saying if it were a Pokemon, it would be char. Mander. Exactly. I will say the pizza was actually well cooked. I'm not a big fan of the sauce and cheese that they used, but it worked. And I wasn't hugely disappointed. I did feel like the color. I don't want to say that they should use dye, like artificial dye, to change the color of the food. It just felt like they were trying to make that metal slime curry gray. And I was like, you don't have to do that. You can just let it be a brown slime. That's okay. Yeah.

[00:18:38] Again, I think it must be so fun just to design these. Oh, absolutely. We've got Midgar. What food is associated with Midgar? Okay, Midgar is a circle pizza. So let's go from there. And yeah, they all look really aesthetically impressive. And did you try any of the desserts at all? So I got all of the desserts and I thought they were actually really interesting. There was only one that really wowed me because the desserts, I think, were where they shined. The Cactuar Churros were excellent.

[00:19:08] Just super crispy. The matcha powder on the outside was probably mostly sugar. I think matcha in name only. But the texture was great. They had a little buttercream to go along. I'm not exactly sure exactly what it was. But you dip the churros in there. And it was a lovely flavor, a lovely texture. And that was the only dessert I actually finished. Yeah. The bite-sized Cactuar Churros, they look really interesting. I didn't know they were churros at first until I read them. I thought they were pickles or something. The one that looks really appealing to me are the slime pancakes. How are those?

[00:19:37] So I, as a pancake aficionado, thought that they were just okay. The flavor was actually nice. They were moist. But it felt like they weren't quite airy enough. They just needed a little bit more beating to make them thicker. Or perhaps it was that they beaded them too much. And it was too much gluten development. But they were a bit thick. The texture wasn't perfect. But the flavor was good. And the syrup was, I'd say, generic false maple syrup flavor. So it wasn't bad at all.

[00:20:06] But I also think the big feature of them was the visual. To have the pancakes actually look like the slime was really fun. I just don't know that I'd order that dish at a restaurant unless it were a Square Enix cafe where I'm getting a design imprinted on it. I do kind of wish they sold. Maybe they do. And I'm just unaware. I wish they would sell the slime mold for the pancake maker. That would be a really great gift for somebody. And I'm also seeing here, there's a Warrior of Light, No Bake Cheesecake Mousse,

[00:20:36] and also the Minion Dessert Plate, and another parfait from Nier. How are these? I would say that the No Bake Cheesecake was in the F tier, maybe even the G tier for Go Away. Wow. It was certainly down there. There was something sour about that cheesecake. And they used a crust that was just very dry. And again, not very aerated. I don't know. I think that the batter could have used a beating. And given the strength of the Final Fantasy characters on offer,

[00:21:06] you'd think they could get it done. But apparently not. It didn't have Tifa working as the chef, I guess. I was surprised they didn't have the Final Fantasy XV cup of noodle. Oh, yeah. I guess we can't have everything. We got nothing. What would you say is maybe the best thing you ate there? Absolutely. The Cactura churros and the Yora No. 2 Type B coffee drink were really good. There was also a... And it's funny. I'm not even the biggest coffee fan. But when they added coffee to a dessert,

[00:21:33] it enhanced it because there was so much sweetness in them that it canceled out a bit because of the bitterness. There was a trio of minion desserts. And there was one that was coffee flavored. It was like a coffee mousse. That worked really well. And honestly, I wish they sold them separately so you could just get one. Because I would say if you're going to get a dessert, get that or get the churros. And I didn't really care that much for the other two desserts in that trio.

[00:22:04] Okay. So yeah, those are some good recommendations. I guess if I ever swing by the LA shop, I'll definitely pick up those two. It's just a quick flight. You know, you can take your private jet there. Get the PJ out. It's in your inventory, right? Closer than Boston relatively, but... I suppose so. Yeah. But a bit of a shorter flight for me. So at the Tokyo Cafe, I went with my wife. So here's what we napped. We got... And again, all this, I think... I don't think there's a single thing that's shared between LA and Tokyo,

[00:22:32] which is a really interesting decision. You would think that they would just copy them in your wholesale, or at least half and half. But it's totally different. So what we napped, we got the slime latte art drink. So it's hot tea with foam. And on the foam is a picture of the blue slime from Dragon Quest. So late latte art. I would have loved that. I wish they had that at the Square Enix Cafe. There were no hot drinks. Oh, okay. And I also ordered oolong tea that came in this plastic cup with a Dragon Quest sleeve.

[00:23:02] And then you can kind of pick the different sleeve depending on which series you like. And next up was the Chocobo Balanced Garden Salad, which was a green salad with pumpkin and broccoli and tomatoes. And there were some sort of shredded vegetables that kind of resembled a nest. And then on top of that was like half of an egg. And then a little Chocobo wafer decoration on top of it. Oh, wow. Did you have to play the Phoenix minigame to eat the salad? Unfortunately, I didn't.

[00:23:31] But there is a sort of game-esque aspect to it that I'll get into. Because there's something I'm curious, maybe the LA Cafe does not have that I am curious to hear about. But the Tokyo one definitely has that is somewhat game related. Or it is a minigame within itself. And so, yeah, you said you're a vegetarian. So I think this would be like a more appropriate. This isn't really an entree, though. It is like a... It's not big enough to be an entree, in my opinion, unless you're not that hungry or you're not as big as me.

[00:23:58] But what I've gathered from your account so far is that the United States loves meat and hates tea in comparison to Japan. That's what I figured out today. I'm kind of curious how much they thought about the taste of the region in terms of, okay, Americans, maybe they don't want so many vegetables or Japanese. Of course, tea is a major thing. But I was definitely surprised by just the number of drinks in America. So maybe they think that, oh, Americans are more interested

[00:24:26] in these kind of mocktail-style drinks compared to Japanese people. I do think that sweets in the United States tend to be more of the overwhelming addictive type. And most of the Japanese sweets that I've tasted tend to be at least a little bit more subtle, come in smaller portions, don't feel quite as addictive as United States-ian sweets. That's sort of... Excess is sort of our thing. And not only excess in terms of quantity, but excess in terms of amount of flavor, whether that flavor is sweet, sour, salty, whatever.

[00:24:55] But sweet was the overwhelming flavor at this cafe for the drinks and for the desserts. And my wife's entree was called taco rice-style hamburger plate. And in Japan, taco rice is the name of this kind of Mexican-style burrito bowl with meat and lettuce and tomatoes. And it's modeled after the bubble slime from Dragon Quest. So the similar idea to the metal slime curry in the West. So it was like the shape... The hamburger was the bubble slime. And it was shaped like the bubble slime.

[00:25:24] And it had this dark green sauce on it. And of course, a little smiley face. I was about to ask what color the bubble slimes are, but they are green. I remember this. So again, very similar to these slime entrees. They have this very unnatural color to it. I see, but I can imagine making a green dish far more naturally than making a gray dish. But it was just like such a dark green. It felt a very sludgy green, if that makes sense. Forest slime.

[00:25:51] I guess it would be better to have it darker than if it was neon green. Then it's like, okay, that one is really artificial. So this darker green, maybe that's more natural, but it does look like something that lives in the sewers is a takeaway from when you see this bubble slime entree. Well, they know my home and they probably want me to visit so I can enjoy my local cuisine. And my wife also ordered the recovery set, which is this vial of blue soda. And it came with a small jar of leaves, which I think is just mint.

[00:26:19] And it does kind of look like a healing potion from the game. You're supposed to pour it. It comes in like a pitcher, the blue liquid, like the, I think it's the ramené liquid. And then it comes also in a glass as well. So you're supposed to pour in the leaves and the blue drink into this cup and mix it together. So that was kind of like a fun, kind of DIY-esque style entree or dish. That sounds like a really fascinating presentation. I wish we'd had more of that sort of more immersive drink making at my cafe.

[00:26:49] Yeah, the US ones definitely look like, kind of like something you would order from a bar. But the ones in Japan, at least the recovery set, definitely was more game themed. And some other ones, there is a Final Fantasy potion that it looks like, kind of like ginger ale with lime, but it comes with this black vial that I guess you're supposed to pour in there as well. So there are some DIY-esque dishes at the Japan one that is maybe not in the US one. It sounds like a much more nerdy experience at the Square Enix Cafe in Japan,

[00:27:18] which I think I would have maybe enjoyed more. Because I did feel like they were trying to tone down the more explicit references and have it be the suggestion of Square Enix games, rather than saying, this is a potion, pour the potion into the vial so you can drink the potion. We didn't really have that. We sort of had like the cute characters stamped onto things, but not the sort of elaborate nerdy stuff. Yeah, that's interesting that they wanted to be a bit more subtle with the US one,

[00:27:47] even though it is called the Square Enix Cafe. You would think that this is a safe space to be as nerdy as you want. I certainly felt safe. I just didn't feel fulfilled, if that makes sense, by the level of nerdiness. Yeah. Now, my entree was the Chocobo and Moogle Spice Curry, which was a spicy meat curry with vegetables. And there was a scoop of yellow rice with a Chocobo face on it. And of course, another egg. And then a white scoop of rice that had the Moogle face with on top with a small tomato

[00:28:15] that was supposed to be his orb. I never really thought what's the thing on the Moogle's head called, but the red dangly thing. I thought it was like a puffball. So I imagine that it's hairy. Fortunately, it was not hairy. It was a smooth tomato. And lucky you. So the presentation, again, it looks really fantastic because you have the Moogle face, you've got the Chocobo face, and they added just a little bit. They added an egg, they added a cherry to make them differentiate a little bit more. And then for dessert, the Jiggly Sweet Platter, which had these three slimes,

[00:28:45] and also had like a little placard or like a little sign that said the slimes appeared in Japanese. And my entree, I liked it well enough. But again, it's like the volume is very low. It is like a very, even for, I don't even say Japan size portion. It's maybe one layer below Japan size portion. It's even a little bit less than that. So yeah, you are encouraged to order a lot of stuff. So that's why I also got the salad and the drinks as well. They don't want you to just get one thing and then leave. They want you to get as many as you can.

[00:29:15] And the Japanese menu is broke up in an interesting way in that it's themed not by types of food, like it's not entree, dessert, drink. It's broken up by the game series. So there's the Dragon Quest section of the menu. There's the Final Fantasy section of the menu. There's the Nier section. And there's one more IP. Maybe you already know, but can you guess what is the fourth IP present at Square Enix Cafe and Shop in Shinjuku? My first guess is Octopath. Not Octopath. I'll give you a hint though. Okay, my second hint is Elliot. Not Elliot. The new Elliot.

[00:29:44] It is kind of a trick question because it's not really a Square Enix IP, but it is instead Full Metal Alchemist, which... That is very odd. Which Square did not invent, but they do own the game rights. So it is a little jarring that included with these classic JRPG series is Full Metal Alchemist, which of course does have its fans. I did see people there at the cafe order the Full Metal Alchemist food. But for me, if I had to pick a fourth IP, I would pick Chrono or something.

[00:30:14] There was a little smidge of Chrono Trigger stuff at the Square Enix Cafe. I'm sure we'll talk about the merch in just a minute, but they had the soundtrack from Chrono Trigger. And I was like, okay. I don't know. I would have loved some other stuff. Anyway, we'll get to that in a minute, I'm sure. But that was it. So what did you think about the quality and aesthetic of the food? Does it match the price point? Because in both the US and Japan, these are pricey meals. My chocobo curry was 2200 yen, which is honestly, I think, the most I've ever paid for a curry.

[00:30:43] So what do you think about the match between aesthetics, taste, and price? So I would say that actually for Los Angeles, the Square Enix Cafe is pretty reasonably priced. To get like a dinner for one person at a restaurant, especially if you're going to get a beverage, it can be 30 to $35. That's not an unreasonable thing. If you're getting a more specialty item like sushi, it can be more expensive if you order a few things. So I would say it was pretty reasonably priced for LA.

[00:31:13] Maybe I'm just spoiled. I don't know. But I've certainly paid more for a meal in Los Angeles. Other cities maybe are different, but I live in Boston and the prices were very similar, maybe even less than what I'd pay in Boston for a meal. Yeah. When it comes to these themed cafes, you're really going for the aesthetic. You're going for the vibes, the photos, the sense of being there in such an interesting place. And you're seeing the digital world brought to life. And I've been to a lot of themed cafes and I would say none of them made me think,

[00:31:40] of course, the taste and the quantity was exactly equal to the price I paid. You're kind of sacrificing the price for the experience, if that makes sense. So what did you think about overall the meal experience? I think it was fashion forward, flavor backward. I like that. Yeah. It felt a little upside down for what I'd like out of a meal. And I think you're right. I was there for the vibes. I was there for the visual. I was there for the experience. I was not there because I expected to have a Michelin star meal.

[00:32:10] All right. So it's the cafe and shop. So let's talk shop. What did you buy when you were there? Oh, this and that. I am broke now. I actually, I didn't say this in the video that I made, but I let when I got all my stuff to the counter and I had it all broken up, I was a little embarrassed because the guy said, I don't think I've seen anyone purchase this much stuff. Is your credit card going to approve it? Fortunately, this is the United States.

[00:32:37] So all you have to do to get credit is just wave your magic wand in the air. And they say, yes, we can take your money. Sure. But I bought as many, I pretty much bought all of the metallic figurines. I bought a couple of bigger plastic models, a ton of plushies. I think the plushies and the figurines are the big thing that I would suggest. There were also a couple of shirts that I purchased. Unfortunately, they say Los Angeles on them. And I'm just one of those people. I don't like to have clothing that has a location on it. I don't know. There's something about that just doesn't do it for me.

[00:33:07] It makes it look like a tourist no matter where you are. And then I think the coolest things that I bought looking back, there is a Vivi mug that I will show off in the video that I'll have on my YouTube channel that has an actual hat on it. It's really visually appealing and it's very cute. And then there's also a Moogle wine tumbler that's sort of music themed and has like treble clef with all the bars on it. And I felt that that was quite adorable.

[00:33:36] And I've already used it several times. I think that was a very worthwhile purchase. I'm going to sound spoiled, but a lot of the shop goods were things I've already seen before, especially at their official Square Enix garden shop. So all of it was just they didn't have a lot of cafe exclusive goods. But I know in LA, this is maybe your only chance to buy it physically there. I don't see many shops that have Square Enix merch. I think while it is certainly a global brand with a lot of popularity,

[00:34:03] I think the community surrounding these games can tend to be a bit more scattered. And yes, this LA cafe is the first time I've actually seen a Square Enix shop be available to me. I think there was one, if I'm not mistaken, I think there might have been one in New York a few years ago that I wasn't able to go to. I was like studying or something. I don't know. Would have been great to go to. But I think it's just not as available. Things are not as available for purchase. And so I've been, I was in medical school for a long time. So I've been waiting and waiting.

[00:34:33] We're all about delayed gratification. And finally I saw the shop and I kind of went crazy. Yeah. And one thing that is maybe cafe exclusive is that, I don't know if they give it there at the LA shop, but you get like a paper placemat on your, for your meal. And you also get coasters. So you get one free kind of like cardboard coaster for everything you order. So if you order one entree, you get one coaster. If you order one drink, you get one coaster. Do they give away coasters at the LA spot? They do indeed. Unfortunately, on the day that I was there, they were out.

[00:35:03] I think there was a high demand for them. So they're mailing them out. Oh, interesting. And put your stuff onto a Google, like a Google form. And I input my essentially 30 mile long CVS receipt into it. And I'm not, I don't even remember how many I'm eligible for, but it was, I think enough that I should be ashamed of my spending. Yeah. Every time I ordered something, they brought it around a bag and then you have to pick a random coaster out of the bag. And each coaster was, I would have loved it. It's like a weird, like gotcha game element.

[00:35:33] So what I said before, there is like a game-esque element to the cafe in terms of, okay, randomly pick something. And the coaster you get is themed around what you order. So if you get a, like a Dragon Quest drink, you had to pick from the Dragon Quest bag. And I ended up with something like, I don't know, six or seven coasters because we ordered so many different things. And, but yeah, I didn't really pick up any like merch since, yeah, a lot of it was stuff I've seen there before. So what were your overall thoughts on Square Enix Cafe and shop in LA?

[00:36:01] It is a well-themed shop that focused a bit too much on the visual and I think could have focused a bit more on the food. However, for the United States, the merchandise selection just doesn't feel like something you'll be able to find many other places. It's Square Enix merchandise that is of high quality is pretty sparse. Yeah, I'm kind of a mark for theme cafes because even though they are way too expensive, I always

[00:36:29] feel like they could have done a bit more in terms of the theming, but I always have a good time. They really put a lot of care and thought into the dishes and the aesthetics are absolutely on point and showcase a lot of creativity. And I don't know if I will go back though, unless they do break out the old style and have limited time menus to line up with specific game releases, but maybe that is just too cumbersome and having one permanent menu is the best way to go about it. So it's one of those things where I'm glad I did it, but I don't know if I'll go back.

[00:36:58] I think I feel the same. At the same time, I was like, this feels like a trap. I was waiting. Are there snipers? What's going on? Is this literally meant to just lure me in and trap me forever within the walls of the cafe? It didn't happen. I think the trap door was not yet installed when I went there, but stay tuned and we'll see if anyone else gets caught in that snare. Maybe I was just the guinea pig and it wasn't quite working well. Okay. Final question. You could make one dish for the Square Enix Cafe and shop. What are you making?

[00:37:28] Ooh, that is a fantastic question. I think the hot dogs in Balam Garden, they're all out. And I think we need to bring back hot dogs. You could even have a veggie version. Yeah, I think that would work well. What would you make? I was thinking about, okay, I want them to add or swap Full Metal Alchemist for Chrono. So something from Chrono Trigger, maybe like a big turkey leg that is styled after Isla's club, her main weapon in the game. And then the plate could be like caveman themed.

[00:37:56] Maybe that's a little generic, but. So I think what I would do is a soup after the soup drinking challenge. Oh, okay. That's a smart one. And then there is also a soda drinking challenge in the game. So I think it would be pretty cool to have a sparkling drink that's meant to be chugged or like a very large shot. At the beginning of the game, you can earn silver points from Gato, but also you can earn them from drinking too many sodas. Yeah, that's a really good one.

[00:38:25] I'm trying to think about, oh, in terms of pure aesthetics, I guess you got to do something with Lavos, like a big Lavos cake. Maybe it could be made out of pineapple, like a shell is pineapple. Oh, I would love that. Or mango. I think mango would work perfectly. If you shred it, that would be really good. Or I think you could do something with something pomegranate because of Crono's hair. Okay. Yeah. Just a red thing going on. You could do a lot just via the hair of all the different Square Enix protagonists. Absolutely.

[00:38:54] I think a Luca drink and that could be served in a pineapple with glasses. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm a marketing genius. Somebody give me a job. They're both of us. Until they add all the amazing things we just came up with. That was a look at the Square Enix Cafe and Shop in LA and Shinjuku. So Tentacles, thank you so much for joining me. Where can people find you? You can find me at Tentacles on YouTube. You can also find me at Tentacles on Blue Sky and on Twitter and Instagram.

[00:39:22] I am Tentaclesia. So Tentacles was taken, but maybe someday I'll get them. You never know. Great. And the links to everything are in the podcast description. So listeners, check it out. Tentacles, once again, thank you so much for joining me. It was such a pleasure to meet you and discuss the mediocre food that we ate at the Square Enix Cafe. But the amazing visuals. Remember 64 is your one stop shop for everything.

[00:39:51] And 64 as we work our way through the console's library of games. The good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between. We will be playing it. Myself, David Petrangelo and my co-host Jiggy Lookback. We'll talk about every game across the library with some awesome guests. Check us out on YouTube, on social media, and of course on your podcast feed. Remember 64.

[00:40:21] Today in the game section, we are looking at Pokemon Pocopia Expansion Pass Wave 1 Bubbly Basin. I'm probably just going to call it Pocopia DLC in the title though. This is the first big DLC drop for Pokemon Pocopia, which is currently my game of the year. And honestly, it's not going to move. I love Ocarina of Time, but I'm not a this remake is actually the best game of the year type of person. I kind of feel remakes shouldn't be on game of the year lists at all. But in the past, I have put some on there.

[00:40:51] So I can't be a hypocrite. But for number one game of the year, no, remakes aren't allowed. I'm sorry. I'm drawing the line. This was announced during the June Direct, an obvious one to be sure. But I didn't expect this angle for the first big DLC drop. The first wave includes Bubbly Basin, an aquatic themed world based on Cerulean City, plus a ton of free upgrades and quality of life changes. When I was racking my brain to think about Pocopia DLC, I had two main thoughts.

[00:41:17] Lavender Town, the iconic creepy ghost village, or maybe the Seafoam Islands, which would solve the game's lack of ice problem. But being able to go under the sea, I didn't see that coming. The base game already has quite a lot of water Pokemon, and the main game does treat water traversal as a big obstacle early on. So I didn't think they would double down on water exploration. And man, all those people who built like underground railroad stations in Bleak Beach before this update are probably kicking themselves right now.

[00:41:46] Let's get into the free stuff. The big new addition is Dive that lets you freely explore underwater. At first, I thought this was going to be a power you activate, either like the cut move or something that was location specific like surf. But no, once you get it, you can just freely explore underwater. It auto pops, which is the best way they could have gone about it. The game in general has the mantra of what would be the most fun way for the player to interact with this gameplay feature. So it makes a lot of sense. They just may dive automatic.

[00:42:14] Surf is still useful, of course, if you're trying to be a bit more speedy. And when you're underwater, you can't fly with Dragonite, but you do have infinite jumps like you're paddling in the water and you can still use Magnemite. And there are some other smaller quality of life changes that were added for free in the update. I think the most immediately noticeable one is that you can now bulk assess relics. So you can assess 10 relics of the same type at once. Finally, hours, maybe centuries of my life are now freed up. You can now inhale and open up the bag during rollout.

[00:42:43] You can place more power generators. You can revert farm soil with leafage. You can place things on top of square plants. A lot of small things on paper, but they are game changers in a lot of ways. And again, these are all free. So if you're holding off on getting the DLC, there's at least enough they added right now to make it worthwhile to hop back in again. But let's dive down into Bubbly Basin, the new area in Pocopia. I haven't cleared all the story missions here yet, but I at least know the vibe of the place.

[00:43:11] Or at least I think I do because as we all know, Pocopia levels are deceptively massive. It was advertised as being entirely underwater, but there are indeed air pockets and also you can breach the surface and go above the water where you might find some small houses and some other ruins. I guess if you really wanted to, you could build an entire city directly on top of Bubbly Basin. Maybe the height limit is a bit more restrictive, but you could build a town there and then have a secret underwater world right beneath it.

[00:43:40] The format is the same as the other areas. You meet a single Pokemon, they build up habitats and more come, and then these Pokemon unlock new abilities and give you missions until you reach the goal of hitting the peak environment level. One of the early missions is, hey, build a big Sharpedo submarine. And you do, and now you've got a cool submarine base. Exploring the world, it really does feel different from the other regions. It has completely new architecture with both a mix of Chinese style pagodas and also Greek classical architecture.

[00:44:10] And this is also mixed with your typical Pokemon town stylings. The Greek look makes sense because of the Bast and the Atlantis parallel, but I don't know what is so Chinese about Cerulean City, but it is at least something completely different from what you can find in the main game. I believe there are about 200 new items, so get collecting. One of the cooler items I found are the Pokeball displays, and one habitat requires you to collect all of them, so that would be a fun scavenger hunt. The level design is pretty much exactly what I would want from a new Pocopia level.

[00:44:40] Simple on the surface, but no matter where you go, what you poke, you will find something new and amazing. And compared to past levels, this one feels a bit more vertical, which does make it feel a bit fresh. These levels are just so incredibly handcrafted, and the devs are so smart in leading you to new amazing areas, but also hiding a lot of interesting nooks and crannies. Is there anything more exciting than to see a wall of the really weak cracked rocks? You just know you want to find something crazy on the other side. And there aren't too many games that make me say, wow, when I discover a new area.

[00:45:10] Like, in a typical open world game, you're finding what? A cave? Maybe a new village? A mini dungeon? Or whatever. But with Pocopia, you truly have no idea what you're going to find. Whoa, an underground cafe. Then I found a hot spring. Then I found a huge mining area with a ton of crystals. Then a playground. Then a giant staircase. A bunch of houses above the water. And the fact that you can use literally every little thing you find really adds to the exploration aspect. If you're playing an open world action adventure game,

[00:45:40] and you find a room with a chair, well, you can't take that chair. But in Pocopia, you can. That is your chair. And since it is Cerulean City, you do come across some of the place's most iconic locales. You find Misty's Gym. You find Bill's House. You can find Big Nuggets. And these are also not treated as big deals. They are completely, if you know, you know, type of additions, which I think really makes them more impactful because it really requires you to dig deep in your memory to figure out why this is here. It really rewards the hardcore Pokemon fans.

[00:46:09] Maybe this is just because it's completely new, but there is a bit of a learning curve to understand what you can interact with. Is this a piece of furniture? Or is it a plant I can move? A resource? There's a lot of different types of coral and seaweed and all these other plants. And it takes some time to figure out what's what. But they do lead to some nice looking deep sea habitats. And of course, there is one habitat that is just a bunch of trash you throw together. You gotta have that. There are about 50 new Pokemon, which is a pretty sizable chunk. I suppose due to the region's unique hook,

[00:46:38] they will all likely be water type or, you know, Pokemon that at least live under the water. I don't think Emboar is going to pop up here. But I do like how concentrated the theme is. I did try to move Pokemon around to the most appropriate habitat with the main game, like moving the flying Pokemon to the skylands. But maybe it would just be better to keep these guys here, though. I kind of wonder what the limitations are. Like, can I move Bruxish to the land and give it a grass habitat? Can it just not go on the surface? And vice versa.

[00:47:08] Like, could I dive with Charizard? It would be a pain to program which Pokemon can go underwater and which can't. But I wouldn't put it past the Pocopia devs. They live for this type of detail. I guess the main question is, should you drop the price of half a game on this DLC? I'm really pleased with this interesting new area, but it is a hard ask to say, hey, give us 35 bucks for one area and we promise to give you more later. I don't blame anyone for waiting until the final piece of DLC drops before committing. But if you want to hop back into Pocopia,

[00:47:36] Bubbly Basin will give you hours upon hours of things to do, plus a lot of really unique items that you can decorate your entire world with. And again, many quality of life changes are totally free, so it might be worth popping back in and finishing up a project, even if you don't buy the DLC. So we've got Bubbly Basin. The second wave of DLC will be some Pokemon customization and some other features, but they have guaranteed at least one more area. And I still think this will be Lavender Town. That is just too aesthetically interesting not to do.

[00:48:05] Think of all the ghost Pokemon you could introduce. Think of all the spooky furniture you could make. And since every place has been hit by a disaster, you could do like an icy Lavender Town. Like a blizzard destroyed Lavender Town or something. So you can get ice and ghost in there, two things that the main game doesn't really focus on. I mean, if it's not Lavender Town, I'd be shocked. Shocked. But in short, Pocopia DLC, having a fantastic time with it, but if you're on the fence,

[00:48:34] no harm in waiting until it all drops. That's all for the games. Let's check out the news. We got a Fire Emblem Fortune Sweave Direct. Now, was 95% of it explaining how to move on a grid in Fire Emblem? Yes. But we got a good peek at some new classes, many of which seem original or are big twist on existing ones. I mean, you have an elephant. We also saw more of the overworld exploration, which seems very open.

[00:49:02] And we also know a bit more about the structure of the game. Although, to be honest, I am still very confused. So, the game opens up five years past the heroic games, and then you play as Eshmael, who is essentially the avatar of the game. Then you go back five years to the heroic games, where you pick your path, one of the four main characters. But you can also switch paths at any time. And the avatar's goal is to recruit people from the past to fight in the future. I've seen it likened to Breath of the Wild, where you could fight Ganon at the start,

[00:49:32] but it's easier to do the four Divine Beasts. So, maybe that's the gimmick of this Fire Emblem. Each of the four people are technically a Divine Beast. But does that mean I need to complete four entirely separate paths? Are they really short? Is this game really long? Is there another system in place that involves recruiting guys from the heroic games? Am I actually walking around and exploring five years into the future, or is that just kind of like a hub? I honestly have more questions than answers regarding the structure of the game, but I do admire they added a really different twist on the formula.

[00:50:00] It comes out September 17th, and it'll probably be awesome, so look forward to that. And we got some quarterly financial numbers from Nintendo. Nothing really surprising this time around. Switch is past 23 million, so it has officially passed the GameCube's lifetime sales. Nintendo also got 300 million from the American government due to tariff-free funds, so that was a major boon. Imagine if whatever company you worked for suddenly got 300 million dollars. Everyone would probably be very happy.

[00:50:28] The biggest game of the quarter was, indeed, Tomodachi Life, which has sold 7.94 million as of June 30th. This has already surpassed the lifetime sales of the 3DS game in just a few months. I think there's something to be said about the Miis being one of Nintendo's greatest ideas ever. Ami as a character is, ironically, one of the most popular Nintendo characters if we are talking about pure sales figures here. And Tomodachi Life will continue to sell, and I expect a big holiday for the game, and maybe even some Switch 2 enhancements down the line.

[00:50:57] Pocopia is also around 5 or 6 million. Nobody knows. With the Switch 2 gen, Nintendo has not combined the total sales figures if a game has a different publisher in Japan. For example, Pokemon games are published by The Pokemon Company in Japan, and Hyrule Warriors is published by Koi Tecmo. So those numbers are not included in the financial reports anymore. But it's estimated that Pocopia is at least past 5 million, making it one of the most successful Pokemon spinoffs ever. But it is incredibly annoying that we don't get the exact number anymore,

[00:51:27] especially for a franchise as important as Pokemon. Not even Serubi Jo knows the total sales figures. And if he doesn't know, nobody knows. Two notable omissions, Yoshi and Starfox did not chart for the quarter meaning they sold under a million each. Starfox is understandable since it came out less than a week before the quarter ended, but it had a lot of hype in the West, so I hoped it would inch past 1 million in a week. But I think with the positive word of mouth, it will absolutely hit at least a million.

[00:51:55] Yoshi being under a million seems a little disappointing though. Nintendo did say both of these titles are selling steadily. I just think it was poorly advertised. Even I didn't pick it up because it looked dull, despite the word of mouth saying the game was actually pretty stellar. Like Starfox, I do think it will eventually leg it out to a million plus. But I think some first party titles not having a big start right out of the gate is due to the overall economic conditions in the world and competitions within the Switch 2's game library. With Switch, you were starting from scratch, so a lot of games benefited from simply existing.

[00:52:25] But with Switch 2, you have a steady flow of Switch 2 first party games, then indie games, and AAA third party games, and also the entire Switch 1 library. I mean, Breath of the Wild sold like 250,000 units this past quarter, and that's almost a decade old game. The Switch 2 hardware is still selling extremely well, but I think a lot of people are picking up a Switch 2 with Mario Kart, and then waiting a while before they pick up another game. Nintendo's real big heavy hitters are still to come though. 3D Mario, Smash, 3D Zelda that's not a remake,

[00:52:55] Pokemon Gen 10, these are all legit system sellers. But smaller titles like Yoshi and Star Fox might be slow out of the gate for multiple reasons. Remember when Princess Peach Showtime came out and sold about a million in two weeks? Because, well, why not? We aren't at that level of install base just yet, so it might become normal for a first party release to not automatically hit a million the first week or so, even in the first month. But I do think it will have legs. And one game that was added to the million sellers this past quarter was Super Mario Party Jamboree plus Jamboree TV.

[00:53:24] And the weird way Nintendo counts to Nintendo Switch 2 editions is that the physical unit count as Switch 2 sales. So if you just buy the upgrade pass, that does not count towards Switch 2 sales. Or if you buy the entire game digitally, that is counted as a Switch 1 game. So only the physical Switch 2 units count for the Switch 2 sales, if that makes sense. So that means Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 edition plus Jamboree TV has sold over a million physical only. Which is kind of crazy and does give you more hope

[00:53:54] that these games do have longer legs than many expect. New Nintendo merch, Nintendo Tokyo is carrying sticker sheets of every single character from Animal Crossing New Horizons. I don't mean you get like 30 butch stickers, but you do at least get one. They are also carrying blind box magnets themed after KK Slider album covers. Only about a dozen, but hey, they do have Marine Life 2001. So somebody out there knows what they're doing. Zero Racers and D-Hopper are now available on NSO. These were the cancelled Virtual Boy games from back in the day, but decades later,

[00:54:23] they are now available to check out. This is an absolutely awesome edition. Maybe technically from a historical standpoint, the best NSO edition ever. I mean, these were cancelled games. Nintendo could have easily ignored them, but you can now play them on modern hardware. It was also revealed that D-Hopper is directed by Ryota Kawabe, who directed Paper Mario on the N64, aka the best game ever. So I am looking forward to trying it out. I will probably cover both of these on the podcast next episode. Oh, and Super Mario Sunshine

[00:54:53] is also coming to NSO on August 13th. I replayed it when 3D All-Stars hit, and honestly, I liked it even less on a replay. But hey, great music, awesome aesthetic. It's at least worth poking around in if you're a Mario fan. The first few shines you get are really awesome, and that first world is a lot of fun. So I thought on my replay, hey, maybe people are too harsh on this game, but no, reality hit soon after. Last bit of news, a Metal Gear Solid pop-up shop is happening on August 18th at Kinokuniya in Shinjuku.

[00:55:23] Kinokuniya is a bookstore, but they do have a sizable pop-up area. This is where the PSO pop-up shop was last year. The pop-up shop is a collab with an artist called Ultavo, and I don't know who that is, but it does feature new art. And with this new art, you've got t-shirts, tote bags, acrylic stands, stickers, all that kind of stuff. Nothing really crazy. They're not selling a real-life orange box or anything like that. But if you need some stuff with MGS slapped on it, you can check out this store. Okay, let's wrap it up. Thanks as always for listening. Be sure to like and subscribe to this podcast

[00:55:52] on your favorite app. Leave a five-star review as well. It really helps. This podcast is also available on YouTube, so like and subscribe there as well. I'm on Blue Sky, Threads, Twitter, Instagram. Just search for Tokyo Game Life or find the links in the podcast description. If you like the podcast, be sure to share with your friends and on social media. The next episode will be on August 23rd. See you next time. Matane! Bye!