Requiem Cafe is a distinctive cafe with a whimsical vibe and a settled community of gamers, cosplayers, and performers. Recently, it has been receiving more foot traffic in recent weeks due to its latest collaboration.
The cafe is located six miles from Cal State Fullerton in downtown Anaheim and has been described as the “world’s premier geek cafe.” Requiem’s latest effort was a partnership with merchandise company Fangamer to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the popular video game Undertale from September 15 to October 10.
Requiem’s interior decoration has a fantasy and video game theme with food and drink of the same theme on the menu. Recently, Requiem Cafe has partnered with media companies to create video game crossover events. In June 2022, Requiem teamed up with Japanese video game company Atlus to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the video game series Persona.
However, compared to the Persona event, there was a larger turnout for the Undertale event. Kris Irons, the owner of Requiem Cafe, said Undertale fans are starving.
“A lot of people were really excited and a lot of the drinks we made were pretty meme-worthy,” Irons said. “A lot of people like the meme about the Sans Soda; and I think that spread it pretty far. I think we’re more organized for the Undertale event, so the turnout has been a lot bigger.”
At the cafe, they sell Undertale-themed consumables ripped straight from the game like the Sea Tea and Starfait to character-themed items like Toriel’s Taro Milk Tea and Sans Soda. A delicious pastry, the cookie with pieces of snowman, a savory combination of powdered sugar and toffee covered with walnuts, makes every bite delicious.
“I thought they were really good,” said Nick Barkero, a computer science student at Santiago Canyon College. “I thought the team did a great job making them, and honestly I had a great time.”
The cafe sold exclusive event merchandise in the gift shop, including a limited edition t-shirt, key rings and a mug.
The high customer turnout can be attributed in part to game creator Toby Fox for promoting the event as an officially licensed Undertale event.
“I first heard it on Twitter because I was following the creator of Undertale,” said Robin Trinh, a graphic design major at CSUF. “He happened to announce the news while I was browsing.”
Undertale is a role-playing game created by game developer Fox, who encoded, programmed and composed the entire soundtrack. It’s a love letter to old-fashioned Japanese role-playing games with an unmistakable earwig of a soundtrack, captivating gameplay and highly emotional moments. Upon its release in 2015, it became an instant hit and was considered one of the best video games ever.
Trinh describes the game as a game made with love and effort for everyone to enjoy.
“It’s heartbreaking. It’s fun. It’s also a challenge,” Trinh said. “But overall, Undertale is a very unique game that everyone should be able to play at least once in their lifetime.”
Irons said the partnership with Fangamer came naturally after they discovered they both share similar mission statements.
“We sell a lot of their merch in our store and we know that there are a lot of people coming to Requiem who like Undertale, indie games and that sort of thing,” said Irons. “That is one of our goals at Requiem. We like to celebrate things. We want to celebrate franchises and celebrate who people are and what people like.”
Barkero said the first time he attended Undertale’s event was on its opening weekend, where the line wrapped around multiple buildings to the point where it would have been a four-hour wait.
“I’ve been here before on Saturday and it was a very long line,” said Barkero. “So I decided to come back to a time when it wouldn’t be that long.”
This collaboration event is only going to run for a week. If you want to take pictures with cardboard stand-ins of your favorite Undertale characters, your best bet is to hurry up and head to Requiem Cafe. But if you can’t attend this one, don’t worry, because Requiem has plans for another collaboration before the end of the year.
“I can’t speak too much about what they are at the moment,” Irons said. “But we want to make one around this Christmas.”
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