If you’re a gamer you should know the name Square Enix. If you don’t know about them then here’s a little history.

Back in the ’80s when they were known as Square (or SquareSoft if you’re in America) they came out with a little game for the NES called Final Fantasy and became the gold standard when it came to RPGs, and this success wasn’t just limited to the Final Fantasy series You know how people talk about the Disney Renaissance? How between ’89-’99 Disney was basically just printing money because almost every single animated film they put out during this period was met with both critical and commercial acclaim? Square went through a similar period of success during the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s as almost everything they put out were met with high praises and were huge commercial successes. I remember back when I was in middle school and high school, reading videogame magazines like PSM, Square games were highly anticipated and any past titles including older ones from the NES and Super NES-eras were spoken with nothing but reverence. Even today under the Square Enix banner, they have not lost their touch as they are still consistently cranking out games that are almost instant best-sellers.

At San Diego Comic Con, Square Enix had a pretty impressive booth setup featuring statues and figures from their Play Arts Kai line of characters from their various games and some other properties they had the licenses too. I remember back when I used to read videogame magazines, in the sections devoted to things that were not videogames but were related somehow to videogames I would see them features on things like this. Unfortunately since this was in the early ’90s/2000s back before I discovered buying stuff off the internet, back before I discovered Frank and Sons and Otaku and Anime stores, before mainstream retailers decided to stock this stuff, being able to find them was next to impossible. Even if I was able to find them, they were really expensive. Today, they’re still really expensive, but they are way easier to find, but honestly considering the level of detail they put into their stuff, they are worth the price tag.

Anyway check out what Square Enix brought out with them to San Diego Comic Con 2022.

Statues of Himiko Toga and Ochaco Urakaka from My Hero Academia. I’m a bit surprised Square Enix made statues of these, since the My Hero Academia games are made by Bandai Namco Entertainment.

Play Arts Kai figures of the cast of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Some more Final Fantasy VII Remake figures, these ones are the motorcycle sets. I want to point out how Cloud in this set is wielding the Fusion Sword from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. I’m a bit curious if that sword can be split into the individual swords like the real one can.

“Dress” version of Cloud from the Honeybee Inn musical scene Final Fantasy VII Remake.

It really boggles my mind that Square Enix would put this scene in because it was just such a different tone than the rest of the game.

“Dress” versions of Tifa and Aerith which if I remember correctly are alternate costumes for them in Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Kairi, Sora, and Riku from Kingdom Hearts 3.

YoRHa No. 2 Type B from Nier: Automata.

Here’s a really cool statue of 2B, A2, and 9S from Nier: Automata.

A special statue of Edward and Alphonse Elric to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Full Metal Alchemist.

And I’ll close this out with this thing which is giving me some serious Metal Gear vibes even though it is actually Terra Branford of Final Fantasy VI riding the game’s iconic Magitek Armor. This statue is supposed to be an homage to the original Super Famicom box art for FFVI.