【Dear Utol (2025): Catfish Episode 46】

Before we get started,Dear Utol (2025): Catfish Episode 46 while nothing you'll read below has any bearing on Final Fantasy XV's main story, some might construe details of a side quest as spoiler territory. So consider this your spoiler warning.

So. There is an entire quest in Final Fantasy XVthat worships at the altar of Nissin's instant ramen noodle snack, Cup Noodles. It is a magical work of product placement that's so inappropriate and out-of-place that it actually works.

It all starts when you reach the first major city in the game. As you climb out of your car and step out of the car park, a familiar logo comes into view.

Later on in the game, Gladiolus, one of your allies, notices the truck and freaks out. He wants to go there. Walk up to the Cup Noodles truck after that, and the magic of Nissin's product placement starts to reveal itself.

My only regret in all of this is that I didn't save right before the quest started, and thus have no way of seeing what result the other responses would have brought.

Your next step in the quest,assuming you chose "meat," is to hunt down a ferocious creature and gather your bonus ingredient. I've skipped past that bit here -- it's just a fight, nothing special -- and skipped forward to the aftermath.

Once you fell the beast, Gladiolus suggests making camp and cooking up the meat with some Cup Noodles bowls.

Final Fantasy XV's cooking provides various stat bonuses. The Cup Noodles dish is hardly a game-changer compared to some of the more complex creations you can prepare, but you do get a cute, little cutscene in which your crew enjoys its hot meal.

The capper to this glorious quest comes the morning after, when all three of your allies (but mostly Gladiolus) preach the virtues of Cup Noodles. It's almost like they're reading from a prepared script....

It's worth noting: Nissin's Cup Noodles are very popular in Japan. There's even an entire museum dedicated to the instant ramen brand.

This product placement feels hilariously out of place in Final Fantasy XV's universe, but it's more entertaining than irritating. The game plays it perfectly straight, really going out of its way to embrace the ridiculousness of a script that might as well have been pulled from a TV ad.

Well played, Square Enix and Nissin. We approve.